who were the copts

who were the copts Latest

Aerial photo of a cross-shaped marble baptistry at the fourth-century church in Laodicea, Turkey. Photo: Dr. Celal Şimşek/Laodikeia excavation.

Nov 13 Blog

When Did Christianity Begin to Spread?

By: BAS Staff

How old is Christianity? Churches are among Biblical archaeology findings that hold the answer.

Jul 29 Blog

The Sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas

By: Robin Ngo

New Testament scholar Simon Gathercole examines what the sayings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas reveal about the early Christian world in which they were written.

Jan 23 Blog

What Is Coptic and Who Were the Copts in Ancient Egypt?

By: Megan Sauter

When did the ancient Egyptians stop writing in hieroglyphs, and what came next? From the fourth to ninth centuries C.E., Egypt was predominantly Christian. During this time, the language used by the masses was Coptic.

Sep 19 Blog

The Gospel of the Lots of Mary

By: Robin Ngo

AnneMarie Luijendijk has identified a previously unknown Late Antique text containing oracles called The Gospel of the Lots of Mary.

Jun 24 Blog

Where Did Early Christian Monks Get Their Wealth?

By: Jennifer Drummond

To the “holy poor” or the “real poor”—that is the question. To whom were alms to be directed? This question divided the early Christian monastic movement in the East.

Jun 10 Blog

Is the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife a Fake?

By: Ellen White

When Harvard’s Karen King announced at a 2012 scholarly conference in Rome that a fragment of an authentic fourth-century gospel had come into her hands in which Jesus, speaking in the first person, refers to “my wife,” that was only the beginning.

Nov 4 Blog

First Person: Why Consult Scholarship to Judge “Jesus’ Wife” Fragment?

By: Hershel Shanks

BAR editor Hershel Shanks discusses a recent article in the Atlantic unmasking a fake ancient inscription in which Jesus refers to “my wife.”

Jul 31 Blog

Liberator of the Nag Hammadi Codices

By: Charles W. Hedrick

A cache of ancient Christian Gnostic texts was found near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945—two years before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Similar to the situation with the Dead Sea Scrolls, a monopoly of scholars held up the publication of the Nag Hammadi texts and would not permit anyone else to see them. The late Jim Robinson intervened, and by 1970 he had managed to free the Nag Hammadi Codices.

Jun 30 Blog

“Down the Rabbit Hole”: Owner of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Papyrus Unmasked

By: Robin Ngo

An investigative article by Ariel Sabar recently published in The Atlantic delves into the identity of the anonymous owner of the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife papyrus, revealing more than anyone could have ever imagined.

Apr 23 Blog

The “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” Papyrus Revisited

By: Noah Wiener

Harvard Divinity School declares the text ancient, but the debate on the papyrus including the words “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …’” rages on.

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