(
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The PachomianMonastic Lrbrary
at the ChesterBeattv Ltbnrv
and the Bibliothèque Bodmer
fu JamesM. Robinson
The first Christian monastic order was founded in
Upper Egypt by Pachomiusearly in the Fourth Century. What was left of its library was buried in the
Seventh Century, to judge by the date of the latest
material produced (ac. 1494,item 6 in the Inventory of
Pachomian letters,a small papyrus roll containing an
archival copy of Horsiesios' Letter 3 in Sahidic). It
was discovered late in 1952 in Upper Egypt near
Dishnà, and henceis referredto locally as the Dishna
Papers,though it has been known to scholars up to
the present primarily as the Bodmer Papyri. This
nomenclaturehas obscuredthe fact that much of the
material is scatteredamong somesevenother repositories1, of which the ChesterBeatty Library is the most
important. I would like to lay this fascinating story
before you by describingfirst the Pachomian Monastery Library, then the Discoveryand Marketing of the
Library, then the Acquisition by Sir Chester Beatty
and Martin Bodmer, followed by an Inventory of the
approximatecontentsof the Library. To the Endnotes
is appendeda Postscriptdescribinghow the basicfacts
about the discoveryand marketing of the library were
established.
'No
one would do anything in the house without
permission from those in charge. not even visit a
brother in his cell. In each house. the housemasteror
the secondkeepsall the surplus clothings locked in a
cell until the brothers need them to wash and put on
again those they are using. The books. which were in
an alcove,were also under the care of thesetwo. The
brothers have no money, still less anything of gold:
some of them died having never known such things.
Only those entrustedwith a ministry used moneyr and
when they returned to the monastery they kept
nothing with themselvesfor a single day and gave
everything to the steward until they might go out
again. And all that governmentis written in detail in
the book of the stewards.'
What is here referredto as the book of the stewards
is apparently the extant Preceptsa where a rather
massiveliteracy program is envisagedand occasional
referencesto books and to the Library occur (PrecepÍ.s
1 3 9 ,1 4 0 ,8 2 , 1 0 0 ,1 0 1 ) s :
'Whoever
entersthe monasteryuninstructedshall be
taught first what he must observe; and when, so
taught, he has consentedto it all, they shall give him
twenty psalms or two of the Apostle's epistles, or
some other part of the Scripture.And if he is illiterate.
he shall go at the first. third, and sixth hours to
l. The Pachomian Monasterl' Library
someonewho can teach and has been appointed for
him. He shall stand before him and learn very stuRight after the conversion of the Roman Empire diously with all gratitude. Then the fundamentalsof a
Pachomiusfounded the first monastic order of Chris- syllable,the verbs,and nouns shall be written for him,
tianity. It would be anachronisticto make inferences and even if he does not want to. he shall be comoelled
about its library from medievalmonastic libraries.But to read.'
'There
something can be inferred from the Pachomian
shall be no one whatever in the monastery
Order's own legendsand rules.
who does not learn to read and does not memorize
The First Greek Lfe oí Pachomius63 gives some something of the Scriptures. [One should learn by
information about how books were viewed in the heart] at least the New Testamentand the Psalter.'
'No
PachomianOrder2:
one shall have in his own possessionlittle
'He
also
used
to
teach
the
brothers
not
tweezers
for removing thorns he may have steppedon.
[Pachomius]
to give heed to the splendor and the beauty of this Only the housemasterand the secondshall have them.
world in things like good food, clothing, a cell, or a and they shall hang in the alcove in which books are
book outwardly pleasingto the eye.'
placed.'
'No
The First Greek L,fe of Pachomius 59 gives some
one shall leave his book unfastenedwhen he
goesto Íhe svnaxisor to the refectorv.'
impressionof a PachomianLibrary3:
M a n u s c r i p t so f t h e M i d d l e E a s t 5 ( 1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 1 )
!
T e Í L u g t P r e s s .D o n k e r s t e e g1 9 . 2 3 1 2 H A L e i d e n . N e t h e r i a n d s .1 9 9 3
I S S N0 9 2 0 - 0 4 0 1
. H E P A C H O M I A N M O N A S T I CL I B R A R Y
J A M E SM . R O B I N S O N T
'Every
day at evening, the second shall bring the
books from the alcove and shut them in their case.'
Official letters of Pachomiusin Coptic were translated into Greek and then in 404 C.E. translated by
Jerome into Latin. Only the Latin translation has
survived, copied down through the centuries for the
edificationof European monks. The Coptic and Greek
letters have not been seensince - until, at the same
time, from the same dealer, and (with but one exception) at the same repositoriesas the Dishna Papers,
they suddenly reappeared. The inference seems inescapablethat they were part of the same discovery.
As a matter of fact, the site of the discoverynear the
foot of the Jabal Abu Maná' was in full view of the
headquartersmonastery of the Pachomian Order, at
the foot of the cliff to which funeral processions
moved from the monastery,itself not above the inundation level, to bury their dead on higher ground,
according to their records, and apparently to secrete
their Library or Archives as well. High up in the Wádi
Shaykh Ah there is an overhang cut by a prehistoric
torrent that is everywhereinscribed in scrawling red
paint with the graffiti of pious monks.
The holdings of the Chester Beatty Library that
come from the jar at the foot of the cliff. and even
before that from the little alcove in the Pachomian
monasterywhere the tweezerswere kept. give a direct
impressionof the primitivenessof some of the books
that made up the Library.
The eight leavesof ac. 1390 (Inventory item 23)
begin with a school-boy's Greek exercisesin solid
geometry that rendered the rest of the quire of little
financial value. the kind of material a Pachomian
monastery might be able to afford. On the empty
pagesa few chaptersof the Gospel of John in Coptic
were written in a non-literary,cursivehand, beginning
in the middle of a sentence.This may be explainable
as the place where the mutilated text being copied had
begun. Or perhaps ac. 1390 was one in a series of
cheapwriting materials,the only one to have survived,
onto which the complete Gospel was copied. The
preceding(lost) writing surface on which the Gospel
was being copied would have endedin the middle of a
verse, which would explain why the text that has
survived begins there, just where the other happened
to break off. Thus ac. 1390may give some insight into
the limitations of the monastic effort to build its
collection.
A similar impression of primitiveness may be
conveyedby the largely uninscribed ac. 1499 (Inventory item 25) containing a Greek grammar and a
Graeco-Latin lexicon for decipheringPauline epistles.
One of the uninscribedquires of this codex has leaves
not yet cut apart at the growing edge, like French
paperbackbooks used to be. This not only reflectsthe
fact that this codex was never completed, but also
documents how unusual its construction had beenó.
For the standard way to make a quire for a papyrus
21
codex was to cut a roll into a stack of sheetsand fold
the stack down the middle, a procedurethat produced
no growing edges that needed to be cut apart. The
very fact that this codex was not fully inscribed has
left this aberration in the manufacturing procedure
intact. The codex was apparentlyproduced outsidethe
main tradition of book manufacture. or in any case
made use of a technique that did not gain general
acceptance.
Another experimentat economy is ac. 2554 (Inventory item 28), a largely uninscribed and unbound
folded stack of sheetsconstructedby pasting face to
face two used rolls and cutting them into the sheetsof
a quire, on whose unbound leaves administrative
recordshad begun to be inscribed.with the result that
such a makeshift quire, left still largely uninscribed,
would provide writing material that would not have
been expensiveat all.
It may be no coincidencethat much of the material
of the highestquality in the coilectionis older than the
Pachomian Order itself, suggestingthat it entered the
Library as gifts from outside, perhaps contributed by
prosperouspersonsentering the Order. This might be
the most obvious way to explain non-Christian texts
in a monastic library. such as the Homeric and
Menander material. But some such explanationis aiso
neededfor such excellentearly Greek New Testament
texts as P. Bodmer II (P 66, the Gospel of John,
Inventory item 3), and P. Bodmer XIV-XV (P 75, the
Gospels of Luke and John, Inventory item 8), where
one might even think of Athanasius living in hiding
with the Order while in exile as the source of such
gifts.
The bulk of Christian codices date from the first
century of the Pachomian Order's existence,namely
the early Fourth to the early Fifth Century, and often
present the competence of a trained scriptorium,
though without adornment. But there is no specific
indication that they came from a singlescriptorium or
that such a scriptorium belongedto the Order.
Some texts in the collection. such as some of the
archival copies of letters from Pachomian Abbots.
again suggest,in the primitiveness of the material
employed, that the usual standards of a scriptorium
were lacking. Ac. 1486,an archival copy of a Coptic
letter from the Pachomian Abbot Theodore (item 4 in
the Inventory of Pachomianletters),was written in the
Fifth or Sixth Century on a long thin irregular skin,
obviously the leg of an animal that could not be used
to produce leavesfor a codex. ChesterBeatty Ms. W.
145 (item 3 in the Inventory of Pachomian letters)
makes a similar impression. It is a Fourth Century
copy of a letter of Pachomius.
The presenceof relatively unskilled products alongside of relatively professionalcodicesmay indicate a
plurality of places of origin, and perhaps a contrast
between what was produced within the Order and
what came from outside.
28
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 ( I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )
If discipline relaxed and the demand for reading
material waned with the passageof time, as the center
of Coptic learning shifted downstream to the White
Monastery of Shenoudaat Sohag, such a Pachomian
collection could have become more a geniza than an
activelibrary. The identity of increasinglyfragmentary
items in the collection would be lost from sight,
especiallyin the caseof the old non-Coptic material, if
one may assumethat the Greek House did not retain
its original vigor at Fáw Qiblï, once the Order had a
monastery near Alexandria where Greek-speaking
monks would be more at home. It would have been
enough that the remains representedthe venerated
relics of the beginnings of the Order, worthy to be
included along with copies of official letters of the
early Abbots (about the only thing they continued to
copy), in a jar no doubt intended to rescuefor posterity the surviving symbols of continuity with the
Order's legendarypast.
This is illustrated in another way by the fate of the
excellent early third-century copy of the Gospel of
Luke and John (P 75, Inventory item 8) in the Bibliotheque Bodmer (P. Bodmer XIV-XV), from whose
cover new and still unpublished fragments of John
have recently been recovered:This very valuable old
codex was rebound in late antiquity, by pasting fragmentary leavesof the quire together as cartonnageto
thicken the leather cover, and by sewing the binding
thongs through the inner margin of the quire so near
the writing that the codex could not be opened wide
enough to be actually read. One is inclined to think
that the codex had become a relic, the Library a
Museum. or, in view of the copies of official Pachomian letters.an Archive.
Except for the copies of official Pachomian letters.
datings as late as the Fifth Century are not strongly
represented.For it is usually mentioned by editors in
the spectrum of Fourth or Fifth Century. In the
courseof the Fifth Century the sourceof supply seems
to have been drying up, or new production was being
attractedto the White Monastery. But when one turns
to the archival copiesof letters of PachomianAbbots.
the situation is the converse. Whereas the earliest
material is by the nature of the caseno earlier than the
Fourth Century, only one text (item 3 in the Inventory
of Pachomian letters) has been dated simply to the
Fourth CenturyT, and only one (number l) to the
Fourth or Fifth Centurys. One (number 5) is dated
simply to the Fifth Centurye, and two (numbers8 and
9) to the Fifth or Sixth Centuryl0. Three (numbers2,
4 and 7) are dated simply to the Sixth Centuryll, and
one (number 6) to the SeventhCentury12.Thus it is
clear that the letters of the Pachomian Abbots continued being copied much later than did the literary
texts themselves,and representthe clearestindication
of the narrowly limited interest of those responsible
for the preservationof the Library or Archive in its
Iatest period and hence presumably for its ultimate
burial13.
