Fayyum Fragment

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The Fayyum Fragment is a papyrus fragment containing text that could form part of the New Testament, and consists of only about 100 Greek letters. The fragment was originally discovered in Al-Fayyum, Egypt, and was translated in 1885 by Gustav Bickell after it was found in the papyrus collection of Archduke Ranier in Vienna.

The surviving manuscript is badly damaged and has fewer than a hundred Greek letters preserved. Because of its style of handwriting it is believed to have been copied around the end of the third century. The text seems to parallel Mark 14:26-31, appearing to present a more abbreviated account. It is unclear whether the fragment is an abridged version of the synoptic gospels, or a source text on which they were based. As such, discovery of a fuller text would have a considerable significance in investigation of the origin and historicity of the gospels.

The text states:

[As he] lead them out, he s[ai]d, "[You will] a[ll]
fall away [during this] night
[according to] the scripture: 'I will strike the
[shepherd and the] sheep [will be] scattered'."
[Then] Peter [said], "Even if everyone does, [I will] n[ot]."
[Jesus said, "Befo]re the cock cr[ows] twice, [three times]
[you will d]eny [me today]".

[edit] References

Wilhelm Schneemelcher, ed., translation by R. McL. Wilson, New Testament Apocrypha : Gospels and Related Writings (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1992), p. 102.