A photo from open sources
At the famous online auction site “eBay” put up a fragment Greek parchment, which contains lines from the fourth books of the New Testament – Gospel of John.
The initial cost of papyrus dating presumably 250-350 years of our era, was only ninety nine dollars. Professor Jeffrey Smith, Texas Worker University of Austin, quite by chance stumbled upon this lot and was literally shocked that such a thing could go under the hammer for next to nothing.
The American instantly contacted the owner of the parchment and convinced the seller does not part with the relic belonging to him, but instead this pass it on for research. User “eBay”, heeding the scientist’s arguments, agreed to do this, and at the moment through the efforts of Smith, a passage from the gospel is being studied by experts. Otherwise, as Jeffrey is sure, the papyrus could be bought cheaply by some private collector, and historical value would be permanently or permanently lost for world science.
The fragment is no larger than a credit card. On one its side contains six lines from a Christian book, on the other – a religious text that specialists have not yet succeeded to identify. US researchers refuse to call the owner of the papyrus, however, it is reported that the relic went to him from a late relative who once worked in Chicago Harold Willoughby University. The heir did not even suspect how valuable historical subject got into his own.
However, according to some experts, absolutely it is not necessary that the rarity be purchased for a penny. Enough there is one buyer who is aware of the value of such lots, and the cost of the latter would start to grow geometrically progression. So, last year at one of the virtual auctions with the parchment with a fragment of the letter to the Romans dating from the third century. Seller also set funny initial price, but in the end the item was bought for half a million dollars.