Perhapstheserelics were buried for safe keeping in
the period of decline following the imposition of
Chalcedonian orthodoxy on the traditionally Monophysiteorder, as the dating of the latestmaterial in the
SeventhCentury might suggestla.
2. The Discovery and Marketing oJ'the Librarl'
The discovery of the Dishna Papers was made by
Hasan Muhammad al-Sammánand Mulrammad Khalí al:Azzin both of whom come from Ab[ Manà'
'Bahn.'
This hamlet is on the right bank of the Nile in
the area of Upper Egypt where it flows from east to
west, and hence literally on the north bank. Ab[
Maná' lies some 4 km from the river's edge,near the
foot of the cliff Jabal Ab[ Maná' . which is 12 km east
of the cliff Jabal al-Tárif where the Nag Hammadi
Codices were discovered.It is 5 km northeast and in
'Qibli,'
full view of Fáw
ancient Pabau (Greek), Pbaw
or Pbow (Sahidic),or Phbow (Bohairic),the site of the
headquartersof the Pachomian Monastic Order. Put
in more modern terms. the site is 5.5 km northwest of
Dishná, the larger town at the river with a railroad
station, which thus played the role of regional center
in this discovery correspondingto that of the town
Nag Hammadi in the case of the Nag Hammadi
Codices.Abu Maná' itself is 10 km east of Hamrah
Dlm, the hamlet that controls the site of the discovery
of the Nag Hammadi Codices. much as does Abl
Maná' in the case of the Dishna Papers.This whole
Dishná Plain. important alreadyin prehistorictimes,
seemsto have been an important center of Egyptian
Christianity.
Hasan and Muhammad were digging for sabakh
(fertiiizer) some 300 meters out from the foot of the
cliff Jabal Ab[ Maná' at al-Qurnah ('the corner').
when Hasan uncovereda large earthenjar containing
the books. He broke the jar with his mattock. leaving
the sherdswhere they fell. Some fragmentary parts of
the find were burnt on the spot. and others were given
away to passersby,who incidentally terrified Hasan
with the mythic idea that they were books of monsters.
Yet he carried the bulk of the discovery home in his
jallabï.vah, the typical peasant ground-length robe.
Mulrammad took for his part a wooden plank
variously interpreted as a book cover, a mirror, or a
catalogueof the library's contents.
Hasan lived in his wife's family home, presidedover
by her father'Umar al-Abbádi. Her brother, Abd alÀ1, trafficked in the books, unsuccessfullyat first,
sincethey could not even be bartered for sugar. Some
leavesof a large papyrus book were crushed up and
used as fuel to light their water pipe; parchmentburnt
like an oil lamp. (Rural electrification reached the
hamlet only in 1980.)
Abd al-Àl worked in the Dishná jewelry shop of the
goldsmith Subhi Qustandr Dimyán, to whom he sold
a book. $ubfi showed it to the Dishnà priest 'al-
J A \ , I E SM , R O B I N S O NT
. H E P A C H O M I A N M O N A S T I CL I B R A R \
29
Qummus' ManqaryDs,who was related to the priestly police, who had found concrete evidencewith Masri
family of al-Qasr through whosehands Nag Hammadi Abd al-Masrh N[h, the person who acquired the
material had passed, to inquire if it were equally wooden board from Muhammad. He implicated the
valuable. 'Al-Qummus' Manqary[s told him it was others. Charges were not brought against the priest,
worthless,hoping thus to be able to acquire it himself. but Riyàd and Musà Fikn were charged. And. by a
But Subhr's son Jirjis taughr at the same Copric caseof mistaken identity, ShaÍ-rqMuhàrib was charged
parochial school at Dishná as did a member of the insteadof Shafiq GhubriyáI. Also chargedwere Hasan
priestly al-Qasr family, Rághib Andaráwus 'al-eiss' and the brother of Abd al-Ài. as well as Ab[ al-WaÍà
Abd al-Sayyid, who had sold Nag Hammadi Codex Ahmad Ismà'rl. who had acquired a triangular parchIII to the Coptic Museum in Cairo for Ê 250. Jirjis ment leaf. By a combination of threats and bribes
showed his father's book at the Coptic Museum. Riyád preventedthem from testifying against him in
w h e r ei t w a s c o n f i s c a t e a
d n d h e t h r e a t è n e du i t h j a i l . their effort to exonerate themselves.His defense
until a powerful friend persuaded the Museum to lawyer, Hilmi Bandan, argued unsuccessfullybefore
return his book and press no charges.Jirjis sold the Judge Rabà' TarvÍiq that the possessionof antiquities
book to Zaki Gháli, an antiquitiesdealerin Luxor. for was not illegal, that they were ignorant of what they
a price said to be f 400.
had acquired, and that there was no incriminating
Abd al-Rahim Ab[ al-flájj, 'Umar's nephew,was a evidence.All eight were sentencedto a year in jail.
village barber going from house to house to ply his Engagingas their attorney Ahmad Alï All[bá 'Pasha,'
trade, as well as a share-cropperworking fields be- a Conservative Party politician from Cairo, Riyád
longing to a Dishnà goldsmith, Riyád Jirjis Fám. appealedthe caseat the Court of Appeals in
Qiná. Six
Riyád begandirt poor, the son of a peasantwho ekecJ were acquitted, but two were sentencedto sir months
out a living making basketsfrom reedstaken from the in jail; Masn's sentencewas suspendedand only
edge of the Nile, but scroungedhis way up to the role Hasan servedtime.
of the ruthiessstrong-man of Dishná. When he heard
During this trying time 'al-Qummus' Manqaryus
of the discovery,he took another goldsmith with him, was concernedthat his housemight be searched.For
lMnsá Fikri Ash'ïyah. and went to the house of Abd the books were being kept in his home. no doubt on
lai-Rahim in Ab[ Manà'. The latter was afraid of the the assumptionthat a police searchof a priest's home
laccompanyingstrangerand refusedto deal with them, was lesslikely than of a goldsmith'shome. The box in
lbut on a subsequentvisit when Mlsá Fikn was not which they were kept was hidden at times under the
sold Riyád three or four books.
floor. no doubt the dirt floor of the patio, at times
lpresent
'Al-Qummus'
Manqaryus
became
involved
with
behind rafters in the ceiling. But as the pressure
|
lRiyád'sacquisitions,along with M[sá Fikn and ano- mounted, he secretedthem in a cubboard built under
goldsmith, ShaÍIq Ghubrïyál. They thus creared h i s d i v a n , a n d a s k e d h i s n e i g h b o r . S a ' i d D i r y á s
l:her
l;ome kind of partnership,the priest providing a semr, Habashï,if he could sun the divan in his patio, where
ecclesiastical
connections.and a there was more sun than in his own. to free it of fleas.
l:ducatedassessment,
free
police
of
searches.
whereas
the goidsmiths When he recuperatedthe divan, he found the best
lnaven
doubt
provided
the
capital
and
Riyàd
also the book missing. Sa'id Diryàs denies havrng taken it.
firo
entrepreneurship.
saying he was unaware of the divan's contents.otherAccompanied by his son Nushr. Riyád returned to wise he would have taken them all. Riyàd traced the
'Umar
book to Fáris, a tailor of Dishnà. who is reported to
[Ab[ Maná' and went directly to the house of
where
he
bought
out
the
resr
of
whar
the
have paid f 30 for it and then to have sold it for f 700
Fl-Abbàdr.
family held. He was able to leave the hamlet u'ith the to Phocion J. Tano, the distinguishedCypriote antiloot thanks only to the armed escort of 'Umar's sons quities dealer of Cairo who had acquired most of the
as far as the paved highway. He went straight to the Nag Hammadi Codices.where Riyád later saw ir.
home of 'al-Qummus' Manqaryus, where he counted
Riyàd retrieved the rest of the material from 'alout to him 'thirty-three books.' Though this figure
Qummus' Manqaryls, apparently except for a few
recursrepeatedlyin the telling of the story, it is not fragments.For DistinguishedProfessorEmeritus Azïz
rlear whether it is meant to include the books Rivàd Suryál Atïyaht of the University of Utah has reported
tad alreadyacquired,and whether it included material that the priest's son 'al-Qummus' Tànyls showed him
rsually distinguished from the 'books.' nameiy ten a fragment at his home in the fashionable Cairo
mall rolls the size of one's finger, three or four large suburb Maadi. And Sa'id Diryás has reported that
a
'olls some 25 cm
or more high, and a few triangular- Spanish priest obtained some material about 1966
haped leaves some 15 cm high. In spite of such from the priest'sson'al-Qummus' Tányus. The parish
Lmbiguities.the figure does tend to indicate roughly diary of the Franciscan Church adjoining the Sugar
he extent of the discovery,perhaps some three times Factory near Nag Hammadi recordsthat a JoséO'Calhat of the thirteen Nag Hammadi Codices.
laghan Martinus of Barcelona (and the Pontifical
Muhammad, irritated at having been excludedfrom Bibical Institute in Rome) with passport number
he salesand profits, had reported the discoveryto the 95912came 'to look for papers'on 14-20xi 64 and for
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 ( I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )
'al- Bodmer Papyri has then been variously confirmed.
a second visit beginning I ii 65. The widow of
as describedby the peasantsfit quite well
Qummus' Manqaryls thought there were fragmentsin The contents
the balthe home when I interviewedher on 18 xii 76, but she the Bodmer Papyri, including such details as
:
Mississippi
led-up condition of P. Bodmer XXII
could not find them.
in the
13)
stuck
item
(Inventory
II
Codex
Coptic
Riyád was under virtual house arrest. For he was
jar.
who
Tano,
dealer
same
The
piriform
not permitted to go as far as Cairo, but was limited in bottom of a
excavaclandestine
a
funded
his movements to Upper Egypt, the region from according to Riyád had
Luxor to Sohag, for trips up to ten hours, and then tion of the site, has also been identified as their source
only with police permission.So he turned to a lifelong by the main repositoriesof the materials in Geneva,
friend, Fathalláh Dá'[d, who had gone on pilgrimage Dublin and Cologne. The time frame of the discovery
to Jerusalemwith him in 1945 (as their almost identical (1952\ and that of the arrival of the material in Europe
in
tattoos validate), to take books to Cairo to market' (P. Bodmer I, Inventory items 1-2, was published
given
the
Though Fathalláh Dá'[d was instructed to report to 1954,and the bulk was acquiredin 1955-56).
'al-Qummus' Manqary[s, M[sà Fikrr and ShaÍiq trying circumstances,is what one might expect. And
publicaGhubrïyál a lower price than he actually received, so the site of the discovery,initially statedby the
or to
unknown
be
to
either
Papyri
that their proportion of the profit would be correspond- tions of the Bodmer
between
somewhere
ingly less.he actually told them the truth. Having his be variously and vaguely located
(Luxor).
own profit thus appreciably reduced, Riyád plotted Panopolis(Achmim near Sohag) and Thebes
revengeto recuperatehis loss. He hired members of has finally been concededto agreewith our investigathe Ab[ Bahbth family to break into Fathalláh tions in the most recent of these publications. This
Dá'[d's house and kidnap a son to be held for the identificationof the site has subsequentlybeen located
equivalent ransom. In the dark of night they by also in the Registry of Accessions of the Chester
mistake took a daughter, S[s[. Rather than paying Beatty Library, on a typed slip of paper appendedat
judge
the ransom, Fathalláh Dá'td appealedby telegramto ac. 1390.apparentlywritten by Tano himself, to
President Nasser. Within a week police sent from by the English:
'Small village DESHNA
just after NAGHIHAMADIabout
Cairo secured the releaseof Sls[ unharmed. Riyád
himself seeksto put a good (or lessbad) light on the 2 hours before LUXoR by train. Probably from the
incident by maintaining that the Ab[ Bahblh family Library of a Monastery. Found in a Jar in a ceme' 1s
was planning to kill Fathalláh Dá'[d for their own terv.
reasons,but Riyád had talked them out of that unprofitable venture in favor of a slightly less(?) inhumane
and in any casemore profitable procedure.
