The Fayyum Fragment (Papyrus Vindobonensis Greek 2325 ) is a papyrus fragment containing text that could be from 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 Rainer Joseph of Austria 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, perhaps the apocryphal Gospel of Peter.
The text reads:
| Papyrus Vindobonensis 2325 | ||
| ...ε]ξαγειν ως επε οτι, Α τη νυκτι σκανδαλισ το γραφεν· Παταξω τον προβατα διασκορπισθησ υ Πετ{ρου}· Και ει παντες, ο ν αλεκτρυων δις κοκ παρν | ...l]ead out, when he si: A of you night will be scandaliz what is written: I shall strike the herd and the] sheep shall be scatter Pet{er}: Even if all, n e a cock twice cr en. | |
Textual comparison with the texts in the three synoptic gospels leads to the above reconstruction of missing letters:
Read more about Fayyum Fragment: Textual Source
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