Jesus said to them, 'My wife ...'

The following excerpt and photograph are from an article that appeared in The New York Times. This and much else will be covered in Michael Haag's forthcoming book, The Quest for Mary Magdalene.

'Jesus said to them, "My wife ..."'

September 18, 2012

A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus’ Wife

By Laurie Goodstein

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’ ”

The faded papyrus fragment is smaller than a business card, with eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass. Just below the line about Jesus having a wife, the papyrus includes a second provocative clause that purportedly says, “she will be able to be my disciple.”

The finding was made public in Rome on Tuesday at the International Congress of Coptic Studies by Karen L. King, a historian who has published several books about new Gospel discoveries and is the first woman to hold the nation’s oldest endowed chair, the Hollis professor of divinity.
 

The Tragedy of the Templars

The final cover for The Tragedy of the Templars

The Tragedy of the Templars

The Rise and Fall of the Crusader States

The Tragedy of the Templars is going to press next week and will be published on 1 November 2012.  The final cover artwork is shown above. 

The entire cover artwork, including front, back and flaps

Lawrence Durrell's Mother-in-Law

Lawrence Durrell's mother-in-law Claire Vincendon.

Lawrence Durrell's third wife was Claude Vincendon.  Claude was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1925; her mother Claire Vincendon is mentioned in the post of 7 June 2012, Nudism in Alexandria.  Claire enjoyed performing in theatrical entertainments and often designed the costumes and illustrated the programmes. These images are from Alex Cendrillon, a 1934 review which raised funds for Amélé Torah, a Jewish charity in the city.

Claire was involved in Alex Cendrillon, that is the story of Cinderella in Alexandria, presented in the city in April 1934.

Max Bally was the compère of Alex Cendrillon and Claire Vincendon was commère.  Here they are dressed for their roles in a Spanish number.

This backdrop shows the old Ottoman fort atop Kom el Dik, garrisoned by the British, and on the left Pastroudis, a café frequently mentioned in Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet.   

Women of Alexandria playing the roles of the city's goddesses.