Riyád then made friends with the two police guards 3. The Acquisitionsór' Sir ChesterBeattv and Martir
posted at his home, plying them with alchohol on Bodmer
Saturdayeveningsuntil they were in a drunken stupor
Sir Chester Beattyló and Martin Bodmer were the
in time for him to catch the midnight train to Cairo.
just
There he would take a few books at a time to Tano's most distinguished bibliophiles in the period
home, receiving profits he has reported to be in the before and after World War II. It is hence underthousandsof pounds, and return Sunday night in time standablethat both felt a senseof competitiveness,as
to get into his home under the cover of darkness well as a senseof camaraderiern the rarifled atmosphere
before dawn Monday. The death of Riyád's son Wasfi of their shared hobby. This relationship was only
in a brawl some years later, which Fathallàh Dá'ud intensifled by the fact that both were long-standing
interpretedas divine retribution, led Riyád to move to customersof Tano.
Tano kept his collection in part in Cyprus, as he was
Cairo. where he lives on the top, fifth floor of a large
modern duplex apartment house in Heliopolis which able to get it out of Egypt. He spent summers in the
family home at Nicosia, where he could correspond
he has purchased.
Photographs supplied by Emile TawÍÏq Sa'd, the freely about his businessaffairs and ship antiquities
son of an Alexandrian antiquities dealer named by and receivepayment without difficulty. Tano was even
Isháq Ayyfib Isháq, Inspector of the Department of from time to time on the continent. Sir Chester had
Agriculture for Dishná, as having acquired some known Tano personally during the winters he had
'Dishna Papers,' were identified as Papyrus Bodmer spent in the 'Blue House' aÍ Giza near Cairo' anc
XXIV (the Psalms in Greek, Inventory item 15) and when Sir Chestercame to prefer Nice for his wintert
Papyrus Bodmer XL, the unpublishedCoptic Song of the personal contacts continued there. This relation
Songs(Inventory item l9). This then led to the identi- ship outside of Egypt was not only convenient fron
'Dishna Papers'with the famous disco- the point of view of customs and payments"but wat
fication of the
'Bodmer
also diplomatically advantageous,as is reflectedin z
very known in academic circles as the
comment of Beatty in a letter of 2l March l95t
Papyri.'
'We car
the
with
Papers
concerning ac. 2554 (Inventory item 28):
Dishna
the
This identification of
. H E P A C H O M I A N M O N A S T I CL I B R A R Y
J A M E S M , R O B I N S O NT
honestlysay it was bought in Europe; we need not say
whereor when.'
Sir Chester had in fact been acquiring papyri and
other antiquities from Tano for many years. The
following may illustrate this relationshipjust prior to
the acquisitionswith which we are concerned: On 8
September 1947 he paid Tano f. 24 for four leaves
from a codex, care of the Ottoman Bank, Famagusta,
Cyprus. On l6 April 1948Tano sent him four wooden
tablets through the good officesof his brother-in-law,
William Acker, an officer in the n.c.r.In 1950 Beatty
ordered on approval Coptic materialsofferedby Tano
for f 235. That same year Tano wrote Sir Chester
from New York not to involve his American-based
nephew Frank J. Tano in any transactions, but to
remit directly to the Ottoman or Barcley Banks of
Famagusta, Cyprus. On 12 September l95l Tano
wrote Beatty's secretaryJohn Marsh in London:
'I
asked to [sic] a friend in Paris to forward threw
you
for Mr. ChesterBeatty a collection of Coptic
[sic]
parchemains[sic]. Pleasewen [sic] you receivethem,
kindly forward the parcel to Mr. Chester Beatty's
address.'
On 25 March 1954Beatty'ssecretaryJohn Wooderson recordedin a memorandum:
'Mr.
A. Chester Beatty asked John Wooderson to
seeMr. Tano and find out if he had any Coptic writing
or vellum or pagesof papyri in Greek; and if so, what
they would cost, and if they could be examined in
London... Mr. Tano said he had no stock in Cairo or
Cyprus at present but that he would write later if he
found anything interesting.'
But by this time Martin Bodmer had establisheda
business relationship with Tano that seemed even
more efficient.Bodmer had visited Egypt as early as
1950, when he approached Tano to secure manuscripts for his library. Father L. Doutreleau. S.J., one
of the editors of the series Sources Chrétiennes in
Lyon, was at the time stationed in Cairo, and has
describedBodmer's acquisition procedure. For Doutreleau had an arrangementwith Bodmer to provide
him with an expert assessmentof manuscripts Tano
showed Doutreleau for this purpose.SometimesTano
gave him direct contact with a peasant who owned
manuscripts,whom Doutreleau knew only as'the Bey
of papyrus,' but who may well have been Riyád. Tano
'Nag
Hammadi
referred to the Dishna Papers as
Two,' to designatethe region of Egypt from which
they came that would be more readily recognizableto
foreignersand that would incidentally suggesta value
comparable to that famous discovery.Tano exported
to Cyprus material at times through the diplomatic
pouch, at times through a friend who worked at the
customsofficein Alexandria. From Cyprus he went to
Geneva in September1955.It was at that time that P.
Bodmer II (the Gospel of John, Inventory item 3) and
III (the Gospelof John and Genesisl:l-4:2, Inventory
item 4) reachedGeneva.
J I
Bodmer himself was in Cairo at the end of January
1956,returning from a trip to Indonesiaas a diplomat
for the International Red Cross. On 8 October 1956
Gilles Quispel was told by Ludwig Keimer, an Austrian
in Cairo who was close to Doutreleau and Tano, that
at the beginning of February 1956 Bodmer had
bought from Tano P. Bodmer XIV-XV (the Gospels
of Luke and John, Inventory item 8) and much of
XXV-N-XXVI (Menander, Inventory item 5). These
codices reached Geneva shortly thereafter. Bodmer's
secretary,Odile Bongard, visited Tano in Cairo in
March 1956. A rather steady stream of acquisitions
during the subsequentmonths was interrupted by the
Suez Crisis in October 1956, though a shipment did
arrive that month. Efforts by Mlle Bongard to
complete the acquisitions were only successfulto a
limited extent. She was able to sift through Tano's
residue of fragments and find a few belonging to P.
Bodmer II (the Gospel of John. Inventory item 3).
Also Tano showed Doutreleau several leaves of
then
Menander(Inventoryitem 5) in 1958.They r.vere
in
for
Embassy'
Cairo
deposited at the Tunisian
export, but the shipment was delayedseveralyears by
a breaking of diplomatic relations betweenEgypt and
Tunisia. When the shipment finally' reached Geneva.
part of it was missing.
On 2 April 1956 Sir Chester wrote his librarian
JamesVere Stewart Wilkinson from Nice that he had
'got
seenTano and
some very interestingthings from
him.' In a letter of 5 April 1956to Wilfred Merton, his
papyrological consultant in Dublin. Sir Chester was
'very
interestingthings' he had
more specificabout the
acquired. distinguishing the following items clearly
enough for us to identify them, in the light of later
information:
'The
t'uvobooks with the original bindings are very
interesting.One seemsto be complete[ac. 1389,Inventory item 12] and the other was neverfinished.About
half of the papyrus pagesare blank [ac. 1499,Inventory item 251.'
A third item was describedas follows:
'It was
evidently a scroil which was cut in piecesto
make it appear like a book. It must have been pretty
long. becauseit is quite thick - it must be 2" at least
and the page is just the size of the section of a
scroll. They just bend over, and I looked at a good
many of the pagesand they separatenaturally, so I do
not anticipate much trouble in having the proper
expertsseparatethem.' lAc. 2554,Inventory item 31.]
'I
Sir Chesteradded: will, of course,deliver them at
once to the British Museum when I arrive.' On 15
April 1956 Wilkinson replied urging him to invite
the leading authority on book bindings, Berthe van
Regemorter, to come from Belgium to examine the
bindings before the books were disassembledand the
leaves glassed, a proposal with which he readily
agreed.Mlle Van Regemorterhad recentlybeen at the
Bibliotheque Bodmer to examine the book bindings
)/-
M A N U S C R I P TO
S F T H E M I D D L E E A S T5 ( I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )
there. and had sent Beatty a report concerning her
findings. The ensuingdiscussionillustratesthe way in
which Bodmer and Sir Chester became involved in
friendly competition for Tano's wares. For in a letter
to Merton of 21 May 1956Sir Chestercommented:
'You have seen the memorandum that Miss Van
Regemorter did on Bodmer's library. Apparently he
got some good things from Tano. It was quite an
important purchase,and I imagine it was the Gospel
of St. John that he bought. I do not think he is
making a generalcollection of papyri, but I think he
bought a few very important things from Tano.'
In a letter the same day to Wilkinson Sir Chester
concededthe loss to Bodmer but immediately began
thinking of future acquisitions he might make from
Tano:
'He
indicated to me that he had an important deal
on with Bodmer. I imagine it is in connection with
that Gospels.Anyhow. I hope we will get some other
things. and I wrote to him about early wooden bindings. I imagine Bodmer is not going in for those. and
he [Tano] may be able to clean up the market and get
somethingÍine there.'
In a letter of 24 April 1956to Merton. Sir Chester
describedhis businessprocedurewith Tano:
'You see.with the deal I had with'X'
[Tano],I pay
want to bu.v
if
I
do
not
lot.
and
for
the
whole
so much
pay
if I take
800
[
the whole lot I pay another sum. I
them all. but if I do not take the whole lot I pay f 200.
but I can pay this in sterling.In other rvords.the price
was 10,000Swiss francs. which is a little over f 800.
and it is done on the normal exchangebasis. Then I
have the right to paf in sterling.Of course.it is a good
deal like buying a pig in a poke. becausehe does not
know too much about them and I know nothing. They
look oid and they smell old, and I imagine they are
old. That is the opinion of a real expert,'
All this tends to suggestthat Sir Chester acquired
the residue of what had been offered to Bodmer in
Swiss Francs. items that presumably were not consl'world literature,' as Bodmer deÍrnedthe scope
dered
of lls collectionlT.but rather were the kind of artifacts.
such as book bindings, that interestedSir Chester.The
paradoxical outcome of this selectivity procedure is
that Bodmer tended to acquire items that enteredthe
Pachomian Monastery Library from outside. such as
Homer. Menander, and the Greek Gospels, whereas
Sir Chester tended to acquire the material more
directly related to the Pachomian Order, such as the
more primitively produced items and the bulk of
copies of the official letters of Pachomian Abbots.
preciselywhat was neededto identify the discoveryas
the Archives of the Pachomian Monastic Order.
