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Author Archives: Brent Nongbri
A Book of Psalms and a Missing Page Number
As part of the EthiCodex project, our team has been revisiting the often fragmentary remains of early codices. Thankfully, many collections have made digital images of their materials widely available. But sometimes it is also necessary to see things in … Continue reading
Posted in Antiquities Market, Bernard Grenfell, Codices, Codicology, Michigan Papyri
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The Helgö Buddha
The news of the excavation of a small statue of the Buddha in Egypt is very exciting. But at least one of the claims about this statue doesn’t seem quite right. I have in mind this statement in The Smithsonian: … Continue reading
Posted in Archaeological context, Buddha
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Ancient Jewish Fish Sauce?
When I visit museums, I always keep an eye out for ancient Jewish and Christian artifacts. I recently (may have) encountered one that I had overlooked on previous visits to the British Museum. The museum holds a coarse ware jar … Continue reading
Posted in British Museum, Judaism
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Radiocarbon Analysis of Papyrus and Parchment Manuscripts: A List
It occurs to me that it would be useful to have (as complete as possible) a list of papyrus and parchment manuscripts that have been subjected to radiocarbon analysis. I have tried to arrange this list chronologically by the date … Continue reading
Buying Papyrus in Roman Antiquity
I recently came across the reference in Theodor Birt that reminded me of an old problem. After a description of the production of papyrus sheets, Birt states that “the resulting sheets were sold individually (Die so entstandenen Blätter kamen einzeln … Continue reading
Posted in Ancient letters, Book Trade in Antiquity, Codices
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More Digital Images of Papyri at the Bodleian Online
A couple years ago, I noted that the Bodleian Library at Oxford had put digital images of several early Christian manuscripts online. Now they have uploaded images of many more manuscripts, and there are several old favorites among them. The … Continue reading
Inks, Imaging, and EthiCodex
Over the last several years, one of the big changes in the study of ancient manuscripts has been an increased interest in thinking about the materials that go into the production of ancient books. In the case of early codices, … Continue reading
Posted in Imaging, Ink
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A Cursed Figurine
I had the opportunity recently to revisit an interesting artifact at the Louvre. It is a small nude female figurine with hands and feet bound, pierced through with thirteen pins. According to the Louvre website, the figurine was bought in … Continue reading
Posted in Antiquities Market, Magic
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First Fragments at the Chester Beatty
A great new exhibition has just opened at the Chester Beatty Library (or, as the institution now calls itself “The Chester Beatty“) in Dublin. It’s called “First Fragments: Biblical Papyrus from Roman Egypt.” It opened on 28 October and runs … Continue reading
Posted in Book binding, Chester Beatty Papyri, Codices
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Tyrrell and Purser’s Editions of Cicero’s Letters
I sometimes need to check the extensive notes in the old edition of Cicero’s letters by Tyrrell and Purser: Robert Yelverton Tyrrell and Louis Claude Purser, The Correspondence of M. Tullius Cicero, Arranged According to its Chronological Order; with a … Continue reading
Posted in Cicero
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Variant Readings 