Papyrology is the study of

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Papyrology includes both the translation and interpretation of ancient documents in a variety of languages as well as the care and conservation of rare papyrus originals. Papyrology as a systematic discipline dates from the 1880s and 1890s, when large caches of well-preserved papyri were discovered by

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s in several locations in

, such as Arsinoe (

Faiyum Faiyum ( ; , ) is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location. Name and etymology Originally f ...

) and

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...

. Leading centres of papyrology include

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

, the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussamlung at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, the

Österreichische Nationalbibliothek The Austrian National Library (, ) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collection ...

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and the Istituto Papirologico "G. Vitelli" connected to the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

. Founders of papyrology were the Viennese orientalist (Arabic papyrology),

Wilhelm Schubart Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Schubart (21 October 1873 – 9 August 1960) was a German ancient historian. He was a leading authority in the field of papyrology. Schubart was born on 21 October 1873 in Liegnitz, then part of the German Empire. He st ...

(Greek papyrology), the Austrian antiquarian who acquired more than 100,000 Greek, Arabic, Coptic and Persian papyri in Egypt, which were bought by the Austrian Archduke Rainer to form the

Rainer collection The Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library, also known as the Rainer Collection () and Vienna Papyrus Collection (), is a papyrus collection of the Austrian National Library at Hofburg palace in Vienna. It contains around 180,000 obj ...

, G. F. Tsereteli, who published papyri of Russian and Georgian collections,

Frederic George Kenyon Sir Frederic George Kenyon (15 January 1863 – 23 August 1952) was an English palaeographer and biblical and classical scholar. He held a series of posts at the British Museum from 1889 to 1931. He was also the president of the British Academy ...

Otto Rubensohn Otto Rubensohn (24 November 1867, Kassel – 9 August 1964, Höchenschwand) was a German-Jewish classical archaeologist. He received his education at the Universities of Berlin and Strasbourg, Under the supervision of Adolf Michaelis, he earned ...

Ulrich Wilcken Ulrich Wilcken (December 18, 1862 – December 10, 1944) was a German historian and papyrologist who was a native of Stettin. Biography Wilcken studied ancient history and Oriental studies in Leipzig, Tübingen and Berlin. He was a disciple of ...

Bernard Pyne Grenfell Bernard Pyne Grenfell FBA (16 December 1869 – 18 May 1926) was an English scientist and egyptologist. Excavations he did with Arthur Surridge Hunt uncovered manuscripts including the oldest Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Life Grenfell was the son o ...

Arthur Surridge Hunt Arthur Surridge Hunt FBA (1 March 1871 – 18 June 1934) was an English papyrologist. Life Hunt was born in Romford, Essex, England. Over the course of many years, Hunt, along with Bernard Grenfell, recovered many papyri from excavation ...

Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies, ''The Journal of Jewish Studies'', Jewish Chronicle Publications, 1974, p.420 and other distinguished scientists.

References

External links

The Beginnings of Papirology (1788)papyri.infoTrismegistos: an academic interdisciplinary portal of papyrological resourcesPlaces and discovery of papyriIntroduction to PapyrologyThe University of Michigan Papyrus Collection John D. Muccigrosso's Papyrology HomepagePapyrology at OxfordArabic Papyrology DatabaseUpdates of papyrological publications, compiled from Papy-L et al. Papyrological Institute Leiden UniversityIstituto Papirologico "Girolamo Vitelli"
{{Authority control Ancient Egyptian literature Textual scholarship

See also

References

External links