Category Archives: Codices

New Article on the History of Codex Alexandrinus

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

The latest issue of Novum Testamentum contains an important (open access!) article on Codex Alexandrinus: Mina Monier, “The History of Codex Alexandrinus: New Evidence from Arabic Paratexts,” Novum Testamentum 67 (2025) 501-526. Recent scholarship on the codex has generally rejected … Continue reading →

Posted in Codex Alexandrinus, Codices | 1 Comment

New Article on P.Oxy. 1 2 and P.Oxy. 7 1010

Posted on August 6, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

This will be the first of a few posts about some recent articles of mine that have just been published. The first is a piece jointly authored by AnneMarie Luijendijk and me. The full article is available (open access!) here: … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Codicology, New Testament, Oxyrhynchus Papyri | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Relief from Portus showing a Writer at a Desk

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

Following up on my post about a relief showing writers at desks at Ostia, I should also mention a second artifact found in the same region. It is a relief uncovered in the nineteenth century at Portus (just north of … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, desks, Ostia, Tablets | 2 Comments

A Relief from Ostia Showing Writers at Desks

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

The museum at the archaeological park at Ostia Antica has reopened after many years of closure for renovations. The results are quite impressive, and I hope to have a chance to post some reflections about the museum itself soon, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeological context, Codices, desks, Ostia, Tablets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

A Correction and a Codicological Mystery in P.Bodmer 13

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

I only recently learned of the death, about a year ago now, of Stuart G. Hall (1928-2023). It sent me back to an article that we wrote together. In 2015, I stumbled across grainy black and white photographs of what … Continue reading →

Posted in Bodmer composite codex, Bodmer Papyri, Book binding, Codices, Codicology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hugo Ibscher and the Cover of the Berlin Akhmimic Proverbs Codex

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

In 2022, I published a short paper on the construction of the Beatty-Michigan codex of the Pauline epistles (P46, TM 61855). I suggested that the surviving page numbers in the codex might not be an entirely reliable guide to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin Coptic Proverbs Codex, Book binding, Book covers, Chester Beatty Papyri, Chester Beatty Pauline Epistles, Codices, Codicology, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Upcoming Sale of the Crosby-Schøyen Codex (Just How Old is this Book?)

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

It has been an unusually busy news week for Coptic codices. I posted a few days ago about the Mudil Psalms codex, and then yesterday several news outlets reported that Christie’s will be auctioning off the Crosby-Schøyen codex, a papyrus … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Codices, Codicology, Crosby-Schøyen Codex, Maguid Sameda, Radiocarbon analysis, Schøyen Collection | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Potential Early Papyrus Codex at Graz

Posted on February 15, 2024 by Brent Nongbri

Back in June 2023, several news outlets picked up the story of “the Graz mummy book.” A team at the University of Graz led by Theresa Zammit Lupi had identified P.Hib. 113, a papyrus extracted from mummy cartonnage and published … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Codices, Codicology, Ink, Mummy cartonnage, P.Hib. 113 | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

More Details on the Possible Codex at Graz

Posted on September 12, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

Earlier this year, I noted the news that we may have a new candidate for the earliest surviving portion of a codex, P.Hib. 113, a papyrus excavated from the Egyptian town of Hibeh and now kept at the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Codices, Codicology, Mummy cartonnage, P.Hib. 113 | 1 Comment

What Do We Mean By “Codex”?

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Brent Nongbri

P.Hib. 113, the papyrus kept at Graz that has recently been proposed as being the earliest surviving remains of a codex, continues to be in the news. I made a brief post about it some days ago, and in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Codicology, P.Hib. 113, Tablets | 11 Comments