Flavius Dioscorus ( el, Φλαύϊος Διόσκορος, Flavios Dioskoros) lived during the 6th century AD in the village of
Aphrodito,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, and therefore is called by modern scholars Dioscorus of Aphrodito. Although he was an Egyptian, he composed poetry in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, the cultural language of the
Byzantine Era
The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...
. The manuscripts, which contain his corrections and revisions, were discovered on
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'') can also refer to a ...
in 1905, and are now held in museums and libraries around the world. Dioscorus was also occupied in
legal work, and legal documents and drafts involving him, his family, Aphroditans, and others were discovered along with his poetry. As an administrator of the village of Aphrodito, he composed petitions on behalf of its citizens, which are unique for their poetic and religious qualities. Dioscorus was a Christian (a
Copt
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since Ancient history, antiqui ...
) and lived in a
religiously active environment. The collection of Greek and
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
papyri associated with Dioscorus and Aphrodito is one of the most important finds in the history of
papyrology
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 ...
and has shed considerable light on the law and society of Byzantine Egypt.
Papyrus
The papyri of Dioscorus were discovered by accident in July 1905 in the village of
Kom Ashkaw (also called Kom Ishgau, Kom Ishqaw, etc.), which was built above the ancient site of Aphrodito. An inhabitant was renovating his home when a wall collapsed and revealed a chasm below. Papyrus rolls and fragments were seen in the crevice, but by the time the
Antiquities Service was notified and arrived, most of the papyrus was gone. During subsequent excavations, a large jar filled with papyrus was discovered in a Roman-style house. Important fragments of
Athenian Comedy, both Old and New, were discovered among these papyri, including fragments of the famous comedy writer
Menander
Menander (; grc-gre, Μένανδρος ''Menandros''; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC) was a Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His rec ...
. There were also fragments of Homer's
Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...
and other literary works and reference works.
Most importantly, the excavator Gustave Lefebvre unearthed an archive of sixth-century legal, business, and personal papers, and original poetry. These were turned over to the young scholar Jean Maspero, son of the Director of the Antiquities Service of Egypt, who edited and published the documents and poems in several journal articles and two volumes of the ''Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire: Papyrus grecs d’époque byzantine'' (Cairo 1911, 1913). Jean was killed in the battle at Vauquois on the Lorraine during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and his father Gaston completed the third volume of Dioscorian papyri in 1916. Other Dioscorian papyri, obtained by antiquities dealers through sales and clandestine excavations, were published in Florence, London, Paris, Strasbourg, Princeton,
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, the Vatican, etc.
Aphrodito
The village of Kom Ashkaw is in
Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt () is the section of land between Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta) and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle E ...
, south of Cairo and north of Luxor. It was originally an Egyptian city, but after
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
conquered Egypt in 332 B.C., it was given the Greek name "Aphroditopolis" (“The City of
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include ...
”) and was made the capital city of its
nome (an administrative district, like a US county). Before the 6th century, however, Aphroditopolis lost its status as a city, and the capital of the
Aphroditopolite Nome
The Aphroditopolite Nome (also Wadjet) was a nome in ancient Egypt. The administrative region was the tenth nome of Upper Egypt. Its capital was Tjebu. During the Ptolemaic period, the nome's capital city was Aphroditopolis.
Several governors ...
was moved across the
Nile River
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
to
Antaeopolis. The village of Aphrodito and the city of Antaeopolis were part of the larger administrative region of the
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...
, which was under the jurisdiction of a ''
doux'', appointed by the
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
. The ''doux'' had his administrative center in
Antinoopolis on the east bank of the Nile River.
Aphrodito was situated in an environment that was highly poetic and religious.
Nonnus
Nonnus of Panopolis ( grc-gre, Νόννος ὁ Πανοπολίτης, ''Nónnos ho Panopolítēs'', 5th century CE) was the most notable Greek epic poet of the Imperial Roman era. He was a native of Panopolis (Akhmim) in the Egyptian Thebai ...