Sir Chesterlacked the expertiseprovided to Bodmer
in Cairo by Father Doutreleau, but was dependenton
expertisehe receivedonce he had taken an option to
buy and had directed the material to the British
Museum. In a letter of 2l May 1956 to Merton, Sir
Chesterwrote how he planned to reach a decision as
to whether to exercisehis oPtion:
'My idea is, soon after I arrive. to take the big
papyrus which is cut apart [ac. 2554. Inventory item 28]
and in that parcel there are two lots of loose leaves
one is supposedto be agnostic [?] - and have them
identified at the British Museum. I will not do anything beyond identification,becauseI do not want to
be forced to take the lot. in casethe other two are of
no value.
... If she [Mlle Van Regemorter]can come over we
will take the other two books [ac. 1389,Inventoryitem
12. and ac. 1499. Inventory item 251 to II.E.S.]
Edwards and [T.C.] Skeat at the British Museum [so]
she can study the bindings. In the meantime. we will
have the option [for: opinion?] about the first lot.'
On 7 January 1957 Beatty wrote from Nice to
Merton of a secondpotential acquisition:
'I received a letter from Bodmer's secretary
[Mlle
Bongard] who had just come from Cairo, as he had
sent her to go through all the fragmentsthat Tano hzrd
in the hope of finding a few little fragmentswhich had
been overlooked of the St. John's Gospel. and she
managedto find a few fragments.She told me that she
had certain things which Tano wanted me to have.
and she told me the price was 4.000Swissfrancs.and I
asked her if she would leave them with me. as I
wanted to get a little inlormation on them. and I
would probabl.vtake them. There are 8 items, of
which 6 are papl'rus. and one. curiously enough. a
perfect mass of small fragments. ln fact. they Írll a
small plastic box of about 4" long b1' 3 l 2" wide by
2" deep. Then there is a roll otr vellum of some
sermon which is quite early [ac. 1486.item 4 in the
Inventory of Pachomian letters]... So when Lady
Powerscourt went back. I sent samples of the find,
with the exceptionof one item, to Edwards.'
On 16 December 1956 Sir Chesterhad written to
Edwards a letter following up his shipment of samples:
'I
should be very pleasedif you would get the
proper advice and find out if they are of any value. I
do not know what to make of thesefragments.One lot
they say is from the sameroll as the Greek papyrus we
have of the time of Diocletian [ac. 2554, Inventory
item 28], and there are two big lots of fragmentswhich
are still here and I will get to you later.'
On 2l January 1957Edwardswrote Wilkinson that
'the latest Coptic documents...seemto me to be too
fragmentary to be very promising.'
There was a third acquisition in 1958,again mediated through Mlle Bongard of the Bibliothèque Bodmer. On l8 December 1957Tano wrote to Sir Chester
in Nice:
'I
wrote to Miss Odile Bongard to forward you
some papyrus which completes some you bought
JA\,ÍES M- ROBINSON. THE PACHOMIAN
before. Also if she received a lot of parchments in
Coptic. In case she did, pleasetheir price send it if
possiblein Cyprus pounds.'
'The
On 19 April 1958 Bodmer wrote Sir Chester:
package Íiom Tano rs also ready to be delivered to
-voul' The package seemsto be an item distinct from
the papyrus completing previous acquisitions,and
presumablycontainedthe 'lot of parchmentsin Coptic.'
Miss McGillighan of the staff of Sir Chester's
library had written him on l0 April 1958:
'I will be very pleased go
to
to Geneva and collect
the papyrus from MademoiselleBongard, as you suggest. i had planned to leave Paris for Dublin on May
the l8th and so it would be on May the 19th that I
would go to the Bodmer Library and collect the
papyrus.'
On 23 May 1958Miss McGillighan wrote Beatty:
'I
collectedthe packagewhich containssome liagmentar)' leather bindings and l7 vellum folios with
some fragments.one uith a miniature. severalwith
spiral ornamentationand severalrvith coloured initials.They are in fairlv good conditionand Dr. Ha.ves
thinks that the u'riting ma1'beGreek. but I would opt
for Coptic.'
The papy'rusthat complementedprevious acquisitions may well belong to the Dishna Papers.in that.
for example.further fragmentswere added to ac. 1390
(lnventor-vitem 23) even after it had been conserved
betweenglasspanesat the British Museum and sent
on to Dublin, necessitatinga retum of the material lrom
Dublin to London for a reconservation.
But the vellum
folios can be identiÍiedno doubt as ac. 1933.manuscript
820, an item apparentlyno longer belongingto rhe
Dishna Papers.
If thus the competitionand assistance
in acquiring
the Dishna Papers by Sir Chesterand Bodmer seems
to have reachedits conclusionin 1958.the personal
relationsbetweenthe two friends continued until near
Sir Chester'sdeath.Indeedon l7 October 1963Bodmer
wrote him a bold letter proposing they unite the rwo
collectionsunder a single foundation. while leaving
them at the two separate repositories. Sir Chester
respondedon 20 November 1963politelydecliningthe
offer18.In a previousletter of 29 October 1963to Dr.
HayesconcerningBodmer'sproposalSir Chesterhad
commented:
'I
do think we might work in very close co-operation with him, and it might be well for you to go down
and see the Bodmer Library sometime. We could
possibly loan them items and they might loan us
items,as we supplementeach other extremelywell...'
A striking instanceof such a supplementingof each
other's holdings is the Pachomian Monastery Library
Archives, which were brought together in a small
cupboard shared with tweezers for thorns at Fáw
Qibli at the headquartersmonastery in Upper Egypt.
MONASTIC LIBRARY
-)-)
then some three centurieslater were buried at the foot
of the Jabal Ab[ Maná' for safekeepingfor over a
millennium, then late in 1952 were discoveredby
Hasan Muhammad al-Sammánof Abu Maná"Bahrï.'
*'ere acquired by the strong man of Dishná Riyád
Jirjis Fám and then sold by him bit by bit to Phocion
J. Tano, who sold the bulk of the material in the years
around 1956to Martin Bodmer and Sir ChesterBeatty.
A joint exhibit of the Archives of the Pachomian
Monastic Library would be a fascinatinginstance of
such close co-operationas Sir Chesterhad in mind.
1. Inventort
The contents of the discovery. including the quite
fragmentar,vitems and those listed only with hesitation. are as follows (they are Greek papyrus codices,
unlessotherwiseindicated):
1. Homer. Iliocl. Book 5 : P. Bodmer I. a roll on
the verso of a roll of documentary papy'ri.
P.
Bodmer L.
2. Homer. Iliad. Book 6 : P. Bodmer I. a roll on
the verso of the sameroll of documentarypapl'ri. :
P. Bodmer L.
3. Gospel of John : P. Bodmer II + a fragment
Íiom the ChesterBeattv Librarv. ac. 2 5 5 5 .+ P . K ó l n
214.: P 66.
4. Gospelof John and GenesisI :l
4:2in Bohair i c : P . B o d m e rl l l
5. Menander,Sumia.Dvskolos.Aspis: P. Bodmer
XXV. IV. XXVI + P. Barc.45 + Cologneinv. 904:
P . K ó l n 3 + P . R o b .3 8 .
6. liativitt'ol Mar.t' : Apoc'al.t'pse
o.f'Jantes(Protevangeliunt
o./'Jante.;):ApocryphalCorrespondence
of
Paul with the Corinthrans:Ode.srf' SolontonI l; the
Epistleof Jude:Melito of SardisOn rhe Pussover',
a
fragmentof a liturgicalhymn theApolog.v
o./'Phileas;
P s a l m s3 3 - 3 4 :I a n d 2 P e t e r: P . B o d m e rV : X : X I :
VII; XIIII XII: XX (+ a fragmentlrom the Chester
B e a t t yL i b r a r y a
. c .2 5 5 5 )I;X ; V t l I .
7. Proverbsin Proto-Sahidic
on parchment: P.
BodmerVi.
8. Gospelsof Luke and John : P. BodmerXIVXV:P75.
9 . E x o d u sl : l - 1 5 : 2 1i n S a h i d i co n p a r c h m e n:t
P. BodmerXVI. (P. BodmerXVII is generally
agreed
not to comefrom the samediscovery.)
1 0 . D e u t e r o n o m y1 : 1
1 0 : 7i n S a h i d i c P .
BodmerXVIII.
11 . M a t t h e w1 4 : 2 8- 2 8 : 2 0+ R o m a n sI : l
2:3.
both in Sahidicon parchment.: P. BodmerXIX.
12.Joshuain Sahidic: P. BodmerXXI + Chester
B e a t t ya c . 1 3 8 9 .
13.Jeremiah40:3- 52:34;Lamenrarions;
Epistle
of Jeremy;Baruch 1:1 - 5:5, all in Sahidicon
-\+
} í A N U S C R I P T S O F T H E M I D D [ _ EE A S T5 i l 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 1 )
: P. BodmerXXII + Mississippi
Coptic
parchment.
C o d e xI I .
14. Isaiah47:l - 66:24in Sahidic: P. Bodmer
XXIII.
r XIV.
1 5 .P s a l m s1 7- | 1 8 : P . B o d m e X
16.Thucydides;
Suzanna;Daniel;Moral Exhortations : P. BodmerXXVII, XLV, XLVI. XLVII.
17. A satyr play on the confrontationof Heracles
and Atlas.a papyrusroll. : P. BodmerXXVIII.
18. Codex Visionum : P. Bodmer XXIX
XXXVIII. (For P. BodmerXXXIX seethe inventory
Pachomianmaterialbelorv.)
of specifically
19. Songof Songsin Sahidicon parchment: P.
BodmerXL.
20. The Acts of' Poul.EphesusEpisode.in Subachmimic.: P. BodmerXLI.
21. Fragmentsof the lliad from a papyrusro11: P.
BodmerXLVIII.
from a papyrusroll
22. Fragmentsof the Od-1'ssel
: P . B o d m eX
r LIX.
in Greek:John 10 1 exercises
23. Mathematical
: ChesterBeattyac. 1390.
l3:38in Subachmimic
oí Eliah in Sahidic: Chester
24. The Apot'ulyp.se
Beattyac. 1493: P. ChesterBeatty2018.
lexiconon
25. A Greekgrammar;a Graeco-Latin
R o m a n s .2 C o r i n t h i a n s G
, a l a t i a n s .E p h e s i a n s:
ChesterBeattyac. 1499.
2 6 .P s a l m7s2 : 6- 2 3 .2 5- 7 6 : l : 7 1 : l - 1 8 .2 0
; 5 : 2- 8 8 : 2 0: C h e s t eBr e a t t y
8 l : 7 ; 8 2 : 2- 8 4 : 1 4 8
:
P. ChesterBeattyXIII : Rahifs2149.
ac. l50l
14.2:l 8
2 7 .P s a l m3sl : 8 - 1 1 : 2 6 : l- 6 . 8
: ChesterBeattyac. 1501: P. ChesterBeattyXIV
:
R a h l f s2 1 5 0 .
28. Tax receipts of 339-1'7A.D. from Panopolis
(Achmim) in a largeiy uninscribedand unbound quire
constructed from two papyrus ro1ls with correspondence of the Strategusof the Panopolitan nome of
298-300A.D. : P. Beatty Panopolitanus: Chester
Beatty ac.2554.
29. Melito of SardisOn the Pussover:2Maccabees
5 : 2 ' 7- 7 : 4 1 ; 'l P e t e r ;J o n a h r a h o m i l y o r h y m n . :
ms. 193 of The
T h e C r o s b y - S c h o y e nC o d e x
Western
Manuscripts.
