The Monastic Origins of the Nag Hammadi Codices

Description

Hugo Lundhaug and Lance Jenott offer a sustained argument for the monastic provenance of the Nag Hammadi Codices. They examine the arguments for and against a monastic Sitz im Leben and defend the view that the Codices were produced and read by Christian monks, most likely Pachomians, in the fourth- and fifth-century monasteries of Upper Egypt. Eschewing the modern classification of the Nag Hammadi texts as "Gnostic," the authors approach the codices and their ancient owners from the perspective of the diverse monastic culture of late antique Egypt and situate them in the context of the ongoing controversies over extra-canonical literature and the theological legacy of Origen. Through a combination of sources, including idealized hagiographies, travelogues, monastic rules and exhortations, and the more quotidian details revealed in documentary papyri, manuscript collections, and archaeology, monasticism in the Thebaid is brought to life, and the Nag Hammadi codices situated within it. The cartonnage papyri from the leather covers of the codices, which bear witness to the monastic culture of the region, are closely examined, while scribal and codicological features of the codices are analyzed and compared with contemporary manuscripts from Egypt. Special attention is given to the codices' scribal notes and colophons which offer direct evidence of their producers and users. The study ultimately reveals the Nag Hammadi Codices as a collection of books completely at home in the monastic manuscript culture of late antique Egypt. Cover Titel Preface Table of Contents Maps and Images Abbreviations Chapter 1: The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics? A Brief History of the Question The Present Study Dating the Codices The Discovery Chapter 2: Monastic Diversity in Upper Egypt Literary Evidence Travelogues Hagiographies Shenoute of Atripe and Archbishop Dioscorus Archaeological Evidence Documentary Evidence Monastic Archives Monastic Documents from the Nag Hammadi Covers Conclusion Chapter 3: Gnostics? Sethian Gnostics? Gnostics in Fourth- and Fifth-Century Egypt? Gnostics in Egyptian Monasteries? Conclusion Chapter 4: Contrasting Mentalities? Anti-Biblical Books? Hatred of the World and its Creator? Urban Literati? Conclusion Chapter 5: The Cartonnage Commercial Documents Official Accounts and Large Quantities Imperial Ordinances? Recycled Scripture A Coptic Homily or Epistle Monks’ Letters and the Pachomian Connection Acquisition of Cartonnage Cover-Makers and Scribes Conclusion Chapter 6: Apocryphal Books in Egyptian Monasteries Censors and Sympathizers Book Lists Manuscript Discoveries The Pachomian Federation Shenoute and the White Monastery Federation Dioscorus of Alexandria Conclusion Chapter 7: The Colophons The Scribe and His Superior: Codex VII The Scribe and His Community: Codex II The Scribe and His Spiritual Name: Codex III The Scribe and His Codes: Cryptography The Scribe and His Network: Codex VI Conclusion Chapter 8: The Codices Sub-Groups among the Nag Hammadi Codices Traveling Texts and Migrating People The Nag Hammadi Codices and Biblical Manuscripts The Dishna Papers Conclusion Chapter 9: The Monks Melitian Monks? Origenist Monks? Pachomian Monks? Implications Chapter 10: The Secret Books of the Egyptian Monastics Bibliography Index of Ancient Sources Index of Modern Authors Index of Subjects