Our first image is of a very old Bohairic [or proto-Bohairic] text. It is the famous Bala'izah #19. Containing Philippians 3:19 - 4:9 on both recto and verso sides. Parchment, written circa late fourth century. See next images below for a transcription! From Vööbus, this particular image is not very good, but it does reveal some script. For more on the Old Bohairic, see the fourth sample below (P. Mich. 926).

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A sample from Codex Schøyen, in Middle Egyptian Coptic (aka Mesokemic). Circa A.D. 325 - 350. Also known as Schøyen 2650. Borrowed from the Schøyen website:

http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/4/4.1/413.html#2650

The student should note the presence of trema, supralinear strokes, occasional spaces between words, and typical Christian abbreviations (nomina sacra). The uncial letters and some of the ornamentation reminds me of the Greek Codex Vaticanus (03), and other Greek codices, as well as some of the Chester Beatty Coptic papyri. This papyrus came from a monastery in the Oxyrhynchus area (per Schenke). On folio 36 of Papyrus P72, we note a similar coronis (tail piece, ornament) as seen in this sample of Codex Schøyen. Many manuscripts produced by an Egyptian scribe show similar simple headers and ornaments, with lines and headers and footers formed creatively using diplés. I have enhanced the image which I borrowed from the above website. This is also the earliest known copy of Matthew of any of the known Coptic MSS.

"The text is unique, not following any Coptic nor Greek manuscripts known of Matthew." Published: Hans-Martin Schenke in the series Manuscripts in The Schøyen Collection, ed. Jens Braarvig; Coptic Papyri, vol. I. Oslo 2001.

P. Mich. inv. 926. Another famous papyrus written in Old Bohairic. Though it contains a few portions of Romans and Job, it is part of a writing or school-book exercise book. Date circa A.D. 350, or early fourth per Paul Eric Kahle, Bell, Youtie and Roberts. From Theadelphia, Arsinoite nome, Egypt. Part of a codex, of which 2 double leaves remain. Image borrowed from APIS, University of Michigan, on-line. I enhanced the image for your viewing pleasure!

For a discussion of Bohairic one may still refer to Kahle (Bala'izah, pages 250f). We have proof that it existed in pre-fourth century Egypt. Kahle points out that Bohairic was the main dialect of the delta region of Egypt. Consequently, the value of the New Testament Bohairic version is enhanced, it is probably much older than many neo-critics will admit to! The Bohairic version seems to be more stable than the Sahidic version, but future analyses wil prove or disprove this. Even if this is an "exercise book" the script is fairly well written. See if you can find several of the "Old Coptic" characters in the image!

In the image next to the sample, we have Elinor M. Husselman's transcription of this leaf, with her notes. Extracted from JNES, 1947, volume 6, No. 3; refer to pages 129-151 for all of its text and transcription by Husselman. [As an aside, 1947 was a good year!]

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Chester Beatty manuscript Coptic B. Date circa A.D. 570-600. Contains Acts, followed by John in Sahidic. Provenance: the monastery of Apa Jeremias at Saqqâra in Egypt. Sample (from Thompson's work) shows Acts 1:1-6, folio 3a. Coins found with the manuscripts have a date range from A.D. 568 - 602, all coins were in fine condition.

This manuscript and the following one below (Codex A) were both written on vellum; they present one of the earliest and best texts of the Acts and Pauline Epistles in Sahidic. They form the base text for Sir Herbert Thompson's work, and for the text of Mr. Hany Takla [of the Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society's CD]. In the sample image, on the right, you will note a bird drawn on the left margin, it is the lower part of the coronis. This is a form of an ancient type of coronis, dating back to at least as early as the 4th century B.C.. (Per C. H. Roberts, Greek Literary Hands, page 1). Note that there is very little spacing between words; often upper, lower, and middle dots are used for punctuation. Supralinear strokes and trema are observed.

Chester Beatty manuscript Coptic A. Same date and provenance as the "B" above. It contains all of the Pauline epistles. Like most Sahidic manuscripts, Hebrews is placed between II Corinthians and Galatians. Sample image is also from Thompson's work - The Coptic Version of the Acts of the Apostles and the Pauline Epistles in the Sahidic Dialect. Cambridge, 1932.

In the image on the right, word separators have been inserted by a modern hand. It contains an apostrophe and other marks of punctuation. As stated above, it is the basis of Thompson's text of the Sahidic and of Mr. Takla's.

