Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Raymond de Hoop <rdehoop AT keyaccess.nl>
> To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 2:10 AM
> Subject: Re: Biblio. ref.: Nash Papyrus
> 
> 
> > At 17-04-2001 18:19 Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it> wrote:
> > 
> > >>> I was wondering if anyone had any bibliographical references to the
> > >>> current understandings of the dating for the Nash Papyrus. I found
> > >>> a few mentions of from 100 BCE to 70 CE, but I would prefer to have
> > >>> a nice citable source!
> 
> E. Wurthwein's 2nd edition, _The Text of the OT_, 1995 Engl. ed., p. 34, 
> says:
> 
> "The papyrus was dated in the second or first century AD by its first 
> editors. On the grounds of its paleographical traits (which were not 
> disputed at the time, and have since been confirmed by the Qumran texts), 
> Albright assigned it to the Maccabean period,69 while Kahle assigned it on 
internal grounds to the period before the destruction of the Temple.70"
> 
> Notes: 
> 69 W F Albright 1937: 145-176.
> 70 P. Kahle 1951: 5f.  For dating in the second half of the second century 
> BC, cf. N. Avigad 1958: 65.
> 
> I was not familiar w/ Avigad, but his work is "The Palaeography of the Dead 
> Sea Scrolls and Related Documents, " ScrHier 4:56-87. Repr. 1965. Kahle's 
> article is Die hebraischen Handschriften aus der Hohle. Franz 
> Delitzsch-Vorlesungen. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
> 
> Wurthwein also has a nicely enlarged photograph on page 145, as he does of 
> many mss.
> 
I get the feeling there's a bit of circularity going on here, at least in 
regard to Ian's question and what he wants to do with the info on 
the Nash Pap.  He has said that he wants to use the information 
on the Nash Papyrus to bring into question the paleographic dating 
patterns (established by Cross?) used to date the Dead Sea 
Scrolls.  But what I'm seeing in all these references are studies 
that use *the DSS* to date the Nash Papyrus.  This makes me 
wonder if there's a study of the papyrus that will help Ian with his 
project, or if all current dating of it is based on Cross' DSS scheme?

This is the impression I'm getting, at least; Ian, what do you think?

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"You just keep thinking, Butch.  That's what you're good at."