> Did someone take authentic originals and write additional text over them? There are all kinds of materials used for forgeries. Ranging from cheap ones sold t

> Did someone take authentic originals and write additional text over them? There are all kinds of materials used for forgeries. Ranging from cheap ones sold to tourist on contemporary papyros (or even banana leaves) made contemporary ink to highly sophisticated ones on original Ancient papyros (you either remove the old handwriting of a not so "valuable" text or use blank Ancient papyros). > How are all of these fragments not in one place under guard? Just an anecdote: I once visited a papyrological institute at the university I studied with a group of fellow students to receive an introduction into papyrology. All the tables in the seminar room were pushed together and on them lay a lot of papyros fragments, each fixed between two sealed panes of plastic. Among them were also the highlights of the collection: A small fragment from Qumran and a Septuaginta fragment from the 7th century. Everyone was allowed to take these sealed plastic storage frames (I don't know the professional term for it) into her or his hand and have a close look at it from both sides.