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 some time to make a post dedicated to this book. Continue reading
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 [and] is dated to the early 3rd century AD.” Thus, it seems clear that in the video I mentioned in my previous post, Scott Carroll really was talking about “chapters” of the book being extracted from mummy cartonnage. Even more interesting is Matthew’s note that, according to the “Passages” catalog, the papyrus “had been pressed and sewn together and recycled for domestic use.” Continue reading
Bibliothèque nationale de France (Ms. Suppl. grec 1120, Philo of Alexandria
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 shorter but much better preserved papyrus codex containing Quis rerum divinarum heres sit and De sacrificiis Abelis et Caini kept in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Ms. Suppl. grec 1120, LDAB 3541). It is generally assigned to the roughly the same period as the Oxyrhynchus Philo (3rd century CE).
I discuss this codex at some length in my forthcoming book, so I don’t want to give away all the secrets, but I just discovered that the BnF has made some images of the codex available online at Gallica (and they have been online since January of 2017!). Continue reading
In the course of rooting around online for further insight into the early Christian papyrus fragments I have been discussing (here and here), I’ve followed in the tracks of others (like Brice Jones and Roberta Mazza) who were already going down this rabbit hole years ago. Today that path led to another papyrus in the Green Collection that travelled widely in the Passages exhibition. Unlike some of the other camera shy fragments in the collection, this manuscript appeared prominently in promotional materials. It is a papyrus containing the beginning of 1 Samuel in Greek. Here is an image published in the online version of The Oklahoman in May 2011:
Papyrus containing 1 Samuel 1:1-5 in the Green Collection in 2011; image source: The Oklahoman
In my previous post, I tried to direct attention to the source of certain papyri in the Green Collection and/or the Museum of the Bible that seem to have been acquired at about the same time as “first century” Mark was allegedly for sale. A substantive comment to that post by Greg Given brings together some related issues.
So, to recap, the pieces under discussion are, according to the INTF Liste: Continue reading
[[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 the latest developments regarding questions around P.Oxy. 83.5345, the recently published papyrus fragment of the Gospel According to Mark. It’s well worth a read.
The lack of clarity on all sides in this episode is unfortunate. One part of Dan Wallace’s latest statement on the matter was especially striking to me: Continue reading
In an earlier posting, I noted that the updated statement from the Egypt Exploration Society still left some lingering questions about the treatment of this papyrus fragment and that some of these questions could best be answered by Dan Wallace and others involved in the non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) related to this papyrus. Now Dan Wallace has himself offered an update shedding some light on the NDA he signed. This is all very strange. It would be helpful if the “major collection that was interested in purchasing the papyrus” would identify itself and release all parties from this NDA so that the academic community can get a little clarity about the recent history of this papyrus.
At the website for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a new article has been posted in pre-print format: “Fluctuating radiocarbon offsets observed in the southern Levant and implications for archaeological chronology debates.”
While the title isn’t exactly catchy, this is an interesting article that is potentially significant for the dating of ancient manuscripts that may have been produced using materials native to this area. Continue reading
Thanks to Stephen Goranson for noting that the Egypt Exploration Society has posted an updated statement regarding some of the questions surrounding P.Oxy. 83.5345.
There is a good deal of helpful and interesting information in this update. For now, I’ll just comment upon a a few points. Continue reading
From 1898 to 1927, Grenfell and/or Hunt edited the first seventeen volumes of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri series (Grenfell’s periodic illnesses limited his participation in a couple volumes, and Hunt was away from Oxford during World War I). But over a decade elapsed between the publication of Volume 17 (1927) and Volume 18 (1941). What was happening with the papyri during this time? In an earlier post, I mentioned the movement of the Oxyrhynchus collection after the death of Arthur Hunt in 1934. Eric Turner has provided a bit more detail about that process by working through the minutes of committee meetings of the Egypt Exploration Society. I quote at length from Turner’s obituary for Edgar Lobel (identified as “EL” in the following excerpt): Continue reading
The Early History of the Codex
Thoughts on History, Religion, Archaeology, Papyrology, etc. by Brent Nongbri
Everyday Stories from the Ancient Past
Patristics, Apocrypha, Coptic Literature and Manuscripts
Pedagogical Approaches to Palaeography and Codicology
Thoughts on History, Religion, Archaeology, Papyrology, etc. by Brent Nongbri
Thoughts on History, Religion, Archaeology, Papyrology, etc. by Brent Nongbri
Thoughts on History, Religion, Archaeology, Papyrology, etc. by Brent Nongbri
Variant Readings 