On the newly discovered fragment of a childhood story of Jesus from the Infancy Gospel of Thomas 2
Greek papyrus fragment P.Hamb.Graec. 1011 On the newly discovered fragment of a childhood story of Jesus. The Greek papyrus fragment P.Hamb.Graec. 1011 in the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library was recently identified as the earliest manuscript fragment of the well-known Infancy Gospel of Thomas , containing a part of the famous second chapter where the child Jesus is said to turn twelve clay sparrows he had made into living ones with a word. An allusion to the story also appears in the Quran's Surah 3:49: "He will say: “I bring you a sign from your Lord. From clay I will create for you the likeness of a bird. I shall breathe into it and, by God’s leave, it shall become a living bird."* The discovery is important because it appears to be the earliest Greek fragment of the work. U ntil now the earliest manuscript that existed for the work in Greek dated to the 11the century ( Cod. Sabaiticus 259). The fragment also provides further support for th...
