from both locations show the development of a Christian iconog-
raphy that owes much to both Jewish and pagan precursors. For
example, depictions of the Magi adoring the infant Jesus show
them wearing Phrygian caps (conical hats of which the point has
fallen forward towards the brow): this was the typical icono-
graphic device for indicating easterners and thus was deemed
appropriate for the portrayal of wise men from the east.
From the third century also we have our earliest Christian
inscriptions. Many come from burial contexts, such as sarcophagi
and the plaques placed over burial places in catacombs. Some
carry dates (in the form of the names of a year’s consuls), which
allow them to be dated from the early third century onwards. Many
of these early inscriptions come from Rome, but there are also
many of third-century date from the upper valley of the river
Tembris in Asia Minor. A number of these bear the formula
‘Christians for the Christians’ (Chreistianoi Chreistianois, in
Greek): such a blatant statement suggests that the people who
commissioned these inscriptions were far from reluctant to state
their Christian identity openly (Snyder 1985: 133–40; Mitchell
1993: II, 37–43).
Finally, we possess numerous papyri from Egypt that are
revealing of different aspects of early Christian life. There are many
examples of biblical texts in Greek from both the Old and New
Testaments. Some are mere fragments, but there are also portions
of a number of codices – that is, from bound volumes like
modern books; ancient books were generally in the form of scrolls.
Some of these codices were quite substantial: one comprises
some eighty-six leaves containing ten of Paul’s letters (Metzger
1992: 37–8). These documents provide important information
on the earliest forms of New Testament texts in circulation, and
some date as early as the second century. There are numerous
papyri also of non-canonical scriptures, of which the most impor-
tant are the thirteen codices preserving Coptic translations of
Greek apocrypha found at Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt in
1945 (see chapter 5’s case study). In addition to scriptures, the
papyri preserve important documentary evidence for the studySOURCES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
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