SchoyenCollection of
30. Scholia to the Odt'ssevI from a papyrus ro11:
P. Rob. inv. 32 + P. Colon. inv. 906.
31. AchilleusTatios from a papyrusroll : P. Rob.
i n v . 3 5 + P . C o l o n .i n v . 9 0 1 .
32. Odvssey3
4 from a papyrus roll : P. Rob.
inv. 43 + P. Colon. inv. 902.
33. A piece of ethnography or a philosophicaltreatise from a papyrus roll : P. Rob. inv. 37 + P.
Colon. inv. 903.
34. Cicero. in Catilinarr; Psalmus Responsorius:
Greek liturgical text; Alcesti.r,all in Latin except the
Greek liturgical text, : Codex Miscellani : P. Barcinonensesinv. 149-61* P. Duke inv. L I [ex P. Rob.
inv.20ll.
35. Gospelsof Luke; John; Mark. all in Sahidic :
P . P a l a uR i b e sl 8 l - 1 8 3 .
The totai quantity of materialwould involvewhat
remainsof some37 books.They consistof 9 Greek
classicp
aa
l p y r u rso l l s( n u m b e r1s , 2 . 1 1 , 2 3 . 2 4 , 3 2 - 3 5 )
and 28 codices(numbers3-16,l8-22.25-31,36, 37).
The codicesmay be subdividedas follows:21 are on
p a p y r u(sn u m b e r3s- 6 ,8 , 1 0 .1 2 ,1 4 - 1 6 , 1 82 .0 .2 2 , 2 5 3 1 .3 6 .3 7 ) ,5 o n p a r c h m e n( nt u m b e r1s. 9 , 1 1 ,1 3 ,l 9 ) .
and of 1 the BibliothequeBodmerhas not divulged
the material(number22).l0 are in Greek(numbers3.
, i n G r e e ka n d L a t i n
5 . 6 . 8 , 1 5 " 1 6 . 1 8 . 2 8 - 3 0 )2
(numbers27, 36). and I in Greek and Subachmimic
( n u m b e2r 5 ) .1 5a r ei n C o p t i c( n u m b e r4s, ' / , 9 - 1 4 .1 9 2 2 . 2 6 . 3 13
. 7 ) ,o f w h i c hl 0 a r ei n S a h i d i (cn u m b e r9s1 4 . 1 9 . 2 6 . 3 1 . 3 7 ) . I i n B o h a i r i c( n u m b e r4 ) , I i n
(number
(number7). I in Subachmimic
Proto-Sahidic
Bodmerhasnot divul20).and of I the Bibliotheque
ged the dialect (number22). 2 are non-Christian
( n u m b e r3s. 4 , 6 - 1 5 ,l 8 ( n u m b e r5s . 3 0 ) .2 l C h r i s t i a n
21.26,28.29"31,37) and4 partlyeach(numbers16,
2 5 . 2 1 . 3 6 )1. l c o n t a i ns o m e t h i nfgr o m t h e O l d T e s t a ment (numbers7. 9. 10, 12-16,19, 28. 29') and 6
(numbers3, 8, I l,
somethingfrom the New Testament
4, 6,
from each(numbers
21.25.37)and 3 something
31).
A distinctivepart of this discoveryconsistsof archivai copiesof offrciallettersof Abbots of the Pachomian MonasticOrder:
Letterl lb in Sahidic.a smallparchl. Pachomius'
:
mentroll. P. BodmerXXXIX.
Letters9a.9b. 10.1lb. from a papy2. Pachomius'
rus codex.in Sahidic: ChesterBeattvGlassContainer No. 54 : ac.2556.
3. Pachomius'Letters l-3. 7. 10. lla in Greek. a
Chester
small parchment roll in rotltli formar.
Beatty Ms. W. 145 + Cologne inv. 3288 : P. Kóln
174 : three fragmentslrom Letter 7.
4. Theodore'sLetter 2 in Sahidic,a small parchment
roll in rotuli format. : Chester Beatty Library ac.
I486.
5. A secondcopl of Theodore'sLetter 2. a small
parchment roll in rotuli format in an unidentified
private German collection. pubiished by Martin
Krause.
6. Horsiesios' Letter 3 in Sahidic. a small papyrus
roll. : ChesterBeatty Library ac. 1494.
7. Horsiesios' Letter 4 in Sahidic. a small papyrus
roll. : ChesterBeatty Library ac. 1495.
8. Pachomius' Letter 8 in Sahidic, a small parchment roll, : Cologneinv. 3286 : P. Colon. Copt. 2
: P. Kóln ágypt. 8.
9. Pachomius'Letters l0-11a in Sahidic. a small
parchment roll, : Cologne inv. 3287 : P. Colon.
Copt. I : P. Kóln àgypt. 9.
NorEs
1 Oneof thesecodices,
originallyacquiredby the University of Mississippiand namedMississippiCoptic CodexI
(The CrosbyCodex)has recentlybeenacquiredby Martin
Schoyen.distinguished
Norwegianbibliophile.and has
J A M E S M . R O B I N S O NT
. H E P A C H O M I A N M O N A S T I CL I B R A R Y
35
been published through the Insiitute for Antiquity and P l a t e sl - 2 . e s p e c i a l l yp . 8 1 , w h e r e K r o p p w r o t e ' e n d o f t h e
Christianity: The Crosb,v-Scho1'en
Coder. Ms 193 in the Fifth Century.'
'Ein
11 Number 2: Hans
Schot'en Collection. Edited by James E. Goehring with
neues Fragment der
Quecke,
contributions by Hans-GebhardBethge.JamesE. Goering, Pachombriefein koptischer Sprache.' OrienÍalía 43 (1974)
Charles W. Hedrick. Clayton N. Jefford. Edmund S. Melt66-72, especiallyp. 67, 'probably from the Sixth Century.'
z e r , J a m e sM . R o b i n s o na n d W i l l i a m H . W i l l i s . C S C O 5 2 1 .
Number 4: Hans Quecke,'Ein Brief von einem Nachfolger
Subsidia85 (Leuven: Peeters,1990).
Pachoms (Chester Beatty Library Ms. Ac. 1486),' Oríentalia
2 PachomíanKoinonia l: The Life of Saint Pachomius,2:
44 (.1915)426-33and Plate 42, especiallyp. 427.'probably
PachomianChroníclesqnd Rules.tr. Armand Veilleux (Cis- o f t h e S i x t h C e n t u r y . '
tercian Studies 45 and 46: Kalamazoo. MI: Cistercian
Number 7: Tito Orlandi, 'Nuovi Testi Copti Pacomiani.'
P u b l i c a t i o n 1s 9
, 8 0a n d l 9 8 l ) , 1 . 3 4 1 .
Commandementsdu Seigneuret Liberation évangélíque(Stu3 PachomianKoínonia. 1.338-339.
dia Anselmiana 70' Rome: Editrice Anselmiana, 1977).
a PachomianKoinonía.2.414-415.
pp.24l-43, esp. p.242. where he referred to Guglielmo
s PachomíanKoinonía. 2.166.260-262.
Cavallo for a dating 'a bit older than that of the preceding
ó James M. Robinson and Alfons Wouters. 'Chester
roll' (seethe following note). Hans Quecke.'Eine Handvoll
Beatty AccessionNumber 1499 A Preliminary Codicological pachomianischer Texte.' Zeitschrift cler DeutschenMorgenAnalysis.' Misc'el-làniaPapiràlogica Ramon Roco-Puig en el làndischenGesellscha.ft.
Supp. 3.1 19ll (: 19. Deutscher
seu t'uíÍanÍèaniyersari.edited by SebastiàJaneras (Barce- O r i e n t a l i s t e n t a 1
g 9 7 5 ) .p p . 2 2 l - 2 9 ,e s p e c i a l l p
y . 2 2 2 . l i s t st h e
lona: Fundacio Salvador Vives Casajuana.1987).pp. 297- Sixth Century.
12 Orlandi. 'Nuovi Testi Copti Pacomiani,p
306. Seealso Alfons Wouters. The ChesterBeatt.yCoder Ac
' .241, cited
1499: A Graeco-Lotin Lericon on the Pauline Epistels and a Guglielmo Cavallo for a dating to the Seventh Century.
Greek Crammar (ChesterBeatty Monographs No. l2; Leuven Q u e c k e . ' E i n e H a n d v o l l p a c h o m i a n i s c h eT
r exte,' p.222:
'The
a n d P a r i s : P e e t e r s1. 9 8 8 ) .
hand is a very artificial uncial. which one would like to
'Die
' Hans
Briefe Pachoms.' Zeitschrif't der place considerablylater' [than a Sixth Century' dating. see
Quecke.
DeutschenMorgenlcindischenGesellst'haí't.Supp. 2 1914 (:
the precedingnote].
13 Already Hans
1 8 .D e u t s c h e rO r i e n t a l i s t e n t a 1
g9 7 2 ) p
. . 9 8 . n . 1 3 .a d v o c a t e s
Quecke has recognizedthe non-accithe Fourth Century. and reports that the same date was dental nature of the five Pachomian texts acquired by the
a l r e a d y p r o p o s e db y T . C . S k e a t i n a l e t t e r o f 1 7 x i i 7 0 . Chester Beatty Library. 'Eine Handvoll pachomianischer
Quecke's edítio príncepsis Die Briefe Pat'honts; Gríechi.sc'lrcr Texte.' p. 221: 'It is to be suspectedthat the five pieces
Text der Handschrift W. 145 cler Chester Beatty Librarl',
belong together.and thus. as it were. present a 'hoard' of
(Textus Patristici et Liturgici
eingeleítetund herctusgegeàen
Pachomian material. The five Pachomianpiecescan indeed
1 l ; R e g e n s b u r gF: r i e d r i c hP u s t e t .1 9 7 5 ) .
hardly have come together accidentally in the Chester
8 Tito Orlandi. A. de Vogrié. Hans
'Nuovi
Quecke and James Beatty Library.' And Tito Orlandi.
Testi Copti PacoGoehring. PachomianaCoptít'a.in the press.The dating is miani.'p.241.considersthe materialto come from'the library
from an early draft of the typescriptb,vde Vogiié.
of a Pachomianrnonastery.'
e Martin Krause. 'Der Erlassbrief Theodors.' Srudie.i
1 a F o r a l e g e n da b o u t s u c h u p h e a v a l ss e eK . H . K u h n . I
Presentedto Hans Jakob Polotikr'. ed. Dwight W. Young
Panegvric on Apollo Archinnnclrite of the Monastery, of'
( B e a c o n H i l l . E a s t G l o u c e s t e r .M A : P i r t l e a n d P o l s o n , Isaac bt' Stephen Bishop o/' Herot'leopolís Magna (Corpus
l 9 8 l ) , p p . 2 2 0 - 3 8a n d P l a t e 6 . e s p e c i a l l yp . 2 2 1 ' w i t h e v e r y Scriptorum EcclesiasticorumOrientalium 394-95; Scriptoreservation,the Fifth Century.'
res Coptici 39-40; Louvain: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO.
10 Number 8: Dieter Kurth" Heinz-Josef Thissen and
I978).
1s It was this identification of the remains of this codex
Manfred Weber. Kólner ÀgyptíschePapvri (P. Kótn àglpt.)
