The Coptic Ps.Gospel of Judas (Iscariot)

[Complete manuscript images of Codex Tchacos online!] (31st January 2008)

If you go to ftp10.nationalgeographic.com you will find what look like a complete set of images of the reconstructed pages of the Codex Tchacos, containing the Gospel of Judas and 4 other texts, all in colour and excellent quality.  

No doubt these are not meant for public viewing, and indeed now that we have a critical edition, perhaps of limited interest other than to specialists.  But I hope National Geographic will make them available online permanently.

[More Exodus fragments] (17th November 2007)

Matthew Hamilton has emailed me that more of the Coptic Exodus manuscript has come to light:

I noticed in Detlef Fraenkel's edition of "Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments" (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2004), pages 447-448, a reference to 10 fragments of the Exodus manuscript.

Fragments contain, according to Fraenkel:

1. Ex.31:11-15
2. Ex.32:26-28
3. Ex.33:1-4
4. Ex.33:7-8
5. Ex.33:13-15
6: Ex.33:21-34:3
7: Ex.34:5-10
8: Ex.34:23-24?
9. Ex.34:28-31
10. Ex.34:34-35:4

Apparently Fraenkel was working from photocopies of the fragments, but what I can't work out from his wording is if the above listed contents represents the contents of only one side of each fragments or not. I suspect, based on each fragment NOT having two ranges of contents (one for each of recto and verso), that the contents he lists are for one side of each fragment.

On another matter, online there is an article by Henk Schutte, "Perkamentsnippers op E-Bay het Judas-evangelie na de hype", with a photograph of a fragment of the Gospel of Judas.  The PDF is here at Livius.org.

Many thanks indeed!  The fragment is shown on p.6 and is apparently one of those in the bank vault in Akron at the centre of a court case.

[Critical edition of Coptic text of Gospel of Judas released!!!  (11th November 2007)]

Well, it seems that the long awaited critical edition of the Gospel of Judas slipped out in the summer, unbeknownst to me, and, it would seem, unknown to most people judging from the number of reviews on Amazon.  It's edited by Rudolf Kasser.  It also includes an edition of the Letter of Peter to Paul and James and the Book of Allogenes; in short all the contents of Codex Tchacos.  

It is very nice indeed to have this at last.

[Ferrini woes] (25th September 2007)

I've had a very interesting email which tells me that fragments of the find are now being fought over in court (First Merit Bank vs. Bruce Ferrini).  Here are some of the details.  The wording is mine, and of course as with everything on this page, remember that we don't have the full story!

All of Ferrini's stated inventory is now tied up in receivership. He borrowed against a lot of material that he had on consignment but told the bank he owned.  The bank is now trying to sell this material, and those who own it naturally are objecting!

One case relates to a dealer who had claim to ownership of about a third of some very small Dead Sea Scroll fragments in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek (none identified).   The dealer has now entered a claim that First Merit does not have the right to sell or auction material that Ferrini does not own, regardless of what he told them -- and that they should have checked before lending money against inventory. 

Frieda Tchacos and Mario Roberty have filed a joint claim regarding some fragments of the LXX -- no doubt the Exodus -- which again do not belong to Ferrini but which the bank want to sell.

Material in general of Ferrini's inventory is probably heading toward auction.  It seems doubtful that Sotheby's and Christie's would ever go near anything ever associated with Ferrini, because there are a lot of pieces in his stated inventory with conflicting ownership claims. 

First Merit Bank wants to sell of his inventory of course and recoup what they can on a bad loan, but they're finding it's not all that straightforward. Some pretty high profile folks are stepping up to say what's rightfully theirs.

[More pictures and more fragments of Exodus] (8th August 2007)

Matthew Hamilton has been on the trail of the Exodus:

Concerning the Exodus manuscript:

1. there are 2 new photographs on the "Ink & Blood" website

2. there is 1 new photograph on the Museum of Idaho website

3. the Ink & Blood website now acknowledges that their leaves are from the same manuscript as the Schoyen leaves

4. there is a possibility that there might be additional fragments presently with Lee Biondi. On his website he mentions that he has 4th century Septuagint fragments for sale, but doesn't mention what book of the Septuagint these are from. Biondi was once a partner with Bruce Ferrini, and whereas Ferrini has a poor reputation, Biondi has a good reputation.

He also points out that Michel van Rijn's site seems to have gone offline and is being rebuilt.

[PS. 12th September 2007.  Lee Biondi has contacted me to say that in fact he returned the fragments to Ferrini, and indeed that these are now the subject of court action against Ferrini by someone who claims to own them.]

[Four more leaves at the Fondation Bodmer?] (8th September 2006)

Michel van Rijn has written to me to say that the Fondation Bodmer (who hold the Bodmer collection of New Testament papyri) own four leaves of Codex Tchacos.  I have written to them to enquire what they contain, and where they came from.  Thank you for the tip-off, Michel!

[An Exodus leaf at Yale] (14th August 2006)

Ernest Muro has found another leaf possibly from the Exodus Ms.:

The Yale Papyrus Collection at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library has in its possession a leaf from the LXX Exodus codex that was once part of the Geneva Wares of 1983. It is cataloged as P.CtYBRinv.4475 and can be accessed at their web site: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/papyrus/ 

Except for some good images, surprisingly very little information is given in the database. There is no indication of chapter and verse, just the dimensions and the number of lines of text. The acquisition group for this leaf, being 1996b, is interesting, because the items were acquired in 1996 from Gallery Nefer, which was owned by Frieda Tchacos-Nussberger.

With the aid of my computer, I learned that the text is Exodus 6:12-20 on the recto and 6:20-27 on the verso. I have updated my list that appears on the  web at http://www.breadofangels.com/geneva1983/exodus/index.html. I am now able to account for 20 leaves from the Exodus codex.

The Yale leaf follows four that are in the possession of Martin Schoyen and precedes the one that is owned by Francois Antonovich of Paris. A fifth leaf in the possession of Schoyen follows the Antonovich leaf. Because the Schoyen leaves were exhibited in Oslo in 1998, all seven of these leaves (Schoyen, Yale, and Antonovich) appear to have been acquired prior to the acquisition of the Geneva Wares by Tchacos-Nussberger in 1999 and 2000 as popularized in a variety of ways in April of this year.

Visiting the Beinecke site, the leaf is categorised as "Christian text, old testament".  

Physical description: 

246 x 160 mm, leaf of codex.
(A) 31 lines, right left bottom margins
(B) 31 lines, right left bottom margins

The images are accessible from http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/papyrus/oneSET.asp?pid=4475%20qua 

(Note that Martin Schoyen does not believe that his leaves come from the same codex).  The most interesting aspect of this report, if correct, is that the leaves were acquired by Yale before Frieda obtained the mss. from Hanna.  This all suggests that another Exodus codex may be in question.

[Details on the leaves of the Greek mathematical treatise at the Cotsen library] (28th July 2006)

I have recently heard from the Cotsen library at Princeton, who hold part of the Greek Mathematical treatise broken up by Bruce Ferrini.  Andrea Immel writes:

The mathematical treatise in question was recently gifted to the Cotsen Children's Library by the donor, Lloyd E. Cotsen. It consists of three large fragments of papyrus leaves: 1: 25.5 x 14.5 cm.; 2: 26.5 x 13.5 cm.; 3: 25 x 14.5 cm. Each leaf is extremely fragile: there are holes, frayed edges and discoloration. There are no photographs available at this time. 

[Detailed description of all 4 codices] (20th July 2006)

Michel van Rijn has published on his website three documents which reveal the state of the 4 codices at an uncertain date, but prior to 2003, when they were in the hands of Bruce Ferrini!  This includes the first detailed descriptions of the other three codices!  Michel writes:

...whilst staying for three months in Bruce Ferrini's mansion in 2003, being an inquisitive archivist, your bible-sleuth gleaned all material relating to the Bible Book of Exodus, The Mathematical Treatise, The letters of Paul and the currently world infamous--or is it blasphemous?-- Gospel of Judas. Presently the academic world ... is wondering how many pages and fragments Bruce 'Scissorhands' Ferrini stole, when he had all these sacred goodies in his possession in late 2000.... it is a good time to publish the complete inventory with the original condition report of the entire cache, from Ferrini's own records.  [Ferrini wrote:] "We have seen this papyrus, handled it, and hold portions of it."

