Palaeography of an invoice

One thing I’ve already seen since Holmes’ email last night (see some discussion by Brent Nongbri here and here) is a questioning of the authenticity of the First-century Gospels invoice. Some have cautioned against taking it at face value. I even had one conservative Christian ask me directly this morning if I think it is real.

I don’t have any reason to doubt that it’s real, but I also think we can quantify that a little bit. Are we not text critics? Is it not part of our job to analyze handwriting on handwritten documents? I don’t mean to make light of a very serious situation, but I do think it could be helpful to post an analysis like this. I freely admit that I am not trained in contemporary forensic handwriting analysis, so my thoughts here should not be taken as definitive. I am only analysing the letters as I would give an informal analysis on the fly if a friend asked me to describe the letters in a Greek NT manuscript. I’m pretty sure the date of the Mark fragment itself is proof that an opinion can change when something is studied in greater detail.

With that in mind, I offer this assessment of the handwriting of two samples. The first is the handwriting on the invoice where it is signed Dirk Obbink, which I designate INV in the discussions that follow. I have not used the signature line in the comparison, because it is qualitatively a different style—it is a ‘signature’ style, rather than a ‘print’ hand used elsewhere.

“INV”

The other is the handwriting of the paper note, which I designate PAP.

“PAP”

Descriptions for each letter are below the screenshots of them.

Pasquale Orsini’s New Book on Palaeography

I’d like to draw attention ever so briefly to Pasquale Orsini’s excellent Studies on Greek and Coptic Majuscule Scripts and Books, published last month by De Gruyter (Studies in Manuscript Cultures 15). Many readers of our blog will have been familiar with Orsini’s prowess in the thorny discipline of palaeography, particularly due to his oft-cited article concerning the dating of New Testament Manuscripts, co-authored with Willy Clarysse. Furthermore, we were also honoured to publish his guest post (‘Palaeographic Method, Comparison and Dating: Considerations for an Updated Discussion [Guest post by Pasquale Orsini]’) where he responded to some recent proposals concerning the dating of the Bodmer Papyri.

In this volume, Orsini brings together seven specialised studies—originally published in Italian, now in English translation—along with a concise methodologically-geared introduction as well as a helpful (though perhaps too brief) glossary of palaeographical terms. The essays concern a wide variety of subjects: (1) The Scripts of the Nag Hammadi Codices, (2) The Scripts of the Bodmer Papyri, (3) Greek Biblical Majuscule, (4) Coptic Biblical Majuscule,  (5) Sloping Pointed Majuscule , (6) Liturgical Majuscule, (7) Decorated Liturgical Majuscule .

It is unsurprising that the essays are strong in content, given that Orsini represents the best of the Italian palaeographical tradition. Although not everyone is convinced by this school’s emphasis on stylistic typology, I for one appreciate its inductive nature, focus on the materials, and methodological sophistication. The influence of Guglielmo Cavallo, Orsini’s erstwhile teacher, is perceptible throughout, but the book is by no means derivative. At various places, particularly in the chapter on the biblical majuscule, Orsini refines Cavallo’s findings and takes them even further. In particular, the problem of geographical distribution of hands certainly needs further scrutiny and I hope that the impetus provided by this book will lead to further investigations. One could go on.

Finally, I should note that the book is an Open Access publication and hence free to download from De Gruyter website. And now, a little paraenesis: tolle lege!

Palaeographic Method, Comparison and Dating: Considerations for an Updated Discussion (Guest post by Pasquale Orsini)

As some of you may remember, Brent Nongbri and I have recently had a nice back and forth about palaeographical method. It started with my post on the Egerton Gospel, where I mentioned some hesitations about Brent’s recent suggestions concerning P66 and P75, to which Brent responded here and then, followed by my comment, here). Now, I’m very pleased to report that Pasquale Orsini, one of the great palaeographers of the recent generation, decided to chip into our discussion and I’m very honoured to include his guest post on our blog. [Update: I should also like to bring to your attention Pasquale's forthcoming monograph Studies on Greek and Coptic Majuscule Scripts and Books (Studies in Manuscript Cultures 15; Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2018).]

