New Guest-Blogger: Andrew Criddle

Forgers look out. Stephen Carlson and Andrew Criddle are bonding over on Hypotyposeis. Check out Andrew's debut post for the dating of a particular gem mentioned in Raymond Brown's Death of the Messiah. The gem isn't quite parallel to the Orpheus Amulet, which Andrew believes to be a forgery. ("The Orpheus amulet taken at face value dates from 400 CE or earlier, but iconographically makes little sense in the pre-Islamic world.") Andrew suggests a dating of about 500 CE for the gem, and that it's probably "the earliest depiction of a suffering crucified Christ".

For some time I'd wanted to see Andrew start his own blog, but teaming up with Stephen is just as good, if not better. I now look doubly forward to reading Hypotyposeis.