Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (8.1996(1997))

NAQLUN

THE LITERARY TEXTS
FROM SEASONS 1993 AND 1995
Katarzyna Urbaniak-Walczak
The Coptic texts uncovered during excavations at Naqlun in
the fall of 1993 and 1995 are mainly literary in nature. A more
detailed analysis of the texts reveals the presence of at least
12 parchment codices. Most of the preserved texts are fragments of
cards and a rare whole card, all found in the old monastery
complex on kom D, in two rooms designated as D.21 and 22.1
The single parchment cards include two cards illuminated
with full-page representations of the Cross (N.88/93, N.98/93).
They come from two codices of different size. The former of the
two cards was doubtless reused; on its back, that is, on the clean
back of the page with the Cross, there is a text fragment, which it
has been impossible to identify so far. The partly preserved text
with too small a margin was written down in a rather fluent hand,
but one that is characteristic of documents. It might be part of a
bigger literary text copied by some monk, not a scribe, for his
personal use.
Of undoubted interest are two whole and one fragmentarily
preserved parchment cards originating from two different and quite
early (in this particular assemblage) codices, written in a fine,
broad uncial. Two of them, one whole card and the fragmentary
piece (N.75/93, N.83/93), belonged to a single codex dated to the
5th century on paleographical grounds.2 They contains a Sahidic

1 For an exhaustive list of publications on the Naqlun excavations see
W. Godlewski, Naqlun 1989-1992, in: Acts of the Fifth International Congress
of Coptic Studies, Roma 1993, vol. 2, 183ff. See also W. Godlewski,
E. Parandowska, Naqlun 1993, in: PAM V, 1993(1994), p. 55f. and
W. Godlewski, Naqlun, Excavations 1995, PAM VII, 1995 (1996), pp. 82-88.
2 W. Stegemann, Koptische Paldographie, Heidelberg 1936, Taf.5.

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