Click on these images to see the full text.

The first text is a fax of typescript.  This suggests to me that it must predate the fax stamp of 2003, and belongs to an era when word-processors were not as omnipresent as today.  Is it really possible to date it much later than 1990 at the latest?  It appears to be a report by a scholar on the whole find.  Note that there is no mention of the damage caused by damp during the long stay in the US vault during the 1990's, which suggests that it predates that stay:

4 Ancient Codices on Papyrus :  

1) Bible.  Book of Exodus. Greek. 

Extensive fragments, perhaps as many as several hundred pieces, of a papyrus manuscript containing the Greek text of the biblical book of Exodus.  The script suggests a fourth or fifth century date for the writing of the book.  The last leaf, with the colophon, is present.  The fragments are wrapped in a bundle of paper and include several large sections of two quires (ca. 30 leaves per quire) and hundreds of fragments varying in size from a nearly full leaf to a thumbnail.  No traces of the binding, other than parchment sewing guards on one gathering and a few pieces of sewing cord, are preserved.  Page numbers survive on a few pieces, ranging as high as 141; it is not unlikely that there are portions of that many leaves among the fragments and that a substantial part of the text is preserved, although this is impossible to determine in the current state of the manuscript.  The text appears to include many variants from the standard edition of the Septuagint, and some of these variants are recorded as Hexapla readings, suggesting that this manuscript is of considerable importance for the textual study of the Old Testament.  Biblical papyri are very rare and highly sought after.  

2) Mathematical Treatise.  Greek.

At least 17 substantially complete leaves (including one complete bifolium) of a mathematical text, dealing with geometry (the measuring of triangles and liquid volume, among other things), and hundreds of small fragments.  There are numerous drawings, some mathematical and related to the text, others appear to be purely decorative (crosses).  Extensive searching indicates that the text cannot be identified with any known extant mathematical treatise from antiquity.  The script suggests a fourth or fifth century date.  No trace of the original binding is present, but the bifolium has sewing holes that show that the book was originally stab sewn.  The text has sections on practical mathematics, e.g., how to determine surface and volume.  It may be a text for teaching practical mathematics.  No similar manual survives otherwise from Antiquity, and this one will be of great interest to documentary papyrologists, as well as to historians of mathematics.  The large leaves of this manuscript were placed in the front of the volume of Pauline letters (item 3), with which they have no relationship.  They do not belong to that binding, as the leaves are larger than that binding.  This manuscript is unique and of great importance for the history of mathematics in antiquity.

3) Bible.  Letters of Paul.  Coptic.

Pauline letters in Sahidic dialect of Coptic, 4^th or 5^th century (maybe slightly earlier).  Leaves approx. 24 x 16 cm, frame ruled in pink chalk; many of the leaves complete or nearly so.  Page numbers run as high as 115, but there are not that many leaves present.  Portions of Thessalonians, Colossians, and Hebrews (there are colophons present for those three) and Galatians have been identified.  There are many leaves more or less completely preserved, and hundreds of small fragments.  One cover from the original binding is present, and portions of the spine.  The board is made of papyrus cartonage, and includes inscribed papyrus, some of it literary, some of it documentary.  It could provide clues to the date and origin of the binding.  Ancient New Testament manuscripts are very rare, and are the most valuable (in market terms) of ancient papyri.

4) Gnostic Codex.

A composite volume of at least three Coptic texts, in Sahidic dialect: the First Apocalypse of James, the Epistle of Peter to Philip, and the Gospel of Judas.  The first two were first discovered and published from Nag Hammadi codicies (codex V and cpdex VIII, respectively), and the Nag Hammadi manuscript in each case is the only one known till now.  The Nag Hammadi codices are defective and the present codex fills some of the gaps in the text of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts (so some of the text present here is unique).  These are very brief works, of only a few pages each.  The third work is apparently much longer and is totally unknown to the modern world.  The portion of it that could be read (from the very end of the work) suggests that the whole text is a dialogue between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, ending with a report of Judas’ betrayal.  A work called, as this one is in the colophon, the Gospel of Judas, is mentioned by the second-century writer Irenaeus in his treatise on heretics.  His description of the contents seems to match what can be read of this manuscript.  There are at least 50 pages of the manuscript either substantially complete or represented by major fragments (page numbers are preserved at the top of most leaves), but the pages are badly deteriorated and impossible to turn at the moment without breaking off further pieces.  There are also hundreds of small pieces already broken off.  Colophons or titles exist for all three works.  It is not impossible that there are other texts intervening between the end of the Epistle of Peter to Philip and the beginning of the Gospel of Judas.  The papyrus is, in general, in brittle condition and desperately needs conservation.  Portions of the original binding are present and contain inscribed cartonnage.  This is unquestionably the most important of the four manuscripts, equivalent in importance to the Nag Hammadi books.

For each of the four codices, there were fragments, large and small, mixed in the bundles with the other manuscripts.  The storage of the manuscripts was clearly disorganised, and fragments of all four books got mixed together.  Many of these have been moved to folders, identifying which book they belong to (and which they came from). 

The second document -- clearly part of a longer document, and mainly reproducing material above -- is word-processed and clearly dated to 2001:

BRUCE P. FERRINI
MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS
High Meadow. 1080 Top of the Hill Drive
Akron . Ohio . 44333-2278 USA

2)    Mathematical Treatise.  Greek.

At least 17 substantially complete leaves (including one complete bifolium) of a mathematical text, dealing with geometry (the measuring of triangles and liquid volume, among other things), and hundreds of small fragments.  There are numerous drawings, some mathematical and related to the text, others appear to be purely decorative (crosses).  Extensive searching indicates that the text cannot be identified with any known extant mathematical treatise from antiquity.  The script suggests a fourth or fifth century date.  No trace of the original binding is present, but the bifolium has sewing holes that show that the book was originally stab sewn.  The text has sections on practical mathematics, e.g., how to determine surface and volume.  It may be a text for teaching practical mathematics.  No similar manual survives otherwise from Antiquity, and this one will be of great interest to documentary papyrologists, as well as to historians of mathematics as well as to historians of the volume of Pauline letters (item 3), with which they have no relationship.  They do not belong to that binding, as the leaves are larger than that binding.  This manuscript is unique and of great importance for the history of mathematics in antiquity.

(Note that the words in italics are handwritten and labelled "Bruce’s changes 8/22/00" in the margin)

The third document is dated: 

September 4, 2001 .

To Whom It May Concern:

Over the last few days, August 25 - September 4,  2001 , Bruce Ferrini and Lee Biondi have discussed and begun actual writing of a book length non-fictional work on several aspects of "The Gospel of Judas Iscariot".

"The Gospel of Judas Iscariot", one of the so-called "lost books" of early Christianity, was referred to in Irenaeus and was known to exist in the 2^nd Century but has been lost to the world since that time.

A 4^th Century Coptic papyrus of the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, apparently complete, or near-complete was in Mr. Ferrini’s possession in late 2000.

We have seen this papyrus, handled it, and hold portions of it.  On our behalf, Dr. Charles Hedrick has begun to transcribe and translate some of the most readily legible portions of the text.  On September 4^th we contacted Thomas Harris regarding advice and thoughts on appropriate representation.  The several aspects of the work which, Bruce Ferrini and Lee Biondi are now writing, include:

1)  The text itself: photographs and translations of the text that they can make available, its intrinsic importance, and its status as heresy.  Perhaps this text is the ultimate heresy as its author/protagonist committed the ultimate heretical act in the betrayal of Jesus Christ.

2) The history of the text during its lifetime amid the exciting, confusing, and seminal development of early Christianity and the ultimate formation of the Christian church during the 1^st-4^th Century.

