Page 144 - Virtual Research Lab flip book

the Cologne Codex Mani, written in Greek on leaves measuring 3.5 x 4.5 cm or 1.3 x 1.18 inches, and originally the size of a small matchbox. Assuming that most would have taken larger, more convenient sizes, it seems that the codex would also have been a form of information storage preferable for people on the move—often necessary, perhaps, in the period of persecution of early Christians by the Romans, before Christianity was adopted by the Emperor Constantine in 313 CE. Some of the best examples of early Chris- tian papyrus codices in single quire Coptic bindings are the Nag Hammadi Library discovered in Egypt in 1945.77 As the form also allowed the devel- opment of bindings which were protective as well as decorative, bindings would have increased the longevity of codices versus the more delicate rolls, and over time this would have been recognized as a significant advantage. T. C. Skeat suggested that from the economic standpoint that there may have been cost savings in the production of information in codex form versus the traditional papyrus roll.78
By the late third or fourth centuries CE, as the codex form of the book became more established, Christians may have also found codices advanta- geous for their ability to contain long texts, which could then be indexed
77 “The relationship of early Christianity to the Jewish faith, and the foundation of the cult deeply rooted in a people accustomed to religious intolerance actually helped it take hold initially. The Jews were accustomed to resisting political authority in order to practice their religion, and the transi- tion to Christianity among these people helped foster the sense of Imperial resistance. To the Romans, Christians were a strange and subversive group, meeting in catacombs, sewers and dark alleys, done only for their own safety, but perpetuating the idea that the religion was odd, shameful and secretive. Rumors of sexual depravity, child sacrifice and other disturbing behavior, left a stigma on the early Christians. Perhaps worst of all was the idea of cannibalism. The concept of breaking bread originating with the last supper, partaking of the blood and body of Christ, which later came to be known as Communion, was taken literally. To the Romans, where religious custom dictated following ancient practices in a lit- eral sense, the idea of performing such a ritual as a representation was misunderstood, and the early cult had to deal with many such misperceptions” (http://www.unrv.com/culture/christian-persecution. php, accessed 12-04-2008).
78 See Roberts & Skeat, The Birth of the Codex (1983). An updated and expanded, but preliminary, revised version of this book by Robert A. Kraft “and associates,” with a working title of “The Gesta- tion of the Codex” or, “From Scroll and Tablets to Codex and Beyond“ was published on the Internet in 2008. Kraft’s earlier draft of this revision, in briefer outline form, is also very useful. Both could be accessed in July 2011.
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