1 (Abhandlungen der Rheinisch-Westfàlischen
Akademie as part of the Dishna Papers that lead to the decision to
der Wissenschaften,SonderreihePapyrologica Coloniensia publishit through the Institutefor Antiquity and Christianity:
9; Cologne and Opladen: WestdeutscherVerlag. 1980). The Chester Beattl, Codex Ac 1390; Mathematical School
p p . 1 0 0 - 0 2H
. a n s Q u e c k e , ' D i e B r i e f eP a c h o m s , ' p . 9 7 .c i t e s Exercisesin Greek and John l0;7-13;38 ín Subachmimir'.
with apparent approval the dating 'Fifth or Sixth Century' edited by William Brashear, Wolf-Peter Funk. James M.
by Alfred Hermann in his very inadequate editio princeps Robinson and Richard Smith (ChesterBeatty Monographs
(that Quecke in other regardscorrected),'Homilie in sahi- N o . 1 3 : L e u v e na n d P a r i s : P e e t e r s 1. 9 9 0
[1991]).
1ó A.J. Wilson, The Ldè and Times of
dischem Dialekt,' Demotíscheund Koptische Texte (PapyroSir Alfred Chester
logica Coloniensia2; Wissenschaftliche
Abhandlungen der Beatt\' (London: Cadogan PublicationsLtd.. 1985),presents
Arbeitsgemeinschaftfiir Forschung des Landes Nordrhein- an informed biography, including however all too few brief
Westfalens; Cologne and Opladen, 1968), pp.82-85 and discussionsof the bibliophile dimensionof Beatty'sactivity.
P l a t e 3 , e s p e c i a l l yp . 8 2 .
Brian P. Kennedy, Alfred Chester BeaÍt1' and lreland t950Number 9: Kurth, Thissen and Weber, Kólner Àg1,p- 1968: A Study in Cultural Politícs(Dublin: Glendale, 1988),
rischePapyrí (P. Kóln àSypt.) l, pp. 103-08.Hans Quecke. reports considerablymore about the founding of the Ches'Die
Briefe Pachoms,' p.97, cites with apparent approval ter Beatty Library. Seeespeciallypp.49, 125-27concerning
'Fifth
the dating
or Sixth Century' as that of Angelicus the relation with Martin Bodmer.
17 Martin Bodmer, Eine Biblíothek der Weltliteratur
Kropp, O.P. in his very inadequate editio prínceps (that
'Ein
also
corrected
in
other
regards),
Márchen
als
(Ziirich: Atlantis, 1947).
Quecke
18 Excerpts of the exchange of letters are quoted
Schreibr.ibung,'Demotíscheund Koptische i"e,xte(Papyroloby
gica Coloniensia 2; WissenschaftlicheAbhandlungen der Kennedy, Alfred Chester BeatÍy and lreland 1950-t968,
Arbeitsgemeinschaftfiir Forschung des Landes Nordrhein- p p . 1 2 6 - 2 7 .
W e s t f a l e n s ;C o l o g n e a n d O p l a d e n , 1 9 6 8 ) , p p . 6 9 - 8 1 a n d
M A N U S C R I P TO
S F T H E M I D D L E E A S T5 ( 1 9 9 0 - 1 9 9 I )
.1r)
XLWI, 1 - LXVI, 24 en sahidr4re(Cologny-Geneva:
B i b l i o t h e q u e B o d m e r , 1 9 6 5 ) , p . T. n . I " s t a t e d:
'Various indications.internal or external.would tend
It has taken more than a generationto establishthe
provenienceof the Bodmer papyri, the approximate to orient our researcha bit north of Thebes.'But the
extent of their contents beyond the holdings of the internal evidence.the dialects.is so variegated(SahiSubachmimic)as to make
BibliothequeBodmer. and the details of their disco- dic. Bohairic.Paleo-Sahidic.
hence
unreliable indication of
very and marketing.The courseof this development them a conflicting and
the site of the discovery.
can be tracedas follows:
Kasser'sremark in Papt'rusBodnterXXI, Jo.rttéVI,
Victor Martin, Puptrus BodrnerI, Iliade,churtts5 eÍ ó
(Bibliotheca Bodmeriana 3; Cologny-Geneva:Biblio- 1 6 . 2 5 ,V I I , 6 - X I , 2 3 , X X I I , 1 - 2 , 1 9- X X I I I , 7 ,
(Cologny-Geneva:BibliothequeBodmer. 1954t.p. 21. Isted Panopolis(Achmim) t5 - XXIr',23 en suhitlique
p.
n. I might have seemed
7,
as the provenienceon ïkrebasisof the land regtsteron theque Bodmer. 1963,
'Of
coursean admissionof uncertaintyis
the recto of the rolls. Yet Martin recognizedthat once preferable:
'certainty''based
the land registerwas no longer in use.the rolls could worth more than the aflirmationof a
have been moved anywhere. in which connection he on falseinformation.'
'Roman
Oxyrhynchus.'
The source of the external inlormation \\as not
referred to Eric C. Turner,
(1952)
w'here
78-93.
identifiedby Kasser.but by Olivrer Reverdin in his
Journalo/'Egt'priunArcheologt'38
'Les
Lu
Genevoiset Ménandre.' to ,líéncmclrt'.
material from other nomes is reported to have been PreÍàce.
'Recto
and Suntíenne.translated into French and adapted liorn
found at Oxyrhynchus.See also Turner.
Verso.' JEA 40 (1954) i02-06. On l-5 December58 the Greek by Andre Hurst. as presented on the
'That
they'were F r e n c h - l a n g u a g eS w i s s r a d i o o n l 5 M a r c h 1 9 7 5 .
Martin wrote to William H. Willis:
probable.
is
b1
no means p u b l i s h e da s a p a m p h l e ti n 1 9 7 5 p
. . l:'For a longtime
found in Achmim. though
'The
Neu Collectionsof Pap-vriat the one had onl,v quite vague indications about their
certain.'Willis.
ol the IX' Inter- provenience.Shortll beÍore his death. however. the
University of Mississipi.' Proteetlirtg.s
national Congress ol Puprrolog.r'(Os1o: Norwegian antiquitiesdealerr"ho had sold them lifted the secret.
U n i v e r s i t i e sP r e s s .1 9 6 1 ) .p . 3 8 3 . n . 1 . u ' h o q u o t e s He revealedthat thesepapl'ri cameÍiom a villagenear
Martin. took the comment to appl,vto the Bodmer N a g H a m m a d i . . .I t i s t o M r . R o d o l p h eK a s s e r .P r o f e s s o r o f C o p t i c L a n g u a g ea n d L i t e r a t u r e a t t h e
Papyri in general.
But one ma-y contrast Rodolphe Kasser. Paplrus Faculty of Letters of Geneva. and editor oÍ' a large
Borlnter III. Evangile de Jean et Genè.seI-1V,2 en part of thesepapyri in the senesPrplrus Bodmer, LhaÍ
bohairique(Corpus Scriptorum ChristianorumOrien- he made his confession.'
Then. with the resumption of publication of the
talium 177-178.ScriptoresCoptici 25-26: Louvain:
'... uithout
monograph series, Kasser and Guglielmo Cavallo.
. 9 5 8 ) .1 1 1 . i i i :
S e c r é t a r i adtu C o r p u s S C O 1
the exact proveniencehaving been revealedthus far. Pup.t'rusBodmer XXIX, VísioncleDorotheos(ColognyOne said that all the pieceshad been found togetherin Geneva: Foundation Martin Bodmer, 1984).p. 100.
'Various
convergingindications(among
Upper Egypt, and that it had to do u'ith a private n.2. reported:
library. We do not know an-vthingmore.' Similarll' them the dialects of the Coptic texts) make ver.v
Martin. Papt'rus Bodmer IL', Ménunclre:Le Dv.stolo.s plausible the localization of this discovery in Upper
(Cologny-Geneva:
BibliothequeBodmer. 1958[19-s9]). Egy'pt.a bii to the eastof Nag Hammadi.'
'unknown.' But
p. 7. listed the place of discoverl as
In the context of his 1984statementKasser referred
I-XV
2
I
en
XL'[,
Erode
Papt'rus
Bodmer
explicitly
to my having announcedinappropiatelyin
Kasser,
,
: i b l i o t h e q u eB o d m e r . the Bulletin of the Institute for Antiquity and Christians a h i d i q u e( C o l o g n y - G e n e v a B
l 9 6 l ) , p . 7 . r e p o r t e dt h a t ' w ' e c a n a d m i t . a s a p o s s i b i - i t - ' - .7 . 1 ( M a r c h 1 9 8 0 ) .p p 6 - 7 . t h e d i s c o v e r yo f t h e
lity if not probability. that these texts were copied identityof the Bodmer Papyri with the Dishna Papers.
betweenAchmim and Thebes. and. by preference.in On receipt of that Bulletin he had requestedfurther
the neighbourhood of the latter site. The irnportance inÍormation,and on 23 June 1980I obligedby mailing
of Thebes is due to the Proto-Sahidic (previousll' him a current draft of the relevantsectionof a book I
calledProto-Theban)dialect Kasseridentifiedin Papyrus had begun on the topic. Thus before announcinghis
Bodnter VI, Livre des Proverbes(Corpus Scriptorum Íina1 decision as to the provenienceof the Bodmer
Christianorum Orientalium 194-95. Scriptores Coptici Papyri (which agreeswith the outcome of my investiga27-28;Louvain: Secrétariatdu CorpusSCO,1960).an tions). he had accessto my published and unpublished
associationmade explicit by Michael Testuz, Papvrus material reporting basicallythe samefacts as found in
Bodnter VII-IX, r/II: L'Epítre de Jude; VIII: Les deux the presentessay,though no public acknowledgement
Epítresde Pierre; lX; Les Psuumes33 et 34 (Cologny- is made to this effect.
'Statusquaestionis1988
Instead.in a recentarticle,
Geneva:BibliothèqueBodmer. 1959.p. 32. who hence
supported Thebesas the place of origin of P. Bodmer sulla presunta origine dei cosiddetti Papiri Bodmer.'
VII-IX.
Aegyptus: Rit'istctitaliana di egittologia e papirologiu
Then Kasser. Papt'rus Bodnter XXVIII, Esaie 6 8 : l - 2 ( 1 9 8 8 ) . 1 9 1 - 1 9 4e, s p e c i a l l yp . 1 9 2 a n d n . 9 .
PostscRrpr
J,{\,ÍES NÍ, ROBINSON. THE PACHOMIAN
Kasser has maintained that my investigationswere
basedon no more than village 'rumor' renderedirrelevant by the passingof 25 years.Though this criticism
is to be dismissedas simply not accurate.it does serve
to indicate that it would be relevant to pubiish the
sourcesof the information presentedabove in Section
2 on the Discovery and Marketing of the Library.
My own investigationbeganas part of my efforts to
track down the discoverersand middlemen of the Nag
Hammadi codices. Jean Doresse had referred to a
priest he thought had seenthe Nag Hammadi codices.
Abunii Dá'[d, whom I found after church on 20
November 1974 at the Deir al-Malák where he had
officiated.near al-Qasr not far from Nag Hammadi.
Another priest there. to whom he introduced me.
mentioned that the discoveredcodiceshad been for a
time in the possessionof a Dishná priest named
Manqaryusand his son Tányus. I added this secondarily to my essay 'On the Codicology of the Nag
Hammadi Codices.' Les Te.rÍes de l{ag Hammadi:
Colloque du Centre d'Histoire des Religiort.y( Strasbourg, 23-25octobre1974), ed. by Jacques-É.Ménard
( N a g H a m m a d i S t u d i e sV I I : L e i d e n :E . J , B r i l i . 1 9 7 5 ) .
p. 16. on the assumptionthat it had to do with the
Nag Hammadi codices.
