Category Archives: Antiquities Market
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
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
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
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
Dirk Obbink and the Museum of the Bible: A Brief History
Although it is widely known that Dirk Obbink had an association with the Green Collection (and later the Museum of the Bible) going back at least as far as 2010, the recent news that Professor Obbink was also (legally) selling … Continue reading
Dirk Obbink and the Oxyrhynchus “Distribution” Papyri
There is an interesting twist with the developing story of the alleged attempt by Dirk Obbink to sell Oxyrhynchus papyri owned by the Egypt Exploration Society. It appears that he had some prior experience selling Oxyrhynchus papyri that he did … Continue reading
Revisiting Some of Scott Carroll Comments in Light of the “First Century” Mark Purchase Agreement
My last post looked into a couple questions raised by the recently released purchase agreement between Hobby Lobby and Dirk Obbink regarding so-called “First Century” Mark. In this post, I want to explore how these new revelations might demystify some … Continue reading
The “First Century” Mark Purchase Agreement: Some Initial Questions
The letter and documents provided by Mike Holmes in my previous post appear to provide confirmation of what many have suspected since the publication of P.Oxy. 83.5345, the so-called “First Century” Mark fragment: This papyrus and other Christian manuscripts in … Continue reading
Variant Readings 