3) The modern history of this papyrus; its serendipitous discovery in the Egyptian desert in the early 1980’s, it’s subsequent sub rosa existence in Egypt, Greece, Switzerland, New York, Connecticut (Yale University), Akron, Ohio, and it’s ultimate return to hiding in Switzerland. Its story is filled with naïfes, thieves, smugglers, fences, powerful dealers, powerful lawyers, eminent scholars, etc.

Thanks to Michel for letting me know about this new info, and to Steven Goranson for independently emailing me.

[Update and new Exodus page] (1st July 2006)

There is no new 'news' about the ps.Gospel of Judas.  The Greek Mathematical treatise remains in limbo, as neither Alexander Jones nor Roger Bagnall is actively working on it.  The letters of Paul manuscript remains the one about which nothing seems to be being said (unfortunately Gregor Wurst did not respond to my email).  Matthew Hamilton has continued to work on the Exodus manuscript, and has reconstructed tentatively one of the pages.  He also has sent in some images found on the web (but now vanished).

• New page with Matthew's material on Exodus 10.

[Summary of material from David DeSilva and Marcus Adams. "Seven Papyrus Fragments of a Greek Manuscript of Exodus."] (9th June 2006)

This article appeared in Vetus Testamentum Vol. 56, No.2 (April 2006).  Wieland Willker kindly sent me a copy from which I abstract the following.

The article publishes 7 fragments of a Greek manuscript of Exodus.  The ms. is papyrus, reportedly from Egypt, written in the mid-fourth century AD.  The writing is "expert uncial" with scribal marks and nomina sacra.

• Fragment 1 is held at the Delbert Flora Archaeological Center at Ashland Theological Seminary.  

• Fragments 2-7 are owned by "an anonymous collector"... (which sounds familiar!).

Contents:

• Fragment 1 = Exodus 10:3-5, verso 10:8-9. (74mm x 50 mm)

• Fragment 2 = Exodus 10:12-15, verso 10:17-22. (171mm x 75 mm) This offers the first sight of the "scribe's right hand margin."  Contains a supralinear correction in a different hand.

• Fragment 3 = Exodus 10:24-28, verso 11:2-5 (178mm x 72mm).

• Fragment 4 = Exodus 12:9-12, verso 12:15-18 (170mm x 80mm).

• Fragment 5 = Exodus 30: 18-21 and 26:21-25, verso 26:30-33 and 30:11-15 (149mm x 212mm).  The largest and best preserved folio page.  It shows the seam at which the codex had once been bound, and more of each line on the page than most of them.  This would seem to be a pair of pages across the spine.

• Fragment 6 = Exodus 34:12-15, verso 34:20-24 (147mm x 87mm)

• Fragment 7 = Exodus 35:9-17, verso 35:22-25 (143mm x 73mm)

These seven fragments come from a sufficiently early manuscript to show considerable independence of both Alexandrinus and, more surprisingly given its greater antiquity, Vaticanus.

This all sounds very like the manuscript that passed through Bruce Ferrini's hands; and clearly was dismembered by him.

[Postscript, 23rd June 2006: Matthew Hamilton has written to me again and adds:

deSilva and Adams in their Vetus Testamentum article focus on the text variants, but [don't go into detail on] the codicological aspects of the fragments. Reconstruction of the fragments suggest that the fragments come from pages with typically about 33 or 34 lines per page, and 19 or 20 letters per line.

Schoyen's denial that his (and Antonovich's) fragments  are from the same codex [is interesting], as the fragment on his website shows a page with about 32 lines and 19 letters per line - almost exactly the same as the fragments published by deSilva and Adams. It is possible and it would be good if it were so, but what is the chance of two papyrus codices of Exodus from the mid 4th century with similar codicological features, appearing on the market at the same time, especially as Schoyen sourced his Exodus fragments from Bruce Ferrini who was also the donor of the Exodus fragment to Ashland Theological Seminary? It seems like quite a coincidence.

I haven't done a proper reconstruction yet and checked against the typological standards set out by Turner, but it looks like the page sizes given in Schoyen's website and reconstructed for the fragments in deSilva and Adams are about the same. Of course this could be due to common factors (of mid 4th century Egypt) producing common page sizes.]

[Ernest Muro on the Exodus and Paul codices] (3rd June 2006)

I have had an email from Ernest Muro about the location of various leaves of the Exodus and Paul.  He has been looking at catalogues of the "Ink and Blood" exhibition and media photographs of the leaves held by the receiver for Bruce Ferrini. 

I am happy to announce the tentative results of my efforts to compile a list of leaves in the "Exodus" and the "Letters of Paul" codices that were briefly examined in a Geneva hotel room on May 15, 1983. I have called these items the "Geneva Wares" as the eyewitness report by Steve Emmel is one of the few reliable sources pertaining to these manuscripts.

I have uploaded these two lists to my web site. They can be accessed at http://www.breadofangels.com/geneva1983/index.html

There are 19 leaves for the Exodus codex that I have been able to verify and 2 such leaves of the codex containing the Letters of Paul. As for the Exodus codex, I have yet to verify the existence of: 12:19-29; 12:45-13:7; and 35:21 as shown on your web page. I would appreciate any details or contact information in this regard. ... [Rather than post Ernest's email address, direct the queries via me and I will pass them on--RP]

The present whereabouts of these manuscripts is another matter. Two of the Exodus leaves are currently on display in the Ink and Blood exhibit at Daytona Beach, Florida. Some of the Exodus and Pauline leaves are currently in a safe deposit box in Akron, Ohio.

His calculations of what exist are on his website.  Note that Martin Schoyen reckons that Ms 187 in his collection is NOT part of our Exodus Ms.  

Note also the publication Mr Muro gives: David DeSilva and Marcus Adams. "Seven Papyrus Fragments of a Greek Manuscript of Exodus." Vetus Testamentum Vol. 56, No.2 (April 2006), which I have not seen (but see above, 9/6/6).  Are we sure that it is part of our Ms?

Postscript 9/6/6: Ernest Muro writes to add:

I am of the opinion that all of the 19 leaves in my list were once part of the same codex, including those belonging to Martin Schøyen. If you scroll down your web page to the picture of the papyrus fragment that appeared in the St. Petersburg Times, you will notice a diple (or perhaps a paragraphus) in the left margin near the bottom followed by the Greek word "de." If you look at the picture of MS 187 at Schøyen's web site, you will find a similar diple which is also followed by the word "de." Also note the similar script.

Herbert Krosney, on page 162 of "The Lost Gospel" relates the acquisition by Martin Schoyen of certain "biblical" leaves that were offered with the Coptic codex. He adds that Schoyen was a "master" at such dealings, whereby James Robinson was not.

Also, keep in mind the fact that the picture of MS 187 at Schoyen's web site depicts 3 leaves, one atop the other. Two of them contain text from the 5th. chapter of Exodus. These two leaves are items 9 and 10 in my list.

[Summary of data from Herbert Krosney, "The lost gospel"] (28th April 2006)

Krosney has tracked the back-story very far indeed.  About 50% of the book is devoted to explaining various matters -- there is a chapter on how the Egyptian illegal art market works, for instance --, but the remainder is essential reading, and cannot be adequately summarised here.  But the most interesting part is that the find was split by some Greek traders who had stolen it; and that various photographs exist from various stages, including from before it left Egypt!  Tracking these down would be well-worth someone's while.

