University Of Michigan Papyrology Collection
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The Papyrology Collection of the
University of Michigan Library The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United Sta ...
is an internationally respected collection of ancient
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 ...
and a center for research on ancient culture, language, and history. With over 7,000 items and more than 10,000 individual fragments, the Collection is by far the largest collection of papyrus in the country, and offers a glimpse into the everyday life and language of the ancient world. Of keen interest to historians, linguists, classicists, philosophers, archaeologists, as well as others, the collection includes biblical fragments, religious writings, public and private documents, private letters, and writings on astronomy, astrology, mathematics, and magic. The papyri span nearly two millennia of history, dating from about 1000 BC to AD 1000, with the majority dating from the third century BC to the seventh century AD. Many of the papyri in U-M's collection were written by Greek-speaking people living in
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 ...
. Their use of common Greek, known as
koine Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...
, is instructive as to how the ancient dialects gave way to a more standardized language. Although most examples of papyrus originate from Egypt,
papyrologist Papyrology is the study of manuscripts of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., preserved on portable media from antiquity, the most common form of which is papyrus, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations ...
s generally study documents which are written in Greek—the official language of the government from the time of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
until the
Muslim conquest of Egypt The Arab conquest of Egypt, led by the army of Amr ibn al-As, took place between 639 and 642 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long Roman Egypt, Roman period in Egypt that had begun in 30 BC and, more broa ...
.


History

The Michigan Papyrus Collection was initially developed by Professor Francis W. Kelsey, Chairman of the Department of Latin from 1889 to 1927. While in Italy in 1915, Professor Kelsey learned of the possibility of purchasing papyri from dealers. But, since
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
was in progress, any purchasing had to wait until after the armistice of 1918. Kelsey then traveled to Egypt to acquire papyri. In February 1920, he arrived in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
and secured the codex of the
Minor Prophets The Twelve Minor Prophets (, ''Shneim Asar''; , ''Trei Asar'', "Twelve"; , "the Twelve Prophets"; , "the Twelve Prophets"), or the Book of the Twelve, is a collection of twelve prophetic works traditionally attributed to individual prophets, like ...
, among many other pieces. Dr.
W.W. Bishop WW, W&W, W/W, and variants, may refer to: Places * County Wicklow, Ireland (vehicle plate code WW; region code WW, IE-WW) * Westerwaldkreis, Germany (vehicle plate code WW) * Route WW (Missouri), USA; a secondary road People and characters * W ...
, University Librarian of the University of Michigan, was very eager to enlarge the Library's manuscript resources, and assumed responsibility for the housing and care of the papyri, as well as for providing in the Library a work room for those entrusted with their decipherment and publication. All these papyrus documents provide a unique insight into the ancient world, the social structure of ancient life in general and in detail. The contribution of the papyrus collection has been very important in the understanding of the history of Egypt under Greek and Roman rule, the structure of the society from the
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty *Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter *Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining t ...
to the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
period, the administration, the personal religious beliefs of individuals, the official religions and their dogmatic clashes, the history of ancient scholarship, the schools, higher education and changes in literary taste over the periods mentioned. Among the most intriguing texts to have been unearthed are passages from sorcerers' handbooks that disclose magic spells and give instructions on their proper use. The collection of papyri is augmented by the University's collection of
ostraca An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...
, which is housed in the
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is a museum of archaeology located on the University of Michigan central campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. The museum is a unit of the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, ...
. Other ancient materials in the Collection include wood and wax tablets (unique in the ancient world because they were eraseable and re-usable).


Professional Activities and Affiliations

From July 29-August 4, 2007, The U-M Papyrus Collection hosted the XXV International Congress of Papyrology. The Congress is an important gathering of international scholars and researchers. The U-M Papyrus Collection also produces the
Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists
', the only professional journal published in America for the advanced study of papyri and related topics.


Digitization efforts

The University of Michigan Papyrus Collection has for many years been involved in
digitizing Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...
its papyrology collection. New technology has aided the study of the fragile materials, making it more easily accessible. The first digital scanner purchased by the U-M Library was used to begin digitizing its papyrus holdings, according to the Winter 2007 issue of ''Search and Discovery: Research at Michigan''. The University of Michigan, along with
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
, Columbia,
Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
,
Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...
, and
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
, is a member of th
Advanced Papyrological Information System
(APIS), a consortium that is working to digitize the member institutions' collections and make them available online. The Michigan APIS database currently has over 35,000 records with images, searchable in a variety of fields including date, language, origin, type of text, author, names of persons, and many more.Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS UM) digitized image database
/ref> Also included are detailed electronic images of the papyrus, publication info, and even (in some cases) a link to the Greek text on the
Perseus Project The Perseus Digital Library, formerly known as the Perseus Project, is a free-access digital library founded by Gregory Crane in 1987 and hosted by the Department of Classical Studies of Tufts University. One of the pioneers of digital libraries, ...
website.


See also

* Collections of papyri


References

{{University of Michigan Papyrus collections Ostracon University of Michigan Egyptian inscriptions Ptolemaic Greek inscriptions Roman-era Greek inscriptions