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“Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin”: Reflection of Ancient Traditions in the Coptic Narrative
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“Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin”: Reflection of Ancient Traditions in the Coptic Narrative
Annotation
PII
S032103910010844-1-1
DOI
10.31857/S032103910010844-1
Publication type
Article
Status
Published
Authors
Evgenia Kalchenko 
Affiliation: The State Hermitage Museum
Address: Russian Federation, Saint Petersburg
Edition
Volume 81 Issue 4
Pages
914-921
Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of several excerpts from a Coptic literary text known as the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin”. A distinctive feature of the textual themes and elements discussed is that they make a reference to Ancient Egyptian traditions, thus tracing a connection between indigenous pagan perceptions and the adopted Christian culture.

Keywords
Coptic literature, John the Apostle, mysteries, allusions, Ancient Egyptian themes and elements of the narrative
Received
14.12.2021
Date of publication
14.12.2021
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11
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75
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1 A fascinating Coptic literary text narrating about the heavenly journey of John the Apostle is extant as a copy of the 11th century – a manuscript from the British Library (BL Or. 7026)1. It starts with a rather long and elaborate title which for the sake of convenience can be reduced to the first main words defining the main topic: “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin2”. The current text tells about the ascent to the heaven of John the Apostle who was taken there by the Cherub and was told about some mysteries.
1. In 1913 editio princeps of the composition was issued by Budge and for a long time since then it has been the only edition of transcription and translation published right from the primary source, while a range of subsequent translations (Erbetta 1969; Alcock 2013; Smagina 2015) were based on that very first edition of the Coptic text by Budge. Therefore, a significant part of what has come to be my MA thesis was devoted to making a new translation and a commentary of the text using the original manuscript BL Or. 7026. I am very grateful to Prof. Jacques van der Vliet and the staff of the British Library for putting at my disposal the scans of the manuscript for reading purposes. The translation of the Coptic passages is given hereafter in accordance with the MA thesis of the author.

2. “The (holy) virgin” as a common appellation of John the Apostle appears in the Panarion by Epiphanius (Court 2000, 151) and also in the Coptic “Investiture of the Archangel Michael” (K_D: Müller 1962, 28; K_E: Müller 1962, 30) which shares a range of phraseological and compositional similarities with the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” (Hagen 2010, 352).
2 Despite the initial and final setting in the Mount of Olives as well as New Testament figures: the apostles, Jesus Christ and Michael the Archangel, the narrative includes an amalgam of themes and elements that come from different cultural backgrounds. In particular, the distinctive feature is the existence of allusions to Ancient Egyptian culture reflected throughout the whole text3.
3. In the introduction to the translation and the commentary of the text given by E. Smagina there is a statement concerning much more common features of the current text with biblical material rather than Ancient Egyptian images and ideas (Smagina 2015, 97). Without a doubt, the text includes a range of biblical elements and themes, but one cannot deny the reflection of ancient traditions as well. The author herself mentions the latter (ibid., 99, n. 11, 12; 101, n. 25), in particular, giving references to Budge (ibid., 99, n. 12; 101, n. 25) when it comes to interpreting some episodes which are also discussed in the present paper.
3 In one of the episodes at the beginning of the narrative the Cherub tells about the regime of inundation and its interconnection with fertility, thus recalling one of the most important natural processes in the life of Egyptians since ancient times – the annual Nile flood. It was the Nile which brought the waters and the fertile silt indispensable for irrigation and growing crops. According to E.A.W. Budge, the representation of the Father who regulates the water supply with his feet, as it is mentioned in the text, corresponds to the image of Osiris in the papyrus of Hunefer4. Describing one of vignettes of the papyrus, Budge states that the god is depicted sitting on the throne above waters5. However, this is only one of the rare examples of the spell 125 from the Book of the Dead with the depiction of water beneath the seat of the god6. According to a plausible explanation by Chr. Seeber, the throne with a pedestal standing above water may have been perceived as the first mound (bnbn), which appeared among the primordial waters, being also connected with the resurrection of Osiris7.
4. Budge 1913, lxvii.

