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Nag Hammadi Library

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Categories: Sacred Texts

Revision as of 06:47, 23 Oct 2004
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-'''Nag Hammâdi''' is a village in the middle of [[Wikipedia:Egypt|Egypt]], called '''Chenoboskion''' in classical antiquity, about 225 kilometres north-west of [[Wikipedia:Aswan|Aswan]] with some 30.000 citizens. It is mostly a peasant area where goods such as sugar and aluminium are produced.+[[Image:Naghammadi_books.jpg|right|The books of the Nag Hammadi Library]]The '''Nag Hammadi Library''' is a collection of sacred texts that were discovered by Mohammed Ali Samman in 1945 in the small village of Nag Hammâdi (''Chenoboskion'' in classical antiquity) in central Egypt. The thirteen [[codex|codices]], with fifty-two texts, were found buried in a sealed jar. The writings in these codices are mostly [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the ''[[Corpus Hermeticum]]'' and a partial translation of [[Plato|Plato's]] ''Republic''. The codices are believed to be a library, hidden by monks from the nearby St. Pachomius monastery when these writings were banned by the Orthodox Church in an effort to eliminate all heterodoxy and heresy.
-==The Nag Hammadi Library== +The contents of the codices were written in Coptic, though the works were mostly (all?) translations from Greek. Most famous of these works must be the [[Gospel of Thomas]], of which the Nag Hammadi codices contain the only complete copy. After the discovery it was recognized that fragments of these sayings of [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] appeared in manuscripts that had been discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1898, and quotations were recognized in other early Christian sources. The 1st or 2nd century date of the lost Greek originals behind the Coptic translations is controverted, but the manuscripts themselves are from the 3rd and 4th centuries.
- +
-Nag Hammadi is best known for being the site where in December, 1945 thirteen [[codex|codices]] were found buried in a sealed jar. The writings in these codices are mostly [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the ''[[Hermetica|Corpus Hermeticum]]'' and a partial translation of [[Plato]]'s [[Plato's Republic|''Republic'']]. The codices are believed to be a library, hidden by monks from a monastery in the area when these writings were banned by the Orthodox Church. +
- +
-The contents of the codices were written in [[Coptic language|Coptic]], though the works were mostly (all?) translations from [[Greek language|Greek]]. Most famous of these works must be the [[Gospel of Thomas]], of which the Nag Hammadi codices contain the only complete copy. After the discovery it was recognized that fragments of these sayings of Jesus appeared in manuscripts that had been discovered at [[Oxyrhynchus]] in 1898, and quotations were recognized in other early Christian sources. The 1st or 2nd century date of the lost Greek originals behind the Coptic translations is controverted, but the manuscripts themselves are from the 3rd and 4th centuries.+
==List of Codices Found in Nag Hammadi== ==List of Codices Found in Nag Hammadi==
- +[[Image:Naghammadi_thomas.jpg|right|frame|The Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi Library]] 
-*Codex I (also known as ''The [[Carl Jung|Jung]] Codex''): +*'''Codex I''' (also known as ''The [[Carl Jung|Jung]] Codex''): 
-** ''The Prayer of the Apostle Paul'' +** The Prayer of the Apostle Paul 
-** ''The Apocryphon of James'' +** The Apocryphon of James 
-** ''The Gospel of Truth'' +** The Gospel of Truth 
-** ''The Treatise on the Resurrection'' +** The Treatise on the Resurrection 
-** ''The Tripartite Tractate'' +** The Tripartite Tractate 
-*Codex II: +*'''Codex II''': 
-** ''The Apocryphon of John'' +** The Apocryphon of John 
-** ''The [[Gospel of Thomas]]'' -- not regarded as Gnostic by all scholars, some believe this is actually as reliable as the other Gospels +** The [[Gospel of Thomas]] 
-** ''The [[Gospel of Philip]]'' +** The [[Gospel of Philip]] 
-** ''The Hypostasis of the Archons'' +** The Hypostasis of the Archons 
-** ''On the Origin of the World'' +** On the Origin of the World 
-** ''The Exegesis on the Soul'' +** The Exegesis on the Soul 
-** ''The Book of Thomas the Contender'' +** The Book of Thomas the Contender 
-*Codex III: +*'''Codex III''': 
-** ''The Apocryphon of John'' +** The Apocryphon of John 
-** ''The [[Gospel of the Egyptians]]'' +** The [[Gospel of the Egyptians]] 
-** ''Eugnostos the Blessed'' +** Eugnostos the Blessed 
-** ''[[The Sophia of Jesus Christ]]'' +** [[The Sophia of Jesus Christ]] 
-** ''The Dialogue of the Savior'' +** The Dialogue of the Savior 
-*Codex IV: +*'''Codex IV''': 
-** ''The Apocryphon of John'' +** The Apocryphon of John 
-** ''The Gospel of the Egyptians'' +** The Gospel of the Egyptians 
-*Codex V: +*'''Codex V''': 
-** ''Eugnostos the Blessed'' +** Eugnostos the Blessed 
-** ''The Apocalypse of Paul'' +** The Apocalypse of Paul 
-** ''The (first) Apocalypse of James'' +** The (first) Apocalypse of James 
-** ''The (second) Apocalypse of James'' +** The (second) Apocalypse of James 
