Category Archives: Antiquities Market

Fake Dead Sea Scrolls and the People Who Sell Them: One Fragment’s Story

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Two posts in recent days prompt me to wonder about the cast of characters involved in the marketing of the “post-2002 Dead Sea Scrolls like fragments” that most of the guild now regards as forgeries (though respected Dead Sea Scrolls … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries, Green Collection, Lee Biondi, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

A Missing “Robinson Papyrus” Found?

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

[Update 22 November 2023: The data here is now superseded by the information gathered in Daniel B. Sharp, “The Provenance of the Robinson and Mississippi Papyri,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 69 (2023) 162-192.]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

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, P.Sapph. Obbink, Robinson Papyri | 1 Comment

Report: All the “Dead Sea Scrolls” at the Museum of the Bible Are Fakes

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In an article posted online earlier today, National Geographic reported something that is not that surprising to many of us who have been following this story: All 16 of the so-called “Dead Sea Scrolls” owned by the Museum of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Bruce Ferrini, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries, Green Collection | 9 Comments

Dirk Obbink and the Hobby Lobby Sappho Fragments

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In yet another fascinating video unearthed by David Bradnick, “Seeking Sappho,” we see Oxford Professor Dirk Obbink at work on the Hobby Lobby (Green Collection) Sappho fragments: There are several strange features of this video. First, some of the footage … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 14 Comments

More Mummy and Cartonnage Material in the Green Collection

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Courtesy of David Bradnick, here are a few more examples of mummy masks and other cartonnage associated with the Green Collection (I have been keeping a record of mummy masks in the Green Collection here). I note that the two … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Mummies, Mummy cartonnage | 6 Comments

More on Sappho, Romans, and the Baylor “Mummy Mask” Extraction

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In my last post on the new information regarding the origin of Hobby Lobby’s Sappho papyrus fragments, I noted some parallels with the claimed mummy mask origins of a papyrus fragment of Paul’s letter to the Romans (now known to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Green Collection Romans, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, Scott Carroll | 7 Comments

Contextualizing the New Sappho Information

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Mike Holmes of the Museum of the Bible has released some intriguing new information about the Sappho papyrus fragments owned by Hobby Lobby. I posted Mike’s statement here. There really is a lot to unpack with this situation. I want … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Romans, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink, Scott Carroll | 16 Comments

Important Developments with the New Sappho Papyrus

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Mike Holmes of the Museum of the Bible has just released some new discoveries from the Museum’s ongoing provenance research to me and several other people via e-mail. There are several important revelations. Especially important are 1) a stunningly sharp … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Find Stories, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, Mummy cartonnage, Scott Carroll | 35 Comments

Dead Sea Scrolls Archival Newsreel Footage

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

Pretty much everyone with a passing knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls will recognize the famous ad in The Wall Street Journal (1 June 1954) placed at the request of the Syrian Archbishop Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel. Mar Samuel had … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Videos | 21 Comments

More on Dirk Obbink and the Marketing of Cultural Heritage Items

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In The Guardian today, Charlotte Higgins has a follow-up to her longer story on Professor Dirk Obbink. Apparently Professor Obbink bought an important 15th century manuscript at auction in 2014 and then sold it to “an overseas buyer” (at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink | 2 Comments