5. Budge 1899, 7, pl. 5.

6. Apart from pHunefer (pBM 9901): TT 19, A 15, 31 (?) (sic Seeber, 1976, 126, Anm. 536).

7. Seeber, 1976, 126.
4 Another tentative suggestion is that an image of Osiris with running water under his feet could have been related to Biga island. Along with other sites such as Edfu, Herakleopolis and Sebennytos it was associated with the god’s legs8 as dismembered parts of Osirian body scattered across the country. Due to this belief and the very location of Biga to the south of the first cataract, where the annual inundation came from, a perception of the legs of Osiris regulating the amount of water in the Nile could have appeared. The god was also linked to the concept of fertility9 and was known as the one who made an efflux that came along with the flood10. The latter feature was once described by Plutarch in his work “On Isis and Osiris”: “Not only the Nile, but every form of moisture they call simply the effusion of Osiris (Ὀσίριδος ἀπορροήν)”11.
8. Wilkinson 2003, 122.

9. Wilkinson 2003, 118, 120.

10. For instance, in the Book of the Dead, spell 149 (Allen 1974, 146).

11. Is. et Os. 365B, translated by Babbitt 1936, 87:36.
5 A more explicit reference to the divine feet set on the water is attested on the Famine stela from Sehel Island. In column 9 of the stela the god Khnum is mentioned and his feet are said to be “resting on the flood”: Tb.tj=f wAH(.w) m mHj12. Khnum worshipped in the area of Aswan, was connected with the Nile and was considered to be the controller of the inundation13.
12. Lichtheim 2006, III, 97, col. 9; Barguet 1953, pl. III, col. 9.

13. Wilkinson 2003, 194–195.
6 One more fascinating sample of iconography with the water under the feet of a god can be observed on the second pylon of the Karnak temple. Compared with the previously mentioned Osiris seating on the throne with the flood beneath, this is the only example that shows Amun-Re in a similar way14. Apart from the depiction of water right under the throne and the feet of Amun-Re, there is the ankh-was scepter in the god’s left hand with the streams of water surrounding the pole. The latter is very characteristic, since ankh-was combination often denoted the flood15. In the prayer by the Great Ennead addressed to Amun-Re both the flowing scepter and the water below are mentioned:
14. Gabolde 1995, 256–257, fig. 1, 2.

15. Gabolde 1995, 236.
7 anx wAc dmD(.w) m xfa=k
8 prj mw Xr rd.wj=k
9 Ankh (and) was are united in your fist, the water comes out under your feet.
10 As M. Gabolde, the author of the paper dealing with this intriguing relief, suggests, the abovementioned image of Amun-Re can be considered as reflection of the local Theban tradition that presupposed the connection of the superior god with a sacred sight at Medinet Habu – a so-called “Djeme hill” at the foot of which the annual flood began by filling the basins nearby16.
16. Gabolde 1995, 245–246, 248–255.
11 Alternatively, the inundation as such was associated with the god Hapy. It is he who also makes the flood appear under his feet as it is said in the Graeco-Roman inscriptions of Edfu and Esna temples17. Thus, a whole range of textual and iconographic examples gives an impression that a common idea of a divine being under whose feet the water emerges was preserved through ages and even found its way into the new realm of Christian literature.
17. Gabolde 1995, 238.
12 As for the god Hapy, he is also venerated as the universal god18 in the great Nile hymn, thus corresponding to the role of the Father in the Coptic text. Moreover, the statement in one of the copies of the hymn: iAd.t=f pw hAj.j p.t – “It is his dew that descends from the sky”19 matches with the similar passages of the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” concerning the dew that is sent from the sky down to the earth. The hymn also mentions the drawbacks resulting from insufficient / “sluggish” (wsf) and abundant / “too heavy” (dns) level of water20. The negative outcome of the latter – a famine is also noted by John:
18. van der Plas 2001, 143; Lichtheim 2006, I, 206.

19. oGolenischeff 4470: strophe I, 8 (van der Plas 1986, II, 15).

20. See strophes II, 5–6; IX, 3–4 (van der Plas 1986, I, 24–25, 131; II, 22–23, 86–87).
13 ou9 rompe on 9te pmoou Rnoq nte pxebwwn
14 There is also a year when the water is in abundance, but the famine happens.
15 The final part of the great Nile hymn represents the invocation to Hapy to come and to be green (the colour of water before the inundation21). In the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” the prayers to send the water to the world are addressed to the Father by Michael the Archangel who acts as a mediator between the superior divine force and the people. Michael the Archangel is also mentioned asking to raise the waters of the Nile and praying for the dew and rain in the “Encomium of Eustathius on St. Michael” which is cited by J. Court who in turn refers to the publication of this text by Budge22.
21. van der Plas 2001, 144.