-** ''The Apocalypse of Adam'' +** The Apocalypse of Adam 
-*Codex VI: +*'''Codex VI''': 
-** ''The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles'' +** The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles 
-** ''The Thunder, Perfect Mind'' +** The Thunder, Perfect Mind 
-** ''Authorative Teaching'' +** Authorative Teaching 
-** ''The Concept of Our Great Power'' +** The Concept of Our Great Power 
-** ''[[Plato's Republic|Republic]]'' by [[Plato]] - The original is not gnostic, but the Nag Hammadi library version is heavily modified and therefore gnostic. +** ''The Republic'' by [[Plato]] - The original is not gnostic, but the Nag Hammadi library version is heavily modified and therefore gnostic. 
-** ''The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth'' - a [[Hermetica|Hermetic]] treatise +** The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth'' - a [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] treatise 
-** ''The Prayer of Thanksgiving'' (with a hand-written note) - a [[Hermetica|Hermetic]] prayer +** The Prayer of Thanksgiving'' (with a hand-written note) - a [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] prayer 
-** ''Asclepius 21-29'' - another [[Hermetica|Hermetic]] treatise +** Asclepius 21-29'' - another [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] treatise 
-*Codex VII: +*'''Codex VII''': 
-** ''The Paraphrase of Shem'' +** The Paraphrase of Shem 
-** ''The Second Treatise of the Great Seth'' +** The Second Treatise of the Great Seth 
-** ''[[Apocalypse of Peter]]'' +** [[Apocalypse of Peter]] 
-** ''The Teachings of Silvanus'' +** The Teachings of Silvanus 
-** ''The Three Steles of Seth'' +** The Three Steles of Seth 
-*Codex VIII: +*'''Codex VIII''': 
-** ''Zostrianos'' +** Zostrianos 
-** ''The Letter of Peter to Philip'' +** The Letter of Peter to Philip 
-*Codex IX: +*'''Codex IX''': 
-** ''Melchizedek'' +** Melchizedek 
-** ''The Thought of Norea'' +** The Thought of Norea 
-** ''The Testimony of Truth'' +** The Testimony of Truth 
-*Codex X: +*'''Codex X''': 
-** ''Marsanes'' +** Marsanes 
-*Codex XI: +*'''Codex XI''': 
-** ''The Interpretation of Knowledge'' +** The Interpretation of Knowledge 
-** ''A Valentinian Exposition'', ''On the Anointing'', ''On Baptism'' (A and B) and ''On the Eucharist'' (A and B) +** A Valentinian Exposition, On the Anointing, On Baptism (A and B) ''and'' On the Eucharist (A and B) 
-** ''Allogenes'' +** Allogenes 
-** ''Hypsiphrone'' +** Hypsiphrone 
-*Codex XII +*'''Codex XII''': 
-** ''The Sentences of Sextus'' +** The Sentences of Sextus 
-** ''The Gospel of Truth'' +** The Gospel of Truth 
-** ''Fragments'' +** Fragments 
-*Codex XIII: +*'''Codex XIII''': 
-** ''Trimorphic Protennoia'' +** Trimorphic Protennoia 
-** ''On the Origin of the World''+** On the Origin of the World
==References== ==References==
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==External links== ==External links==
-*[http://www.gnosis.org Introduction and some text of the Nag Hammadi scriptures] +*[http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html The Nag Hammadi Library at Gnosis.org] —with an introduction and the full texts 
-*[http://www.nag-hammadi.com/ The Nag Hammadi library]+*[http://www.nag-hammadi.com/ The Nag Hammadi Library at nag-hammadi.com] —with stories of its discovery
-[[Category:Bibles]] +[[Category:Sacred Texts]]
-[[Category:Gnosticism]] +
-[[Category:Cities in Egypt]]+

Current revision

The books of the Nag Hammadi Library
The Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of sacred texts that were discovered by Mohammed Ali Samman in 1945 in the small village of Nag Hammâdi (Chenoboskion in classical antiquity) in central Egypt. The thirteen codices, with fifty-two texts, were found buried in a sealed jar. The writings in these codices are mostly Gnostic treatises, but they also include three works belonging to the Corpus Hermeticum and a partial translation of Plato's Republic. The codices are believed to be a library, hidden by monks from the nearby St. Pachomius monastery when these writings were banned by the Orthodox Church in an effort to eliminate all heterodoxy and heresy.

The contents of the codices were written in Coptic, though the works were mostly (all?) translations from Greek. Most famous of these works must be the Gospel of Thomas, of which the Nag Hammadi codices contain the only complete copy. After the discovery it was recognized that fragments of these sayings of Jesus appeared in manuscripts that had been discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1898, and quotations were recognized in other early Christian sources. The 1st or 2nd century date of the lost Greek originals behind the Coptic translations is controverted, but the manuscripts themselves are from the 3rd and 4th centuries.

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List of Codices Found in Nag Hammadi

The Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi Library
The Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi Library
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References

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External links


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