Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Gnostic Writing in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri

The image is P.Oxy 2061

I had been claiming that there were no Gnostic writings found in the Oxyrhynchus papyri, apart from the Gospel of Thomas fragments, which are arguably Gnostic, but then I decided to check. To my surprise I came up with the following, some of which are debatably Gnostic. (The Oxford University Oxyrhynchus Online site has photographs of most of the fragments and transcriptions and translations of many.) Ox pOxy 1, 654, 655 These are the Greek Gospel of Thomas fragments




P.Oxy.L 3525
Gospel of Mary

P.Oxy 924
P.Oxy.XVI 2061
P.Oxy.XVI 2063
P.Oxy.XVI 2062
The above are "Gnostic Charms"
P.Oxy 1060
Gnostic Amulet

These magical charms and amulet are sometimes considered Gnostic by virtue of the gods mentioned in the texts.
 P.Oxy 1081
A fragment of The Sophia of Jesus Christ.
P.Oxy 2074
A.S. hunt thought that this was a fifth century "Apostrophe to Wisdom" by Melito of Sardes.
But David Brons claimed it as A Hymn to Sophia, an anonymous Valentinian writing, although I don't know what the grounds were for this.
Also, according to an indexed Google extract from a subscription only article, there are "
striking similarities between Melito and a corrupt text preserved in a fifth century papyrus from Oxyrhynchus (P. Oxy. 2074)"

"The Homily on the Passion" by Melito Bishop of Sardis and Some Fragments of the Apocryphal Ezekiel by Campbell Bonner, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar., 1941), pp. 81-88

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