22. Court 2000, 153–154.
16 The following episode in the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” linked to the previous one by the identical subject discussed, water, deals with the cosmogony:
17 aiouw
18 peje peyeiroubein nai je swtM 9tatamok exwb nim . xach Mpate pnoute tamie tpe mN pkax Mmoou neu
19 I answered (and) told the Cherub: “I heard Him23 saying: ‘God created the heaven and the earth’ as well as ‘God created the water in the very beginning’”.
23. The third person mentioned may refer to Jesus Christ, since he may have told the apostles about the creation of the world before, in his teaching.
20 The Cherub told me: “Listen and I will tell you everything. Before God created the heaven and the earth, the waters existed and no one knows the manner of creation of the water except God Himself”.
21 On the one hand, it recalls the ancient Heliopolitan theology according to which there were primordial waters (Nun) from the very beginning before the god Atum began his process of creation24. On the other hand, one can find the initial presence of waters in the first lines of the Genesis: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God moved over the water”25. Thus, the water existed before the creation of the heaven and the earth and only God must have known its origin.
24. van Dijk 1995, 1699–1700.

25. Gn 1:1–2 after Brenton 1844, 1.
22 The very same episode ends up with the words of the Cherub who deduced from the initial sacred presence of primordial waters that “for the one who will swear falsely by the name of water, there will be no forgiveness”. The same order is applied to swearing by the seed of wheat. Giving oaths was a crucial part of legal documentation and other Egyptian compositions such as private records, literary texts and king’s inscriptions to express fidelity and sincerity26. In the Coptic narrative the possibility of giving an oath is mentioned by the Cherub – the God’s holy assistant, while according to the canonical teaching of Jesus Christ swearing as such is rejected as one can recall the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:34–36).
26. A summary of written sources is given by Wilson 1948, 129–156.
23 An intersection rather than contradiction with the biblical idea in the Coptic text analyzed here is the following story about the nature of wheat which was delivered to Adam who was starving after he had been expelled from Paradise. The Cherub tells John that the sealed grain of wheat was made up from the pieces of divine flesh of the Son and the Father. Yet, it is possible that this narrative fragment could have had its roots in Ancient Egyptian perceptions. E.A.W. Budge noted that the origin and the nature of wheat was connected with the “primeval god” – Pauti (PAw.t.j)27 as well as Osiris28. One can recall the so-called “grain-Osiris” or corn-mummy figures with the germinated seed honoured as a token of the god’s resurrection. These effigies became widespread in the Late and Ptolemaic periods and the association of Osiris with a dying and reviving seed survived until Graeco-Roman times. Even Plutarch mentioned of those “who say that Osiris is being buried at the time when the grain is sown and covered in the earth and that he comes to life and reappears when plants begin to sprout”29.
27. LGG III, 20.

28. Budge 1913, lxviii–lxix.

29. Is. et Os. 377С, translated by Babbitt 1936, 153:65.
24 Nevertheless, the same passage of the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” might also be perceived from the perspective of the Christian outlook. With the seed of wheat formed from the flesh of the Son and invisible flesh of the Father Adam received a small piece of divine essence. The idea of bread as the Body of Christ is manifested in the Eucharist where the piece of bread is considered as spiritual food connecting a human being with God. The Eucharist was stated by Christ during the Lord’s Supper with the apostles30, but before this event one can also find the excerpt in which the bread is proclaimed as the divine Body of the Saviour (Jn 6:51).
30. Matt 26:26–28; Mk 14:22–24; Lk 22:19–20.
25 At the end of the Coptic narrative John poses some additional questions and the first among them deals with the force supporting the heaven and the earth. The heaven, as the Cherub says, hangs upon faith and an order of God, while the earth is supported by four pillars which can be identified with Ancient Egyptian sxn.t fdw n.t p.t – “four pillars of the sky” that denote firmness31 and serve as the division between the heaven and the earth.
31. Wb. III, 472:3.
26 The following passage concerning the twelve hours of the day distinguished from the twelve hours of the night32 is also very typical to the Ancient Egyptian perception of time33. For instance, the well-known books of the Netherworld: the Amduat as well as the Book of Gates illustrating the night journey of the sun are divided into twelve hours34.
32. The division of the day and night into twelve hours is attested in the “Testament of Adam” as well. In this text Adam addresses the final words to his son Seth. In the course of his speech, he tells the names of each hour of the day and night and subsequently gives an overview of the prayers and events that happen during every hour (Troupeau 1988, 9–12). Twelve hours as a definite duration of the day are also mentioned by Jesus in his answer to the apostles in Jn 11:9.