Codex Jung, the "Gospel of Truth", a non-Biblical manuscript of the Gnostic tradition. Written circa A.D. 325-350, also known as Nag Hammadi Codex 1. Reflects the writings of the Gnostic Valentinus. The image on the far right is an English translation of the sample page. Translation from The Gnostic Scriptures, Bentley Layton, page 255. His text numbering matches the lines of the Coptic text, which is in the Subachmimic dialect (per Layton). Jung image borrowed from Finegan, The Archeology of the New Testament.

Any Christian who reads this sort of trash will soon see that it is a perversion of truth. That said, it probably ought to be read, it makes clear the type of opposition early Christians had to deal with. Even today such rubbish is again becoming popular. Note in line 27, the Coptic abbreviation for "cross", this particular abbreviation is available in Mr. Dykes' COPTIC44.ttf font! Note that the page also indicates that whoever (probably Valentinus) wrote this stuff, was aware of the New Testament text, via the numerous allusions just seen on this leaf!

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P. Mich. inv. 3521. The Gospel of John in Fayumic Coptic. Papyrus date: circa A.D. 325. Published by Elinor Husselman, 1962. Exists in 29 fragmented folios, of single quire format. Image on the right of the sample (from Husselman's edition) shows Husselman's transcription of this leaf.

The gifted E. Husselman produced a fine work here! She correctly supports her use of the term Fayumic (as opposed to "Middle...). She also collates against other Coptic texts. It appears to be a form of text agreeing in part with the Bohairic, then with the Sahidic, perhaps the scribe used both Bohairic and Sahidic versions to compose or create his/her text? Like the Codex Schøyen, above, early Coptic works seem to reflect an unstable environment, rather than to faithfully follow rigidly a single text perceived as Holy. One wonders how concerned they were about introducing changes and foreign elements into their exemplar(s). However, as Husselman shows, there is a clear, broad agreement here of the text of John amongst the various dialects. She does not, however, suggest that this MS may be a translation directly from a Greek exemplar, but rather as stated above, that it rests upon the Bohairic and Sahidic Coptic versions.

The other fragments found with this MS, (on Ecclesiastes and the Gospel of John, each in Fayumic) have also been published: Papyrus Michigan 3520 und 6868(a): Ecclesiastes, Erster Johannesbrief und Zweiter Petrusbrief im fayumischen Dialekt. Uwe-Karsten Plisch and Rodolphe Kasser. Berlin, de Gruyter, 2003.

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Schøyen MS 114. Psalms, in Sahidic on vellum. From the White Monastery, Egypt. Date: circa A.D. 400. Consists of 13 folios, and 6 fragments.

Part of an image borrowed from the Schøyen site (above). Beautiful manuscript. Note the unusual line lengths! such line lengths were probably "exported" to Italian scriptoriums, thus the form of these short lines (as seen in Greek/Latin codices Bezae and Claromontanus) probably originated in Egypt [so suggests the webmaster]. This manuscript was at one time in America, but Ferrini sold it.

Or. 908. Coptic and Arabic, paper, 221 ff. (f. 13 is more recent), not dated, illuminations (ff. 45b, 93a, 147a) and numerous illuminated capitals and smaller ornaments (e.g. f. 150a). Incomplete copy (beginning and end are missing) of a Coptic liturgy with Arabic translation, written in two columns.

Borrowed from the Leiden website - http://www.leidenuniv.nl

From the looks of the paper, it is probably not European. The Coptic script, in my estimation, is circa A.D. 1200 - 1400. We have numerous Coptic with Arabic translation manuscripts scattered in many libraries.

Morgan M 570. Pauline epistles. Sahidic on parchment. Provenance: St. Michael Monastery, Hamouli, [aka Harmouli], Egypt. Date: circa A.D. 850.

Manuscript M in the collation apparatus of Herbert Thompson of his Pauline Epistles. Writing shows some word divisions. The decoration, though Egyptian, has some minor affinities with Byzantine artistry. The manuscript has some errors of carelessness, such as homioteleutons, one is seen in this sample page of Romans chapter 1. Part of a hoard of MSS purchased by Pierpont Morgan, fortunately, as they are well taken care of. Facsimile editions are rare, but the Pierpont Morgan library does sell images!

Morgan M 579, folio 16 verso. Dated: A.D. 823. A MS containing liturgical matter.

One may note in the sample image, that supralinear strokes are almost reduced to simple dots. Punctuation is seen, and several interesting markers are seen on the left side of the right column.