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Rome, 6 February 2018

I want to contribute briefly to the debate between Peter Malik and Brent Nongbri on some principles of the paleographic method, without repeating opinions and concepts already written.

First of all, there is no ‘Italian’ method of paleography, but a paleographic method. This method is based on comparison (a paleographer once said that paleography is the ‘science of comparison’) of the graphic structure of scripts before that of single letters. However, in the last decades some paleographers (Guglielmo Cavallo ‘in primis’, Edoardo Crisci and myself) have questioned some principles of the paleographic method (for example, the concept of ‘canon’, its standard distribution in development / perfection / decline, etc.), recognizing the need for a reflection that is historically closer to the available data. These studies further develop the paleographic method of the 60s of the last century. And these studies should be read, even if they have been written in Italian language (with all the difficulties of this language).

Stylistic problems and ‘appropriate’ comparisons

P66 (P. Bodmer II)

The article of Don Barker (‘The Dating of New Testament Papyri’, NTS 57 (2011), 578–582) attributes the script of this manuscript to the graphic stream with angular formation of some letters (delta, ypsilon, phi) and serifs, and not to the ‘Alexandrian stylistic class’. According to this assignment, he proposes a dating between the middle of the second and the middle of the third century. As comparisons he proposes P. Oxy. 1622 (a fragment of a roll of Thucydides, assigned by Grenfell and Hunt to the ‘early second century” because the reverse was used for a contract dated 148 AD) and P. Oxy. 3030 (an official letter dated 207 AD).

I mentioned Barker’s article just to explain that in P. Bodmer II there is the roundness of the letters and not the angularity; there is no emphasis on the upper notional line; serifs or blobs on the ends of the strokes are characteristic of the ‘Alexandrian stylistic class” and then of the ‘Alexandrian majuscule”.

Brent Nongbri, in a more articulated work (‘The Limits of Palaeographic Dating of Literary Papyri: Some Observations on the Date and Provenance of P. Bodmer II (P66)’, Museum Helveticum 71 (2014), 1–35), reviews the various proposals of dating, analyzing the comparisons with manuscripts dated on basis of paleographic method. He does not find these comparisons satisfactory and suggests three new manuscripts: P. Bodmer XX, P. Cairo Isid. 2 and P. Lond. 1920.

P. Bodmer XX—part of the famous Miscellaneous Codex, which includes P. Bodmer V, X, XI, VII, XIII, XII, XX, IX, VIII—contains the ‘Apology of Phileas”: Phileas, the bishop of Thmouis in the Delta was martyred in the year 305, which gives a clear terminus post quem for the manuscript. P. Bodmer XX is therefore dated around the middle or in second half of the fourth century, when his apology had developed into a literary work. Nongbri says: ‘P. Bodmer 2 and P. Bodmer 20 show a number of compelling similarities in spacing, letter forms and overall appearance”, and soon after: “the two hands are noticeably similar in a number of ways.’ For Nongbri the chief (but insignificant) difference between these two hands is ‘the presence of serifs, or blobs, at the end of certain strokes’ in P. Bodmer II.

These two Bodmer papyri belong, however, to two different graphic typologies: the scribe of P. Bodmer XX used a ‘mixed style”, with elements of Biblical majuscule (alpha and ypsilon; contrast between fine and thick strokes) and of Alexandrian stylistic class (delta, epsilon, kappa, lambda, omega); the scribe of P. Bodmer II used an Alexandrian stylistic class (see particularly alpha, my, ypsilon). These different scripts cannot be compared for dating, even if they are contemporary.

