NG on the search for sacred texts

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Inside the cloak-and-dagger search for sacred texts. In the shadowy world where religion meets archaeology, scientists, collectors, and schemers are racing to find the most precious relics (Robert Draper). I noted mention of the print version of this article under a slightly different title ("Bible Hunters") here, but it is now online.

This is a very good article that deals with most of the recent stories about Bible-related (etc.) manuscripts, whether genuine or fake. These include Operation Scroll, which continues; Konstantin von Tischendorf and Codex Sinaiticus; the Sisters of Sinai and Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus; the Oxyrhynchus papyri; the Dead Sea Scrolls; P52, the Rylands fragment of the Gospel of John; the Museum of the Bible's fake Dead Sea Scrolls fragments and Hobby Lobby's improperly acquired cuneiform tablets; the no-longer-first-century fragment of the Gospel of Mark; and more. Read it all.

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