Two different manuscript samples, but both circa A.D. 1150.

#1, illumination of the baptism with John the Baptist, Paris Bibliotheque Nationale. Text appears to be in Bohairic. One should note the use of the uncial form of the Bohairic letter CHAI, it is the typical form in most Bohairic handwritten MSS. Note also several "filled-in" letters, a technique seen often in European Latin MSS.

Sample #2, the four gospel evangelists. Illumination from Gospel of Mark, in Smithsonian Institution. Note the bare feet, the prominent Coptic-type eyes, and Greek style robes. Interestingly, Matthew holds open his text as a scroll, the other three are holding codices. Both samples show the strong influence of Greek artistry.

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Rome, Vatican, Borg. Coptic 13. Folio 104v. Bohairic with Arabic translation. Date: circa A.D. 1250. Used by Horner in his Bohairic version/edition. Text is II Corinthians 5:11 - 16. [from Vogels]

Again note the Bohairic letter CHAI in its usual handwritten uncial form. lots of information seen in this sample as concerns the forms of the Coptic letters seen in this era.

Bohairic with Arabic translation. Euchologion. On hand made (laid) European paper. Quarto format. Date: circa 1500-1700. (Mr. Takla suggests 1400 and later).

Image #1, recto, beginning of the fifth quire, page 40.

Image #2, verso of the above, page 41.

Image #3, the same leaf, but backlit to show the watermark. Appears to be 1/2 of the full mark. Note the crescent within the "eye" shape. Unable as yet, to date this watermark!

This particular manuscript is being sold on E-BAY, page by page! It may never again be re-assembled; a loss perhaps. But then Bruce Ferrini (its owner) needs to pay off several law-suits. He seems to have little choice, and no one seems to be stepping-up with cash in hand to offer to buy the entire book so as to preserve it as a whole book. Such is life!

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British Museum, MS. Or. 7594. Papyrus, Sahidic. Sample shows ending of Deuteronomy, and beginning of Jonah. Manuscript also contains much of Acts. Date: circa A.D. 275 - 325. Published in E. A. Wallis Budge, Coptic Biblical Texts in the Dialect of Upper Egypt. 1912. [from Wurthwein: The Text of the Old Testament, ably translated from the German by the American Bible Society scholar, Dr. Erroll F. Rhodes]]

According to the late B. M. Metzger, Budge and Thompson both date this MS at A.D. 300-320. Kenyon (Recent Developments in the Textual Criticism of the Greek Bible, 1933, page 35), pointed out that in the binding were found fragments of papyri with Greek cursive script, also dated 4th century. All-in-all, we have here an ancient copy of Sahidic proving the existence of both the Old Testament, and of the New Testament in mature formats in Sahidic in Egypt.

Note the spelling of the word "Deuteronomy" with a T- .

British Museum, Coptic papyrus - XXXVI, later 167. Canons of Athanasius. Date circa A.D. 600.

The added page of comments is by W. E. Crum. Typical of this era for literary Coptic texts is the broad strokes of the Coptic letters, this is the work of a professional scribe.

Nag Hammadi codex II, folio 32. Ending of The Apocryphon of John, and the beginning of the Gospel of Thomas. As per most of the Nag Hammadi materials, it was written circa A.D. 350.

Sample image borrowed from: The Facsimile Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices. 1974, part of a fine and costly set of facsimiles; however, one wishes that they were in full color!

Click on this thumbnail, and jump to a short HTML page

to read about two English translations of this leaf and other Nag Hammadi materials, compared. (Layton and Wisse).

Louvain Coptic 44. Saint Gregory of Nazianze. Date circa A.D. 719.

Sample image borrowed from Lefort, Les Manuscrits Coptes de L'Université de Louvain. Louvain, 1940. Note the increasing cursiveness of some of the characters.

BM, MS Or. 6782, Death of St. John the Evangelist, folio 5b. On parchment, dated A.D. 990.

Second image is an illustration from the same codex. [both from Budge]

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Morgan, M 617. Folio 1r, Bohairic. Gospel of Luke. Also contains Gospel of John. Date, circa 12th century.

42 leaves remain of an original 88. Note the zoomorphic ornamentation, as well as a headpiece which has some Byzantine characteristics.

BM, MS Or. 7021, folio 1a. St. Michael the Archangel.

Sample of typical Coptic illumination. (from Budge)

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