Author’s Blog
A Brief Progress Update and a Scientific Opinion – Saturday, 4 August 1883
On Saturday, 4 August 1883, a brief update on the examination of the leather pieces appeared in The Athenæum in the Literary Gossip column.[1] It read: “The examination of the pieces of leather which Mr. Shapira has brought to London is proceeding, but...
The Story Breaks! – Friday, 3 August 1883
After the meeting of Thursday, 26 July 1883 at the office of the Palestine Exploration Fund, Dr. Ginsburg was placed in charge of the manuscript strips brought to England by Moses W. Shapira and tasked to examine them at the British Museum. The following Friday, 3...
A Return to London – August 1883
Over August, I intend to take The Moses Scroll blog readers to nineteenth-century London (not literally, but literarily*). That's right; you are invited to travel back in time with me to follow the chronological unfolding of the events surrounding Christian David...
London’s First Look at Shapira’s Leather MSS
On 20 July 1883, Moses Wilhelm Shapira arrived unannounced at 1 Adam Street in London, the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) headquarters. Walter Besant, the secretary of the PEF, greeted him. Shapira informed Besant that he had brought a manuscript to London written...
A New Discovery in Jerusalem – 7 July 1880
A New Discovery in Jerusalem[1] On 7 July 1880, Albert Socin published an article informing the readers of the Journal of the German Palestine Association of a new discovery in Jerusalem. That discovery would become known as the Siloam Inscription. The...
One Week in Leipzig – 30 June-6 July 1883
If you're interested in the Shapira affair, you might be interested in reading the sole academic treatment of Shapira's sixteen leather strips from the 19th century, Herman Guthe's Fragmente einer Lederhandschrift enthaltend Mose’s Letzte rede an die Kinder Israel. An...