Selected key points (names in quotes are pseudonyms, apparently):

• Codex Tchacos was found, according to peasants, in a cave located in the Jebel Qarara hills across the river from Maghagha, not far from the village of Qarara, in Al Minya province.  Villagers stumbled across the cave hidden down in the rocks.  Inside was the skeleton of a wealthy man in a shroud; other human remains were also present.  Next to the skeleton was a white limestone box, which contained "books."  The villagers contacted a local coptic scout for the Cairo "jewelers" (dealers in precious objects) and garlic farmer named 'Am Samiah' (a pseudonym).  He was illiterate, but was brought to see the find.  There were two caskets near the entrance.  The first was a sarcophagus containing a skeleton, along with some Roman glass flasks in a wrapping of straw or papyrus. (p.9-10)  [The narrative is a little unclear as to whether the skeleton in the shroud was in the first casket, or whether this was a further burial -- RP]  This information comes from an Alexandria resident 'Joanna Landis' who visited Maghagha in 1978 looking for folk-art pieces and contacted 'Am Samiah', who told her of the find and that he had recently sold the find.  She was taken by him to the place where the find had been made, with the help of one of 'Am Samiah's good friends, 'Mahmoud', a moslem and a "worker in a government office near Maghagha" who had a small car.  After crossing the Nile by boat they walked up to a 'fortress-like building' and then on into a set of unknown catacombs in style like those in Alexandria.  'Am Samiah' told her that the books had been found in these (p.23-24). [It is left unclear whether she saw the exact site, but presumably not, from the next piece--RP].  'Am Samiah' died soon after.  27 years later 'Joanna' attempted to pin down the exact locale, and was able to contact 'Mahmoud' again by phone, who told her about the cave, a number of baskets with Roman glass flasks inside, which had been sold in the big city markets in Cairo and Alexandria.  A further group of villagers had entered the cave after the texts had gone and removed further 'materials.'  But on meeting 'Mahmoud' became evasive, asserted that everything had been plundered, expressed his fear of the police, and 'Joanna' never saw the real finding place.

• 'Am Samiah' sold the papyri to a Cairo dealer, 'Hanna Asabil' (a pseudonym again, but the first name -- which only means 'John' -- is probably genuine), and they travelled wrapped in newspaper.  Hanna told a number of stories about where the books had been found.  One story involved claiming that they had been passed down in his family.  Another resembles that of the Nag Hammadi find.  Another comes through Italian papyrologist Manfredo Manfredi, who knew Hanna in the early 1970's, who was told that the papyri were found in a closed room, probably a tomb, in Hermopolis (10 miles south of Al Minya).  In May 2004 Hanna remnisced that a number of mss had come into his hands, some in Greek, some in Coptic (although it is questionable whether Hanna could tell the difference); those in Coptic he said were found near Maghagha, probably in the Jebel Qarara hills just across the river; those in Greek were found in or around Beni Hassan.  Whether any of these stories are true may be questioned.

• Another 'business associate' of Hanna named 'Boutros' claims that an unnamed associate of Hanna visited 'Am Samiah' in October 1981; two months later he was offered 'the codex' [Krosney's accounts veer between singular and plural erratically--RP]; the associate then sold 'the books' to Hanna.  (p.32-33)  Hanna paid LE 8,000 for what he called 'the book' [around $2,400 -- RP]. 

• Hanna claims to have been robbed of all his stock -- not just the mss -- by some Greeks whom he had dealt with, who exported it.  A Greek trader, Nicholas Koutoulakis, who had some associations with the robbers, later arranged for the return of the mss, but not the other items.  [The details of all these murky transactions are in Krosney, but omitted here -- RP]  Hanna had approached Yannis Perdios who approached Koutoulakis.

• Perdios gave large colour (so p.166) photographs of middling quality of the papyri to Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos in summer 1982, so she could approach possible buyers. [Where are these photos now? - RP]  It is unknown how many photos there were, or who took them, but they were probably taken in Egypt.  Nothing came of this attempt to sell.  Perdios also approached papyrologist Ludwig Koenen in late 1982 and sent him a set of photographs similar to those shown to Frieda.  Koenen then assembled a team of 3 other scholars, who met with Hanna, who tried to sell the mss for $3m. One of these was Stephen Emmel (as the representative of James M. Robinson), whose report is below.  David Noel Freedman and Astrid Beck (both involved with the Anchor Bible Dictionary) were the others.  [Did these all see the photos?  Where are these photos now? -- RP]

• The photos that Frieda had were shown to Jiri Frel at the Getty museum in California, who told her to talk to Roy Kotansky, then a PhD student for classical Greek.  Kotansky managed to give a general description of the two documents written in Greek and made preliminary transcriptions of all texts that could be read from the photographs.  He was confident that a few passages came from the Book of Exodus, in the LXX.  His conclusion about the mathematical treatise: "The larger codex written with a later, Greek cursive looks to be a set of prescriptions, but as I say, this is just an off-hand guess for now." Kotansky then wrote to Frieda that he had sent the photos to Friel. (p.166-7) [Where now are these transcriptions and details? And the mathematical codex in 1982 was 'the larger codex'?? -- RP]

• After importing the mss to the USA, Hanna contacted dealer Hans P. Kraus.  Kraus' daughter Maryann Folter, Roger Bagnall and a US Coptic priest as interpreter met with Hanna that year to discuss a purchase.  Hanna was now asking $1m.  No sale resulted.

• In 1999 Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos was approached by a Greek speaking with a rough village accent who said that he had an ancient ms.  He sent photographs to her, and she sent these to Robert Babcock, a curator at the Beinecke Library at Yale.  These seem to have been in Coptic, and were a small number (unspecified) of pages.  The photos showed the pages against a Greek newspaper dated 1982.  Frieda bought the pages for $25,000.  The seller seems to have been the boyfriend of 'Mia' (or 'Effie' or 'Fifi') a former girlfriend of Koutoulakis who may have gone into business for herself when Hanna was robbed (pp.168-9).  This was before Frieda bought the bulk of the material from Hanna (whom she had known in the 1970's) in 2000.  [This suggests that other pages may still be in circulation, and that the process of dismemberment precedes Bruce Ferrini -- RP]

• Frieda then offered the mss to Yale.  There they were seen by Babcock, and by Bentley Layton, Harry Attridge and Roger Bagnall.  They were still in three containers at that point (p.205).  

• After Yale refused to buy them, citing questions of ownership, Frieda learned through Bill Veres, a London antiquities dealer, of Bruce Ferrini, who was being backed by James Ferrell.  

• Ferrini had substantial plans to conserve and publish, and consulted Charles W. Hedrick.

• As Ferrini's financial difficulties increased, he sold the mathematical treatise through Sam Fogg of London to a US citizen who wants to remain anonymous but owns the Archimedes palimpsest. Fogg engaged Alexander Jones, a Canadian scholar specialising in ancient scientific texts, to publish it in collaboration with Roger Bagnall in 2008. (p.226)

• Ferrini also sold at least three pages of the mathematical treatise separately to philanthropist Lloyd Cotsen, who donated them to Princeton University.  Cotsen bought them directly from Ferrini, but had them shipped direct to Princeton rather than to himself, according to Lyn Tansey of Cotsen's office.  At Princeton it came under the control of the curator of manuscripts, Don Skemer [an error: it is actually under the control of the curator of the children's library, Dr. Andrea Immel--RP].  Jones visited Princeton in autumn 2005 to examine these pages and reported that they belonged to the same treatise. (p.226-7)

• As it became clear that  Ferrini had sold material separately, Ferrini blamed Bill Veres, who denied it in a letter of 2004.

• In January 2006 a substantial part of two pages of the ps.gospel of Judas 'surfaced', identified as pages 5 and 6.  These had been supplied by Ferrini to a private collector in New York, after Frieda had taken possession of the codex.

• Kasser has copies of all the photographs that Hedrick had.

• In November/December 2005 Bill Veres was contacted by unnamed people who claimed once to have worked for Ferrini, and said that they had documents and photographs of Ferrini's archives and secret deals, suggesting that they had copied Ferrini's hard disk.  This included pictures of the ps.gospel of Judas, which had been supplied to Hedrick.  Between 60 and 90 images had been supplied.  This information came to van Rijn, who communicated it to Roberty, who contacted Hedrick via his US lawyer (Ferrini had undertaken to ensure no copies existed except those given to Frieda).  Attempts to pressure Hedrick proved fruitless, but Hedrick proved to be very willing to supply Kasser with copies of all the photos he had and to cooperate.  The material that Hedrick had supplied to van Rijn was published on the latter's website, but Hedrick says that he did not give permission for publication.

