Category Archives: Antiquities Market

The Fate of the Van Kampen Collection

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve written before on a few occasions about the Van Kampen Collection of ancient manuscripts, a kind of predecessor of the Green Collection. In fact, it was Scott Carroll, the main architect of the Green Collection, who was also the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Scott Carroll, Van Kampen Collection | Leave a comment

Hobby Lobby Inc. vs Dirk Obbink

Posted on June 4, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

A couple days ago, the news broke that Hobby Lobby has sued Professor Dirk Obbink for over $7 million USD. The 10-page complaint (which can be seen here) does not paint a nice picture of Prof. Obbink, but that’s generally … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Romans, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | 11 Comments

The Retraction of Dirk Obbink’s Sappho Chapter and the Question of Authenticity

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Last week, the news broke that Brill had retracted a chapter by Prof. Dirk Obbink that presented false information about the provenance of the Sappho papyri. A statement from the volume’s editors explains the reasoning for the retraction. Just as … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 23 Comments

Further Thoughts on the Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

A couple years ago, I wrote a short web article on the dispersal of a papyrus codex of Exodus that was allegedly found with three other papyrus codices: one containing a mathematical text in Greek, one containing the letters of … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Bruce Ferrini, Frieda Tchacos, Schøyen Collection, Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus Codex | 4 Comments

A New Item in the P.Sapph.Obbink Timeline

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Following up on yesterday’s news about the recovery of more papyri stolen from the Egypt Exploration Society, I learn from an anonymous commenter on an earlier post that there is a neglected (by me, at at least) item on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 5 Comments

More Stolen Papyri to be Returned to the Egypt Exploration Society

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Earlier today, the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) announced the discovery that more papyri “had been removed from the EES collection without authorisation.” This follows other related announcements over the last several months. The first announcement by the EES (25 June … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | 6 Comments

Museum of the Bible Papyri in Egypt

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

From Egypt Today: “CAIRO – 27 January 2021: A large group of Egyptian artifacts that were in the possession of the Holy Bible Museum in Washington, USA, arrived at Cairo International Airport on January 27, as a result of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel | 2 Comments

Further Revelations from Sampson’s Article: The Sappho Papyrus and the German Officer

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In a previous post on C. Michael Sampson’s article in the most recent issue of the Bulletin of the American Association of Papyrologists, I mentioned that Sampson’s essay contained a number of interesting but somewhat complicated revelations about questions surrounding … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Find Stories, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink | 3 Comments

A New Article on P52 in New Testament Studies

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

The latest issue of New Testament Studies contains an article I wrote on P.Ryl. 3.457, a.k.a. P52, the fragmentary leaf from a codex generally regarded as the earliest surviving copy of the Gospel According to John (and indeed earliest surviving … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Bernard Grenfell, Colin H. Roberts, Eric Turner, New Testament, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | 3 Comments

Ariel Sabar’s Veritas: Some First Reactions

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Doubleday for sending along an advanced copy of Ariel Sabar’s new book, Veritas. I really didn’t know what to expect with this book. Sabar’s detailed article on the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” in The Atlantic in 2016 … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Book Reviews, Fakes and Forgeries | 12 Comments