Sunday, November 10, 2013

The Gospel of Judas manuscript is going to Egypt

AHRAMONLINE: The gospel according to Judas: The only known copy of the Gospel of Judas, which casts an unorthodox light on events leading up to the Crucifixion, is returning to Egypt (Nevine El-Aref).
The gospel of Jesus's favourite disciple, Judas, was on show yesterday in Washington's National Geographic Museum before its return to Egypt where it was found 30 years ago. The fragile codex -- made up of 13 papyrus leaves -- has been restored with a two-million-dollar fund from the National Geographic Society (NGS) and the Waitt Institute for Historical Discovery. Its most recent owners, the Basel-based Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art (MFAA), will now hand the codex over to the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo.

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It is far from clear that this gospel presents Judas as Jesus' favorite disciple.

Be that as it may, I hope the manuscript will be safe. Things Coptic, not to speak of the Copts themselves, don't seem very safe in Egypt at present.

Some background on the Coptic Gospel of Judas is here and links.