It was in the processof followrngup this lead that I
interviewedthe Inspector for Agriculture of the Dishná
Governorate.Isháq Ayylb Isháq. who told me about
what he referredto as the Dishna Papers.He gave me
on 12 September1975 the name of an antiquities
dealerin Alexandria.TawÍïq Sa'd. who. he said. had
acquired some of them. On 30 December 1975, his
son. a jeweller in Alexandria. Émile TawÍïq Sa'd.
showed me pictures of antiquities his deceasedfather
had sold. He even let me borrou the three pictures
that had to do with manuscripts. which were soon
identifiedas leavesof P. Bodmer XXIV (with the help
of Albert Pietersma)and XL (with the help of Marvin
W. Meyer and Hans Quecke).
I interviewed,repeatedlyand year after year (in the
D i s h n á a r e a a l o n e: 1 8 - 2 1 N o v e m b e r 1 9 7 4 : I I - l 3
January, 10-18 September.25 November
20 December 1975: 30 November
6 December. 18-30
December1976; 5-24January 1978;3-11January,l520 December 1980),the principals in the story (listed
in the order in which they occur in the narrative): the
widow of al-QuntmusManqaryls (in Dishná) and his
son al-QummusTànyis (in Cairo), Rághib Andaràwus
al-Qiss'Abdal-Sayyid(in Dishná, Nag Hammadi and
Cairo). Riyàd Jirjis Fám and his son Nushr (both in
Heliopolis),Mlsá Fikn Ash'ryah(in Dishná),Ab[ alWaÍà Ahmad Ismá'Il (in Fàw QiblI), Sa'id Diryás
Habashr (in Dishná). and 'Azïz Suryál 'Atiyah (in
Claremont. California).
Theseinvestigationsultimately located the discoverer,
Hasan Muhammad al-Sammán. whom I interviewed
at Ab[ Máná' 11 August 1981.During the interview
someonefrom the back of the crowd called out that he
MONASTIC T,IBRAR\
37
too had been involved.I askedhis name. He replied:
'Abd
'Umar. gil'ing
al-'Ál
in the customaryArab way
his and his father'sname.I acknowledgedthe validity
of his claim by adding his grandfather'sname: al'Abbádi. in
this way incidentally accreditingmyself as
someonewith the basic facts alread-vin hand. which
he then reported much as I had already heard more
than once.Obviouslyin suchrepeatedinterviewsthere
are minor fluctuationsand contradictions.at times
protestationsof innocenceand self-serving
interpretaprocedurethe basic
tions, but in the cross-examination
facts were again and again confirmed.
Occasionaldetailsprovided by Riyád Íit remarkably
well the actual inventory as \\'e know it. The small
rolls the size of a finger that Tano told him were
letters could well have been the archival copies of
letters of Pachomian Abbots. Riyád describedone
book as balled up. as if it had been forced into the
bottom of a piriform jar. This correspondsto the
balled-up condition in which P. Bodmer XXII
MississippiCoptic Codex II was acquired.The approximate sizeof the discoveryand its variegatedcontents.
both rolls and codices.both papyrus and parchment.
were reported by the middlemen. though of course
they were not able to report on the language of the
texts or their contents.
Written documentation.when available.has prorrded
striking confirmation.such as the parish diary of the
FranciscanChurch near Nag Hammadi confirming
that Jose O'Callaghan had been there 'to look for
papers' in 1964-65. as Sa'ïd Diryás Habashr had
marntained.Well after mv investieiirions
in Egypt had
beencompleted,I locatedon l9 Januarl' 1984.stapled
at ac. 1390 in the AccessionsBook of the Chester
Beatty Library, the typed note in Tano's wooden
English and unusual spelling that summarized the
conclusions regarding the provenienceto which my
investigations
had alreadyled me.
I am heavily indebtedto Father Louis Doutreleau.
S.J..who has written me over a period of years(19761980),with authorizattonto publish, details of the
acquisition process in Cairo. together with memoranda he wrote in Cairo at the time and photographs
taken in Cairo of materials he eramined there for
Bodmer that later became Bodmer Papyri. Kasser's
repudiation of Father Doutreleau (whom he has never
met) as too senileto be taken seriouslyis valid neither
in terms of his age nor in terms of his detailed.
intelligent letters and the earlier records he has supplied. I called to Kasser'sattention a doctorate honoris
causa Father Doutreleau had recently receivedfrom
the University of Cologne. When I visited Father
Doutreleau at the offices of Sources Chretiennesat
Lyon on 26May 1992,hetook satisfactionin pointing
out a secondhonorary doctorate framed and hung on
his wall.
Confirmation has even belatedlycome, as I searched
secondaryliterature in this regard, from Kasser him-
38
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 ( I 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )
self. In 'Fragments du livre biblique de la Genèse
cachés dans la reliure d'un codex gnostique,' le
Muséon 85 (1972) 80, he reported: 'I have serious
reason to believethat they [the Bodmer Papyri] were
found, like the Gnostic codicesmentioned above. in a
place near Nag Hammadi.' In 'Les dialectescoptes,'
Bulletin de I'Institut Franqais d'archéologieorientale 73
(1973) 81, he sharpenedthe identification: 'A bit to
the east (north-east)of Nag Hammadi.' However it is
quite inaccurateto describe('Status quaestionis1988
sulla presunta origine dei cosiddetti Papiri Bodmer,'
p.192 and n. 7) my identificationof the site as an
'echo'
of his vague allusions to a site to the east of
Nag Hammadi (the earliestof which he cites being his
essay'Le dialecteprotosaidiquede Thèbes,'Archiv fí)r
Papyrusforschung28 [1982] 77, n.2). For I turned to
secondaryliterature concerningthe provenienceof the
Bodmer Papyri only after I had discoveredthat they
were the same manuscript discovery that in Upper
Egypt is known as the Dishna papers.
Kasser reported ('Status quaestionis1988 sulla presunta origine dei cosiddetti Papiri Bodmer.' p. 192)
that Tano gave "'Dabba" or "Debba" (al-Dabba,
5 km to the east, slightly north-east.of Nag Hammadi)' as the location. This village is too near the Nile
to have preservedmanuscriptsintact over the years,in
view of the annual inundationsflooding this area prior
to the constructionof the High Dam. But it is the first
railroad station upstreamfrom Nag Hammadi, recommended in the 1914 English-languageBaedekeras the
station from which to visit the cliff area. It would be a
more convenient point of departure for Ab[ Maná'
than would be Dishná (and for the Jabal al-Tárif than
would be Nag Hammadi), if one planned to go by foot
or donkey, but would have been replacedby Dishná
(or Nag Hammadi) once a taxi came in question (alDabba lacks a taxi stand). It was in fact the first name
used to locate the Nae Hammadi codices (bv the
Abbot Étienne Drioto-n, General Director'of the
Department of Antiquities, in a letter of 13 February
1948 to Jean Doresse,reporting on an interview with
the same Tano, and referring to 'the discovery of
Daba'). Tano liked to associatethe Dishna Papers
with the Nag Hammadi codicesfor financial reasons.
But sincethe main middlemen trafficking in the Dishna
Papers were located at Dishná, that has become the
local designation.
Kasser reported ('Status quaestionis1988sulla presunta origine dei cosiddettiPapiri Bodmer,' p. 192 and
n. 6) having waited in publishing his own view about
the location of the discoveryuntil Bodmer's secretary
[Odile Bongard] revealed her view ('a few months
ago'). When it turned out to disagreewith that of
Kasser, the documentation I had entrusted to him
may have strengthenedhis hand in resisting her
conclusion.For I was, in responseto his querry, able
to clarify for him that the Dishnà to which I had
referredwas, in spite of the divergent French spelling,
located in the area conformable to his rather than
Mlle Bongard's view of the provenience. She had
'affirmed
in all certainty' (p. 193) that the site of the
discoverywas near a village named Mina or Minia in
the Asyut region. Kasserwas not able to identify there
a village with any such name (p. 193,n. 12),and hence
rejectedher view. The only way that she has then been
able to reconcileher information with Kasser's alternative is (according to Kasser) to the effect that the
AsyÍt region may have been the provenienceonly of
P. Bodmer XVII, which is generally recognized to
derive from a different discoverythan that of the bulk
of the Bodmer Papyri. In fact the local Copts of the
Dishná region offer the popular etymology to the
effect that Abrl Maná' derives from the name of the
Coptic saint, Mina. which may help to explain the
garbled report by Mlle Bongard.
Kasser'sown view ('Status quaestionis1988 sulla
presunta origine dei cosiddetti Papiri Bodmer.' pp.
191-192)is based on information given to him bv
Tano 19 years after the discovery. Kasser had previously maintained (Papyrus Bodnter VI. Livre tles
Proverbes.1960,p. viii. n. 1) that such information
was irrelevant: 'One knows the little credenceone can
give to the reports of antiquities dealers when they
cannot be confirmed by any archeologicalinvestigation.' Kasser'srevisedposition that his interview with
Tano was an exception to the usual unreliability of
dealersin antiquities,in view of a special'friendship'
with Tano and the fact that Tano's death was imminent, needsto be taken cum grano salis.I interviewed
Tano about the Nag Hammadi codicesthe same day
(20 December 1971. when Kasser and I were both
together in Cairo at a work sessionof the Technical
Sub-Committee of the International Committee for
the Nag Hammadi Codices and staying in the same
hotel, the Garden City House). Tano seemedquite
aggressivein spirit and in good health for a person his
age. He died 9 February 1972. Dealers in antiquities
assureall of us of special bonds of friendship ('You
are my brother!'), which one should not take too
seriously.But as a matter of fact over the years Tano
was telling the truth regarding the proveniencewith a
remarkable degreeof consistencyto personshe trusted.
Sincehe funded a clandestineexcavationof the site of
the discovery directed by Riyàd Girgis Fám, Tano
apparently had the correct information.
In his article on the Bodmer Papyri in The Coptic,
Encyclopaedia(New York: MacMillan, etc., 1991) 8.
48-53,esp. p. 49, Kasser has summarizedhis criticism
of my results:
'Thus,
there are nineteen codices if one considers
only the reliable information gatheredby the Bodmer
Foundation at the time the Bodmer papyri came to be
included in the library. There are some scholarswho.
on the basis of much later research(some thirty years
after the presumed date of discovery of the Bodmer
papyri), think that they can also include in the Bodmer
.lANíES \'f . ROBÍNSON. THf
PACHOMIAn' MONASTIC LIBRARY
39
papyri various other famous manuscriptssuch as the distinct discoveries.The reasoningis the same. and
P. Palau-Ribesfrom Barcelona(the Gospelsof Mark. henceconsistentconclusionsshould be drawn in both
Luke, and John in SahidicCoptic. edited by H. Quecke). cases.
