Category Archives: Antiquities Dealers and Collectors
A Statement from Dirk Obbink
Professor Dirk Obbink has issued a public statement emphatically denying the accusations that he sold Oxyrhynchus papyri to Hobby Lobby. The local Texas newspaper to which Prof. Obbink chose to communicate his statement (the Waco Tribune-Herald) is not available online … Continue reading
Recently Emerged Papyri of Dubious Origins: A Working List
In recent days, the Egypt Exploration Society has disclosed that 11 manuscripts from their Oxyrhynchus collection were allegedly illegally sold by Professor Dirk Obbink to the Hobby Lobby organization. Two further fragments of pieces from the Oxyrhynchus collection have surfaced … Continue reading
Harold Maker: An Ideal Provenance Distraction
Earlier today, the Institute for New Testament Textual Research published provenance information for two papyrus fragments that are connected to pieces known to have been stolen from the Egypt Exploration Society’s collection of Oxyrhynchus Papyri. The provenance information was supplied … Continue reading
Additional Papyri Stolen from the Oxyrhynchus Collection
Greg Paulson of the Institute for New Testament Textual Research (Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, INTF) has just posted a note further explaining the connection between Oxyrhynchus papyri illegally sold by Dirk Obbink to Hobby Lobby and additional fragments in a … Continue reading
How Many Oxyrhynchus Papyri Have Been Sold?
Now that the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) has found that Oxford Professor Dirk Obbink has clandestinely sold papyri from the Oxyrhynchus collection to Hobby Lobby, several questions arise. It will take a while to process this. But let’s make a … Continue reading
Breaking: EES Stolen Manuscripts Update
The Egypt Exploration Society has just released a statement regarding manuscripts owned by the EES but sold to Hobby Lobby. So, 13 such manuscripts have been identified. 11 of these 13 manuscripts are said to have been sold by Professor … Continue reading
Dirk Obbink, Scott Carroll, and a Papyrus of Plato
Past posts on this blog have examined different aspects of Dirk Obbink’s involvement in the trade in ancient manuscripts–as buyer, seller, and consultant to Hobby Lobby. Another key part of the high-end antiquities market is the process of appraisal, assigning … Continue reading
The Radiocarbon Dating of the “New Sappho” Papyrus
In my last post on the various discrepancies in the origin story of the Sappho papyrus published in 2014, I mentioned an article by Dirk Obbink published in The Times Literary Supplement on 5 February 2014. In this article, Professor … Continue reading
Dirk Obbink, Scott Carroll, and Sappho
When I was pulling together material illustrating the long and close association of Dirk Obbink with the Green Collection / Museum of the Bible organizations, and especially the connection between Professor Obbink and Scott Carroll from 2010-2012, it occurred to … Continue reading
One of the “Other” Oxyrhynchus Gospels for Sale and a Pattern in the Green Collection
Like many people, I have a number of lingering questions about the alleged sale of four fragmentary gospel papyri from the Oxyrhynchus collection. I’ve mentioned a few of them already in other posts. I’m going to go a little deeper … Continue reading
Variant Readings 