Archaeologists have found a fragment of papyrus used to make a mask for Roman-era Egyptian mummy that may contain the oldest copy of a New Testament Gospel known to exist. The ancient papyrus fragment contains a text, ostensibly written prior to the year 90 AD, from the Gospel of Mark. This dates this specific papyrus at an earlier time than the oldest surviving copies of Gospel, which date to the second century.

Commoners during that era usually could only afford mummy masks made from linen or papyrus, in contrast to ancient Egyptian nobility, who could afford funerary masks of gold. Sometimes recycled papyrus was used for the masks, as the material was expensive.

Nova Scotia scientists from Acadia Divinity College (ADC) are studying the mummy masks by using a spcial technique that removes glue from the masks without harming the ink on the papyrus. They have already discovered hundreds of new texts using this method, including copies of Homeric stories.

“We have every reason to believe that the original writings and their earliest copies would have been in circulation for a hundred years in most cases — in some cases much longer, even 200 years,” Evans said.”A scribe making a copy of a script in the third century could actually have at his disposal first-century originals, or first-century copies, as well as second-century copies.”

Critics, however, disagree the practice of dismantling mummy masks to access these texts and also question the authenticity of the findings.