Scripture as Trash in Roman Oxyrhynchus

 

Excavations in the trash mounds at Oxyrhynchus

 

A number of years ago AnneMarie Luijendijk (a professor at Princeton University) wrote an article addressing the state of biblical manuscripts discovered in the trash heaps of Roman Oxyrhynchus.

 AnneMarie Luijendijk, "Sacred Scriptures as Trash: Biblical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus," Vigiliae Christianae 64 (2010): 217-254.

In this article she notes that many complete manuscripts of both secular classical literature and Christian literature were discarded as trash, often torn up into several pieces before being thrown away (Luijendijk, "Sacred Scriptures," 244). The fact that these seemingly useful manuscripts were intentionally torn up before discarding is noted as far back as the original excavation reports at Oxyrhynchus by Grenfell and Hunt (Grenfell and Hunt, “Excavations at Oxyrhynchus," 361). Don Barker has also noted that many of the book fragments found at Oxyrhynchus give evidence of being torn up before being discarded (Barker, “Codex, Roll, and Libraries in Oxyrhynchus,” 140, n33). It is nearly impossible to know the exact circumstances of why these papyri were torn up. Luijendijk gives an insightful answer at the end of the article, comparing the late antique practice of destroying sacred icons before discarding them as a way of breaking the sacred image away from the physical icon.

"I consider it quite likely that people, in this case early Christians from Oxyrhynchus, purposely shredded sacred scriptures when they discarded them in order to definitely break the link between sacred text and sacred manuscript." (Luijendijk, "Sacred Scriptures," 249)

At the end of the article Luijendijk lists out several copies of New Testament writings (and a few of the Shepherd of Hermas) that where likely thrown out as whole or nearly whole manuscripts, yet torn up into smaller fragments before being tossed into the trash mound. Why would Christians feel the necessity to throw away a copy of their scriptures, even if they were damaged? Luijendijk, indirectly gives an answer, a likely scenario is that these papyrus copies of the New Testament (and the Shepherd of Hermas) were replaced by new parchment copies (Luijendijk, "Sacred Scriptures," 230-231). Jerome informs us that at one point, an extensive project was undertaken at the Cesarean Library to restore the aging papyrus manuscripts onto parchment codices.

"Euzoius was educated as a young man at Caesarea along with Gregory, the bishop of Nazianzus, under the rhetor Thespesius and later became bishop of the same city; with very great toil he attempted to restore on parchment the library of Origen and Pamphilus that had been damaged." (Jerome, Vir ill. 113; translation taken from Carriker, p. 23, n. 70)

This possibility becomes more likely when considering that there was a manufacturer of manuscript parchment located in Oxyrhychus. Luijendijk argues this fact in another work, suggesting that Sotas, the third century bishop of Oxyrhynchus was likely involved in the production of books, noting that he wrote two letters on fragments of parchment, rather than papyrus. This was highly unusual and indicates that scraps of parchment left over from book production were available for use in letter writing (Luijendijk, "Greetings in the Lord," 144-151).

There are two implications that can be drawn from this evidence concerning the early Christian view of scripture, at least as it was held in Roman Oxyrhynchus at the time these manuscripts were discarded. First, Christians seem to have viewed the “text” of their scripture, the message that they conveyed, as more important than the physical objects of the scriptures. They did not hold onto their physical books as sacred relics to be worshiped, rather, they valued the message that the texts conveyed.

Second, related to this idea, these Christians did not seem to give greater value to the these more ancient books for their closer proximity in time to the “autographs.” In other words, they saw no need to hold onto and preserve these older copies of the New Testament writings as if they would help to safeguard the New Testament from textual corruption. Once good copies of these manuscripts were made, the old ones could be discarded.

Though admittedly speculative, these observations push hard against the idea that the “autographs” of the New Testament survived for centuries. As I have noted in a previous post, it is highly likely that early copies of at least some of the New Testament books lasted for many years. Yet, if the attitudes of Christians at Oxyrhynchus can be extrapolated more broadly in the early Christian community, it is likely that many of the “autographs and first copies” (to borrow Craig Evans’s language) of the New Testament writings were tossed into the trash heaps once good copies were made. It wasn't the guarding and keeping of the "autographs" that preserved the New Testament so amazingly well, it was the early and widespread abundant copying of the New Testament that ensured its preservation.