Note that this is a very condensed summary of points mainly relating to photographs, and the book is an essential purchase for the full story and context.

[Summary of data from James M. Robinson, "The secrets of Judas"; Stephen Emmel's report] (28th April 2006)

Much of the book is directed at those new to the subject.  Important information for long-term readers:

• Bruce Ferrini sent Charles Hedrick 164 "very dismal photographs", 10 professionally made photographs and 24 made with a regular camera.  Hedrick transcribed and translated what he could from 6 pages that were more legible than the rest.  (p.129) n.12 adds that the information comes from two emails from Hedrick to Robinson in early 2006).  

• Hedrick circulated these transcriptions and translations to Nag Hammadi colleagues -- Birger A. Pearson, John D. Turner, Douglas M. Parrott, Wolf-Peter Funk, Hans-Gebhard Bethge and Robinson.  Hedrick "received from most a series of suggestions for improving both the transcription and the translation.  The outcome of this collaboration has been, most recently, a much improved transcription and a German translation by the group in Berlin led by Bethge, and a corresponding translation by Steven Patterson. ... It is to be regretted that this familar kind of collegial sharing and cooperation, characteristic of the study of Nag Hammadi by those not part of the Nag Hammadi monopolies, has not been shared, in the case of The Gospel of Judas, by those who have ---- a  monopoly on it!"

• Hedrick has a numeration system for discoveries; the Berlin gospel 22220 ('Gospel of the Savior') is E34.

• By Dec, 15 2000, Ferrini had sold the Mathematical ms and the Letters of Paul, and at that date he agreed to pay Frieda $300,000 for them.  The Exodus ms., codex Tchacos, and "not expressly mentioned further fragments" were to be returned to Frieda, in exchange for the cheques that Ferrini had given her.

• Roberty was briefing van Rijn; there are references to something being sold by Ferrini through Sam Fogg to Lord Thompson of Fleet for $900,000.

• "Coptic manuscript discoveries are taking place in Egypt on an almost regular basis" (p.102) and n.15: "Listed in my foreword to the reprint of W. E. Crum, "A coptic dictionary". Eugene, Ore.: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005.  It is on seven unnumbered pages prior to Crum's preface.  The foreword is being reprinted in Coptica, journal of the Saint Mark Foundation and Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society, Los Angeles, 2006, forthcoming."

• Robinson publishes Stephen Emmel's report from 1983 (pp.117-120).  Steven Emmel was one of those who saw the manuscripts for half an hour in 1983.  Robinson prints this, and it gives us some solid info on the Letters of Paul codex:

REPORT ON THE PAPYRUS MANUSCRIPTS OFFERED FOR SALE IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, MAY 15, 1983

The collection of papyri being offered for sale consists of four separate manuscripts, and possibly fragments of some others. A system of numeration and designations was agreed upon with the owner and his intermediary for referring to the four manuscripts, as follows:

1.  "Exodus" (Greek)

2.  "Coptic Apocalypses Codex" (Coptic)

3.  "Letters of Paul" (Coptic)

4.  "Metrodological Fragment" (Greek)

The material was being stored in three cardboard boxes lined with newspaper. Items 1, 2, and 4 were each in a separate box, with the fragments of item 3 mixed together with items 1 and 4. This report is concerned only with the Coptic items, mainly with item 2, briefly with item 3.

Item 3 is fragments of a papyrus codex from the 5th (possibly 4th) century AD containing at least some of the letters of St. Paul. The leaves are approximately 24 cm tall and 16 cm broad. The scribe outlined his writing area with pink chalk. His handwriting is cursive in style, as though somewhat quickly written. The pages are numbered above the center of a single column of writing, the highest page number observed being 115. There are some nearly complete leaves of the codex preserved, and many smaller fragments, which might be reassembled into at least a sizeable portion of the codex. There is also part of a leather binding (either the front or the back cover, including the spine, lined with scrap papyrus) which probably, though not certainly, belongs to this codex. The contents identified with certainty are Hebrews, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians. The texts are in a non-standard form of the Sahidic dialect.

Certainly the gem of the entire collection of four manuscripts is item 2, a papyrus codex from the 4th century AD, approximately 30 cm tall and 15 cm broad, containing gnostic texts. At the time that the codex was discovered, it was probably in good condition, with a leather binding and complete leaves with all four margins intact. But the codex has been badly handled; only half of the leather binding (probably the front cover) is now preserved and the leaves have suffered some breakage. The absence of half of the binding and the fact that page numbers run only into the 50's lead me to suppose that the back half of the codex may be missing; only closer study can prove or disprove this supposition. The texts are in a non-standard form of Sahidic.

The codex was inscribed in a single column in a large and careful uncial hand. Page numbers were placed above the center of the column and decorated with short rows of diples [hatch-marks] above and below. At least pp. 1-50 are represented by substantial fragments which, when reassembled, will make up complete leaves with all four margins intact. The portion of the leather binding preserved is lined with cartonnage, layers of scrap papyrus glued together to form a kind of cardboard. At least some of this cartonnage is inscribed, offering hope that the date and location of the manufacture of the codex can be determined with some precision once the cartonnage has been removed and studied.

The codex contains at least three different texts: (1) "The First Apocalypse of James" known already, though in a different version, from Nag Hammadi Codex (NHC) V; (2) "The Letter of Peter to Philip" known already from the NHC VIII (in the new manuscript this title, [in Coptic] TEPISTOLH MPETROS SHAFILIPPOS, is given as a subscript [cf. the superscript title, slightly different, in NHC VIII 132:10-11] accompanied by decorations to fill out the remainder of the page on which the text ends); and (3) a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples (at least "Judas" [i.e., presumably, Judas Thomas] is involved) similar in genre to "The Dialogue of the Savior" (NHC III) and "The Wisdom of Jesus Christ" (NHC III and the Berlin Gnostic codex [PB 8502]).

The leaves and fragments of the codex will need to be conserved between panes of glass. I would recommend conservation measures patterned after those used to restore and conserve the Nag Hammadi Codices (see my article, "The Nag Hammadi Codices Editing Project: A Final Report," American Research Center in Egypt, Inc., Newsletter 104 [1978] 10-32). Despite the breakage that has already occurred, and that which will inevitably occur between now and the proper conservation of the manuscript, I estimate that it would require about a month to reassemble the fragments of the manuscript and to arrange the reassembled leaves between panes of glass.

According to the owner, all four of the manuscripts in this collection were found near the village of Beni Masar, about 8 km south of Oxyrhynchus (modern Behnasa). It is difficult to know how seriously to take such information. Study of the cartonnage in the two surviving covers will probably provide more certain information as to the provenance at least of the manufacture of the codices.

The owner asked $3,000,000 for the entire collection. He refused to consider lowering his price to within a reasonable range, claiming that he had already come down from $10,000,000 in negotiations with one previous prospective buyer. He also refused to discuss the prices of the four individual items separately. He would like to sell all four manuscripts together, but probably will sell them individually if necessary.

I strongly urge you to acquire this Gnostic codex. It is of the utmost scholarly value, comparable in every way to any one of the Nag Hammadi Codices. Like them as well, it is one of the oldest specimens of a book in codex form; the fact that part of the cover is also preserved is a remarkable stroke of luck. There is great danger of further deterioration of the manuscript as long as it is in the hands of the present owner. This unique item must be put as quickly as possible into the hands of a library or museum where it can be restored, published, and conserved.

Stephen Emmel 
June 1, 1983

[From R.Kasser, M.Meyer, G.Wurst, "The Gospel of Judas"] (26th April 2006)

I have now received my copy of the three volumes above.  Rudolphe Kasser's essay contains much detail on the recovery process; would that this was more often available for mss.  

A brief summary of important data follows.

• The entire text of the codex Tchacos will be published in a critical edition with facsimile full-size colour photographs and translations into English, French and German.  This will also include photographs of the fragments which the researchers were unable to place in sequence.

• The codex is 66 pages (33 leaves long) and comprises:

  • pages 1-9: a version of the Letter of Peter to Philip (known from Nag Hammadi codex VIII)

  • pages 10-32: a text entitled "James", which is a version of the First Revelation of James from Nag Hammadi codex V.

