The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology

by Bagnall, Roger S.

• ISBN13: 9780199843695
• ISBN10: 0199843694
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-11
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Thousands of texts, written over a period of three thousand years on papyri and potsherds, in Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Hebrew, Persian, and other languages, have transformed our knowledge of many aspects of life in the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds. The Oxford Handbook of Papyrologyprovides an introduction to the world of these ancient documents and literary texts, ranging from the raw materials of writing to the languages used, from the history of papyrology to its future, and from practical help in reading papyri to frank opinions about the nature of the work of papyrologists. This volume, the first major reference work on papyrology written in English, takes account of the important changes experienced by the discipline within especially the last thirty years. Including new work by twenty-seven international experts and more than one hundred illustrations, The Oxford Handbook of Papyrologywill serve as an invaluable guide to the subject.

Author Biography

Roger S. Bagnall is Professor of Ancient History and Director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.

Table of Contents

Contributors	p. vii
Figures	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Internet Resources	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Writing Materials in the Ancient World	p. 3
The Finds of Papyri: The Archaeology of Papyrology	p. 30
The History of the Discipline	p. 59
Conservation of Ancient Papyrus Materials	p. 79
Greek and Latin Writing in the Papyri	p. 101
The Greek and Latin Languages in the Papyri	p. 149
Abbreviations and Symbols	p. 170
Practical Help: Chronology, Geography, Measures, Currency, Names, Prosopography, and Technical Vocabulary	p. 179
Editing a Papyrus	p. 197
Archives and Dossiers	p. 216
The Ancient Book	p. 256
Papyrology and Ancient Literature	p. 282
The Special Case of Herculaneum	p. 303
Education in the Papyri	p. 320
Mathematics, Science, and Medicine in the Papyri	p. 338
The Range of Documentary Texts: Types and Categories	p. 358
The Multilingual Environment of Persian and Ptolemaic Egypt: Egyptian, Aramaic, and Greek Documentation	p. 395
The Multilingual Environment of Late Antique Egypt: Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Persian Documentation	p. 418
Arabic Papyri and Islamic Egypt	p. 452
The Papyrology of the Near East	p. 473
Writing Histories from the Papyri	p. 495
Geography and Administration in Egypt (332 bce-642 ce)	p. 521
Law in Graeco-Roman Egypt: Hellenization, Fusion, Romanization	p. 541
Egyptian Religion and Magic in the Papyri	p. 561
The Papyri and Early Christianity	p. 590
Manichaeism and Gnosticism in the Papyri	p. 623
The Future of Papyrology	p. 644
Index	p. 661
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