Introduction
Coptic Gnostic Library Online is the only authoritative edition of many of the Coptic writings of the Gnostics from the first centuries AD. It was originally published by Brill in fourteen hardback volumes as part of the Nag Hammadi (and Manichaean) Studies series between 1975 and 1995, under the general editorship of James M. Robinson.
Coptic Gnostic Library Online contains all the texts of the Nag Hammadi codices, both in the original Coptic and in translation. Each text has its own introduction. Coptic Gnostic Library Online is the starting point for all research into ancient Gnosticism. It is the result of decades of dedicated research by the most distinguished international scholars in this field.
Overview of works
The table below lists all of the texts per number, codex, pages and lines, title, abbreviation, and URN. Click the column headings to reverse the order.
| Nr | Codex, tractate | Pages, lines | Title | Abbreviation | URN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NHC I,1 | A.[1]–B.8 | Prayer of the Apostle Paul | Pr. Paul | nh.PrPaul |
| 2 | NHC I,2 | 1.1–16.30 | Apocryphon of James | Ap. Jas. | nh.ApJas |
| 3 | NHC I,3 | 16.31–43.24 | Gospel of Truth | Gos. Truth | nh.GosTruth |
| 4 | NHC I,4 | 43.25–50.18 | Treatise on the Resurrection | Treat. Res. | nh.TreatRes |
| 5 | NHC I,5 | 51.1–138.27 | Tripartite Tractate | Tri. Trac. | nh.TriTrac |
| 6 | NHC II,1 | 1.1–32.9 | Apocryphon of John | Ap. John | nh.ApJohn |
| 7 | NHC II,2 | 32.10–51.28 | Gospel of Thomas | Gos. Thom. | nh.GosThom |
| 8 | NHC II,3 | 51.29–86.19 | Gospel of Philip | Gos. Phil. | nh.GosPhil |
| 9 | NHC II,4 | 87.20–97.23 | Hypostasis of the Archons | Hyp. Arch. | nh.HypArch |
| 10 | NHC II,5 | 97.24–127.17 | On the Origin of the World | Orig. World | nh.OrigWorld |
| 11 | NHC II,6 | 127.18–137.27 | Exegesis on the Soul | Exeg. Soul | nh.ExegSoul |
| 12 | NHC II,7 | 138.1–145.23 | Book of Thomas the Contender | Thom. Cont. | nh.ThomCont |
| 6 | NHC III,1 | 1.1–40.11 | Apocryphon of John | Ap. John | nh.ApJohn |
| 13 | NHC III,2 | 40.12–69.20 | Gospel of the Egyptians | Gos. Eg. | nh.GosEg |
| 14 | NHC III,3 | 70.1–90.13 | Eugnostos the Blessed | Eugnostos | nh.Eugnostos |
| 15 | NHC III,4 | 90.14–119.18 | Sophia of Jesus Christ | Soph. Jes. Chr. | nh.SophJesChr |
| 16 | NHC III,5 | 120.1–147.23 | Dialogue of the Savior | Dial. Sav. | nh.DialSav |
| 6 | NHC IV,1 | 1.1–49.28 | Apocryphon of John | Ap. John | nh.ApJohn |
| 13 | NHC IV,2 | 50.1–81.2 | Gospel of the Egyptians | Gos. Eg. | nh.GosEg |
| 14 | NHC V,1 | 1.1–17.18 | Eugnostos the Blessed | Eugnostos | nh.Eugnostos |
| 17 | NHC V,2 | 17.19–24.9 | Apocalypse of Paul | Apoc. Paul | nh.ApocPaul |
| 18 | NHC V,3 | 24.10–44.10 | Apocalypse of James (First) | 1 Apoc. Jas. | nh.1ApocJas |
| 19 | NHC V,4 | 44.11–63.32 | Apocalypse of James (Second) | 2 Apoc. Jas. | nh.2ApocJas |
| 20 | NHC V,5 | 64.1–85.32 | Apocalypse of Adam | Apoc. Adam | nh.ApocAdam |
| 21 | NHC VI,1 | 1.1–12.24 | Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles | Acts Pet. 12 Apos. | nh.ActsPet12Apos |
| 22 | NHC VI,2 | 13.1–21.30 | Thunder. Perfect Mind | Thund. | nh.Thund |
| 23 | NHC VI,3 | 22.[1]–35.24 | Authoritative Teaching | Auth. Teach. | nh.AuthTeach |
| 24 | NHC VI,4 | 36.1–48.15 | Concept of Our Great Power | Great Pow. | nh.GreatPow |
| 25 | NHC VI,5 | 48.16–51.23 | Plato, Republic | NHC VI.5 | nh.NHCVI5 |
| 26 | NHC VI,6 | 52.1–63.32 | Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth | Disc. 8-9 | nh.Disc8-9 |
| 27 | NHC VI,7 | 63.33–65.7 | Prayer of Thanksgiving | Pr. Thanks. | nh.PrThanks |
| 28 | NHC VI,8 | 65.15–78.43 | Asclepius | Ascl. | nh.Ascl |
| 29 | NHC VII,1 | 1.1–49.9 | Paraphrase of Shem | Paraph. Shem | nh.ParaphShem |
| 30 | NHC VII,2 | 49.0–70.12a | Second Treatise of the Great Seth | Treat. Seth | nh.TreatSeth |
| 31 | NHC VII,3 | 70.12a–84.14a | Apocalypse of Peter | Apoc. Pet. | nh.ApocPet |
| 32 | NHC VII,4 | 84.15–118.9 | Teachings of Silvanus | Teach. Silv. | nh.TeachSilv |
