Papyrus P43: Revelation 2:12–13 in a Greek Witness
British Library Papyrus 2241, designated P43, is a sixth- or seventh-century scrap from Wadi Sarga bearing Revelation 2:12–13 on one face and 15:8–16:2 in a different hand and orientation on the other.
- Artifact date
- 6th–7th Century
- Findspot
- Egypt; exact ancient findspot is not stated in the consulted manuscript catalogs
- Current location
- London, British Library, Inv. Nr. 2241
What archaeologists can actually examine
P43 is a very small papyrus fragment, about 3.7 by 7.3 centimeters, with Revelation 2:12–13 on one face and Revelation 15:8–16:2 on the other. Only four or five partial lines survive per face. The two nonconsecutive passages are written in different hands and opposite orientations, making the object's form unusually important. It may be a remnant of a selective codex, a reused sheet, a roll or another excerpting format; the fragment does not settle the matter. Recovered at Wadi Sarga and now British Library Papyrus 2241, it securely witnesses late-antique copying of passages addressed to Pergamum and describing the bowls of wrath, while leaving the original manuscript's function debated.
Two distant Revelation passages
One face preserves Revelation 2:12–13; the other preserves Revelation 15:8–16:2 rather than the next page of a continuous sequence.
Different hands and orientations
The reverse text is written by a different hand and turned relative to the first, keeping format and reuse open questions.
A controlled recovery site
The Byzantine Research Account excavated the fragment at Wadi Sarga in 1913–1914, unlike papyri known only through the antiquities market.
Function cannot be named securely
A selective codex is one scholarly proposal, but reuse, a roll, or another excerpting format cannot be excluded from the tiny remnant.
Follow the evidence from discovery to debate
Move through the find in a deliberate order: establish its provenance, examine the surviving object, place it in time, and then weigh the scholarly interpretation.
How the find came to light
The Byzantine Research Account excavated Wadi Sarga in Middle Egypt in 1913–1914, recovering texts from a late-antique monastic settlement. W. E. Crum and H. I. Bell published the papyri in the 1922 excavation volume Wadi Sarga, including the fragment now designated P43. Unlike many market papyri, the recovery location is therefore known. The archaeological context associates the object with the site's documentary and literary remains, although the fragment's exact room, discard event, and earlier ownership do not by themselves reconstruct its use. It entered the British Museum and subsequently the British Library papyrus collection as Papyrus 2241. The excavation publication remains essential because later New Testament catalogs compress an object whose two sides raise larger codicological questions.
What you are looking at
The remnant is only 3.7 by 7.3 centimeters. One face has approximately four lines of Revelation 2:12–13; the reverse has about five lines from Revelation 15:8–16:2. The second text runs in a different direction and hand. These facts make a normal continuous Revelation codex leaf difficult to assume: chapters 2 and 15 are far apart, and their physical orientations do not behave like ordinary recto-verso continuation. Early and later editors have considered a roll, reused material, loose excerpt, or a codex of selections. Damage is severe enough that every reconstruction should distinguish visible letters from supplied context. The fragment nevertheless preserves recognizable phrases, including the address to the church where 'Satan's seat' is located and the transition from the heavenly temple to the command to pour the bowls.
Where it belongs in history
The accepted sixth- to seventh-century date rests on palaeographic comparison. There is no colophon or documentary date written on the fragment. Wadi Sarga flourished as a Christian monastic center in late antiquity, offering a credible setting for scriptural reading and excerpting, but site association does not prove that a monk copied this particular piece there. Its two hands could reflect reuse at different times or coordinated copying by different scribes. The tiny size frustrates narrow dating and functional diagnosis. A broad sixth/seventh-century assignment is therefore more defensible than an exact year or reign. The manuscript belongs to a period when Revelation was copied, cited, and selected despite varied regional histories of reception.
Consensus, questions, and debate
Consensus covers the Greek language, British Library shelfmark, Wadi Sarga provenance, two Revelation ranges, different hands, and sixth/seventh-century date. The main dispute is format. J. M. Hedley proposed a leaf from a codex of selections, while the original physical description and later discussion leave open reuse or another format. Because the second passage is inverted relative to the first, calling P43 simply a Revelation codex fragment overstates what survives. Textual comparison is also limited: nine damaged lines across nonconsecutive passages cannot support a robust text-type label. Its readings belong in critical apparatuses, but codicology is at least as important as wording. The object may illuminate how scripture was excerpted in a monastic environment, yet the evidence cannot identify a lectionary cycle, private anthology, amulet, or liturgical script.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Revelation 2:12–13 addresses the church in Pergamum through the one with the sharp two-edged sword, commending believers who hold Christ's name even where Satan's throne is said to be and where Antipas was killed. Revelation 15:8–16:2 shifts to the smoke-filled heavenly temple and the command to seven angels to pour the bowls of God's wrath upon the earth. P43 materially joins these distant scenes on opposite faces of one surviving scrap, though not as continuous text. That pairing may reflect selection or reuse rather than an interpretive link intended by a single copyist. The artifact attests transmission of the verses; it does not locate 'Satan's throne' archaeologically or verify Antipas's death or the apocalyptic vision.
Revelation 2:12–13
12And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
13I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan’s seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
A responsible historical conclusion
P43 demonstrates that even a tiny scrap can preserve several layers of Christian book practice. The words of Revelation are identifiable, the excavation setting is unusually strong, and the hands and orientation reveal that scripture could be selected or reused rather than copied only in full canonical volumes. The artifact places both an address to an embattled church and a climactic judgment scene in late-antique Egyptian material culture. It also teaches restraint: the two sides do not automatically constitute one continuous book, and a secure site does not reveal a secure function. P43 matters as evidence of Revelation's reception and manuscript ecology, not as a miniature archaeological proof of Pergamum or eschatological events.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Manuscript P43
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsConfirms material, date, British Library shelfmark, fragment and line counts, and the two Revelation ranges.
Wadi Sarga: Coptic and Greek Texts from the Excavations Undertaken by the Byzantine Research Account
University of Toronto Library / Internet ArchiveSupplies the archaeological and publication context for the Wadi Sarga papyri and the original object-based description.
Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments
De GruyterProvides standard identity, contents by face, date, dimensions, line counts, and shelfmark.