New Article on Revelation Papyri

P.Oxy. LXVI 4500 (GA 0308) 

By now, many of you will have been tired (or worse) of my yappings about Revelation manuscripts. I’m sorry, I can’t help it and, what doesn’t help matters, the text of Revelation also happens to be the main focus of my day job. Anyway, one of the disadvantages of working extensively on a single manuscript is that it’s easy to lose the sense of wider context—socio-historical, textual, material, etc. I certainly felt this way during my PhD and so, while working through my analyses of P.Beatty I did my best to get acquainted with the wider manuscript tradition, particularly its earliest strata. An off-shoot of these ancillary investigations was an extended seminar paper I gave at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal in 2016, followed by a much more condensed SBL paper last year. Especially in the latter, I tried to address some socio-historical claims that have been made concerning the papyri* of Revelation (individually and as a group). My main purpose, however, was to bring the evidence under fresh scrutiny and provide a general overview.

I’m happy to report that a revised version of the paper has just been published and I’m told it works magic if you have problems with insomnia: ‘The Greek Text of Revelation in Late Antique Egypt: Materials, Texts, and Social History’, ZAC 22 (2019) 400–21.

*Note that ‘papyri’ here is taken in the broader sense as used by papyrologists, thus including texts written on other materials as well. 

Zach Cole Reviews Christian Oxyrhynchus

In lieu of our own Peter Head’s unsuccessful attempt to review Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources, I offer this snippet from Zach Cole’s new and helpful review in JETS (60.1):

Foremost among this project’s shining virtues is that it brings together in one place what would otherwise require several dozens of volumes. Further, the editors’ careful and consistent treatment brings some of the older editions up to date and provides English translations where some were lacking. Also laudable is the extent to which the editorial introductions to each text provide crucial background information and evaluation; the result is much more than a simple database of texts, but rather a coherent and understandable anthology. Another strength is the inclusion of texts written in languages other than Greek. The reader will find some texts in Syriac, Coptic, and Latin. Finally, while the subject of Christian documentary papyri has received increased attention in recent years (e.g. the work of AnneMarie Luijendijk and of Blumell elsewhere), sadly it remains unfamiliar to many scholars of NT and early Christianity. The present volume is thus an ideal entry point into the fascinating world of Christian documentary texts.

The only complaint he lodges is that the book should have included the 20 Old Testament fragments from Oxyrhynchus. The editors’ reasons for not doing so—having to do with the problem of using nomina sacra to identify them as Christian rather than Jewish—are a bit inconsistent with some of their other comments in the volume. But that’s Cole’s only criticism.

It’s too bad this volume isn’t a bit more affordable.

New Book on Christian Oxyrhynchus Texts

Releasing this week is what looks like a substantial new book on Christian texts from Oxyrhynchus titled Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents, and Sources by Lincoln H. Blumell and Thomas A. Wayment.

Hardcover: 752 pages
Publisher: Baylor University Press
ISBN: 1602585393

From the publisher’s blurb:

Blumell and Wayment present a thorough compendium of all published papyri, parchments, and patristic sources that relate to Christianity at Oxyrhynchus before the fifth century CE.Christian Oxyrhynchus provides new and expanded editions of Christian literary and documentary texts that include updated readings, English translations—some of which represent the first English translation of a text—and comprehensive notes.

The volume features New Testament texts carefully collated against other textual witnesses and a succinct introduction for each Oxyrhynchus text that provides information about the date of the papyrus, its unique characteristics, and textual variants. Documentary texts are grouped both by genre and date, giving readers access to the Decian Libelli, references to Christians in third- and fourth-century texts, and letters written by Christians. A compelling resource for researchers, teachers, and students, Christian Oxyrhynchus enables broad access to these crucial primary documents beyond specialists in papyrology, Greek, Latin, and Coptic.

Update (PMH)

We asked the publishers for a review copy so that we could report as to whether the book was any good or not, but they said, “Due to the size and cost of this book, we are not able to mail physical copies for review in Britain.” So we don’t know at this point of time whether this book is any good or not. Hence: caveat emptor.

Where did you put those manuscripts?

I just finished reading the following article:
AnneMarie Luijendijk, 'Papyri from the Great Persecution: Roman and Christian Perspectives' in The Journal of Early Christian Studies 16:3 (Fall, 2008): 341–369.

The article contrasts two pieces of documentary evidence with the patristic accounts of Diocletian's persecution. The first papyrus (P.Oxy. XXXIII 2673) speaks of the confiscation of church property and the second (P.Oxy XXXI 2601) preserves evidence of Christians circumventing demands for imperial worship.

Dr Luijendijk (LOY[as in boy]-EN-DIKE[as in bike]) mentions another text which is of particular interest. The Gesta apud Zenophilum contains an excerpt from a text titled the Acta of Munatius Felix which documents the confiscation of the goods of a Numidian (modern Algeria) church in the first decade of the 4th century. Numerous gold, silver and bronze items were turned over in addition to clothing and other goods. When the authorities searched the premises, they found further valuables including a codex. When the homes of church readers were searched, 37 manuscripts turned up.

These naughty Christians had neglected to submit their biblical manuscripts to the authorities.

In the first P.Oxy text, only a few bronze items are relinquished to the authorities. Are the Christians in this Fayumic town also hiding their manuscripts and other goods? Are the authorities looking the other way? This article poses a number of provocative questions concerning how the persecution played out and the ways in which Christians learned to avoid legal punishment. The second P.Oxy text demonstrates how an early Christian escaped offering tribute in a forensic setting. The ancient author's Christian faith is marked by the isopsephy of a final Ϟθ' which apparently is code for "Amen".

Multispectral Imaging of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri

In an earlier post, we discussed the possibility that scholars from BYU had uncovered a new ending to Mark's gospel. The report turned out to be an unfortunate error on the part of a journalism student. The Oxyrhynchus Project has posted images and flash animations which document the type of results which were reached, here.

The results are impressive. I wonder to what degree similar results could be reached with a high resolution scan and a program like photoshop. I have used these to edit a bit of a Bohairic psalter with results similar to what I am seeing here. Unfortunately, there are no images of the work done on the carbonized papyri.