Everybody knew what the nomina sacra were

[lclapshaw]

I think we can't imagine a world where handwriting was the only way to communicate information over distance and time.

Depends on your age. Travelling the world in the 70's involved sending and receiving handwritten letters through the "C/- post restaunt" in major cities.

So abbreviation became second nature. In our courts there developed shorthand. In our streets there is slant which in essence codifies messaging (a single word conveys a paragraph of explanation). Nomina sacra are like this. A codified method of abbreviation.

Standardisation of these abbreviations suggests an authority - and likely a centralised authority. What is the terminus ad quem for the physical appearance of these abbreviations? 3rd century?

It would seem to be late second or early third century. That is my understanding anyway.

[Leucius Charinus]

So abbreviation became second nature. In our courts there developed shorthand. In our streets there is slant which in essence codifies messaging (a single word conveys a paragraph of explanation). Nomina sacra are like this. A codified method of abbreviation.

Standardisation of these abbreviations suggests an authority - and likely a centralised authority. What is the terminus ad quem for the physical appearance of these abbreviations? 3rd century?

It would seem to be late second or early third century. That is my understanding anyway.

I don't know of any papyri fragments (or inscriptions) for which the date of the upper bound remains within the 2nd century. So if we considered an early 3rd century origin for the nomina sacra which Christian identities at that time were in a position of authority (likely a centralised authority)?

If we can believe Eusebius the Roman emperor Philip the Arab converted to Christianity in order to honour the millennial games of Rome. Philip the Arab would have been the P.M. -- a Roman abbreviation for Pontifex Maximus. The head honcho for all cults and religions and priesthoods in the Roman empire. Certainly a centralised and authoritative role capable of implementing a standardised abbreviation system for the ligatures to represent Jesus Christ in the books of the NT. Certainly from that time onwards (whether they existed before or not) everybody knew what the nomina sacra were

At roughly the same time, again if we can believe Eusebius, the Christian identity known as Ammonias, the teacher of the Christian Origen, was drawing up the Ammonian sections (canon tables) for the four gospels. If the above was the case then all these developments would have been passed into the Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima oversighted by Origen of Hexapla fame. All this stuff would have thus been transmitted to Eusebius. So that's one early 3rd century hypothesis for the origin of the ligatures.


Why didn't the "Fathers" mention the nomina sacra?

However the question has got to be asked why was the origin, meaning and de-encryption of the nomina sacra not mentioned somewhere or other by the early church fathers? It's obviously a central and fundamental feature of the NT literature --- both for the "proto-orthodoxy" and also for the "proto-heretics" and gnostics (if we can bring the Nag Hammadi codices into the picture). I don't buy an oral tradition for the nomina sacra.

The extant manuscripts for the "Fathers" are all medieval. My take at the moment is that the church fathers either could not get their story straight over the origin of the NS and/or that the earlier accounts of the origin of the NS were simply not preserved. Either they simply got lost or perished or, more likley IMO, the accounts of the origin of the NS were simply not preserved on purpose.

[lclapshaw]

So abbreviation became second nature. In our courts there developed shorthand. In our streets there is slant which in essence codifies messaging (a single word conveys a paragraph of explanation). Nomina sacra are like this. A codified method of abbreviation.

Standardisation of these abbreviations suggests an authority - and likely a centralised authority. What is the terminus ad quem for the physical appearance of these abbreviations? 3rd century?

It would seem to be late second or early third century. That is my understanding anyway.

I don't know of any papyri fragments (or inscriptions) for which the date of the upper bound remains within the 2nd century. So if we considered an early 3rd century origin for the nomina sacra which Christian identities at that time were in a position of authority (likely a centralised authority)?

If we can believe Eusebius the Roman emperor Philip the Arab converted to Christianity in order to honour the millennial games of Rome. Philip the Arab would have been the P.M. -- a Roman abbreviation for Pontifex Maximus. The head honcho for all cults and religions and priesthoods in the Roman empire. Certainly a centralised and authoritative role capable of implementing a standardised abbreviation system for the ligatures to represent Jesus Christ in the books of the NT. Certainly from that time onwards (whether they existed before or not) everybody knew what the nomina sacra were

At roughly the same time, again if we can believe Eusebius, the Christian identity known as Ammonias, the teacher of the Christian Origen, was drawing up the Ammonian sections (canon tables) for the four gospels. If the above was the case then all these developments would have been passed into the Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima oversighted by Origen of Hexapla fame. All this stuff would have thus been transmitted to Eusebius. So that's one early 3rd century hypothesis for the origin of the ligatures.


