• John 1

  • Video Introduction to the Book of John

  • Sahidic Coptic Translation of John 1:1

  • Early Manuscript of John’s Gospel

  • Gospel of John—Some Major Events

  • View of the Valley of Jezreel

  • John 2

  • Stone Jars

  • John 3

  • Sealing a Document

  • John 4

  • Mount Gerizim

  • Reapers

  • John 5

  • Pool of Bethzatha

  • John 6

  • Baskets

  • John 9

  • Pool of Siloam

  • John 10

  • Sheepfold

  • Wolf

  • Solomon’s Colonnade

  • John 11

  • Jesus Resurrects Lazarus

  • The Sanhedrin

  • John 12

  • Palm Tree

  • Colt, or Young Donkey

  • John 15

  • Vine

  • John 18

  • Kidron Valley

  • Oldest Known Fragment of the Christian Greek Scriptures

  • John 19

  • Nail in a Heel Bone

  • The Hyssop Mentioned in the Bible

  • Roman Spears

  • Tomb Chamber

  • John 21

  • First-Century Fishing Boat

  • Remains of a Galilean Fishing Boat

  • Fish of the Sea of Galilee

The items shown in the illustrations and 3-D video footage in the Media Gallery are based on extensive research. However, they are artists’ renditions and, at times, depict only one of several possibilities.

Oldest Known Fragment of the Christian Greek Scriptures

Oldest Known Fragment of the Christian Greek Scriptures

Shown here are the front and back of the Papyrus Rylands 457 (P52) fragment, a very early copy of a portion of John’s Gospel. Housed at the John Rylands University Library in Manchester, England, it was acquired in Egypt in 1920. It preserves a portion of Joh 18:31-33 on one side and a portion of Joh 18:37, 38 on the other. The presence of writing on both sides of the papyrus is clear evidence that it was part of a codex. The fragment measures 9 by 6 cm (3.5 by 2.4 in.). Many scholars consider it to be the oldest extant Greek manuscript of the Christian Greek Scriptures, dating it to sometime in the first half of the second century C.E. The Gospel of John was written about 98 C.E., so this copy was likely made just a few decades later. The text of this fragment agrees very closely with later more complete Greek manuscripts that form the basis for modern translations of the Christian Greek Scriptures.

© The University of Manchester. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Derivative work based on images: http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/whats-on/exhibitions/rylands-gallery/

Related Scripture(s)

Joh 18:31
John 1
John 2
John 3
John 4
John 5
John 6
John 9
John 10
John 11
John 12
John 15
John 18
John 19
John 21