Category Archives: Codices

God’s Library

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

So, it has been about a year since I started this blog. At that time, I was in the midst of finishing my last revisions to the manuscript of my book, and in my first posting, I described the blog … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Nag Hammadi | 10 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

A Model of Nag Hammadi Codex III (and Some Thoughts on Large Single-quire Codices)

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

After I started out by making a model of Nag Hammadi Codex VI, the second Nag Hammadi book that I tried to make was Codex III. Like Codex VI, Codex III is made up of a single papyrus quire, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Nag Hammadi | 11 Comments

A Model of Nag Hammadi Codex VI

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

As I was writing my book on early Christian manuscripts, one of the most helpful things I did was take up the construction of models of ancient codices. Going through the process of assembling a codex really forced me to … Continue reading →

Posted in Book binding, Book covers, Codices, Nag Hammadi | 6 Comments

Another Book Biography: The Berlin Akhmimic Proverbs Codex

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In my last post on the use of waste papyrus in covers of ancient codices, I made reference to the Berlin Coptic Proverbs codex (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Ms. or. oct. 987, LDAB 107968). This reminded me that I had intended for … Continue reading →

Posted in Berlin Coptic Proverbs Codex, Book binding, Book covers, Carl Schmidt, Codices | 9 Comments

1 Samuel and the Green Collection’s “Cartonnage”

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Matthew Hamilton for pointing out that the Green Collection papyrus containing 1 Samuel was described in the catalog accompanying the “Passages” exhibition in 2012. Matthew states that in the catalog, “the papyrus is noted as having 9 chapters … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Book covers, Codices, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel, Scott Carroll | 14 Comments

Paris Philo Codex (sort of?) Online

Posted on June 16, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In an earlier pair of posts, I described the extant fragments of a substantial papyrus codex of the works of Philo of Alexandria that was found at Oxyrhynchus (LDAB 3540). The other major Roman-era source for Philo’s works is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book covers, Codices, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Paris Philo of Alexandria | 3 Comments

“First Century” Mark and “Second Century” Romans and “Second Century” Hebrews and “Second Century” 1 Corinthians

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

[[Update 18 October 2019: It has now been shown that the papyri containing Romans and 1 Corinthians mentioned in this post were in fact stolen from the Oxyrhynchus collection. See details here.]] Elijah Hixson has posted a nice update on … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, First Century Mark, Green Collection 1 Corinthians, Green Collection Hebrews, Green Collection Romans, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Scott Carroll | 38 Comments

Some Observations on the “Provisional Dating” of P.Oxy. 83.5345

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

I want to dwell a little bit on one of the lines from the Egypt Exploration Society’s statement on P.Oxy. 83.5345: “This is the same text that Professor Obbink showed to some visitors to Oxford in 2011/12, which some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Codices, Dirk Obbink, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Palaeography | 14 Comments

Excavating the Oxyrhynchus Philo Codex

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

In my previous post, I mentioned that the Oxyrhynchus Philo codex (LDAB 3540) was published in a number of different outlets. There are also some tantalizing hints about the archaeological context of the fragments. Here is the data on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Codices, Find Stories, Maurice Nahman, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Oxyrhynchus Philo | 8 Comments