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Category Archives: Palaeography
Color Images of the Hawara Homer Online
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
A New Article on P52 in New Testament Studies
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
Vatican Library Website on Greek Palaeography
Thanks to Gregg Schwendner for drawing my attention to the Vatican Library website on Greek palaeography prepared by Timothy Janz, scriptor graecus and director of the printed books department of the Vatican Library. The site has an excellent discussion of … Continue reading
Arthur Hunt, Harold Idris Bell, and Edward Maunde Thompson on the Date of Codex Sinaiticus
When it comes to the question of assigning palaeographic dates to Greek literary manuscripts of the Roman period, British papyrologists in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries seem to show some different tendencies. One of the most respected of the … Continue reading
Posted in Codex Sinaiticus, Codices, Palaeography
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Palaeographic Dating: Graphic Difference Does Not Always Mean Chronological Difference
In a few days, I hope to complete a post on the date of Codex Sinaiticus. It has been educational for me to revisit the arguments for the dating of this codex. One quotation that I found especially eye-opening was … Continue reading
Posted in Codex Sinaiticus, Codices, Palaeography
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A New Article on Palaeographic Dating of Codices
The latest issue of Journal for the Study of the New Testament contains a group of articles that emerged from an SBL session in 2016 arranged by Roberta Mazza on problems of dating ancient manuscripts. In addition to Roberta’s introductory … Continue reading
Posted in Codices, Codicology, Palaeography
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The New York Public Library and P52
There was a rather depressing article in the New York Times about the New York Public Library a few days ago. But reading the story brought back some fond memories for me. I first visited the main branch of the library … Continue reading
Posted in Adolf Deissmann, P.Ryl. 3.457, Palaeography, Rylands Papyri
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The Date of P.Köln 10.406 (P118)
One of the habits of papyrologists and New Testament scholars that I’ve tried to highlight over the last decade is the practice of dating the handwriting of ancient manuscripts by comparing them to other samples of handwriting that are themselves … Continue reading
Posted in Codices, P.Bodmer II, Palaeography
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Palaeography and Codices: A Couple Thoughts on Larry Hurtado’s Review of God’s Library
Over on his blog, Larry Hurtado has posted a detailed review of God’s Library. Early on in the book, I mention three of the main scholars who paved the way for those of us working on early Christian manuscripts today: … Continue reading
Posted in Codices, Palaeography
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An Old Quote from Frank Moore Cross on Unprovenanced Artifacts
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
