An Oxford University professor stands accused of illegally selling rare ancient Bible fragments to a controversial religious US company.

Dirk Obbink was one of the world’s most celebrated classics professors but he is currently the centerpiece in a major scandal after incriminating evidence was found in an investigation by staff associated with Oxford’s  Oxyrhynchus Papyri project. The professor has been accused of selling a number of ancient fragments to the US arts and crafts chain Hobby Lobby, owned by the prominent Christian evangelical, Green family, who are no strangers to defending high-profile scandals related to the illegal purchasing of biblical artifacts.

The Net Closes

According to a report in The Guardian Hobby Lobby president Steve Green said the family funded Washington’s $400 million Museum of the Bible in 2017 which exhibits among other things contemporary art depicting the Apocalypse, “there is something here for you, your family, your community”.

The Egypt Exploration Society (EES), which manages the Papyri project, said it was told by the Museum of the Bible that “11 fragments were sold to it by Obbink” in two separate batches in 2010 and now both the EES and staff at the university have confirmed Obbink is currently under investigation for the alleged illegal sale of the ancient biblical artifacts .

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