Chris Weimer

You shouldn't need to.

Phlox Pyros

Depends on what you mean by "ancient Greek". If you just want a Greek unicode converter, Peter's page is good, or you can try the following:

Symbol font to Unicode Converter
Greek Font to Unicode Converter
Greek Beta Code to Unicode Converter

If you mean "ancient Greek" as in a font similar to the Uncial script written in 4-5th centuries codeces, then I have no clue.

S.C.Carlson

Since my home system is Windows XP, I've been using Microsoft's Polytonic Greek keyboard. I've blogged some details about it here: How to Use the Greek Polytonic System in Windows XP.

All I can say is that I've been using it for a year and I love it.

Stephen

Toto

Back to the main issue, the dealer who supplied the gospel has a shady past:

A dealer credited with 'rescuing' the document allegedly played a major role in the looting of antiquities. She received a suspended sentence.from page 2 eta

NY Times article

Roger Pearse

Well... exporting artworks is fraught with legal difficulties, and just getting tripped up by such is probably an occupational hazard for the dealer. I'm not sure that Frieda Nussberger has done anything particularly wrong, other than try to get Bruce Ferrini to sell the 4 codices including the ps.Gospel of Judas for her (Ferrini is currently being depicted as the Bad Guy by everyone).

Some people may feel that manuscripts should not be bought and sold, or smuggled out of Egypt. But I look on the other side. These things are always, always found by semi-illiterate peasants. The only thing that stops them tossing them on the cooking fire (as happened to one of the Nag Hammadi mss) is that belief that Cairo illicit dealers will pay money for them. No other country seems to have these dealers, and it may be significant that I know of only one manuscript from Roman North Africa ever found outside of Egypt. Probably the rest simply went on the fire.

So the local dealers are actually improving the chance of preservation pretty substantially. The downside is that they may split a find to increase their take. Likewise, these are not scrupulous people. The Egyptian who bought the four codices left them in a tin-box in a NY bank for 20 years, which did them no good at all. But... who else will get hold of them? No-one. We do not have a colonial administration in Egypt, it is a third world country, which means that almost everyone there cares nothing about the heritage except as a source of cash. This is the world we have, and we have to work out what best to do.

It must also be faced that far more damage has been caused to these codices since they left that lockbox than happened to them before. Ferrini seems to have split them up and sold them a page at a time.

I don't think that there is a perfect answer. But as far as I can tell, Frieda N. is not really particularly to blame. Without her involvement, the books would still be rotting in a tin box in NY.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

MJ67

I am not picking a fight, you are trying to make it look as though I am. Yet you back into the exact point I am trying to make, as is Peter. And that point is this:

If as you say I do not know the language, then I am blinded by having to take the word of someone else as to their translation, where "blinded" means that I would not be able to determine whether there is any deception or not. Yet, if as Peter argues, there is no deception, then I am not blinded by anything am I? For obviously, what I read would in fact be the truth, and I have no need of being able to translate the language myself.

Now if Mr. Kirby's exercise is to learn the translation rather than looking for deception within same, then it is logical that since National Geographic has provided both the images of the manuscripts and the translated texts, all he needs to do is that which was done with the Rosetta stone, where Mr. Kirby has the ability to match the translated texts with the manuscript, and learn. Instead he is questioning the translations by surmising alternate phrases should be used and by asking others how they in fact would translate that which is already translated.

If that is not indicative of a perceived deception, then it can only be that Mr. Kirby, as novice a translator as he is, is calling into question the ability of the translators whom he actually is defending.

Phlox Pyros

I understand what you are trying to say, but it is just philosophical mumbo-jumbo, if you'll pardon the expression. The reasons for looking at the original language have already been explained. In fact, some interesting things have alreay been learned (ie. for instance, the interesting literal translation that underlies "before" and that "celebration" does not appear to literally be in the text but added by the translators for color). How much more clear can it be? This is why I, and likely others, think you are merely trying to pick a fight.

Since you are taking position on top of the high horse, do you know Coptic? If so, then help us out. If not, then why not take the opportunity to learn something new and interesting?

Ben C Smith

I have several converters on my site. Unfortunately, their most powerful features work only with Explorer, and they are complicated; they have to be, because I use them to design synopses.

Coptic, Hebrew, and Greek are available.

Ben.

Phlox Pyros

Cool. Thanks. I'll have to try it out.

{P.S. You left an extra [ /url ] in your link that is keeping it from working correctly...}

Ben C Smith

Oh, sorry. This one should work.

There is also a tutorial for any with time enough to kill learning how to use these tools. I use them all the time myself, but for very specific purposes.

Ben.