Systematic Appraisal of Codex XI. Codex XI in Relation to the New Testament
Lovewell Mwansa
Academic Paper from the year 2022 in the subject Theology - Biblical Theology, grade: A, , course: Ph. DGS, language: English, abstract: The paper deals with the Systematic Appraisal of codex XI. It gives an an in-depth appraisal of Codex Xi in relation to the New Testament.Charles W. Hedrick writes, Codex XI was among the groups of codices possessed by the antiquities dealer Phocion J. Tano during 1946 to 48. It was kept at the Department of Antiquities in 1949, taken to the Coptic Museum on 9th June 1952, made national property by court action in 1956, and assigned the inventory number 10547 in the year of 1959. Jean Doresse and Togo Mina numbered it IV in 1949, Henri-Charles Puech numbered it VI in 1950, Doresse numbered it VIII in 1958 and Martin Krause numbered it XI in 1962 and James M. Robinson in 1968. In May and June 1961 it was preserved in 80 plexiglass containers by Victor Girgis after consulting Pahor Labib and Martin Krause. Pictures were taken in part by R. Herzog for Krause at that time and again by photographers of the Center of Documentation for UNESCO in the year 1965. Fragments were set and photographs done at its four work meetings during 1970 to 72 and at the work meetings funded by the Smithsonian Institution through the sponsorship of the American Research Center in Egypt in 1974 to 75, under the supervision of the Technical Sub Committee of the International Committee for the Nag Hammadi Codices of the Arab Republic of Egypt and UNESCO. Codex XI is one of the most poorly conserved among the Nag Hammadi Codices. No relatively complete leaves survive except for three leaves (59/60, 61/62, 63/64), which are rebuilt from two to four fragments apiece, and mainly, only the lower fourth to three fourths survive intact, meaning that the page numbering to be expected at the top of the pages is lacking, with the exception of one fragment from a first hand with page numbers 19 to 20 at the center of the top margin.