Charles B. Huleatt purchased this Papyrus in Luxor in 1901 and it has been identified as a piece of the writings of the Gospel of Saint Mark. And until recently, has been dated to approximately A.D. 300 placing it well after the eyewitness period of A.D. 30 to A.D. 70. Recently, in an attempt to add credibility to the gospels, an attempt has been made to push the date of the piece closer to the eyewitness period by comparing the writing style to dated materials within the eyewitness period as carbon dating is not possible on such a small piece and even if it were, carbon dating is only accurate to within 50 years. I have watched the procedure as it pushed its way back to A.D. 135 and then A.D. 85 then again, prior to A.D. 63. Noticing the similarity in the handwriting of each of these periods in all different areas of the Holy Lands. I must admit that the style of writing does resemble the style used to write, even the Dead Sea Scrolls, a bit. My most important observation however, is that the style doesnt MORE resemble the styles of the earlier periods. It also resembles the styles of the earlier periods. So my conclusion is, given the vast area of the research and the fact that this piece equally resembles the writing styles compared to it over a said period of about 250 years, that all they have actually shown, is that the writing style of the region was virtually unchanged for that period of time. Given how few people of that period had the skills to write, or read for that matter, this is a very logical conclusion. Far more logical than the idea that the piece must be older because it equally resembles pieces of a much earlier period. Especially when you take into consideration how few people were teaching scribes in the area in those periods. Think about the number of people who do live and have lived in the United States who do and have written over the past 200 years. How different is the penmanship today than it was 200 years ago in the U.S.? Do you think you could date something written in West Virginia by comparing it to something written in Idaho simply by comparing the writing styles of a few letters? Even over the period of 200 years? I think they need to find a more reliable way of dating.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 15:43:00 +0000
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