More ‘appropriate’ is the comparison with P. Cairo Isid. 2, a letter from the archive of Aurelius Isidorus written in AD 298, and with P. Lond. 1920, a letter from a Greco-Coptic dossier of the monastery of Phathor dated about 330–340. Both scripts belong to the Alexandrian stylistic class and have elements in common with P. Bodmer II. These comparisons are convincing for me, and for this reason I accept a date between third and fourth centuries (expanding the chronological terms of previous article written together with Willy Clarysse, ‘Early New Testament Manuscripts and Their Dates. A Critique of Theological Palaeography’, ETL 88/4 [2012], pp. 443–474: 465, 470; for P. Bodmer XX and P. Bodmer II see also P. Orsini, ‘I papiri Bodmer: scritture e libri’, Adamantius 21 [2015], 60–78: 61 n. 5, 63–64, 77 [Tab. 2]).

P75 (P. Bodmer XIV-XV)

P75 was written by a single scribe in ‘severe style’. The dates proposed for this codex vary from the late second to the second half of the third century (see B. Nongbri, ‘Reconsidering the Place of Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV (75) in the Textual Criticism of the New Testament’, JBL 135 (2016), 405–437). Though comparisons with the manuscripts of the third century can indeed be made (P. Oxy. 1012 [205–250 AD; on the recto there is a document, P. Oxy. 1045, ca. 205 AD]; P. Oxy. 1016 [235–299 AD; on the recto there is a document, P. Oxy. 1044, ca. 234–235 AD]), a persuasive comparison, proposed by Nongbri, is also possible with P. Herm. 4 (about 317–323 AD) and P. Herm. 5 (about 325 AD), from the archive of Theophanes. For this reason I agree to extend the chronological terms, including the early fourth century (see Orsini, ‘I papiri Bodmer’, 77 [Tab. 2]).

The basic misunderstanding is to consider the script of the two Herm. papyri as belonging to ‘sloping pointed majuscule’: instead it belongs to the ‘severe style’. I shall not repeat here the characteristics of the ‘sloping pointed majuscule’ and its chronological problems (see my article: ‘La maiuscola ogivale inclinata. Contributo preliminare’, Scripta 9 [2016] 89–116), but the ‘sloping pointed majuscule’ develops through a transformation of the ‘severe style’ (Grenfell and Hunt, Schubart, Lameere and finally Cavallo have stated this), between the end of the IV and the beginning of the V century. The two Herm. papyri belong to a process of initial transformation of the ‘severe style’, but they do not yet present all the characteristics of the ‘sloping pointed majuscule’.

Egerton Gospel (P. Egerton 2 + P. Köln VI 255)

I agree with the dating proposed by Malik (150–250 AD; see P. Malik and L.E. Zelyck, ‘Reconsidering the Date(s) of the Egerton Gospel’, ZPE 204 [2017], 55–71: 65) for this ‘Alexandrian stylistic class’. Furthermore, I add—as ‘impression d’ensemble’—to the comparisons proposed by him P. Oxy. 4625 (AD 200–299) and P. Oxy. 3313 (AD 100–199), although these have some differences in detail.

Lakes' Dated Greek Minuscule MSS Online (by Pyle)

I would like to draw our readers' attention to a fine resource for Greek palaeography and codicology: Pyle which aims to (1) collect scattered resources from various individuals and institutions; and (2) aims to promote interaction among scholars, students and all other persons interested in ancient and medieval Greek manuscript books, providing a place to share knowledge, ideas, projects and news.

Just recently, Pyle added this wonderful resource by the Lakes:
Dated Greek Minuscule Manuscripts to the Year 1200, edited by Kirsopp Lake and Silva Lake, I-X, Boston (Massachusetts), The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1934-1939.

HT: Jac Perrin

When is a Manuscript a Minuscule?

Here is one of those enigmatic treasures that can be found among the later manuscripts, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Pluteo VIII.14. It is a composite manuscript that in its current shape contains the bulk of the letter of James on the first 18.5 folios, an unidentified text on the verso of folio 19, Chrysostom's sermons on Matthew from folio 21, and finally Victor of Antioch on Mark (the last two items as per Pinakes).

The text of James is laid out as a typical commentary manuscript with the main text occupying a relatively small block halfway down near the inner margin and the commentary written around it.



