Document

• AuthorsAnonyme
• TitlePB 2
• Varying form of TitleP66
• CopyistsThe whole book was copied in a single hand that has been described as “a rudimentary form of Coptic Uncial” and a “unimodular Alexandrian majuscule” (Nongbri, “The Limits,” 12 and Orsini, “I papiri Bodmer,” 77).
• Event Date Placeearly 2nd cent. (Hunger, “Zur Datierung,” by palaeography); ca. 200 (Martin, Papyrus Bodmer II, by palaeography); 3rd cent. (Turner, Typology, by palaeography); 3rd to 4th cent. (Orsini, “I papiri Bodmer,” by palaeography); 4th cent. (Nongbri, “The Limits,” by palaeography, codicology, and provenance)
• Language(s)grc

Publication, distribution

Edition

Description material

• TypeManuscript
• Volume
  Dimensions: The width of the page is 14.2 cm. The height of the page is 16.2 cm. The ratio of the page (width/height) is 0.877. The writing is in a single column. The width of the written area is about 11 cm. The height of the written area varies from about 10 cm to about 13.5 cm. There are 14-25 lines per page (there are generally more lines per page in the early part of the codex). There are 75 extant folia.
  Quires: According to the most plausible published reconstruction, the codex originally consisted of 8 quires of differing sizes: 4 sheets, 5 sheets, 6 sheets, 4 sheets, 9 sheets, 4 sheets, 4 sheets, and 4 sheets (Kasser, reported in Turner, Typology, 70), but the arrangement of the last leaves is subject to doubt. The remnants of quires signatures are visible in the upper right corners of page 17 and page 77. Turner reports that the quires are arranged with facing pages having fibers aligned, horizontal fibers (→) facing horizontal and vertical fibers (↓) facing vertical. Vertical fibers are found on the first recto (outermost sheet) of each quire (Turner, Typology, 67). This pattern breaks down in the final quires of the book (see the fiber directions reported in Martin and Barns, Papyrus Bodmer II).
  Cover: No cover is preserved.
  
• BindingBinding: Berthe van Regemorter pointed out that the codex shows evidence of two distinct bindings. The quires have four sewing stations, and the first binding appears to have been a link-stitch at two independent pairs of sewing stations. A second binding (also a link-stitch) used a single thread through the central two of the four sewing stations. Kasser reports that parchment stays are present in the central folds of the first five quires.
• Physical MediumPapyrus, soot-based black ink

Remarques

• General NotesParatextual features: The title is written at the top of the first extant page (the meaning of the forked paragraphos mark in the title is not clear). The last page of the text is not preserved, so it is unclear whether or not an end title was present. Textual divisions are marked by ekthesis. Page numbers appear in the upper corners of the outer margins of each page. The copyist seems to have numbered pages 1-99, while page numbers above 100 appear to have been written in a different hand. Corrections are present throughout. Nearly all can be attributed to the copyist of the manuscript (see Royse, Scribal Habits, 399-544). The placement of corrections in the upper and lower margins is noted with pairs of curved arrows (↓↑).
  Decorations: The beginning title occupies a single line at the top of the first page and is framed by horizontal lines. It contains a forked paragraphos: ⲉⲩⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲓⲟⲛ >— ⲕⲁⲧⲁ ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲛ.
  Other holding institutions: Chester Beatty Library, Ac. 2555; Cologne, P.Köln V 214
• AbstractPapyrus codex containing the Gospel According to John in Greek.
  Description: The remains of this codex consist of 75 identifiable papyrus folios and numerous fragments. The original codex would have contained a complete copy of the Gospel according to John. The first four quires and most of the fifth quire (containing John 1:1-14:26) are conserved as an intact book block. The remaining folios (containing portions of John 14:29-21:9) have been conserved between glass plates. The latter are illustrated here with color images, while the leaves still in the book block are illustrated with photographic plates published in 1962. The bulk of P.Bodmer 2 arrived in Geneva in 1955 (Nongbri, “The Limits,” 2, note 4).
  
• Bibliography
  LDAB number 2777
  TM number: 61627
  Digital text: iohannes.com
  
  Editio princeps:
  Martin, Victor. Papyrus Bodmer II. Cologny-Geneva: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1956.
  Martin, Victor. Papyrus Bodmer II, Supplément. Cologny-Geneva: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1958.
  Martin, Victor and J.W.B. Barns. Papyrus Bodmer II, Supplément, Nouvelle édition augmentée et corrigée. Cologny-Geneva: Bibliotheca Bodmeriana, 1962.
  Gronewald, M. Pages 73-76 in Kölner Papyri, vol. 5. Opladen. Westdeutscher Verlag, 1985.
  
  Additional bibliography:
  Hunger, Herbert. “Zur Datierung des Papyrus Bodmer II (P66),” Anzeiger der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften philosophisch-historische Klasse 97 (1961): 12-23.
  Nongbri, Brent. “The Limits of Palaeographic Dating of Literary Papyri: Some Observations on the Date and Provenance of P.Bodmer II (P66)” Museum Helveticum 71 (2014): 1-35.
  Orsini, Pasquale. “I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri.” Adamantius 21 (2015): 60-78.
  Royse, James R. Scribal Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri. Leiden: Brill, 2008.
  Turner, Eric G. The Typology of the Early Codex. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977.
  

Identification

• ConstellationPapyri
• PID3694
• Shelf MarkPB 2