Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

God’s Library

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

So, it has been about a year since I started this blog. At that time, I was in the midst of finishing my last revisions to the manuscript of my book, and in my first posting, I described the blog … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Nag Hammadi | 10 Comments

E. C. Colwell on P52

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

Back in 2005, I wrote an article on P.Ryl. 3.457, or “P52,” the small papyrus fragment of chapter 18 of the Gospel According to John kept at the Rylands Library in Manchester. I argued that the date generally assigned to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, Colin H. Roberts, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | 11 Comments

“Ink & Blood” Back? (but with less ink?)

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve recently been doing some research on a few early Christian books that were on the antiquities market about a decade ago. There are a lot of interesting stories here. We’re all pretty familiar with the collection now known as … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Bruce Ferrini, Fakes and Forgeries, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | 14 Comments

The Moschos Ioudaios Inscription

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

One of the most interesting early Greek inscriptions involving a Jew/Judaean is the so-called “Moschos inscription” (or “Moschus inscription”), a record of a manumission found in 1952 during excavations at Oropos north of Athens. The inscription was recovered from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Inscriptions | 3 Comments

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