However, though on the last two pages the main text is laid out as normal, the commentary has not been added, and it seems that the commentary breaks off at the recto of folio 18. The final page with text of James looks like this and brakes off at James 4:15 αντι του λε-.



What strikes me though, is that this item is listed as a minuscule. Admittedly there are a number of ligatures, and the commentary is in a minuscule script, but the main text with all its individual letters looks to me rather majuscule-like. There are other examples where the text is in majuscule and the commentary is in minuscule, like X(033), or where part of the work is in minuscule and the remainder in majuscule (without either being a supplement), such as in minuscule 566 and Λ(039), which was divided up by Tischendorf.

Here is a composite image of the main text of the first four pages.



I have no intention of starting a campaign for the recategorisation of 197 as majuscule 03**, but, please, could somebody convince me that James in 197 is a true minuscule script? (As usual, thanks to the NT.VMR of the INTF for making the images available.)

PapPal: New Resource for Ancient Paleography

In a comment to the previous post on a reassessment of the date of the early NT papyri, Christian Askeland mentioned a new resource for the study of ancient paleography, PapPal, which certainly deserves to be mentioned in a main post. 

Here is the announcement by one of the developers, Rodney Ast of the Unveristy of Heidelberg: 

We are pleased to announce the launch of PapPal (www.pappal.info), an online resource for the study of ancient paleography.  The site currently gathers thumbnail images of over 2500 dated Greek documentary papyri from collections around the world, which can be displayed either in gallery or slideshow mode.  Links direct users to full images and further information at the host sites and to metadata and transcriptions at papyri.info.   At the moment, there are only a handful of ostraka included.  In the coming months we will be adding more of them, as well as dated Latin documents.   I hope that you will take some time to explore the site and send me your comments.
Work on this project has been made possible by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the context of the University of Heidelberg's Cultural Research Center 933.  Material Text Cultures: Materiality and the Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies, with further support from the Institute for Papyrology. 

Kind regards,
Rodney Ast

Where did you put those manuscripts?

I just finished reading the following article:
AnneMarie Luijendijk, 'Papyri from the Great Persecution: Roman and Christian Perspectives' in The Journal of Early Christian Studies 16:3 (Fall, 2008): 341–369.

The article contrasts two pieces of documentary evidence with the patristic accounts of Diocletian's persecution. The first papyrus (P.Oxy. XXXIII 2673) speaks of the confiscation of church property and the second (P.Oxy XXXI 2601) preserves evidence of Christians circumventing demands for imperial worship.

Dr Luijendijk (LOY[as in boy]-EN-DIKE[as in bike]) mentions another text which is of particular interest. The Gesta apud Zenophilum contains an excerpt from a text titled the Acta of Munatius Felix which documents the confiscation of the goods of a Numidian (modern Algeria) church in the first decade of the 4th century. Numerous gold, silver and bronze items were turned over in addition to clothing and other goods. When the authorities searched the premises, they found further valuables including a codex. When the homes of church readers were searched, 37 manuscripts turned up.

These naughty Christians had neglected to submit their biblical manuscripts to the authorities.

In the first P.Oxy text, only a few bronze items are relinquished to the authorities. Are the Christians in this Fayumic town also hiding their manuscripts and other goods? Are the authorities looking the other way? This article poses a number of provocative questions concerning how the persecution played out and the ways in which Christians learned to avoid legal punishment. The second P.Oxy text demonstrates how an early Christian escaped offering tribute in a forensic setting. The ancient author's Christian faith is marked by the isopsephy of a final Ϟθ' which apparently is code for "Amen".

P99 and the Reader's Bibles

I have seen a few Reader's Greek New Testaments floating around Cambridge recently (sample), and I must confess to having bought a Reader's Hebrew Old Testament a couple months back. We have at least one ancient parallel to this phenomenon. The Chester Beatty Codex ac. 1499 (P99, ca. 400 CE) contains Greek glosses for difficult Latin words (or perhaps vice-versa as the Greek precedes the Latin) for Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians. The manuscript is probably a writing exercise from a Pachomian monk polishing his Latin (A. Wouters, 1988, 166–168). This codex says a great deal. Egyptian monks (assuming that P99 came from the Dishna papers) were interested in the Latin Bible. The monks were active in educating themselves (the codex also contains a Greek grammar which consists of verbal paradigms). The ancient writers were struggling with the increasing gap between spoken Greek and Classical/Attic Greek (ibid., 80 f.).