Why didn't the "Fathers" mention the nomina sacra?

However the question has got to be asked why was the origin, meaning and de-encryption of the nomina sacra not mentioned somewhere or other by the early church fathers? It's obviously a central and fundamental feature of the NT literature --- both for the "proto-orthodoxy" and also for the "proto-heretics" and gnostics (if we can bring the Nag Hammadi codices into the picture). I don't buy an oral tradition for the nomina sacra.

The extant manuscripts for the "Fathers" are all medieval. My take at the moment is that the church fathers either could not get their story straight over the origin of the NS and/or that the earlier accounts of the origin of the NS were simply not preserved. Either they simply got lost or perished or, more likley IMO, the accounts of the origin of the NS were simply not preserved on purpose.

Why need this so called centralised authority be Christian? Why not just simply be book publishers?

We know, just from the sheer volume, that these stories were popular with a certain segment of the population. We know that there was a thriving publishing industry. Plus, who better to implement a new technology like the codex?

Can you say "profit"? I knew you could.

[Leucius Charinus]

I don't know of any papyri fragments (or inscriptions) for which the date of the upper bound remains within the 2nd century. So if we considered an early 3rd century origin for the nomina sacra which Christian identities at that time were in a position of authority (likely a centralised authority)?

Why need this so called centralised authority be Christian? Why not just simply be book publishers?

I had not considered the possibility that the early Christian cult may have sub-contracted out their book publication prior to the 4th century. The Manichaeans didn't. Neither did the Sassanid Persians or the diasporic Jews. Neither did the academy of Plato. I accept that book publishes were part of the picture in the ancient world.

Are you suggesting such "early" publishers were responsible for the insertion of the nomina sacra? If not then we are still looking for an origin.

We know, just from the sheer volume, that these stories were popular with a certain segment of the population.

The sheer volume is not physically attested in the primary evidence until the 4th century at which time it explodes. We have dozens of 4th century codices. The "Fathers" would like to suggest that there were early Christian bishops -- and by association, their "early flocks" --- everywhere in the major cities of the empire and even outside it. But the archeologists have not found too much.

We know that there was a thriving publishing industry. Plus, who better to implement a new technology like the codex?

Can you say "profit"? I knew you could. ;)

Yes I can. But who profited the most from the authority and monopoly of the Christian Bible codices?

[lclapshaw]

I don't know of any papyri fragments (or inscriptions) for which the date of the upper bound remains within the 2nd century. So if we considered an early 3rd century origin for the nomina sacra which Christian identities at that time were in a position of authority (likely a centralised authority)?

Why need this so called centralised authority be Christian? Why not just simply be book publishers?

I had not considered the possibility that the early Christian cult may have sub-contracted out their book publication prior to the 4th century. The Manichaeans didn't. Neither did the Sassanid Persians or the diasporic Jews. Neither did the academy of Plato. I accept that book publishes were part of the picture in the ancient world.

Are you suggesting such "early" publishers were responsible for the insertion of the nomina sacra? If not then we are still looking for an origin.

We know, just from the sheer volume, that these stories were popular with a certain segment of the population.

The sheer volume is not physically attested in the primary evidence until the 4th century at which time it explodes. We have dozens of 4th century codices. The "Fathers" would like to suggest that there were early Christian bishops -- and by association, their "early flocks" --- everywhere in the major cities of the empire and even outside it. But the archeologists have not found too much.

We know that there was a thriving publishing industry. Plus, who better to implement a new technology like the codex?

Can you say "profit"? I knew you could.

Yes I can. But who profited the most from the authority and monopoly of the Christian Bible codices?

I think you're overthinking things again.

Early XCian literature is simply fiction. That's all.

[Leucius Charinus]

Early XCian literature is simply fiction. That's all.

Of course it's fiction. Mills and Boon make a fortune publishing fiction.

But the early XCian literature was originally produced in some scriptorium in antiquity by some literary team. I'd like to know the who and the when. And I'd like to know by whom and when the nomina sacra were invented.

Imagine if JRR Tolkien produced a book in which Bilbo Baggins was consistently presented as BB, Gandalf the Grey was consistently presented as GG and the resurrected Gandalf the White was consistently rendered as GW without any of the expanded names appearing in the book. Who would understand it? Who would bother reading it? Who would buy it?

[lclapshaw]

Early XCian literature is simply fiction. That's all.

Of course it's fiction. Mills and Boon make a fortune publishing fiction.