  • pages 33-58: the ps.Gospel of Judas

  • pages 59-66: an untitled text mainly about a certain Allogenes who features in Sethian texts.

• During publication the lower part of pages 37-38 came to light.

• The manuscript is split across the middle, about a third of the way down the page, seemingly from being folded, and text lost at the join.  Most of the text is on the lower portion, but there is a page number in the upper part.  More has been lost from this area around the fold since Stephen Emmel first saw it in 1983, but not hugely so.  The pages are numbered, which means the sequence of the upper half of each page is clear.  Between 1983 and 2001 someone rearranged the bottom halves out of order.

• Because of the split, portions can be missing.  Page 31/32, with a colophon on it reading "James" 'appeared mysteriously in the catalogue of a roving religious exhibition in the USA, showing a page that should be numbered [32]".

• Codex is 30cm tall and 15cm broad.

• When found ca. 1978 it was probably in good condition with complete leather binding and all four edges of leaves.  It had deteriorated by 1983.  

• Now only a single cover is present and the page numbers run only into the 50's, suggesting that the rear portion of the codex has been detached.

• Hannah stored the ms in a bank vault in NY, in humid conditions until 2000 when he sold it to Frieda Nussberger.  When Bruce Ferrini acquired it he froze it.  The effect of this on the damp leaves was to weaken them to crumbling point.  It also made the water in the leaves gather at the surface, bringing pigment with them and darkening them to near-illegibility.

• Ferrini made photos of many pages, which he supplied to Charles Hedrick.  When he agreed to return the ms to Frieda Nussberger, he undertook to return the whole ms, plus all photos and transcriptions.  But this he did not do.  Hedrick was able to supply Rudolphe Kasser with photos, a transcription and translation of pp.40, 54-62.  These images appeared on the internet (see below).

• 10-15% of the text of the ps.gospel is now lost.

[From Matthew Hamilton] (21st April 2006)

Matthew has been researching the fate of the Exodus fragments, and has compiled the following info.

The Exodus codex: Besides the parts known of from the Ink and Blood exhibit, and the Schoyen Collection (and those in the Antonovich Collection mentioned in the Schoyen Collection website), it appears there is a fragment in the Ashland Theological Seminary. See David A. deSilva, "An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation", page 808. The same book includes on page 43 a fragment belonging to "a private collector".

Various web reports on the Exodus fragments at Ink and Blood [as well as at "From The Dead Sea Scrolls to the Bible in America" and "Dead Sea Scrolls to the Forbidden Book"] have been accompanied by photographs of some of the leaves, here are the references of some of them - note that the web addresses may no longer be active?

“Religious history, Bible on display in Murfreesboro”, The Tennessean, (7.3.2003)
-Was at http://tennessean.com/local/archives/03/03/29817803.shtml?Element_ID=29817803.  "It will be on display April 6-29 in Murfreesboro along with some of the Dead Sea Scrolls and a large collection of other artifacts from early Judaism and Christianity. Some fragments of the scrolls were also displayed yesterday, along with a fragment of a page from an early bible in Greek."

(From sptimes.com)

“Exhibit opens eyes to pages of Bible history”, by M.J. Park, The St. Petersburg Times Online, (14.1.2006)
-Was at http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/14/Tampabay/Exhibition_opens_eyes.shtml 
-The caption on the photograph here suggests Exodus 3 ("Moses and the burning bush"), but I couldn't match the text on the photograph to Exodus 3.  (Postscript 9/6/6: Wieland Willker wrote to say that it is definitely Exodus 3: "e.g. you can see in line 6: ARGURA from Exo 3:22").

The Schøyen Collection: Checklist of 600 Manuscripts Spanning 5000 Years, 20th ed., internet ed., by M. Schøyen and E.G. Sørenssen
-Available online at www.schoyen.net, and specifically http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/4/4.1/412.html#187. 
-Revised Feb. 2006
-See section 1.2. Schøyen collection lists Ex.4:17-6:12; 7:12-21, and Ex.6:28-7:12 listed for Antonovich collection
[But contrary to this, Martin Schøyen tells me that it has been confirmed by Drs Robinson, Emmel and 'a German scholar' that these fragments (Schoyen Ms. 187) are not from our codex.  In particular a photo from Hannah exists of a leaf containing Ex. 5, which passage also exists in Ms.187, thereby proving that the two are distinct. --RP, April 2006]

Dead Sea Scrolls to the Forbidden Book: A History of the Bible, [by Lee Biondi?] ([Dallas?]: HisStory, 2003) (also now offline)
-This is the exhibit catalogue, see pages IV, X, 8, 34-36. Page 8 refers to Ex.26:22-25; 30:19-21, pages 34-36 refer to Ex.10:12-22; 12:9-17; 26:22-25; 34:12-24

Email by Gary Dykes to TC-List (no longer an active list), of 6 July 2003, and email by Gary Dykes to myself, of 2 August 2003, with attached photographs, refers to Ex.12:19-29,30-41,45-13:7; 35:21

I have copied various images off the web, as well as some images provided by Gary Dykes (and I can't recall which are which, or the sources of some of these images). If you need copies, I will try to forward these to you after I have checked with Gary Dykes, or you may want to contact Gary Dykes yourself. His email is (or was in 2003) garyandgale_at_ earthlink.net

Besides Gary Dykes, another person who may be able to provide some details is David A. deSilva, who is (or was in 2004) at Ashland Theological Seminary with email ddsilva_at_ashland.edu and was planning to publish their fragment, as well as Lee Biondi, who advised me in 2003 that the Schøyen, Antonovich and "Dead Sea scrolls to the Forbidden Book" fragments were from the same MS.

In summary, the 55 or so leaves contain at least:
Ex.3:...
4:17-...
5:
6:...-12,28-...
7:...-12-...-21
10:12-22
12:9-17,19-29,30-41,45-...
13:...-7
26:22-25
30:19-21
34:12-24
35:21

My apologies for not being able to provide more details of contents, but I have not had time over the last 3 years to compare the contents of the images (web, email and catalogue) with a standard Septuagint edition, I am not sure that the summary list is either as correct or as complete as it could be.

[From Michel van Rijn] Stolen Pages of Exodus in Ferrell Collection

Van Rijn offers the following emails between people apparently with addresses at Ferrini and Ferrell.  The majority of the material concerns various disputes, but this one is of interest:

From: "Theresa S" <tas@ferrellcapinc.com>
To: <cassie@ferrini.com>; <ferrini@ferrini.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2003 3:13 PM

Subject: Descriptions and provenance

In preparation for our meeting on Wednesday and so that our attorney can finalize descriptions of the items to be included in the settlement, I'd like to have faxed to me on Monday descriptions and provenance for ...[various items]

I am assuming the 10 sets of ancient writings, the Exodus fragments, the marzeah Papyrus and Dead Sea fragments are exactly as described in the books you gave us.

...

Theresa [Schekirke]

[From Ohio News] Ohio Lawyer Shows Off Gospel Of Judas. Apr 19 2006 7:52PM

Michel van Rijn draws attention to the following story:

An Akron lawyer is trying to pay bankruptcy debts of an art and antiquities dealer. Thursday he offered a glimpse
of several small, brown bits of papyrus that may be part of the roughly 1700-year-old Gospel of Judas.

The items may have historical and religious significance. Scott Haley's court-appointed task is to pay Ohio collector Bruce Ferrini's creditors.

[Original site has photo of extensive fragments, which I have not been able to link to]

Whether the fragments that ended up in a bank vault in downtown Akron are genuine remains in question.

Haley said he has no immediate plans to go through a time-consuming, expensive authentication process. He also said he wants to draw attention to Ferrini's assets, but hopes the fragments will not have to be sold and can be returned to him.

An ancient text about Judas was preserved and translated by a team of scholars, then made public by the National Geographic Society about two weeks ago.

