Nag Hammadi Codex XIII (designated by siglum NHC XIII) is a papyrus codex with a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts in Coptic (Sahidic dialect). The manuscript is generally dated to the 4th century, though there is some debate regarding the original composition of the texts.
Description The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a codex. It is written in Sahidic dialect.Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 2.John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 363. The codex contains: Trimorphic Protennoia and On the Origin of the World.John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 359. It is the only surviving copy of the Trimorphic Protennoia.John Turner, The Nag Hammadi Library in English, HarperOne, 1990, , pp. 511-512.
The text is written in uncial letters. It is well written in an informal book hand. There is no punctuation, no division between sayings. The nomina sacra are contracted in an unusual way (ΠΝΑ, ΧΣ, ΧΡΣ, ΙΗΣ), the words at the end of line are abbreviated.Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), p. 13. The scribe is identical with the scribe A of Codex II. The scribe employed several styles.Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 4. The scribe made several errors of haplography (omitted letter N in 38.7; 48.28; omitted OY 40.18; omitted T in 48.15) and dittography (42.26; 45.31).Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), pp. 8-9.
The so-called "Codex XIII" is in fact not a codex, but rather the text of Trimorphic Protennoia, written on "... eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth."Robinson, James M., The Nag Hammadi Library, HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1988, p. 10.John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, p. 401. Only a few lines from the beginning of Origin of the World are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.
It was buried with the other Nag Hammadi codices, where it lay until the day of its discovery in 1945.
On June 8, 1952, the Coptic Museum received the codex. The text of the codex was edited by Gesine Schenke.Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984), pp. 26-68. It was examined and described by James J. Robinson in 1979.Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989, p. 5. Currently the manuscript is housed at the Department of manuscripts of the Coptic Museum (Inv. 10545) in Cairo.
See also Coptic manuscripts British Library Or 4926 Nag Hammadi Codex II
Greek manuscripts Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655
References
Further reading John D. Turner, Nag Hammadi Codex XIII, in: Elaine H. Pagels, Charles W. Hedrick, Nag Hammadi codices, XI, XII, XIII, BRILL, 1990, pp. 359–460. Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi codex II, 2-7: together with XIII, 2*, Brit. Lib. Or.4926(1), and P.OXY. 1, 654, 655 : with contributions by many scholars, BRILL, 1989. Gesine Schenke, Die dreigestaltige protennoia (Nag-Hammadi-Codex XIII), Walter de Gruyter (1984).
External links Nag Hammadi Archive Antiquities of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity NH Codex 11, 12 and 13 LDAB John D. Turner, TRIMORPHIC PROTENNOIA (XIII 35, 1 -50, 24)