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AnneMarie Luijendijk, Greetings in the Lord: Early Christians and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Cambridge/Massachusetts:Harvard University Press, 2008.

  

AnneMarie Luijendijk, "Sacred Scriptures as Trash: Biblical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus," Vigiliae Christianae 64 (2010): 217-254.

 

Andrew James Carriker. The Library of Eusebius of Caesarea. VCsup 67. Leiden: Brill, 2003.

 

Craig A. Evans, “How Long were Late Antique Books in Use? Possible Implications for New Testament Textual Criticism,” Bulletin for Biblical Research 25.1 (2015): 23-37.

 

Don C. Barker, “Codex, Roll, and Libraries in Oxyrhynchus,”Tyndale Bulletin 57.1 (2006): 131-148.

 

Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt, “Excavations at Oxyrhynchus: Fifth Season (1905-6).

New Testament Textual Criticism at Tyndale House Cambridge

 

Tyndale House is a residential research library that is located in Cambridge, England. The library is one of the largest and best collections of research material for biblical scholarship. I stayed for a week at Tyndale House a few years ago and found an amazing research environment. It was a place where I had a seemingly unlimited amount of research materials at my fingertips and where I met with several other scholars over tea and coffee. Tyndale House is the source of the Tyndale House Greek New Testament and the soon to be released Textual Commentary. There are so many past and current textual scholars that have studied at Tyndale House in some way, either in their doctoral studies, or afterwards for post-doctoral research, their impact is hard to overestimate.

It is because of this and more that I am excited to share about Peter Montoro (PhD, University of Birmingham, UK), who has been working remotely as a scholar for Tyndale House. If you own a copy of the THGNT you will see his name already in the acknowledgments. Thus far Peter has been working remotely for Tyndale House in the USA, but he is now moving into a new fulltime permanent position in Cambridge and will be moving his family to England. Here is an excellent interview with Mark Ward discussing Peter's future research plans at Tyndale House, please give it a listen.

Future Advances in New Testament Textual Criticism - YouTube

The Montoro family requires financial assistants in order to make the move from the USA to England. If you feel motivated to give financially, you can find the link to his Give Send Go page here. 

The Education of Jesus in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

I was recently gifted Simon Gathercole's new translation of "The Apocryphal Gospels" published by Penguin Classics (2021). I have been very pleased with the book overall, the introduction was brief, but surprisingly informative, the same with the introductions for each gospel work. The translations by Gathercole are very readable and the presentation of the translation text is free from versification and other marginal or interlinear distractions common with translations, further encouraging the reader to take in large portions of the text. 

One apocryphal gospel grabbed my attention in particular as I had not paid it too much attention when I had first read it years before; The Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The (attempted) education of the boy Jesus is a central theme of the apocryphal text, with three separate education events depicted. Paul Foster provides an excellent analysis of these accounts in the J. K. Elliott feschrift, "The Education of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas," (pg. 327-347). The three accounts are located in chapters 6-7, 13, and 14, of Gathercole's translation.

Zacchaeus is given as the names of Jesus's first teacher,

"Now a teacher named Zacchaeus was standing by and heard Jesus saying this to his father Joseph. Dumbfounded, he said to Joseph, 'Look here, brother--entrust him to me so he can be taught to read and write, and study all fields of knowledge" (Inf. Gos. Thom. 6) 

Later in the chapter, Jesus is forcibly taken to "school" by his father Joseph so that he can be taught how to read and write.