| 33 | NHC VII,5 | 118.15–127.67 | Three Steles of Seth | Steles Seth | nh.StelesSeth |
| 34 | NHC VIII,1 | 1.1–132.9 | Zostrianos | Zost. | nh.Zost |
| 35 | NHC VIII,2 | 132.1–140.27 | Letter of Peter to Philip | Ep. Pet. Phil. | nh.EpPetPhil |
| 36 | NHC IX,1 | 1.1–27.10 | Melchizedek | Melchizedek | nh.Melchizedek |
| 37 | NHC IX,2 | 27.1–29.5 | Thought of Norea | Norea | nh.Norea |
| 38 | NHC IX,3 | 29.6–74.30 | Testimony of Truth | Tes Truth | nh.TesTruth |
| 39 | NHC X | 1.1–68.18 | Marsanes | Marsanes | nh.Marsanes |
| 40 | NHC XI,1 | 1.1–21.35 | Interpretation of Knowledge | Interp. Know. | nh.InterpKnow |
| 41 | NHC XI,2 | 22.1–44.37 | Valentinian Exposition | Val. Exp. | nh.ValExp |
| 42 | NHC XI,3 | 45.1–69.20 | Allogenes | Allog | nh.Allog |
| 43 | NHC XI,4 | 69.21–72.34 | Hypsiphrone | Hypsiph. | nh.Hypsiph |
| 44 | NHC XII,1 | 15.1–34.28 | Sentences of Sextus | Sent. Sextus | nh.SentSextus |
| 3 | NHC XII,2 | 53.1–60.30 | Gospel of Truth | Gos. Truth | nh.GosTruth |
| 45 | NHC XIII,1 | 35.1–50.24 | Trimorphic Protennoia | Trim. Prot. | nh.TrimProt |
| 10 | NHC XIII,2 | 50.25–34 | On the Origin of the World | Orig. World | nh.OrigWorld |
| 46 | BG1 | [1?–6] 7.1–19.5 | Gospel of Mary | Gos. Mary | nh.GosMary |
| 6 | BG2 | 19.6–77.7 | Apocryphon of John | Ap. John | nh.ApJohn |
| 15 | BG3 | 77.8–127.12 | Sophia of Jesus Christ | Soph. Jes. Chr. | nh.SophJesChr |
| 47 | BG4 | 128.1–141.32 | Acts of Peter | Act Pet. | nh.ActPet |
Background
- NHC = Nag Hammadi Codex. There are twelve codices in total. Codex 13 is only preserved as eight leaves tucked inside the front cover of the sixth codex.
- BG = Berolensis Gnosticus = Codex Berolinensis 8502 = P. Berol. 8502. This codex contains four works.
- There are 46 works in the Nag Hammadi codices, preserved in 55 versions (51 in NHC and 4 in BG). The Gospel of Truth, for example, is one work that exists in three versions, to wit I.3 (i.e., the third text in codex 1), IX.3 and XII.2.
- These are citable works, existing in individual versions, such as NHC XII.3. The URNs reflect this, giving the logical structure in the work identifier, and the physical one in the version identifier.
- For the names of the works, see this table
- Besides complete texts, Coptic and Greek fragments have been preserved in the codices as well. These have been included as if they were works (as are the prefaces from the printed volumes).
- The works in the Coptic Gnostic Library Online are by no means the only extant Gnostic works, nor do they preserve the only versions of their texts. The Codex Tchacos, for example, is not a Nag Hammadi codex. It contains, besides the Gospel of Judas (for which we have other versions) and the Book of Allogenes (a unique fragment, not to be confused with Allogenes from Nag Hammadi), the Letter of Peter to Philip (which is NHC VIII.2) and the First Apocalypse of James (NHC V.3).
CTS URNs
Coptic Gnostic Library Online uses CTS URNs to identify works. CTS URNs are unique and persistent identifiers of textgroups, works, and passages. They are used by important resources in the field, such as the Coptic Scriptorium,
Here is how they work:
| Unit | URN |
|---|---|
| Textgroup | urn:cts:copticLit:nh |
| Work | urn:cts:copticLit:nh.GosTruth |
| Work version (edition) | urn:cts:copticLit:nh.GosTruth.cgl-cop1 |
| Work version (translation) | urn:cts:copticLit:nh.GosTruth.cgl-eng1 |
| Work version (commentary) | urn:cts:copticLit:nh.GosTruth.cgl-eng2 |
| Passage | urn:cts:copticLit:nh.GosTruth.cgl-cop1:12.2.53.19 |
Please note the following.
- The passage identifier contains redundant information: we already know that work 2 on codex 12 is the “Gospel of Truth”. However, it seemed preferable to a) keep human recognizable names in the work identifiers and b) have a completely numerical and unambiguous string as the passage identifier.
- The passage identifier given is WORK - COLUMN - LINE. "Work" is a combination of codex number and text number.
- We write work 2 on codex 12 as XII_2 rather than XII.2 as full stops are not allowed in this position in the URN.