The announcement drew worldwide attention, telling a far different version than that in the four Gospels in the New Testament.
        (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

[From CentreDaily.com via Michel van Rijn] History, faith meet in Akron bank vault: Ancient text from Gospel of Judas may be part of local collection. Tue, Apr. 18, 2006. By Bob Dyer. Beacon Journal staff writer

You may have heard about the Gospel of Judas, a long-lost manuscript that has been getting international attention.

But you haven't heard this: Part of it is in Akron.

A portion of the 1,700-year-old treasure is sitting in a bank vault on South Main Street.

At least that's what the National Geographic Society says.

If you haven't been following the story, National Geographic helped fund a mission by an international team of experts to authenticate, translate and preserve the only known copy of the Gospel of Judas, an ancient book based on the life of Jesus' least popular disciple.

A sizable chunk of that manuscript -- 10 to 20 percent, by one estimate -- is right here.

How did it get here?

The short version is this: The manuscript was discovered in a cave in Egypt in the 1970s and wound its way through antiquities dealers in Europe and the United States before being purchased in 2000 by Bath Township resident Bruce Ferrini.

Ferrini is an internationally known art dealer who filed for bankruptcy last September. He bought the ancient book, known as a codex, for $2.5 million. But because of his failing finances, the deal fell through.

Ferrini was at least $4.6 million in debt last year, according to court filings, and creditors began to battle for his holdings. Akron attorney R. Scott Haley was appointed to catalog and assess Ferrini's possessions.

In 2001, when the sale fell apart, Ferrini supposedly returned the whole codex to its previous owner. But according to Haley and National Geographic, which photographed the Akron pieces in February, a significant portion of the gospel remained in Ferrini's possession.

Ferrini referred a phone call to Akron lawyer Morris Laatsch, who said Ferrini returned everything he was given by the previous owner, and questions whether the National Geographic experts are correct.

"There's more than one series of writings," Laatsch said. "The Gnostics apparently wrote lots of things. Possibly this could be from this same document. But if the experts do say it is, I guess perhaps you can rely on them or not rely on them."

Manuscript's location

The delicate fragments are inside a special vault at FirstMerit. Only the bank has the combination to an outer vault, and only Haley has the combination to an inner vault.

The Akron fragments are stored in 26 plastic folders, each about the size of half a standard envelope.

Traditional Christian belief has it that Judas, a disciple of Christ, betrayed him, turning him over to Roman authorities for execution. This new account argues that Judas was actually Jesus' closest disciple, and that the only reason Judas blew the whistle was Jesus asked him to.

Christian scholars are widely split in regard to the potential religious impact of the discovery. Some believe the name Judas may no longer be synonymous with "traitor." Others say the find will have little impact. But the historical value is unquestioned.

The papyrus manuscript survived -- just barely -- because it lay untouched for 1,600 years in a limestone box in a desert cave. It almost didn't survive because it also spent 16 years in a safe deposit box in Long Island, N.Y.

Ferrini didn't do it any favors, either, according to one account. The Associated Press reported that he damaged it by storing it in his freezer.

"You can't believe how much I regret having sold it (to Ferrini)," European dealer Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos told the AP.

International interest

Haley first realized what he was dealing with when a lawyer for Nussberger-Tchacos and the Maecenas Foundation in Switzerland, a partner in the National Geographic project, contacted him to say part of the codex was missing and probably in Ferrini's possession.

Haley invited the lawyer and National Geographic to view the material in February. National Geographic photographer Kenneth Garrett -- the same person who shot the King Tut exhumation for the society last year -- photographed both sides of every fragment. He was assisted by a document-handling expert from Switzerland.

Ferrini's lawyer said Nussberger-Tchacos signed a document in 2001 saying the material had been returned, and questions her credibility, pointing out that she was once detained by Italian authorities in connection with a smuggling case.

That's one reason Yale University officials passed up a chance to buy it after authenticating it immediately before she sold it to Ferrini.

Still, the National Geographic team has proclaimed the documents real.

Ferrini is "not saying they are or they're not," Laatsch responded. "They're from that era... and very well could be part of the Gospel of Judas -- or may not be."

Even if they are, he said, they were obtained in a different transaction and do not belong to Nussberger-Tchacos.

Codex's origins, future

The Gospel of Judas was written about 300 A.D. It is in Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language that uses modified Greek letters.

A codex is a book that consists of folded pages bound on one side. They were easier to manage than scrolls, and found favor with people writing scripture.

In 2009, the codex will be returned to Egypt, where it will be displayed at the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

Ferrini has successfully applied to have his bankruptcy dismissed, and now Haley will go about liquidating the collection through a receivership -- although he won't do anything with the Judas codex until the Swiss legal claim is resolved.

Ferrini made front-page news in 2002 when he pledged to donate $6.8 million to Kent State University, the largest gift in the school's history. But, as the school acknowledged in December, he never gave Kent any of that money.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com

Van Rijn adds:

Scissorhands Ferrini is claiming to have bought the remaining fragments of the Judas Gospel and Exodus from Paris based gentleman-dealer Guy Ladriere, bottom of the deck dealer Francois Antonovitch and Napoleon Bonaparte ;-).

We at the Institute of the Terminally Maladjusted foresaw Ferrini's BS cover up acquisition story; so we pulled the magic carpet on his Gospels and fables.

From: Editionsmouseion@aol.com Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:49:48 EST To: info@michelvanrijn.nl Subject: Re: Ferrini 19/12/04 Good morning, I am today 70 years old, I don't know the man called Mr Bruce Ferrini and I never sold any object to him in my 40 years career or in my life. Best wishes. François Antonovich

From: "Galerie Ratton-Ladriere" <galerie.ratton-ladriere@wanadoo.fr> Reply-To: <galerie.ratton-ladriere@wanadoo.fr> Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 10:55:44 +0430 To: "'michel van rijn'" <info@michelvanrijn.nl> Subject: RE: Stolen Gnostic manuscripts Dear Michel, I am now travelling in the country and can't have directly a look on my mails so I asked my staff to print your photos and faxed them to me at my hôtel and had a look on yesterday late evening. I can AFFIRM and CLAIM ( if it is "claimed" with the other part) I NEVER saw these fragments, never bought them and NEVER SOLD THEM TO Ferrini. I don't know how this man can claim he bought them from me. I never deal with this kind of "coptic" fragments. To complete, the two leaves I sold to Ferrini, coming from Antonovitch, were TWO painted miniatures on velum, representing two seated Apostles, of Byzantine type, something very classical, XIIth century, nothing to compare with the fragments you sent to me. I hope these informations will help you and thank you for your mails. Best regards. Guy Galerie Ratton-Ladriere 11, quai Voltaire - 75007 PARIS Tel.: 33 (0)1 42 61 29 79 - Fax : 33 (0)1 42 56 00 72 ------------------------------------------------------

[Email from James E. Ferrell] (15th April 2006)

James E. Ferrell has been in contact with me.  There have been rumours that Bruce Ferrini sold him some of the pages of the Exodus manuscript.  I asked him about these, and he kindly gave me permission to upload his response:

Dear Mr. Pearse, I am afraid I have no knowledge of these items. In fact I had never heard of them until reading about them in the book. ... You can only hope that all the notoriety surrounding the Judas Gospel will bring someone forward. I wish you all the best in your search. J. Ferrell

[From Mario Roberty] (14th April 2006)

I've heard from Mario Roberty of the Maecenas Foundation.  He confirms that the Foundation only holds the codex Tchacos, and not the Exodus or Letters of Paul.  He adds:

Our plan was to publish the critical (scientific) edition of the whole Codex first or at least simultaneously with the two publications now presented by the National Geographical Society. The reason why this didn't happen was that during the last few weeks we obtained access to some important fragments Ferrini had sold and others that are now in the hands of the Receiver in Ferrini's bankruptcy case. It would be a pity not to include the info contained in these fragments in the scholarly publication which will therefore be a few months late and published this summer. Due to Robinson's ... book ..., we were forced to start going public with what we had ready.

