The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri or simply the Chester Beatty Papyri are a group of early papyrus manuscripts of biblical texts. The manuscripts are in Greek and are of Christian origin. There are eleven manuscripts in the group, seven consisting of portions of Old Testament books, three consisting of portions of the New Testament, and one consisting of portions of the Book of Enoch and an unidentified Christian homily. Most are dated to the 3rd century CE. They are housed in part at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, Ireland, and in part at the University of Michigan, among a few other locations.
P. Chester Beatty I, (𝔓45) folio 13–14, containing portion of the Gospel of Luke
Fragments of P. Chester Beatty VI showing portions of Deuteronomy
P. Chester Beatty XII, folio 3, verso, currently housed at the University of Michigan
A folio from 𝔓46 containing 2 Corinthians 11:33-12:9
Papyrus is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge. Papyrus can also refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book.
Papyrus (P. BM EA 10591 recto column IX, beginning of lines 13–17)
An official letter on a papyrus of the 3rd century BCE
A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus
Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century AD