But the early XCian literature was originally produced in some scriptorium in antiquity by some literary team. I'd like to know the who and the when. And I'd like to know by whom and when the nomina sacra were invented

Yeah! Lukas and Sons Publishers and Booksellers. And their competition down the street, Paul, Marcion and CO.

They made a but load of money selling the equivalent of ancient Greek and Roman X-Men comics.

[Leucius Charinus]

So for your OP to be valid we have to logically assume that an underground (not necessarily secret) Christian education system was operative between the century of Christian origins (or the century when the ligatures were first commissioned if different) and the 6th/7th century during which time the early Christian teachers taught the early Christian students that "IS" = "Jesus" and that "XS" = "Christos". Do you agree with this?

As a result of the laborious collation of your "database" (especially the Latin and Greek inscriptions) I stand corrected on the late 6th/7th century chronology for the appearance of the full names of "IS" = "Jesus" and that "XS" = "Christos". These appear to explode into a statistical significance far earlier - during the 4th century with perhaps some outliers in the 3rd.

We could say that everyone knew what the nomina sacra were in the 4th century. It's obvious that imperial involvement hastened this acquisition of knowledge. But this still does not answer my main question concerning the "mystery" of their invention and origin. Nevertheless I am grateful to say that (via your database exercise) I have learnt something new and quite pivotal. Thanks.

[Peter Kirby]

Sure, no problem.

One relevant instance would be a first century graffito in Latin.

[Leucius Charinus]

Michael Avi-Yonah,
Abbreviations in Greek Inscriptions
Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine
(Jerusalem: Government of Palestine, 1940)

As reprinted in
Abbreviations in Greek Inscriptions
Al. N. Oikonomides
Professor of Classics
Loyola University
Chicargo. Illinois
ARES Publishing 1974

"The use of abbreviations is, on the whole, as foreign
to the Greeks as it is congenial to the Romans and Byzantines.”



p.27


As regards abbreviations in inscriptions, the following modifications of Traube's theory are necessary:

1. There is one instance (perhaps accidental?) of a nomen sacrum abbreviated in the Christian manner on a pagan inscription
of 207 "OW = OEW", W 2455

2. The earliest example of contracted nomina sacra on inscriptions are the Dura-Europos graffiti in the chapel, dated A.D. 232-3 (EDE 1931/2, p.241). These have no mark over them. Such unmarked nomina sacra continue to crop up in the course of centuries, but they probably represent little more than individual freaks; it seems, however, probable that the system as described by Traube was not adopted for inscriptions before the 4th century.

3. There are some nomina sacra where the horizontal stroke does not extend over the whole word ...[5 instances]; on the other hand a stroke of this kind over whole words is employed in many cases with words outside the fifteen sacred names: .... [20 instances].

AΓN .... αγνός (agnós) 1.pure, chaste, innocent, undiluted
AMN .... ἀμήν (Amen) verily, truly, amen, so let it be
AN ..... Αντωνία (Antonia or Andonia) ????
Aπε .... λεύθερος (eleutheros) free, delivered from obligation
ΔεYT .. δευτερεύων (defterévon) secondary, subsidiary [genitive]
ΔNM .... δῠ́νᾰμῐς (dúnamis) 1.power, might, strength; 2.ability, skill; 3.power, authority, influence; 4.force of war
ΔΞC .... δόξα (dóxa) 1.glory, kudos, fame; 2.pride; 4.halo (on religious paintings)
εKΛH ... εκκλησία (ekklisía) .church (religious organisation) prev "assembly"
εN ..... δικτιών from δίκτυον ‎(díktuon, “fishing net”‎)???????
εPε .... ερεννιος (Ερέννιος ????)
IENΔ ... ΙΕΝΔ(ικτίων) .......................???????
KO ..... κυρίῳ (kyriō) Lord [Strongs 2962]
MAP .... Μάρκος (Márkos) 1.A male given name: Mark (before c.103 CE)
Nε ..... νεώτερος (neōteros) "younger; the younger"
NON .... νᾱός (nāós) temple >> ???
OYεP ... Ογερ(ος) ........................ ???????
πo ..... (πo)πλιος ................. Πόπλῐος (Póplios) Name - Publius
CYMB ... CYMB(ιος) ...... Σψμβιος ????
XWN .... χωρίον, ου, τό (chórion) a place, piece of land, field [Strongs 5564]

4. The words ..???.. and ..???... are listed by Traube but not found in inscriptions; on the other hand the following four words are abbreviated in the same manner and should be included in the list of nomina sacra, both in regards their contents and the way in which they are abbreviated:


___
ΘKE ................ Θεοτόκε Theotokos https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%86%C ... 82Θεοτόκος Greek pronunciation: [θeoˈtokos][1]) is a title of Mary, mother of God, used especially in Eastern Christianity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos

___
IWY ................ Ιωάννης (Ioannis) John

_____
ΠTANTWP ............ παντο-κράτωρ Pantocrator (almighty, of Hermes, Epigr.Gr.815 (Cret.); “Κύριος” LXX 2 Ki.5.10, al.)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/tex ... ntokra/twr

______
φIλλNOC ............ φιλάνθρωπος (adj. filánthropos) m (feminine φιλάνθρωπη, neuter φιλάνθρωπο)
1.(of a person) charitable; 2.(Christianity) showing love of fellow human beings; 3.(as a noun) philanthropist
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CF%86%C ... E%BF%CF%82

5. Syria and not Egypt is the country where nomnina sacra were adopted for use in inscriptions. Of the earliest 57 inscriptions in which such abbreviations are used, 21 come from Syria, 10 from Asia Minor, and 14 from Egypt; of the latter not one is earlier than the 6th century.


NOTES:

(1) My formatting

(2) I had no electronic / digital source. My source for all the above was the 1974 publication by Al. N. Oikonomides. As a result I had to type this stuff out. As I am not proficient in Greek I had to painstakingly try and look the Greek words up in dictionaries and concordances. As a result there may be some errors or omissions (marked ???)

I will add here a separate section of the book related to abbreviations in general

p.11

The main categories of words commonly abbreviated
(by the Romans and Byzantines) are:


(1) Proper Names:

(a) of individuals: some greek and almost all Roman praenomina, names of Old and New Testament personages and saints, common Christian names.
(b) Collective: names of provinces, districts, towns, town-quarters, demotic names, names of phylai and Roman tribes, names of subdivision of synoecized towns.


(2) Administrative Terms:

(a) of individuals: titles of office, Roman, Late Roman and Byzantine, especially the imperial protocol; Late Roman and Byzantine honorific appellations of the various classes of officials, usually in superlative; provincial, municipal, and village functionaries; functionaries connected with local institutions, such as the prytanis.
(b) Collective: collective appellations of capital towns, towns, townlets, head villages and villages; generic appellations of town districts, town boundaries, etc; corporative municipal institutions, the assembly, the council; appellations of their resolutions.


(3) Military Terms:

(a) Individual: title of soldiers, lower and higher officers, commanders of irregular corps of auxiliaries.


(4) Commerce: Money in general, Greek and Roman denominations, weights and measures (of length and cubic), special signs used in the nilometers and in cadasters, names of goods, names of trades and professions, especially those of artisans.


(5) Religion:

(A) Pagan: names of gods, sacred functions and feasts, titles of priests, expressions of adoration and worship.
(B) Christian
(a) Individual: all degrees of secular and regular clergy, church servants and assistants, with their proper honorific appellations.
(b) Collective: religious bodies and institutions, churches and monasteries.
(c) Expressions relating to the Deity, divine attributes, the persons of the Trinity and the Virgin Mary, titles of saints, prophets and maryrs, phrases taken from prayers and liturgical formulae, terms refering to the Church and the Christian way of life and feelings.


(6) Funerary: expressions relating to the deceased, the fact of his decease, the length of his life; consoling words and phrases addressed to him; appreciations; terms refering to the tomb and burial.


(7) Dedicatory: expressions refering to the building; the act of building in general as refering to the building or the builder; special terms deonting the laying of the foundations or the completion of the structure; description of the architect, the founder or the construction; stock phrases used in dedication or on the lintel of churches or houses, especially the formula of Ps. cxxi. 8.


(8) General and various:

(a) Dating: terms connected with dating, general expressions for the divisions of time, names of days, months (Macedonian, Roman, Egyptian, and Attic), eras and other indications of period (eponymic regions, consulates or archonships, eras of provinces and towns, of Diocletian, era of indiction)
(b) Family relations and legal relations;
(c) common grammatical terms, pronouns personal and relative, conjuctions and prepositions;
(d) special technical terms relating to gladiators (...) their classes and prizes.


Michael Avi-Yonah,
Abbreviations in Greek Inscriptions
Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine
(Jerusalem: Government of Palestine, 1940)

As reprinted in
Abbreviations in Greek Inscriptions
Al. N. Oikonomides
Professor of Classics
Loyola University
Chicargo. Illinois
ARES Publishing 1974