MARSANES (NHC X, 1)

A Sethian Gnostic revelatory work written by, or in the name of, the Gnostic prophet Marsanes. Very poorly preserved, it is the only tractate in the codex, which is extremely fragmentary. The title is partially preserved on a fragment from the last page.

Marsanes recounts an ascent to heaven and visions seen along the way. Heavily influenced by second- and third-century Platonism, Marsanes may have been one of the Gnostic “apocalypses” read in Plotinus’ school in Rome in the mid-third century (VP 16). Extant only in Coptic, it was originally composed in Greek, probably in the third century, either in Syria or in Egypt.

GAWDAT GABRA