Bruce Codex
Encyclopedia
The Bruce Codex is a gnostic
manuscript acquired by the British Museum
. In 1769, James Bruce
purchased the codex in Upper Egypt
. It was transferred to the museum with a number of other Oriental texts in 1842. It currently resides in the Bodleian Library
(Bruce 96), where it has been since 1848.
, who also translated it into German; it has since been rebound in Schmidt's ordering. Violet Macdermot translated it into English as The Books of Jeu and the Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex in 1978.
Schmidt found two texts in the Codex, both Gnostic mystery texts; he concluded that the first (in two books) was identical with the Books of Jeu
mentioned in the Pistis Sophia
; the other had no title. He associated two small fragments (a hymn and a prose passage on the progress of a soul through the "Archons of the Midst") with the second Book of Jeu, which is incomplete.
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
manuscript acquired by the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. In 1769, James Bruce
James Bruce
James Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...
purchased the codex in Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
. It was transferred to the museum with a number of other Oriental texts in 1842. It currently resides in the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
(Bruce 96), where it has been since 1848.
Contents
The Bruce Codex was bound when it was in the possession of the British Museum - in a random order, with some pages upside-down, since no one involved spoke Coptic. It was edited in 1893 by Carl SchmidtCarl Schmidt
Carl Schmidt or Karl Schmidt may refer to:* Carl Schmidt * Carl Wilhelm Schmidt , German missionary in Queensland during the 19th century* Karl Patterson Schmidt , American herpetologist...
, who also translated it into German; it has since been rebound in Schmidt's ordering. Violet Macdermot translated it into English as The Books of Jeu and the Untitled Text in the Bruce Codex in 1978.
Schmidt found two texts in the Codex, both Gnostic mystery texts; he concluded that the first (in two books) was identical with the Books of Jeu
Books of Jeu
-Efforts at dating:The books are estimated as written during a period spanning 100 A.D to 300 A.D ,in the time of the Roman rule of Egypt. perhaps toward the latter end of this period.-Contents:...
mentioned in the Pistis Sophia
Pistis Sophia
Pistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text, possibly written as early as the 2nd century. The five remaining copies, which scholars place in the 5th or 6th centuries, relate the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples , when the risen Christ had accomplished eleven...
; the other had no title. He associated two small fragments (a hymn and a prose passage on the progress of a soul through the "Archons of the Midst") with the second Book of Jeu, which is incomplete.