Author Archives: Brent Nongbri

Ancient Book Covers and “Cartonnage”

As a follow-up to my last post on the development of the use of the French term “cartonnage”: It looks like it was the late 1950s when the term “cartonnage” began to be applied to the material sometimes used in … Continue reading

Posted in Anton Fackelmann, Book covers, Codices, Mummy cartonnage, Nag Hammadi, Schøyen Collection, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Cartonnage (Mummy and Otherwise)

A question from a commenter on a recent post prompts me to write up a quick discussion of the history of the word “cartonnage” and its current use to describe both mummy casings and the covers of some ancient books. … Continue reading

Posted in Book covers, Find Stories, Mummies, Mummy cartonnage, William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 3 Comments

The Hawara Homer

A chapter in my book is dedicated to “find stories” of early Christian manuscripts. Along the way, I touch upon similar narratives of discoveries of other Roman era manuscripts as well, but I didn’t really have the chance to go … Continue reading

Posted in Fayum Portraits, Find Stories, Harris Homer, Hawara Homer, Mummies, William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 8 Comments

The Bodmer Papyri: An Inventory of “P.Bodmer” Items

The longest chapter of God’s Library is dedicated to “The Bodmer Papyri,” a group of manuscripts that can be confusing even for scholars of early Christianity. The name derives from the Swiss collector Martin Bodmer (1899-1971), who bought a number of … Continue reading

Posted in Bodmer Papyri | 12 Comments

Anton Fackelmann: Conservator and Seller of Antiquities

In researching the supposed first-century papyrus of Mark’s gospel associated with Anton Fackelmann, I found that there wasn’t a lot of information about Fackelmann available either online or elsewhere. So, I thought I would take a moment to write up … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Anton Fackelmann, Cologne Mani Codex, Derveni Papyrus, First Century Mark, Herculaneum Papyri, Mummy cartonnage | 2 Comments

The Harris Homers and the Crocodile Pit of Maabdeh

In the 2017 issue of the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, I have an article that ended up being a sort trip down the rabbit hole. The title gives you an idea of the curious combination of topics: … Continue reading

Posted in Anthony Charles Harris, Antiquities Market, British Museum, Find Stories, Harris Homer, Mummies, Selima Harris | 7 Comments

Some Answers on Fackelmann’s “First-Century Mark” Papyrus

When I wrote my earlier post on a papyrus allegedly containing a draft of Mark’s gospel, I also did a bit of searching to see if anything new had come up with regard to Fackelmann’s alleged Mark papyrus. The only … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Anton Fackelmann, Fakes and Forgeries, First Century Mark, José O'Callaghan, Mummy cartonnage, Schøyen Collection | 7 Comments

Just a Bit More on the Robinson Papyri

[Update 22 November 2023: The data here is now superseded by the information gathered in Daniel B. Sharp, “The Provenance of the Robinson and Mississippi Papyri,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 69 (2023) 162-192.] I find one of the items in the … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Bodmer Papyri, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Duke Papyri, Robinson Papyri, Schøyen Collection, Van Kampen Collection | 5 Comments

Further Details on the Robinson Papyri

[Update 22 November 2023: The data here is now superseded by the information gathered in Daniel B. Sharp, “The Provenance of the Robinson and Mississippi Papyri,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 69 (2023) 162-192.] Once I got to organizing my thoughts about … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Duke Papyri, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink, Robinson Papyri | 5 Comments

The Robinson Papyri

[Update 22 November 2023: The data here is now superseded by the information gathered in Daniel B. Sharp, “The Provenance of the Robinson and Mississippi Papyri,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 69 (2023) 162-192.] “The Robinson Papyri” are a group of manuscripts … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquities Market, Bodmer Papyri, Duke Papyri, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink, Robinson Papyri | 4 Comments