An Oxford professor allegedly stole ancient Bible fragments and sold them to Hobby Lobby
Source: Washington Post
An Oxford professor allegedly stole ancient Bible fragments and sold them to Hobby Lobby
By Katie Shepherd
Oct. 15, 2019 at 7:34 a.m. EDT
Since 2012, scholars and University of Oxford officials have been trying to trace a rumor that the oldest Bible fragment ever discovered not just existed but had been mysteriously stolen and sold to American arts-and-crafts giant Hobby Lobby.
Now, officials said they have finally cracked the case. The suspected thief at the center of the biblical controversy? Professor Dirk Obbink, one of the most celebrated classics professors in the world, a Nebraska native and MacArthur genius grant recipient who had long directed and allegedly looted Oxfords Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project, a collection of centuries-old literature recovered from an ancient Egyptian garbage dump in 1896.
On Monday, officials from the Papyri Project released the results of a three-month probe into Obbink, and accused the acclaimed professor of taking and selling at least 11 ancient Bible fragments to the Green family, the Hobby Lobby owners who operate a Bible museum and charitable organization in Washington.
The Egypt Exploration Society, a nonprofit that manages the Papyri Projects collection of ancient literature, and the Museum of the Bible explained their findings in statements shared with The Washington Post.
The (museum) has informed the EES that 11 of these pieces came into its care after being sold to Hobby Lobby Stores by Professor Obbink, the nonprofit said in a statement Monday.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/15/oxford-professor-allegedly-stole-ancient-bible-fragments-sold-hobby-lobby/
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Related: Professor Obbink and missing EES papyri (Egypt Exploration Society)
Zambero
(8,954 posts)Tribal Bible?
secondwind
(16,903 posts)Chiyo-chichi
(3,564 posts)"Looter Rooters"?
catrose
(5,050 posts)Chiyo-chichi
(3,564 posts)Don't encourage me. I'll keep going.
LakeArenal
(28,729 posts)Thou shalt not covet.
Thou shall not lie.
Sounds like someone not reading what they steal.
Cartaphelius
(868 posts)exactly why they were stolen?
What were the actual texts and did they represent
divergent histories that the Bible Story?
Christians... Obviously, as history has demonstrated time and time again,
they had a reason beyond simple the simple possession of antiquities.
Especially, as the church, no doubt has a copy in its possession at the
Vatican.
Just what are they hiding?
Probably, evidence that their self-proclaimed legitimacy, is a fraud on humanity.
yellowcanine
(35,692 posts)Anon-C
(3,430 posts)Never knew Hobby Lobby was so deep into antiquities smuggling.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/hobby-lobby-scandal-widens-as-museum-of-the-bible-admits-oxford-prof-sold-illicit-papyri-to-green-family