"Zaccheaus wrote down the alphabet for him and started him on his elementary education. He said the same letter a number of times, but Jesus would not give any response. The teacher was peeved and clipped him around the ear. The boy was irritated at this. 'I should be teaching you, rather than being taught by you! After all, I know the letters you're teaching much better than you do. What you are giving me is like sounding brass and a clanging cymbal, producing neither sound nor thought nor any possible understanding!' When the child's anger abated, he spoke by himself all the letters, from alpha to omega, perfectly." (Inf. Gos. Thom. 6)

Jesus is only five years old in this setting and the recitation of all of his letters would be considered miraculous considering his youthful age. Augustine (ca. 400 CE) gives a similar account of receiving physical punishment while attempting to learn Greek language and literature

"But what was the cause of my dislike of Greek literature, which I studied from my boyhood, I cannot even now understand. For the Latin I loved exceedingly — not what our first masters, but what the grammarians teach; for those primary lessons of reading, writing, and ciphering, I considered no less of a burden and a punishment than Greek. . . . The difficulty, in truth, the difficulty of learning a foreign language mingled as it were with gall all the sweetness of those fabulous Grecian stories. For not a single word of it did I understand, and to make me do so, they vehemently urged me with cruel threatenings and punishments." (Confessions 1:13-14)

Later, in this same first education account in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas 6, the boy Jesus addresses the teacher Zacchaeus.

"'If you don't know the essence of the alpha, Jesus said, 'how can you teach beta after it? You hypocrite! If you're so clever, first teach me alpha, and then I'll believe you when you talk about beta.' Then he started questioning his teacher about the letter alpha, but the man did not know what to say in reply. A number of people were there listening in. 'Pay attention, sir,' Jesus explained to the teacher, 'and understand the arrangement of the first letter. Notice here how it has diagonal lines and a stroke in the middle, and then you can see the alpha's lines pointing and straddling, joining together and parting, leading off and going up, circling and darting, tripartite and double-edged, of similar shape and thickness and kind, rectilinear, equilibrious, isometric and isomeric.'" (Inf. Gos. Thom. 6)

This account is interesting in that it is similar to comments made by Irenaeus (ca. 180 CE) the "apocryphal and spurious Scriptures of the Marcosians." This indicates that these stories in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas likely date into the second century.

"Besides the above [misrepresentations], they adduce an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish men, and of such as are ignorant of the Scriptures of truth. Among other things, they bring forward that false and wicked story which relates that our Lord, when He was a boy learning His letters, on the teacher saying to Him, as is usual, Pronounce Alpha, replied [as He was bid], Alpha. But when, again, the teacher bade Him say, Beta, the Lord replied, First tell me what Alpha is, and then I will tell you what Beta is. This they expound as meaning that He alone knew the Unknown, which He revealed under its type Alpha." (Haer. 1.20.1)

The second education account in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is brief and repeats Jesus's words concerning the alpha and omega. The third account is more interesting in that it describes an eight year old Jesus interacting with a book in a classroom setting.

"When he came into the classroom, he found a scroll resting on the reading desk. He took it but did not read what was written in it because it was not from the Law of God. Instead, he opened his mouth and made such awe-inspiring statements that the teacher sitting opposite him listened to him with pure delight, and urged him on to say more, while the crowd standing by was staggered by the holy matters of which Jesus spoke." (Inf. Gos. Thom. 14)

The parallels with the account in Luke 4:16-22 where Jesus enters the synagogue at Nazareth and read from an Isaiah scroll, are obvious. Though the Infancy Gospel of Thomas makes a point to emphasize that it was not a book of the Law and that Jesus did not actually read it. Though it is implied that he could have if he wished to. 

Collectively these three instances of Jesus's education are a fascinating snapshot of Greco-Roman education at the time. It appears that the author of The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was writing in a context where tutors, schools, and educational resources were abundant and affordable (Foster, "The Education of Jesus," pg. 339). Though these educational settings are likely idealized and exaggerated to some degree, they likely reflected realistic expectations of the author(s)'s context. This indicates that education was abundantly available in the region where The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was initially written in the second century and reflects at least an expectation of widespread basic literacy in the region.

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Foster, Paul "The Education of Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas," pages 327–347 in P. Doble and J. Kloha (eds), Texts and Traditions. Essays in Honour of J. Keith Elliott.
Leiden and Boston: Brill ( 2014).

