Category Archives: Individual Manuscripts

A New Article on the (ex-)Green Collection Sappho Papyri

Posted on April 9, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Mike Holmes for notifying me that the latest issue of Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik contains an article by Museum of the Bible curator Brian Hyland that reports what is now known about the purchase of the Green … Continue reading →

Posted in Dirk Obbink, Green Collection 1 Samuel, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 3 Comments

The Retraction of Dirk Obbink’s Sappho Chapter and the Question of Authenticity

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Last week, the news broke that Brill had retracted a chapter by Prof. Dirk Obbink that presented false information about the provenance of the Sappho papyri. A statement from the volume’s editors explains the reasoning for the retraction. Just as … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 20 Comments

Further Thoughts on the Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

A couple years ago, I wrote a short web article on the dispersal of a papyrus codex of Exodus that was allegedly found with three other papyrus codices: one containing a mathematical text in Greek, one containing the letters of … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Bruce Ferrini, Frieda Tchacos, Schøyen Collection, Tchacos-Ferrini Exodus Codex | 2 Comments

Color Images of the Hawara Homer Online

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Thanks to Gregg Schwendner for the alert: In 2019, the Bodleian Library at Oxford posted very nice color digital images (with a scale!) of MS. Gr. class. a. 1 (better known as the Hawara Homer), a copy of books 1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Hawara Homer, Palaeography, William Matthew Flinders Petrie | 1 Comment

A New Item in the P.Sapph.Obbink Timeline

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

Following up on yesterday’s news about the recovery of more papyri stolen from the Egypt Exploration Society, I learn from an anonymous commenter on an earlier post that there is a neglected (by me, at at least) item on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink | 5 Comments

Museum of the Bible Papyri in Egypt

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Brent Nongbri

From Egypt Today: “CAIRO – 27 January 2021: A large group of Egyptian artifacts that were in the possession of the Holy Bible Museum in Washington, USA, arrived at Cairo International Airport on January 27, as a result of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Green Collection, Green Collection 1 Samuel | 1 Comment

Further Revelations from Sampson’s Article: The Sappho Papyrus and the German Officer

Posted on November 9, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In a previous post on C. Michael Sampson’s article in the most recent issue of the Bulletin of the American Association of Papyrologists, I mentioned that Sampson’s essay contained a number of interesting but somewhat complicated revelations about questions surrounding … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Antiquities Market, Dirk Obbink, Find Stories, Mummy cartonnage, P.Sapph. Obbink | 3 Comments

More on Dirk Obbink and the Provenance of the Sappho Papyrus

Posted on October 30, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

The latest issue of the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists was just published. It contains an article by C. Michael Sampson, “Deconstructing the Provenances of P.Sapph.Obbink.” The article brings a load of new evidence to bear on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Dealers and Collectors, Dirk Obbink, Green Collection, Green Collection Sappho, P.Sapph. Obbink, Passages Speakers Series, Scott Carroll | 5 Comments

A New Article on P52 in New Testament Studies

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

The latest issue of New Testament Studies contains an article I wrote on P.Ryl. 3.457, a.k.a. P52, the fragmentary leaf from a codex generally regarded as the earliest surviving copy of the Gospel According to John (and indeed earliest surviving … Continue reading →

Posted in Antiquities Market, Bernard Grenfell, Eric Turner, New Testament, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri | Leave a comment

A New Radiocarbon Calibration Curve and Early Christian Manuscripts

Posted on August 23, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

I gave a talk on early Coptic books a few weeks ago in which I mentioned the results of some radiocarbon analyses of Coptic codices. Now I learn that some of what I said is already out of date! A … Continue reading →

Posted in Glazier Codex, Radiocarbon analysis | 5 Comments