I don't think that any of us will care about a six month delay; after all, what else could they do?  But it is good news that Roberty &c are hot on the trail of the material dispersed by Bruce Ferrini.

[From National Geographic].  More on how the Gospel of Judas got to us. (14th April 2006) By Andrew Cockburn. (Excerpts)

The documents survived unmolested through centuries of war and upheaval. They remained unread until early May 1983, when Stephen Emmel, a graduate student working in Rome, got a call from a fellow scholar, who wanted him to travel to Switzerland and check on some Coptic documents on offer from a mysterious source. In Geneva, Emmel and two colleagues were directed to a hotel room where they were met by two men—an Egyptian who spoke no English and a Greek who translated.

“We were given about half an hour to look into what were effectively three shoe boxes. Inside were papyri wrapped in newspaper,” says Emmel. “We weren’t allowed to take photographs or make any notes.” The papyrus was already beginning to crumble, so he did not dare touch it by hand. Kneeling beside the bed, he gingerly lifted some of the leaves with tweezers and spotted the name Judas. He mistakenly assumed the name referred to Judas Thomas, another disciple, but he did understand that this was a totally unknown work of great significance.

One of Emmel’s colleagues disappeared into the bathroom to negotiate a deal. Emmel was authorized to offer no more than $50,000; the sellers demanded three million dollars and not a penny less. “No way was anyone going to pay that money,” says Emmel, now a professor at the University of Münster in Germany, who sadly recalls the papyrus as “beautiful” and laments its deterioration since the meeting. While the two sides lunched, he slipped away and frantically noted down everything he could remember. That was the last any scholar saw of the documents for the next 17 years.

According to the present owners of the Judas gospel, the Egyptian in that Geneva hotel room was a Cairo antiquities dealer named Hanna. He had bought the manuscript from a village trader who made his living scouting such material. Exactly where or how the trader had come across the collection is unclear. He is dead now, and his relatives in the Maghagha district, a hundred miles (160 kilometers) south of Cairo, become strangely reticent when challenged to reveal the site of the find.

Soon after Hanna acquired the manuscript and before he could take it overseas, his entire stock disappeared in a robbery. In Hanna’s telling, the stolen goods were spirited out of the country and ended up in the hands of another dealer. Later Hanna succeeded in retrieving part of the hoard, including the gospel.

Once upon a time, few would question how a priceless antiquity left its host country. Any visitor could simply pick up artifacts and send them abroad. That is how great museums like the British Museum and the Louvre acquired many of their treasures. Today, antiquities-rich nations take a more proprietary attitude, banning private ownership and strictly controlling the export of their heritage. Respectable buyers such as museums try to ensure a legitimate provenance, or origin, for an artifact by establishing that it has not been stolen or illegally exported.

In early 1980, when the theft took place, Egypt had already made it illegal to possess unregistered antiquities or export them without a government license. It is not clear precisely how this law applies to the codex. But questions about its provenance have shadowed it ever since.

Hanna, however, was determined to get top dollar for it. The academics in Geneva confirmed through their excitement that it was indeed valuable, so he headed for New York to find a buyer with real money. The foray came to nothing, whereupon Hanna apparently lost heart and retired back to Cairo. Before he left New York, he rented a safe deposit box in a Citibank branch in Hicksville, Long Island, where he parked the codex and some other ancient papyri. There they remained, untouched and moldering, while Hanna intermittently tried to interest other buyers. His price, reportedly, was always too high.

Finally, in April 2000, he made a sale. The buyer was Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos, an Egyptian-born Greek who had made her way to the top of the cutthroat antiquities business after studying Egyptology in Paris. She will not divulge what she paid, conceding only that a rumored figure of $300,000 is “wrong, but in the neighborhood.” It occurred to her that the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University might be a possible buyer, so she deposited her wares with one of the library’s manuscript experts, Professor Robert Babcock.

A few days later, as she was heading out of Manhattan to catch a flight to her home in Zürich, the professor phoned. His news was explosive, but it was his excitement, audible even on a cell phone in the din of Manhattan rush-hour traffic, that Frieda Tchacos remembers best. “He was saying, ‘This is unbelievable material; I think it is the Gospel of Judas Iscariot,’ but I really only heard the emotion vibrating in his voice.” Only later, in the long hours over the dark Atlantic, did Tchacos begin to appreciate that she actually owned the fabled Gospel of Judas.

Greeks talk about moira—fate—and in the months that followed, Tchacos began to feel that her moira had become entangled in a terrible way with Judas, “like a curse ” The Beinecke held on to the document for five months but then refused to bite, despite the vibrating Babcock, largely because of doubts about its provenance. So Tchacos turned from the Ivy League to Akron, Ohio, and an opera singer turned dealer in old manuscripts named Bruce Ferrini.

Her rejection by Yale had been disheartening, and the trip to Akron was a nightmare. “My flight from Kennedy was cancelled, so I had to fly from LaGuardia on a little plane. I had the material carefully packed in black boxes, but they wouldn’t let me carry them into the cabin.” Judas flew to Ohio in the hold. In return for Judas and other manuscripts, Ferrini gave Tchacos a sales contract with a Ferrini company called Nemo and two postdated checks for 1.25 million dollars each.

Ferrini did not return numerous phone calls seeking his version of the story. But people who saw the Judas manuscript while it was in his possession say that he shuffled the pages. “He wanted to make it look more complete,” suggests Coptic expert Gregor Wurst, who is helping to restore it. More fragments were coming off.

Tchacos had begun having qualms about the deal within days of returning home. Her doubts increased when a friend named Mario Roberty pointed out that nemo is Latin for “no one.”

Roberty, a quick-witted and engaging Swiss lawyer, knows the world of antiquities dealers and runs a foundation dedicated to ancient art. He was, he says, “fascinated” by Tchacos’s story and happily agreed to help her reclaim Judas.

Ferrini’s huge checks were due at the beginning of 2001. To help keep pressure on the Akron dealer, Roberty enlisted the antiquities trade’s own weapon of mass destruction, a former dealer named Michel van Rijn. The London-based van Rijn runs a wide-ranging website that is totally uninhibited in flaying his many enemies in the antiquities world.

Briefed by Roberty, van Rijn broke the news of the gospel, adding that it was “in the claws of the ‘multi-talented’ manuscript dealer, Bruce P. Ferrini,” who was in “deep financial troubles.” In stark terms, he warned potential buyers: “You buy? You touch? You will be prosecuted!”

As Roberty cheerfully recounts, deploying van Rijn “worked, quite decisively.” (More recently, van Rijn changed tack and began fiercely attacking Roberty and Tchacos on his site. “I think he’s used up all his ammunition,” says Roberty serenely.) In February 2001, Tchacos reclaimed the Judas codex and brought it to Switzerland, where, five months later, she met Kasser.

At that moment, she says, Judas turned from curse to blessing. As Kasser began painstakingly teasing the meaning of the codex from the fragments, Roberty embarked on an imaginative solution to the provenance problem: selling the translation and media rights while promising to return the original material to Egypt. Roberty’s foundation, which now controls the manuscript, has signed an agreement with the National Geographic Society.

Relieved of her marketing concerns, Tchacos has herself begun to sound a little mystical. “Everything is predestined,” she murmurs. “I was myself predestined by Judas to rehabilitate him.”

On the edge of Lake Geneva, upstairs in an anonymous building, a specialist carefully manipulates a tiny scrap of papyrus into its proper place, and part of an ancient sentence is restored.

More rumours (14th April 2006)

I have today heard that the codex of the Greek Exodus, and the codex containing the Letters of Paul, were recovered by Frieda Nussberger-Tchacos from Bruce Ferrini, and are still in her possession.  It seems that Ferrini may have 'misappropriated' and sold leaves from some or all of these.

Rumours about the missing three codices! (13th April 2006)

I have been doing some digging, and emailing some of the people who might know something about the 3 missing codices, or have handled them.  The following comments have emerged.  As ever, while I am sure that everyone is sincere, not everyone may be accurately informed.  I have suppressed names in the interest of keeping the information flowing!  Here are a few quotes from various sources.