Roman Bookrolls and Tablets in Kansas City Missouri

Roman Muse Sarcophagus (Nelson Atkins Museum of Art)

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Missouri. If you ever get a chance, it is well worth the visit. Besides displaying famous artists like Monet, they have a modest collection of ancient artifacts, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman. One item in particular is a third century (ca. 240-260 C.E.) Roman marble sarcophagus that is quite striking for its detailed frescos. It is described as a “Muse Sarcophagus.” The museum description reads.

“The deceased, who stands in the center of this high relief, is flanked by five Muses to her right and Minerva with four Muses to her left. The Muses with their customary attributes appear in the following order (from viewer's left to right): Clio, Muse of history, with a scroll; Euterpe, Muse of music, with two flutes; Thalia, Muse of comedy, with shepherd's crook and mask of comedy; Melpomene, Muse of tragedy, with a club and mask of tragedy; Terpsichore, Muse of choral dance, with a lyre; Polyhymnia, Muse of hymns and religious dance; Erato, Muse of lyric and erotic poetry, with a cithara; Urania, Muse of astronomy, with a globe and staff; Calliope, Muse of heroic and epic poetry, with a stylus and tablet. The deceased holds a scroll, and Minerva, a spear. All the figures are standing. A striding griffin appears on each end of the sarcophagus and the back is plain.”

The provenance is given as “Excavated in the Vigna Casali, Rome, 1872.”

When I entered the room where the item was poised, I immediately noticed the stylus and tablet of the figure on the far right corner of the sarcophagus. In the close up images, the edges of the wax tablet are clearly seen. The flat spoon used for smoothing out the wax can be seen opposite the sharp pointed writing edge of the stylus. There also appears to be an ear extending out on the top edge of the tablet that has what looks to be a hole in the center, giving the appearance of a modern clip-board. Perhaps this was used for a lanyard that either allowed the user to carry the tablet, or to tie the boards closed (or perhaps to hang on the wall, see Herculaneum fresco below).

The far left corner represents the muse of history and she is shown holding an open bookroll. The hand clutches the rolled up portion of the volume that would have contained the text already read while the opposite portion of the book would have contained the unread text. What was intriguing about this particular fresco is that it depicts the unread portion of the roll curving back behind the book rather than curving inside towards the user (for example, as shown in the famous Herculaneum painted fresco of a boy holding an open bookroll below). It appears that the book is open to the final portion and the last bit of the roll is folded behind the roll and clasped with the fingers behind the rolled up portion of the volume (see my crudely drawn reconstruction below). The right arm of the history muse is broken off but it may be that the orginal figure had a pen in this hand. The strange way that the roll is being help open would allow for the freedom of the right hand for writing. Just as the poetry muse is writing in the wax tablet in the opposite corner, it may be that the history muse is being portrayed as writing in an open bookroll.

The other aspect of these two figures is the representation of a book and a tablet. It is fascinating that the poetry muse holds the wax tablet, a device that is easily edited and rewritten, while the history muse is holding a roll, an object that carries its own image of refinement, permanence, and legacy (see Pliny's comments here).

The roman woman herself is depicted in the center of the sarcophagus holding a bookroll in her left hand. I noticed that next to her right foot, what looks to be a bookcase with the muse of choral dance (holding a lyre) resting her left foot on the lid. Though the diameter is small, it matches other depictions of book boxes from the roman period (see Herculaneum fresco below).

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit, be sure to give this fascinating sarcophagus a look! 

Close up detail of muse with wax tablet

Muse with wax tablet on right corner of sarcophagus

The muse of history holding an open bookroll

Close-up detail of muse of history bookroll

Muse of history holding a bookroll

 

 

 

Muse of choral dance with foot on book case (?)

Fresco from Herculaneum showing a youth holding an open bookroll

Fresco from Herculaneum portraying an open book case

Fresco from Herculaneum depicting an ink pot, pen, bookroll with name tag, open wax tablet and stylus, and tablet hanging from nail. Notice the far right tablet that has an ear with hole in the top edge similar to that portrayed on the muse sarcophagus.