Actually. Kasser'slist of l9 items does inciudetwo
and, above all, various letters of Pachomius.one oÍ'
in the BibliothequeBodmer (items29
which is preservedin the Bodmer Foundation but with not represented
nothing to indicate that it might be part of the Bod- and 34). preciselybecauseBodmer acquired fragments
mer papyri. Their suggestionis that the actual iibrary of materialin Barcelonaand Mississippiand was kind
of the famous Monastery of Saint Pachomiusat Faw enough to turn them over to the repository that held
al-Qibli has been rediscovered.This hypothesisis cer- the bulk of the codex. Since Sir Chester acquired
tainly very tempting, but the reltable inÍormation Íiagments from Tano belonging to codices acquired
referredto above tends to weaken rather than streng- by Bodmer, it would be reasonableto assumeother
acquisitionsby Sir Chesteracquiredat the sametrme
then it.'
lrom Tano should. at least as a rvorking hypothesis.
the
to
available
Actually, information originally'
Bibliotheque Bodmer seems to have been lost from be considered part of the same discoverl'. This
sight.On 26 July 1956Father Doutreleauhad written assumptionhas been confirmedbv a note from Tano
'lt is quite certain that this find of in the Book of Accessionsin the Chester Beatty
to Victor Martin:
coming
some thirty codices(in the region of Nag Hammadi. Library identifying one item (ac. 1390) as'Íiom
was
the
it
that
u,ith
conjecture
the
from
Dishná.
a
act
of
like the Gnostic papyri) cannot remain the
When
Bodmer's
assistant
Monastery.'
singleindividual.'If Kassercan identil,r'only 19 at the Library of a
B i b l i o t h è q u e B o d m e r . u ' h e r e d o e s h e a s s u m e t h e Mlle Bongard was later pennitted to sort through
others are to be found? Apparentll' he u'as simpll' Tano's fragments for vestigesof Bodmer's acquist'reliableinformation gathered tions. it was a matter of course that Bodrner made
unawareof someof the
by the Bodmer Foundation at the time the Bodmer availableto Sir Chesterthose that he did not identify
papyri came to be included in the librarl'.' such as the as belonging to his acquisitions.just as he gave to
correspondenceof which Doutreleau gave me a cop)" Barcelonaand Mississippifragmentsof their acquisiThe totai quantity of material u oulC invoh'e what tions he had unknowinglyacquired.
Father Doutrcleau ernphasizedto me rrll ln\ \'isit
remainsof some 35 books (plus the 9 copiesof letters
w
i
th him in Llon on 26 May 1992 that Martirr
10
Greek
ot'
Thel
consist
of Pachomian Abbots).
c l a s s i c apla p y r u sr o l l s ( n u m b e r sl . 2 . 1 1. 2 1 . 2 2 .3 0 - 3 3 ) Bodmer and Mlle Bongard knew hardly anything
and that the little
a n d 2 6 c o d i c e s( n u m b e r s3 - 1 6 . l 8 - 2 0 . 2 3 - 2 9 .3 4 . 3 5 ) . about the discoveryand ntidcllemen.
The codicesmay be subdividedas Íollous. ll are on t h e y k n e r v t h e y h a d l e a r n c d t ' r o m h i m . K a s s e r ' s
'reliableinformatton' is thus a second-hand
versionof
papyrus(numbers3-6. 10. 12. 14-16.18. 20^23-29.34.
Doutreleau
Írom
first-hanci
I
received
information
1
9
)
.
l
0
the
(
n
u
m
b
e
r
s
1
3
.
7.9. ll.
3 5 ) ,a n d 5 o n p a r c h m e n t
a r e i n G r e e k( n u m b e r 3s . 5 . 6 . 8 . 1 5 . 1 6 . 1 8 . 2 6 - 2 8 ) . 2 and the Copts who had beendrr.'ctlr involved.
'soÍle thirtl'I'earsafter
To discreditsuchresearchas
in Greek and Latin (numbers15. 31). and I in Greek
and Subachmimicilycopolitan(number 23). l3 are in the presumeddate of the discoven'is neitheraccurate
C o p t i c ( n u m b e r s4 " 1 . 9 - 1 4 . 1 9 . 2 0 . 2 1 . 2 9 . 3 5 ) . o f nor relevant.The discoveryin 1952 precededby 22
which l0 are in Sahidic(numbers9- 14. I 9. 24. 29, 35). -yearsmv investigationswhich began in 197'1.rvhich
1 in Bohairic (number 4). I in Proto-Sahidic(number comparesnot too unfavorablywith the 19 y'earsthat
(number 20).2 elapsedbefore Tano confided in Kasser tnÍbrmation
7). and I in Subachmimic,Lycopolttan
are non-Christian(numbers5, 28). 20 C'hristian(num- about the proveniencethat Kassertook at Íàce I'alue.
b e r s3 , 4 . 6 - 1 5 .l 8 - 2 0 , 2 4 " 2 6 . 2 7 . 2 9 . 3 5a) n. d 4 p a r t l y Sincemy' researchincluded interviewswith the princieach (numbers 16, 23. 25, 34). l1 contain something pals. made use of the notes Father Doutreleaumade
from the Old Testament(numbers7. 9. 10. 12-16.19. at the time of the acquisitions.and has beenconfirmed
26, 21),5 somethingfrom the New Testament(num- by written recordswhere available.it is hard to see
f r o m e a c h how the presentationby Kasser. based on none of
b e r s3 . 8 . 1 1 , 2 3 . 3 5 ) , a n d 3 s o m e t h i n g
thesesources.has a higher claim to be accurate.It is
(numbers4, 6" 29).
It is quite arbitrary to limit one's information about not as if he had retraced my steps and come to
the provenienceand the contents of the discovery to different conclusions;he has simply usedthe authority
that of the Bibliothèque Bodmer. The amount of implicit in his statusas an editor of the material at the
fragmentsin one repository that belong to codicesin Bibliotheque Bodmer to asserthis view to be correct.
another link the materials in Barcelona. Cologne, as if he did not have to give the reasonsfor his claims.
I n t h e c a s eo f P . P a l a u R i b e s 1 8 1 - 1 8 3i .t w a s p u t i n
Dublin and Mississippijust as firmly with the materials in the Bibliothèque Bodmer as does Kasser's last placein my Inventory.as beingleastcertain.Hans
'not a single shred belonging to
comment @. a9) that
Quecke had expressedskepticismto me in view of the
better condition of this codex compared
found
considerably
has
been
Nag
Hammadi]
library
the Gnostic
[of
Bodmer papyri. Kasser may hencebe
to
that
of
the
papyri
vice
versa'
effectively
and
among the Bodmer
serve to indicate that we have to do with two quite right that it is from a different provenience.But his
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T 5 ( 1 9 9 0 - I 9 9 I )
negativeconclusionis reachedwithout consideringthe
information I received from the parish diary of the
FranciscanChurch near Dishná. to the effectthat José
O'Callaghan,who acquiredthe materialsfor the Palau
Ribes collection,was actively searchingin 1964-65'for
papers'in the Dishná region. and from Sa'id Diryás of
Dishná to the effect that O'Callaghan had obtained
some material from the local Dishná priest. When I
wrote O'Callaghan to inquire if he had securedany
Nag Hammadi material (which was my interest at the
time), he replied that he had not, though he might
have securedsomethingfrom the sameprovenienceas
the Bodmer papyri. Of course O'Callaghan may have
had somethingother than P. Palau Ribes 181-183in
mind. And of course thesereports can be discredited.
if one can establishreasonsto do so. However they
should not simply be dismissedout of hand, but rather
should be investigated as to whether there may be
some truth in them. Kasser was apparently unaware
of them.
To postulatean independentdiscoveryof the archival
copiesof lettersfrom Abbots of the PachomianMonaster,v Order. which then by pure coincidencepassed
through the same canals to reach the same European
repositoriesas those which obtained Dishná Papersat
about the same time. is of course theoreticallypossible, but hardly probable. After ail, the Coptic and
Greek Pachomianlettershad beencompletell'unattested
for 1500years.Riyád'sreport that Tano told him that
the small rolls the size of a finger. among the manuscripts Riyád had for sale, were letters. seems to
confirm the converseprobability that the Pachomian
materials belong with the Dishná Papers Riyàd was
traÍicking.
Part of the difficulty in carrying on such a discussionis
that Kasser'sopinion is basedon undocumentedclaims.
He maintains that 'the reliableinformation referredto
above tends to weaken rather than strengthen' the
view that one has to do with the archival remainsof a
Pachomianmonastic library. But he does not provide
that information for consideration. Michel Testuz.
Papvrus Bodmer VII-IX (Cologny-Geneva: Bibliothèque Bodmer, 1959).p. 9. speculated:'The content
of this anthology shows that the book was produced
by Christians of Egypt, probably on the order of a
well-to-do member of their community, who intended
it for his own library.' Such pure speculationis not
'reliable information';
if there is such. it should be
made public.
The Inventory presentedhere was also appendedto
the following essays:'The Manuscript's History and
Codicology,' The Crosbl'-Schoyen
Coder Ms 193in the
Schoyen Collection, 1990, James E. Goehring (ed.),
CSCO 521, SubsidiaTomus 85 (Leuven: E. Peeters,
1990 [991]), pp. xvii-xlvii, especiallypp. xxviii-xxxii;
'Introduction.'
The Chester Beattv Codex At: 1390:
Mathematical School Exercise.sin Greek and John
10.7-13.38in Suhuchmrhic,editedby William Brashear.
Wolf-Peter Funk. James M. Robinson and Richard
Smith. ChesterBeatty Monographs No. 13 (Leuven
and Paris: Peeters.1990 [1991]).pp. 3-32. especially
pp. 6-9; 'The first Christian Monastic Library.' in W.
Godlewski (ed.)^ Coptit' Studies; Act.s o/' the Third
InternationalCongresso/ Coptir: Studies,Warsux',2025 August l9B4 (Warsaw: PWN-Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1990),pp. 371-389.especiallypp. 375378.
Three unpublished items included in these earlier
publicationswere not mentioned by Rodolphe Kasserin
his article on the Bodmer Papyri in The Coptíc Ertt'.t'c,kr
paedia. and for lack of confirming evidence.have aiso
been omitted from the presentInventory:
P. BodmerXLII, '2 Corinthiansin Coptic (dialectand
material unknown).' Wolf-Peter Funk has determined
that it is in Sahidicon parchment.There may be some
unstatedreasonto assumeit is not part ttf the Dishna
discoverv.Hence one ma!' ar.l'aitlurther inlornrationor
its publication.
P. BodmerXLIII.'an Apocryphonin Copttc(identin.
dialectand matenal unknown).' Kassermentionedat a
meetingon the ApocryphalActs in Lausanneon l6 May
1992 that this is only a lragment of no significance.
Though there was no further elucidation. it may be
omitted pending further information or its publication.
P. Bodmer XLIV. 'Daniel in Bohairic.' Wolf-Peter
Funk has determinedthat it is in classicalBohairic on
parchment. to be dated liom the 10th to the 12th
Centuries.Henceit presumabll,doesnot come lrom the
Dishná discovery.
P. Bodmer I, from Íhe lliatl. the lcr.rr.rof P. Bodmer L.
as well as the Homeric fragmentsP. Bodmer XLVIII
and XLIX, are also not mentionedby Kasser.no doubt
becauseof the original ascription to a provenienceat
Panopolis (Achmim), in view of the fact that the land
registeron the recÍo comeslrom there.But that does not
determine where the ro11was later kept and reused.
Furthermore. this did not ori-einallydeter Kasser from
considering P. Bodmer I as belonging to the same
discoveryas the bulk of the Bodmer Papyri. For once he
had edited in 1960 Bodmer Papyrus VI, in the ProtoSahidic dialect that he at that time localized in Thebes
and hence called Proto-Theban, he simply merged this
Theban órientation with the Achmim orientation in 1965
into the compromise 'between Achmim and Thebes.
and. by preference,in the neighbourhood of the latter
site' (see above). This location proved to be more or
Iess correct. a location that he at that time conceded
could have included material from Achmim. No further
information has been subsequentlyreported as having
emerged to associatethe provenienceof P. Bodmer I
with a different discovery.Hence Kasser'soriginal inclusion of it in the samediscovervis here retained.