The Nag Hammadi Library

THE NAG HAMMADI LIBRARY (Coptic Christian, 3rd-4th centuries CE)

In 1945 an Egyptian farmer found 13 leather-bound papyrus codices (similar to books, not scrolls) buried in a meter-high sealed jar in a cemetery, perhaps during a simple grave robbery. The finder at first feared the jar might contain a "genie," but when he realized there might be gold inside, he smashed it with gusto. He took the documents home and dumped them next to the oven; his mother admits to having used many pages for kindling. What remains are 52 treatises, most of them Gnostic texts (including the Gospel of Thomas). They were translated into Coptic, a late form of Egyptian, from earlier Greek manuscripts. The collection is named for the Upper (southern) Egyptian town near which it was found; it is currently housed in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

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Athanasius I of Alexandria

ATHANASIUS I OF ALEXANDRIA (Alexandria, Roman Egypt, c. 297-373)

Athanasius I of Alexandria, also called the Great, the Confessor or, among Coptic Christians, the Apostolic, as well as "Athanasius Against the World," was a Greek church father, and the 20th Coptic Orthodox "pope" (bishop) of Alexandria. He was bishop off and on for 45 years; 17 of those spent in five exiles on the order of four different Roman emperors. As a theologian, he was the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, which taught that Jesus was not co-eternal with the Father but was created by him in time. With John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, and Gregory of Nazianzus, he is considered one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church by the Roman Catholics.

• The name of Athanasius is often associated with a convoluted and redundant Trinitarian statement called the "Athanasian Creed," though he almost certainly had nothing to do with it.
• He was also the first person to list the 27 books of the New Testament canon that is in use today.

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Cyprian of Carthage

CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE (Roman Christian, c. 210-258 CE)

Cyprian (Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus) was a bishop of Carthage, the once-Phoenician city in North Africa. Of Berber descent, he is considered a saint in both West and East. He was the greatest of Latin Christian writers in the West before the arrival of Jerome and Augustine, his most famous treatise being De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate ("On the Unity of the Catholic Church"). After receiving a classical education, he converted to Christianity and soon became a bishop. He was known for his his strong pastoral skills, firmness of faith, and eventual martyrdom by the sword.

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Terence, Roman African playwright

TERENCE (Roman, c. 195/185-159? BCE)

This Roman African playwright (who wrote six comedies) was actually Publius Terentius Afer; his last name indicates that he may well have been born in Africa, perhaps Carthage or the Roman province that is now Tunisia. Or not. Further, it is said that his mother may have been a slave. None of this suggests that he was of Black ancestry, as "slavery" and "Roman Africa" didn't necessarily mean any such thing at the time. It is almost certain that he himself was a slave; his owner, a Roman senator, had him educated and then, impressed by his talent, granted his freedom. He died around age 25, due either to shipwreck or disease.

• The Latin of Terence's plays was so conversational that they were used for teaching that language in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
• Shakespeare imitated some of Terence's plots, which he in turn had borrowed from the Greeks.

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