tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post5719846794654319375..comments2024-03-17T17:46:24.354+00:00Comments on Evangelical Textual Criticism: Manuscript Life SpansP.J. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04388225485348300613noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-2873418771828491882009-10-21T17:06:20.167+01:002009-10-21T17:06:20.167+01:00It's not particularly news that manuscripts ca...It's not particularly news that manuscripts can be read to pieces in a half-century or less. It's just that we don't usually see those because they've been, well, read to pieces.<br /><br />Original materials quality is important, but handling and storage conditions are VASTLY more important in determining how long any particular physical artifact lasts.Tony Zbaraschukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03345285161147408637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-59699907671851923432009-10-20T16:59:14.205+01:002009-10-20T16:59:14.205+01:00Palimpsests are tricky. If a manuscript is truly ...Palimpsests are tricky. If a manuscript is truly worn out, then would it be a candidate for a palimpsest? Perhaps if you trimmed the edges, you could produce a nice manuscript from a destroyed one. Some manuscripts may be chosen for a palimpsest because the language or text is no longer interesting to the community. Such disuse would be the opposite of wear and tear.Christian Askelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381441700351009913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-2428948449425705452009-10-20T15:28:25.213+01:002009-10-20T15:28:25.213+01:00My initial reaction to this example is that the ti...My initial reaction to this example is that the time span is pretty short (I can think of other short examples as well as longer ones). A more general result could be gained from looking at palimpsests and comparing the dates of the under text and the upper text. One could get a reasonably large data set from this (even from NT Greek MSS) fairly readily. In fact, it seems so obvious I guess that someone has probably done it already.Peter M. Headhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379103292621457026noreply@blogger.com