Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

Mr. Spock and Qumran

Posted on September 19, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Stephen Goranson for drawing my attention to an episode of the television show “In Search of…” that aired on 9 February 1978. The topic of this episode, narrated by Leonard Nimoy, was the Dead Sea Scrolls. The content … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Sea Scrolls | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Two Unheralded Excavators of Cave 1 at Qumran: Ibrahim Asuli and Mohamed Mustafa

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In spare moments, I continue to work on the manuscripts generally associated with Cave 1 at Qumran. I’ve become very interested in the photographs of the excavations of Cave 1. Both Gerald Lankester Harding and Ovid R. Sellers took pictures … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Sea Scrolls | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A New Radiocarbon Calibration Curve and Early Christian Manuscripts

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

I gave a talk on early Coptic books a few weeks ago in which I mentioned the results of some radiocarbon analyses of Coptic codices. Now I learn that some of what I said is already out of date! A … Continue reading →

Posted in Glazier Codex, Radiocarbon analysis | 7 Comments

A New Home for the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife?

Posted on August 11, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Read down to the end of the story to learn where the “Jesus Wife” fragment is now: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/08/ariel-sabar-what-happened-to-the-gospel-of-jesus-wife/615160/

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Ariel Sabar’s Veritas: Some First Reactions

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Doubleday for sending along an advanced copy of Ariel Sabar’s new book, Veritas. I really didn’t know what to expect with this book. Sabar’s detailed article on the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” in The Atlantic in 2016 … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Fakes and Forgeries | 12 Comments

Upcoming Talk on Coptic Books

Posted on August 4, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

For those who might be interested, I will be giving a lecture on early Coptic books on 6 August at 6 pm (Berlin time).

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Trever’s Photos of the Cave 1 Scrolls Freely Available Online

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

[[Update 22 July 2024: I see that this book is among the many that have ceased to be available on archive.org since the decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive court case.]] I’ve written before on this blog about the dispersion … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Sea Scrolls | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Qumran Cave 1 Questions, Part 6: 1QSa and 1QSb

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

As I continue to work through the Cave 1 scrolls to try to sort out the purchases from the excavated materials, I spent some time today with the lists of photographs in Tov and Pfann, Companion Volume to the Dead … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Khalil Eskander Shahin (Kando) | Tagged | 10 Comments

The Capitoline Sappho

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In the wake of the controversy over the “Newest Sappho” papyrus in the last few years , I’ve read more about the Greek poetess Sappho than I ever thought I would. In doing so, I realized that I have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Fakes and Forgeries, Inscriptions, P.Sapph. Obbink, Sculpture | 4 Comments

Qumran Cave 1 Questions, Part 5: The Strange Case of 1Q5 Fragment 13

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

1Q5 is a collection of dozens of fragments reassembled into 20 or so more substantial fragments representing one of two copies of the book of Deuteronomy associated with Cave 1 (1QDeutb). The fragments of 1Q5 were edited in DJD 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Archaeological context, Dead Sea Scrolls, Khalil Eskander Shahin (Kando) | Tagged , , | 3 Comments