Early Christian Books in Egypt

126 Pages·2009·15.165 MB·English

by  Roger S. Bagnall

Roger S. Bagnall
EARLY CHRISTIAN
KS IN EGYPT
"This book is brilliant, concise, and elegantly written. Bagnall provides
a masterful and readable study, while also addressing a number of con
troversies in early Christian studies. The book will be an instant and
major classic in the field-it is that good."
- T. G. Wilfong, University of Michigan
"Written by one of the world's leading papyrologists, this book is full
of valuable and interesting information that will help to advance the
discussion of a hot topic."
-Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania
Roger S. Bagnall
EARLY CHRISTIAN
BOOKS IN EGYPT
Princeton University Press
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright© 2009 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William
Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX2o 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Library ofC ongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bagnall, Roger S.
Early Christian books in Egypt I Roger S. Bagnall.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-o-691-14026-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Christian literature, Early-Egypt-Manuscripts.
2. Egypt-Church history. 3· Manuscripts (Papyri)
I. Title.
BR190.B34 2009
276.2'01-dc22 2008045333
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication
Data is available
This book has been composed in Minion
Printed on acid-free paper. oo
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
For Henri Schiller

Contents
List ofF igures ix
Preface xi
A Note on Abbreviations
XV
CHAPTER I
The Dating of the Earliest Christian Books in Egypt
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 1
CHAPTER ll
Two Case Studies 25
CHAPTER Ill
The Economics of Book Production 50
CHAPTER IV
The Spread of the Codex 70
Notes 91
Bibliography 99
Index of Subjects
105
Index of Papyrological Texts Discussed no

List of Figures
FIGURE 1.1. P.Bad. N 56. Photo courtesy of Institut fur
Papyrologie, University ofHeidelberg 13
FIGURE 1.2. P. Oxy. L 3523. Photo courtesy of the Egypt
Exploration Society 14
FIGURE 1.3. P.Oxy. LXN 4404. Photo courtesy of the Egypt
Exploration Society 15
FIGURE 1-4- P.Oxy. LX 4009. Photo courtesy of the Egypt
Exploration Society 16
FIGURE 2.1. Magdalen papyrus Ms. Gr. 17. Photo courtesy the
President and Fellows of Magdalen College Oxford 29
FIGURE 2.2. Fragment of Matthew, P.Monts.Roca 1. Photo
courtesy Abadia de Montserrat 30
FIGURE 2.3. 8HevXIIgr. Photo courtesy of the Israel Antiquities
Authority 31
FIGURE 2.4. Qumran fragment 7Q5. Photo Taila Sagiv, Courtesy
of the Israel Antiquities Authority 37
FIGURE 2.5. O.Masada 784. Photo Mariana Salzberger, Courtesy
of the Israel Antiquities Authority 39
FIGURE 2.6. P.Vindob. G 42417: Letter to the Hebrews. Photo
courtesy Papyrussamrnlung, Osterreichische
Nationalbibliothek 40
X 0 LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE 2.7. P.Iand. I 4· Photo courtesy Universitatsbibliothek,
~~ ~
FIGURE 2.8. P.Oxy. L 3529. Photo courtesy of the Egypt
Exploration Society 44
FIGURE 2.9. P.Mich. 130. Photo courtesy University of Michigan
~~ ~
FIGURE 4.1. P. Oxy. XLI 2949. Photo courtesy of the Egypt
Exploration Society 75
FIGURE 4.2. PSI VIII 921. Photo courtesy Graeco-Roman
Museum, Alexandria 76
FIGURE 4-3· P.IFAO 11 31. Photo reproduced with permission
of the Institut fran~j:ais d'archeologie orientale, Cairo 77