Roman Tabulae, Egyptian Christians, and the Adoption of the Codex

Abstract

The modern book has its origins in the ancient papyrus codex, and the genesis of this codex in a world of scrolls has long been the subject of keen interest and controversy. The appearance of the papyrus codex is very strongly located in time (first-second century AD), in place (Roman Egypt), and among a specific group of people (Christians); it is here argued that this development is the result of a conscious choice of Christian scribes, who most likely took, as the direct prototype for their papyrus codex, Roman legal documents written on wood tabulae. Religious attitudes – towards their own traditions and the role they imagined for texts – as well as their sensitivity towards implications of medium and format encouraged these scribes to look for a prestigious and authoritative form that could preserve and convey authoritative versions of sayings and stories of the authoritative master; historical circumstances – especially involving the Jewish War of 115–117 AD – encouraged a search for models not associated with Greek or Jewish practices. Religious and historical issues were therefore most important in driving this technological change.