What was discovered in the Nag Hammadi library?

The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945. Comprising twelve leather-bound papyrus codices and a partial tractate buried in a sealed jar, the manuscripts contain mostly Gnostic treatises written in the Coptic language. Scholars suggest these codices may have belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery and were hidden following Saint Athanasius condemning non-canonical books in 367 A.D.

What we know

• The Nag Hammadi library was discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in late 1945 by an Egyptian farmer named Muhammed al-Samman and others. [1, 2]
• The collection consists of twelve leather-bound papyrus codices and a tractate from a thirteenth, comprising 52 mostly Gnostic treatises, three Corpus Hermeticum works, and a partial alteration of Plato's Republic. [2]
• James Robinson suggested that the codices belonged to a nearby Pachomian monastery and were buried after Saint Athanasius condemned non-canonical books in his Festal Letter of 367 A.D. [2]
• The codices contain the only complete text of the Gospel of Thomas, alongside other works written in the Coptic language and dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries. [2]

Still open

• Whether the exact origin of the codices can be definitively traced to a Pachomian monastic library remains a subject of ongoing scholarly expansion and debate.

Where to go next

• whoWho was Muhammed al-Samman?
• a case in pointWhat is the Gospel of Thomas?
• whereWhere is Nag Hammadi located today?
• what caused itHow did Saint Athanasius influence the burial of the texts?
• the bigger pictureWhat are Gnostic texts?
• an unexpected connectionHow does Plato's Republic connect to early Christian Gnostic manuscripts?The Nag Hammadi codices of early Christian and Gnostic writings unexpectedly include a partial translation and alteration of Plato's Republic.

Sources

• [1]Nag Hammadi library (Wikidata Q222999) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Nag Hammadi library · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Nag Hammadi · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Apocryphon of John · CC BY-SA 4.0