Second International Summer School in Coptic Papyrology

An International Summer School in Coptic Papyrology, the second one of its kind after Vienna 2006, will be held in Leipzig from 27 July to 3 August 2008. It will be organised by the Papyrus Collection of the University Library and the Egyptological Institute of the University of Leipzig. Students and graduates from fields such as Coptology, Egyptology, papyrology, religious studies, ancient history, Arabic studies, or Byzantine studies are invited to participate, provided they have aquired a solid knowledge of Coptic. There will be two classes to apply for, one on literary (biblical and hagiographical) and and one on documentary (legal, epistolary, etc.) Coptic papyri. Students will have the opportunity to work on unpublished original papyri. A fee of € 250,- will include accommodation in a nearby residence hall (Villa Tillmanns), daily breakfast and lunch. The number of places is restricted to 20.

Applications should contain:
1. The applicant’s curriculum vitae.
2. Letters of reference from two teachers, who should also comment on the applicant’s language skills in Coptic.
Please send applications to:
PD Dr. Sebastian Richter (email)
Ägyptologisches Institut der Universität Leipzig
Burgstr. 21, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
tel.: + 49 341 9739019
fax: + 49 341 9737029

This summer school will provide an introduction to Coptic papyrology within its setting in the fields of Egyptology, classics, ancient history, early Christianity and archaeology.
Classes will be taught on palaeography and decipherment of literary as well as documentary hands, on the Sitz im Leben of both kinds of manuscripts, and on their relationship to other textual or archaeological evidence. For practical exercise, each student will be given an unpublished papyrus to work on. The intention is to offer a mixture of taught classes and workshops in which students can learn to appreciate the manifold information which the different kinds of papyri provide, as well as get acquainted with the wide range of questions raised by the papyrological material. The programme will offer insights into the late antique and early Christian culture of Egypt. Main instructors of the summer school will be: Anne Boud’hor (Paris), Jenny Cromwell (Oxford), Stephen Emmel (Münster), Tonio Sebastian Richter (Leipzig), Georg Schmelz (Heidelberg), and Reinhold Scholl (Leipzig). Speakers will include Sebastian Colditz (Leipzig, Byzantine studies), Hans-W. Fischer- Elfert (Leipzig, Egyptological Institute), Jörg Graf (Leipzig, Papyrus Collection), Verona Klemm (Leipzig, Oriental Institute), Nadine Quenouille (Leipzig, Papyrus Collection), and Uwe-Karsten Plisch (Berlin, Nag Hammadi and New Testament Studies). Classes will be taught in English.

Microscopes and Paleography

Typically when you visit a manuscript collection, there are microscopes and other tools available to assist with viewing artifacts. I have found it helpful to bring my own microscope on several occasions. Often the provided microscopes are so large that it requires the user to relocate to a position where the tool is bolted in, and there is also the added element of exposing the manuscript to light in order to make the microscope work effectively which may set your curator on edge. Portable magnifying glasses are often of the 2x/5x variety which I find to be too weak to really examine ligatures and ink blots (e.g., these). About a year and a half ago, I did some web research and found that there is a niche market for geological field microscopes which suit paleographic purposes well. There are more powerful microscopes which offer very high resolutions and digitally feed to your computer, but they are very expensive (e.g., here, here, and here). I like my 10x/20x pocket piece which I got here. There are a couple items out from Bausch & Lomb which look like they would be very nice. Their eyeglass loupes are low power (3x–7x), but offer hands-free magnification. The company also has a folding three-lens magnifier which is reasonably priced and offers what I think is about the right range of magnification for someone doing paleography. Microscopes.com offers a wide selection of all sorts of tools if you want to look for yourself.