Category Archives: Antiquities Market

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” Article Online

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I mentioned in an earlier post that cover story of the December 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine features “Bible Hunters”–the search for early Christian and Jewish manuscripts. The full story is now online (along with some images that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Find Stories | 1 Comment

An Old Quote from Frank Moore Cross on Unprovenanced Artifacts

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve just returned from a stimulating week at the University of Agder. I had loads of interesting conversations about a number of topics, many of them stemming from the Museum of the Bible’s admission that (at least) five of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dead Sea Scrolls, Fakes and Forgeries, Frank Moore Cross, Palaeography | 10 Comments

The “Qarara” Exodus Codex

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve recently posted about papyrus fragments of the Psalms in Greek and the book of Job in Coptic from Karanis that I wasn’t able to treat in God’s Library. Another set of ancient Christian manuscripts that I didn’t have the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, Schøyen Collection, Tchacos-Ferrini Codices, Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus Codex | 4 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 | 6 Comments

E. C. Colwell on P52

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

Back in 2005, I wrote an article on P.Ryl. 3.457, or “P52,” the small papyrus fragment of chapter 18 of the Gospel According to John kept at the Rylands Library in Manchester. I argued that the date generally assigned to … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, Colin H. Roberts, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | 11 Comments