Category Archives: Antiquities Dealers and Collectors

Ancient Manuscripts: Some Ethics Questions

Posted on January 3, 2019 by Brent Nongbri

In an earlier post, I mentioned some of my concern about the tendency to orient provenance discussions in relation to the year 1970, the date of the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, British Library Aristotle, British Museum, E. A. Wallis Budge | 1 Comment

The Papyrus of Aristotle’s Constitution of the Athenians: Provenance Questions

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Brent Nongbri

I recently wanted to quickly refresh myself on what can be known about the provenance of the famous papyrus containing nearly the entire text of Aristotle’s Constitution of the Athenians (British Library Pap. 131, LDAB 391). As usual, this turned … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Archaeological context, British Library Aristotle, E. A. Wallis Budge, Find Stories, Frederic Kenyon | 7 Comments

The Green Collection 1 Samuel: A Place of Purchase

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

The “Passages” speakers series videos continue to yield insights into the early formation of the Green Collection, and in particular this papyrus of 1 Samuel that I have mentioned before. The usual format of these “Passages” talks involves extended introductory … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel, Mummy cartonnage, Passages Speakers Series, Scott Carroll | 5 Comments

The Green Collection Sappho Papyrus: Some New Details

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I am in the process of working my way through videos of the lectures associated with the “Passages” travelling exhibition of Green Collection. At the prompting of David Bradnick who is also engaging in this pastime, I jumped ahead to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink, Passages Speakers Series, Robinson Papyri, Scott Carroll | 16 Comments

A “Second Century” Papyrus of Matthew in the Green Collection

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In my last post, I mentioned I was watching a set of DVDs that documented the series of lectures that accompanied the “Passages” exhibition of the Green Collection. One of the Green Collection papyri that is mentioned in the lectures … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Passages Speakers Series, Scott Carroll | 13 Comments

More on the Curious Green Collection 1 Samuel Papyrus

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve written several posts (like this one) on different aspects of the “Passages” travelling exhibition of the Green Collection that took place between 2011 and the opening of the permanent exhibition at the Museum of the Bible in 2017. Some … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel, Mummy cartonnage, Passages Speakers Series, Scott Carroll | 1 Comment

National Geographic’s “Bible Hunters”: Some Observations

Posted on November 22, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

As Larry Hurtado mentioned on his blog a couple days ago, the cover story of the December 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine is on “Bible Hunters,” that is to say both nineteenth century figures like Constantine von Tischendorf and … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Fakes and Forgeries, First Century Mark, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, P.Ryl. 3.457, Van Kampen Collection | 2 Comments

God’s Library: Publication Day

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

So, it’s August 21. This is the official publication date for God’s Library (I’m not entirely sure what that means, because the book has been shipping from the publisher for a couple weeks now already). Thanks again to everyone involved … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Archaeological context, Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Find Stories, Manuscript Collections, Palaeography, Radiocarbon analysis | 7 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

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