2023-2024 Annual Weltin Lecture: “Theft, Forgery, and Scholarship: The Trafficking of Ancient Jewish and Christian Manuscripts”

How did ancient Jewish and Christian manuscripts end up in the libraries and museums where we now see them on display? In many cases, the answer is the antiquities market. Over the last century, there has been a thriving trade in ancient manuscripts. This market has always been shady, but in recent years, high profile scandals involving the trafficking of antiquities have shaken the field of biblical studies. Major collections of manuscripts and antiquities have been robbed by the very curators and scholars who should be safeguarding them. Top scholars have been fooled by forgeries that emerged from the market. This talk dives into some of these recent controversies by unravelling the complicated story of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, which has been at the center of some of these unfortunate events.