Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

Manufacturing Square Papyrus Codices: Two Ways to Cut the Roll

When trying to understand the process of making small format papyrus codices, it is sometimes tricky to figure out how the papyrus bifolia were cut from the roll. For books that are more tall and narrow, like the Nag Hammadi … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin Coptic Proverbs Codex, Bodmer composite codex, Bodmer Papyri, Codices, Codicology | 4 Comments

Images of the Bodmer Papyri Online

I’m happy to announce that as part of the ongoing work of the Bodmer Lab, images of the Greek and Coptic manuscripts from Egypt held at the Fondation Martin Bodmer are now available online. The website remains a work in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bodmer Papyri, Codices | 4 Comments

An Old Quote from Frank Moore Cross on Unprovenanced Artifacts

I’ve just returned from a stimulating week at the University of Agder. I had loads of interesting conversations about a number of topics, many of them stemming from the Museum of the Bible’s admission that (at least) five of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries, Frank Moore Cross, Palaeography | 10 Comments

P.Bodmer II as Possible Evidence for the Circulation of John without Chapter 21

In the most recent issue of the journal Early Christianity (vol. 9, 2018), I have an article that bears on one of the classic “problems” of New Testament interpretation. I’ve given some background on the issues in previous posts here … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, New Testament, P.Bodmer II, Textual criticism | 9 Comments

Fake Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of the Bible

It has been a truly fascinating day for me at the University of Agder. After spending Monday morning and afternoon listening to sharp and informative talks by Matthew Monger, Ingrid Breilid Gimse, Josephine Munch Rasmussen, and Årstein Justnes on the probability that many … Continue reading →

Posted in Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries | 1 Comment

Visiting the University of Agder

I’m excited that next week I’ll be heading to the University of Agder in Norway to visit the research project, “The Lying Pen of Scribes: Manuscript Forgeries and Counterfeiting Scripture in the Twenty-First Century,” best known for its incisive investigations … Continue reading →

Posted in Fakes and Forgeries, Rylands Papyri | 2 Comments

The Corrections in P.Bodmer II

In an earlier post, I mentioned an article I just published on John 21 and provided a little background on the issues concerning the “endings” of the Gospel According to John. Before I can finally move on to a summary … Continue reading →

Posted in P.Bodmer II, Textual criticism | 5 Comments

John 21 in the Amsterdam Database of New Testament Conjectural Emendation

Just one more update on my discussion of the history of the proposal that the Gospel According to John circulated in a twenty-chapter version: Thanks to Jeff Cate for pointing out the Amsterdam Database of New Testament Conjectural Emendation has an … Continue reading →

Posted in New Testament, Textual criticism | 2 Comments

Hugo Grotius on John 21

In my previous post on the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel According to John, I noted that the hypothesis that chapter 21 is a later addition to the gospel goes back at least to Julius Wellhausen’s 1908 commentary.  I’m grateful … Continue reading →

Posted in New Testament | 9 Comments

The Twenty-first Chapter of the Gospel According to John

Several of the articles that I have published recently have been pretty technical–reports of newly discovered fragments of manuscripts or new information about the construction of particular ancient books. My most recent article also concerns technical details of an ancient … Continue reading →

Posted in New Testament | 8 Comments