The Acts of Peter and the Twelve is one of the texts from the New Testament apocrypha which was found in the Nag Hammadi collection. In the process of determining the Biblical canon, a large number of works were excluded from the New Testament. ... Nag Hammâdi is a village in the middle of Egypt, called Chenoboskion in classical antiquity, about 225 kilometres north-west of Aswan with some 30. ...

The text contains two parts, an initial allegory, and a subsequent gnostic exposition of its meaning. The allegory is thought to have been originally a work in its own right, and to have dated in that form from around the 2nd century. Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge) that only a few possess. ...

The allegory describes the tale, similar to one outlined in the Gospel of Matthew, of a pearl merchant who is selling a pearl at a great price (note -- this text is not to be confused with the Mormon scripture The Pearl of Great Price). The merchant is shunned by the rich but the poor attend him in droves, and learn that the pearl is kept at the home city of the merchant, "Nine Gates", rather than being carried on him. As such those who desire it must treck the arduous journey to Nine Gates. The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four Gospels of the New Testament. ... The term Mormon is a colloquial name referring to Latter Day Saints, derived in the 1830s from the Book of Mormon, one of their scriptures, whose purported Native American author was named Mormon. ... The Pearl of Great Price refers to a parable told by Jesus in explaining the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. ...

The name of the merchant is Lithargoel, which the text translates as being "lightweight, glistening stone", i.e. the merchant himself is the "pearl". Ultimately the merchant reveals himself to be Jesus. This 11th-century portrait is one of many images of Jesus in which a halo with a cross is used. ...