Papyrus P98 of Revelation
P98, P.IFAO inv. 237b, is a reused papyrus sheet preserving Revelation 1:13-2:1 in Greek; its early handwriting, corrected transcription, roll-like material context, and tiny extent make it important but resistant to sensational precision.
- Artifact date
- Possible second century AD
- Findspot
- Egypt; now Cairo
What archaeologists can actually examine
Papyrus P98, Gregory-Aland P98 and P.IFAO inv. 237b, preserves fragments of Revelation 1:13-2:1 in Greek at the Institut français d'archéologie orientale in Cairo. Nineteen lines survive in one column on the back of a papyrus whose other side carries a documentary text. The biblical writing was recognized by Dieter Hagedorn in 1992 after the piece had been published in 1971 without identification as Revelation. Peter Malik's 2016 re-edition corrected readings and recovered two previously undeciphered lines. The manuscript is often assigned to the second century, but an early-third-century possibility and the imprecision of handwriting dates should remain visible.
Revelation on a reused sheet
The biblical text was copied on the reverse of an earlier documentary roll, unlike the codex leaves common among early Christian papyri.
Recognition came after publication
The papyrus was published in 1971 but identified as Revelation only in 1992, showing how catalogued fragments can acquire new significance.
Re-edition recovered more text
Direct re-examination in 2016 corrected the transcription and deciphered two additional lines extending into Revelation 2:1.
Early does not mean exactly dated
A second-century assignment is plausible, while an early-third-century date and normal palaeographic uncertainty remain part of the scholarly discussion.
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 papyrus's archaeological findspot and acquisition circumstances are not securely documented in the available catalogues beyond an Egyptian provenance and current IFAO custody. Georges Wagner published the piece in P.IFAO II in 1971 based on the documentary side and did not recognize its biblical content. Hagedorn identified the reverse as Revelation 1:13-20 in 1992, transforming an already catalogued scrap into an early New Testament witness. Malik later re-examined the original, produced color imaging, expanded the deciphered text through Revelation 2:1, and assessed its textual behavior. This modern sequence shows why identification and edition can change without any new artifact being excavated.
What you are looking at
The fragment measures roughly fifteen by sixteen centimeters and is badly damaged. The Revelation text occupies one side in a large, practiced Greek hand, one column of nineteen lines. The other side contains an earlier documentary text, indicating reuse of a sheet from a roll rather than a surviving leaf from a conventional Christian codex. A conspicuous doubled letter sequence in the opening line illustrates ordinary scribal error. Nomina sacra and reconstructed readings require attention at letter level. Because edges and much wording are lost, printed transcriptions combine visible traces, uncertain letters, and restorations; readers should not mistake a continuous modern Bible quotation for what remains physically on papyrus.
Where it belongs in history
CSNTM calls P98 a possible second-century manuscript. Hagedorn allowed a range extending toward the early third century, and palaeographic comparison cannot produce a calendar year. The documentary writing on the other side is commonly assigned to the late first or early second century, providing a relative sequence but not an automatic date for the reused side. Revelation has fewer very early papyrus witnesses than the Gospels or Paul, which heightens P98's importance. Its use of available papyrus may reflect economy or convenience, but one reused sheet cannot identify a congregation, professional scriptorium, or reading setting.
Consensus, questions, and debate
The secure points are IFAO 237b, Revelation 1:13-2:1, Greek papyrus, a reused roll sheet, and a broad early date. The major editorial development is Malik's 2016 re-edition, which improved Hagedorn's transcription and analyzed the manuscript's textual quality rather than merely repeating its status as the earliest Revelation witness. Dating remains debated within a second- to early-third-century horizon. Some popular treatments infer a very narrow date from the earlier documentary side, but reuse only provides relative order. The fragment's few variants are valuable, yet such a short sample cannot define the form of Revelation used by an entire region or community.
The biblical record beside the artifact
Revelation 1:13-20 presents one like a son of man among lampstands, clothed with a long garment and golden sash, followed by the seer's fear and the figure's declaration concerning death and Hades. Revelation 2:1 begins the message to the assembly at Ephesus. P98 preserves broken Greek lines from this transition, making it an early material witness to the vision and first church message. It does not preserve the entire opening, the identification of John, or the rest of the seven messages. Variants and scribal slips illuminate transmission but do not by themselves resolve the vision's theology, authorship, or historical setting.
Revelation 1:13–20
13And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;
15And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.
17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
18I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
19Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
20The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
A responsible historical conclusion
P98 makes the early circulation of Revelation tangible through a modest reused object rather than an imperial luxury codex. A scribe copied the exalted vision of Christ onto the available back of an earlier document, and enough survived for modern scholars to recognize it almost two millennia later. The fragment extends the manuscript record of Revelation into a period with little surviving evidence and allows direct comparison of particular words and errors. Its rediscovery also demonstrates textual criticism as a revisable discipline: better examination and imaging recovered more lines and corrected earlier readings without pretending the damaged papyrus had become complete.
Authoritative sources
Institutional catalogs, excavation reports, and academic publications let you examine the evidence beyond this summary.
Manuscript P98
Center for the Study of New Testament ManuscriptsProvides current location, IFAO shelfmark, possible second-century date, material, layout, image, and Revelation identification.
New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room: P98
Institute for New Testament Textual Research, University of MünsterSupplies the official Gregory-Aland manuscript identity and current textual-critical workspace.
Another Look at P.IFAO II 31 (P98): An Updated Transcription and Textual Analysis
Novum Testamentum / BrillProvides the modern re-edition, corrections to Hagedorn, two newly deciphered lines, color examination, and textual assessment.
P.IFAO II 31: Johannesapokalypse 1,13-20
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und EpigraphikDocuments Hagedorn's 1992 recognition of the previously published papyrus as Revelation and the foundational transcription and dating discussion.