Carbon Dating Confirms World's Oldest Torah Scroll. A scroll at the University of Bologna is shown to be 800 years old. The scroll dates to between 1155 and 1225, making it the oldest complete Torah scroll on record. We have fragments of other Torah scrolls from the Cairo Geniza that date to the same time or earlier, and they show identical styles to this copyist. Maybe we will find another Torah scroll that is older, but for now this is it. It has been at the University of Bologna library for centuries. It's very possible that at some time it came into the possession of a monastery, was later taken to Paris after Napoleon suppressed the monastic and religious orders, and finally restored to Bologna after Napoleon's collapse.
Friday, May 31, 2013
World's Oldest Surviving Torah Scroll
Carbon Dating Confirms World's Oldest Torah Scroll. A scroll at the University of Bologna is shown to be 800 years old. The scroll dates to between 1155 and 1225, making it the oldest complete Torah scroll on record. We have fragments of other Torah scrolls from the Cairo Geniza that date to the same time or earlier, and they show identical styles to this copyist. Maybe we will find another Torah scroll that is older, but for now this is it. It has been at the University of Bologna library for centuries. It's very possible that at some time it came into the possession of a monastery, was later taken to Paris after Napoleon suppressed the monastic and religious orders, and finally restored to Bologna after Napoleon's collapse.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Dead Sea Scrolls
Like any collectors, I would love to own one of these:
Nearly 70 years after the discovery of the world's oldest biblical manuscripts, the Palestinian family who originally sold them to scholars and institutions is now quietly marketing the leftovers - fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss safe deposit box all these years. Most of these scraps are barely postage-stamp-sized, and some are blank. But in the last few years, evangelical Christian collectors and institutions in the U.S. have forked out millions of dollars for a chunk of this archaeological treasure.Daniel Estrin, 'Fragments of biblical treasure are up for sale', Huffington Post 25th May 2013
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Welcome
Hi Guys, thanks for visiting my blog. As the title suggests its going to be about antiquities and antiquity collecting, anything in the anti-collecting debates that I spot and want to comment upon, perhaps sometimes a little tongue in cheek. I will also include news items about exciting discoveries which catch my eye. Maybe even later on I may post on some highlights from my own modest collection or cool things I see for sale. So its going to be rather a loose collection of thoughts... Enjoy and feel free to comment. Thanks.
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