The Discovery and Trafficking of the Nag Hammadi Codices

Abstract

The information concerning the discovery and trafficking of the Nag Hammadi codices was originally derived almost exclusively from reports by Jean Doresse, who was in Egypt for much of the winter season each year from September 1947 through February 1953. This chapter investigates Nag Hammadi region and summarizes the bulk of the information about the actual discovery and trafficking of the Nag Hammadi region. It focuses on a letter of the Department of Antiquities from 1946 locating the site of the discovery; Doresse's report of his and his wife's visit to Nag Hammadi on 26-27 January 1950; the report later in 1950 by Ludwig Keimer, a European scholar residing of Cairo, summarizes what was known at that time. Finally, the chapter presents and discusses the scholarly debates. Martin Krause visited Nag Hammadi in the early 1960's, but he did not publish any new information he might have obtained.Keywords: Cairo; Egypt; Jean Doresse; Nag Hammadi codices; Nag Hammadi region