33. Clagett 1995, 48–49.

34. Hornung 1999, 26, 32–53, 59–77.
27 The motion of the sun discussed in the same episode was a very important natural process in the culture of Ancient Egypt as well, being no less crucial than the inundation of the Nile. John asks in what way the sun “knows” (eime) the time to set and rise. The Cherub answers that the sun moves owing to a special angel controlled by Michael the Archangel who in turn keeps the track of the passing of hours and the motion of the sun. In comparison, Ancient Egyptian perceptions of the sun motion were based on emanations of different solar phases manifested by the corresponding deities in the daytime and during the subsequent nocturnal journey of the setting sun in the Netherworld (Duat), so that the sun could rise again in the new day, thus illustrating the idea of rebirth35.
35. Hornung 1999, 27, 32, 41, 65, 139.
28 The last story told by the Cherub before the epilogue of the text is devoted to different stars organized in ranks like the angels. These kinds of luminaries apparently correspond to the stars observed and known since ancient times. In the passage of the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” one can read:
29 ere 9siou o 9ta3is ta3is . ouN siou e
30 The stars are of different classes. There is a class of stars which stays in the heaven until midday. However, they cannot be seen because of the sunlight.
31 The type mentioned above may refer to the stars that rise heliacally such as Sirius / Sothis which disappears at first since it approaches close to the sun and therefore has the period of being invisible during 70 days. Then, the stars which have risen heliacally indeed “move from their initial place” (eupwwne ebol xM peuma N
36. Clagett 1995, 51.
32 The next group of seven stars rising “in the north of the world” (xM pMxit Mpkosmos) and being “in the sky at any time” (xN tpe 9nau nim) can be identified with the stars of the constellation Ursa Major or the Great Bear – Mcxtjw37 which is observed in the northern sky38. This constellation and the stars included in it belong to the so-called “Imperishable stars” or Ixm.w-ck39: the circumpolar luminaries that were associated with immortal gods40. In the present narrative there is yet another set of seven stars which are also appealed as “the gods” – neenthr (L__H). The “Imperishable stars” are usually opposed to the “Unwearying stars” or Ixm.w-wrD41 that include the luminaries of the southern sky where the stars such as Sirius / Sothis are temporally invisible42, so they can be associated with the first type of the stars mentioned in the foregoing excerpt of the Coptic text.
37. Wb. II, 149:3, 4.

38. Clagett 1995, 110–111, 115.

39. Wb. I, 125:14.

40. Clagett 1995, 110–111; Wells 2001, 147.

41. Wb. I, 125:15, 16.

42. Maravelia 2006, 21.
33 Thus, the analysis of a range of episodes from the “Mysteries of John, the Apostle and Holy Virgin” reveals a possible connection with Ancient Egyptian traditions occasionally correlating with biblical motifs when referring to the same episode. The allusions to Ancient Egyptian themes and elements clearly insert the current text into the context of indigenous Egyptian culture, while the intersection of Christian and pagan elements gives an impression of how the author tried to interpret specific mysterious questions of John in terms of traditional Egyptian representations. This characteristic can be attributed to Bakhtin’s “polyphony” in which an organic synthesis of cultures leads to a new common understanding of such high values as the truth, the goodness, the holiness, etc.43 In case of the narrative envisaged here a set of images and themes seem to be revised through the spectacle of native Egyptian perceptions and some of the episodes have remarkable allusions to ancient concepts, so that the story itself could have been assumed as natural to the Egyptian milieu and might have been intelligible to the local audience as well. The new and old traditions intertwined in such a manner can be traced in other examples of Coptic culture (including, for instance, many pieces of art: textiles, small statuary, etc.), especially during its early phase, when the Christian images underwent the influence of Hellenistic and even Ancient Egyptian perceptions.
43. Chamidov 2017, 66–67.

References

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2. Allen, T.G. 1974: The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day: Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians Concerning the Hereafter as Expressed in Their Own Terms. (SOAC, 37). Chicago.

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6. Budge, E.A.W. 1899: The Book of the Dead: Facsimiles of the Papyri of Hunefer, Ȧnhai, Ḳerāsher and Netchemet with Supplementary Text from the Papyrus of Nu. London.

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