Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

A Model of Nag Hammadi Codex III (and Some Thoughts on Large Single-quire Codices)

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

After I started out by making a model of Nag Hammadi Codex VI, the second Nag Hammadi book that I tried to make was Codex III. Like Codex VI, Codex III is made up of a single papyrus quire, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Nag Hammadi | 11 Comments

The Odyssey at Olympia?

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

An interesting news report is circulating about the discovery at Olympia of an incised clay tablet containing lines from Homer’s Odyssey. The ultimate source of the story seems to be a press release from the Greek Ministry of Culture and … Continue reading →

Posted in Inscriptions | 1 Comment

A Model of Nag Hammadi Codex VI

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

As I was writing my book on early Christian manuscripts, one of the most helpful things I did was take up the construction of models of ancient codices. Going through the process of assembling a codex really forced me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Nag Hammadi | 6 Comments

Addenda to the Palatine Alexamenos Graffito

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I posted several days ago about a recent visit to the Palatine during which I was able to see the new display of the famous Alexamenos graffito and the newly opened paedagogium in which the graffito was originally found. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Graffiti | 1 Comment

A Marble Relief of a Priest of Cybele

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

It’s always a pleasant surprise to visit a familiar museum and find a “new” piece. It happened to me the other day at the Capitoline Museum. Earlier this year, there was an exhibition on Johann Joachim Winckelmann (actually, it was mainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Find Stories, Sculpture | 4 Comments

The Palatine Alexamenos Graffito

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

Just about every introductory book on early Christianity will have an image, usually a drawing or a significantly enhanced photograph, of the famous “Alexamenos graffito,” a depiction of a man worshipping a crucified figure with the head of a donkey. … Continue reading →

Posted in Graffiti | 10 Comments

More on Oxyrhynchus, the Robinson Papyri, and the Museum of the Bible

Posted on June 23, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

At Hyperallergic, Michael Press has written up a very interesting piece on some of the various projects that receive financial support from the Museum of the Bible as revealed through tax documents. The whole article is worth reading. Of specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Duke Papyri, Green Collection, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | 9 Comments

Another Book Biography: The Berlin Akhmimic Proverbs Codex

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In my last post on the use of waste papyrus in covers of ancient codices, I made reference to the Berlin Coptic Proverbs codex (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. oct. 987, LDAB 107968). This reminded me that I had intended for … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin Coptic Proverbs Codex, Book binding, Book covers, Carl Schmidt, Codices | 9 Comments

1 Samuel and the Green Collection’s “Cartonnage”

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Matthew Hamilton for pointing out that the Green Collection papyrus containing 1 Samuel was described in the catalog accompanying the “Passages” exhibition in 2012. Matthew states that in the catalog, “the papyrus is noted as having 9 chapters … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Book covers, Codices, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel, Scott Carroll | 14 Comments

Paris Philo Codex (sort of?) Online

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In an earlier pair of posts, I described the extant fragments of a substantial papyrus codex of the works of Philo of Alexandria that was found at Oxyrhynchus (LDAB 3540). The other major Roman-era source for Philo’s works is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book covers, Codices, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Paris Philo of Alexandria | 3 Comments