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Author Archives: Brent Nongbri
A Newly Discovered mikveh at Ostia
At a press conference this afternoon in the archaeological park at Ostia Antica, it was announced that a mikveh, a Jewish ritual bath, has been discovered in the center of the ancient city. Ostia is well known to students of … Continue reading
Posted in Judaism, Ostia, Synagogues
Tagged ancient Judaism, Diaspora Judaism, Judaism, mikvah, mikveh, news, Ostia, Ostia synagogue, religion, Roman religion, synagogue
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The So-called Scriptorium at Bu Njem
It is common for historians of ancient Rome to state that writers did not use desks (As Theodor Birt put it, “In antiquity, people did not write on desks”). I have noted before on the blog that I am not … Continue reading
Posted in desks, Ostraca, Scriptoria
Tagged Bu Njem, desks, manuscripts, qumran, Roman Libya, Scriptoria, Scriptorium
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A Mosaic from Thabraca with a Writer at a Desk
In earlier posts, I discussed two pieces of evidence for writing at desks in the late antique period, a relief from Ostia and a relief found at Portus. Another piece of evidence that Metzger mentioned in his well known chapter … Continue reading
The Lying Pen of Scribes Project: An Appreciation
Over the last few years, I have had a number of occasions to mention The Lying Pen of Scribes, a project on the Dead Sea Scrolls funded by the Research Council of Norway. In fact, it may not be quite … Continue reading
Posted in Antiquities Market, Archaeological context, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries
Tagged archaeology, Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, history, qumran
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P52 on the Joe Rogan Experience: Fact Check
I’m not a regular consumer of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” but I was compelled to check it out when I heard that the podcaster was chatting about P.Ryl.Gr. 3.457, a.k.a. P52, the small fragment of a papyrus leaf containing a … Continue reading
Posted in P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography
Tagged Bible, christianity, egypt, Jesus, Joe Rogan, New Testament, New Testament manuscripts, P52, Rylands Papyri
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A Fake Lead “Codex” in Rome?
Among codices that supposedly date to the Roman and late antique eras, there is a small set of “books” made of lead. Some of these made their first appearance in the last couple decades (the so-called Jordanian lead codices) and … Continue reading
Decoration of the Fore-edges of Coptic Codices
There is a fun article in The New York Times about the growing trend among publishers of producing deluxe editions of romance and fantasy books. The article mentions different kinds of cover enhancements but focuses on decoration of the fore-edge. … Continue reading
A New Article on Carl Schmidt and the Antiquities Trade
The coptologist Carl Schmidt (1868-1938) was very active in the antiquities trade. His name is associated with the purchase of many well known manuscripts, including one I’ve discussed here. An important new article on Schmidt has appeared in a journal … Continue reading
New Work on Codex Vaticanus (Vat. gr. 1209)
2024 has been a good year for the study of Codex Vaticanus. Peter Head at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog just posted a notice of an important new study of the inks in the codex: The article is available open … Continue reading
Posted in Codex Vaticanus, Codicology, Ink
Tagged Codex Vaticanus, Codicology, iron gall ink, manuscripts
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Variant Readings 