Category Archives: Scripts

An Early Latin Codex with a Clear Date of Production

Posted on March 28, 2026 by Brent Nongbri

One of the frustrating things about working with the earliest codices and codex fragments is the lack of securely dated examples. Palaeography can give a general range, and archaeological context or reuse can sometimes give us a decent terminus ante … Continue reading →

Posted in B-R Uncial, Codicology, Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Palaeography | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Reusing Pages of Books

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Brent Nongbri

Parts of ancient books were recycled in a variety of different ways, but I don’t recall having seen anything quite like this before. It’s a portion of a parchment folium from a codex that contained some works of Demosthenes (P.Amh. … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Majuscule, Reuse of manuscripts | 3 Comments

A Late Example of the Biblical Majuscule

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

When I think of the Biblical Majuscule, what usually comes to mind is the script of the famous Greek Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, which is usually assigned to the fourth century (though the early fifth is not out of the question). … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Majuscule, Palaeography, Scripts | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Ehrman on Titles of the Gospels in Sinaiticus and Vaticanus: Fact Check

Posted on January 26, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

Over at his blog, Bart Ehrman has been posting some basic facts about different books of the New Testament. The last couple posts have been about the Gospel According to Mark, and yesterday’s post, which is publicly available, treats the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Majuscule, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Palaeography, Scripts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Vatican Library Website on Greek Palaeography

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Brent Nongbri

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 →

Posted in Biblical Majuscule, Dead Sea Scrolls, Frank Moore Cross, Guglielmo Cavallo, Palaeography, Scripts, Vatican Library | 6 Comments

Palaeographic Dating: Graphic Difference Does Not Always Mean Chronological Difference

Posted on September 22, 2019 by Brent Nongbri

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 Biblical Majuscule, Codex Sinaiticus, Codices, Palaeography, Scripts | 10 Comments