, the most influential poet of the Early Byzantine Era (AD 300–700), had come from Panopolis, 42 km. southeast of Aphrodito. Other poets from the Thebaid had not only become celebrities—such as
Musaeus Grammaticus Musaeus Grammaticus ( grc-gre, Μουσαῖος ''Mousaios'') probably belongs to the beginning of the 6th century AD, as his style and metre are evidently modeled on those of Nonnus. He lived before Agathias (530–582) and has been identified w ...
, Colluthus, and Christodorus—but also were part of a poetic revolution of that time. These poets, though Egyptians, wrote their verses in the Greek dialect of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
. Perhaps one of the reasons for this movement was to usurp the pagan vocabulary and style of the most honored ancient poet for Christian purposes. Dioscorus continued and developed this revolution by writing
encomiastic poems (poems of praise) in an Homeric style. The community was also active religiously. According to the New Testament, Egypt was the first home of
young Jesus and his family. And according to
Patristic literature
Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...
, Egypt was the birthplace of
Christian monasticism
Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of Christians who live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian worship. It began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural e ...
. In Northern Egypt, the areas of
Nitria,
Kellia
Kellia ("the Cells"), referred to as "the innermost desert", was a 4th-century Egyptian Christian monastic community spread out over many square kilometers in the Nitrian Desert about 40 miles south of Alexandria. It was one of three centers of ...
, and
Wadi Natrun
Wadi El Natrun (Arabic: "Valley of Natron"; Coptic: , "measure of the hearts") is a depression in northern Egypt that is located below sea level and below the Nile River level. The valley contains several alkaline lakes, natron-rich salt dep ...
contained large monastic centers that attracted devout followers from both the Eastern and Western halves of the Byzantine Empire. In southern Egypt, one of the first Christian monasteries was established at
Pbow
Pbow was a cenobitic monastery established by St. Pachomius in 336-337 AD. Pbow is about north of Luxor in modern Upper Egypt.
Name
Pbow is a Coptic name. The Arabic "Faw" in "Faw al-Qibli" ("South Faw") derives from the Coptic Pbow. Other nam ...
, 127 km. southeast of Aphrodito. Less than 40 km. south of Aphrodito was the
White Monastery
The Coptic White Monastery (), also The Monastery of Abba Shenouda () and The Athribian Monastery () is a Coptic Orthodox monastery named after Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite. It is located near the Upper Egyptian cities of Tahta and Sohag, a ...
, founded by the vigorous Coptic monk
Shenoute
Shenoute of Atripe, also known as Shenoute the Great or Saint Shenoute the Archimandrite (Coptic language, Coptic: ; (347-465 or 348-466) was the abbot of the White Monastery in Egypt. He is considered a saint by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, ...
. The father of Dioscorus himself, Apollos, established and later entered his own monastery. In fact, Aphrodito and its vicinity “boasted over thirty churches and nearly forty monasteries.”
Biography
Early years
There is no surviving record for the early years of Dioscorus. His father Apollos was an entrepreneur and local official. The commonly accepted date for the birth of Dioscorus is around AD 520. Although there is no evidence, it is likely that Dioscorus went to school in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, where one of his teachers might have been the
Neoplatonic
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...
philosopher
John Philoponus
John Philoponus (Greek: ; ; c. 490 – c. 570), also known as John the Grammarian or John of Alexandria, was a Byzantine Greek philologist, Aristotelian commentator, Christian theologian and an author of a considerable number of philosophical tre ...
. Although Alexandria was not the most prominent place for a legal education – that was the famed
law school
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
of
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
– young men did travel there for rhetorical training preliminary to the study of law. These included the celebrated poet
Agathias
Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...
, a contemporary of Dioscorus, who at an early age published a successful collection of poems called the Cycle and later became the center of a circle of prominent poets in the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
.
Back in Aphrodito, Dioscorus married, had children, and pursued a career similar to his father's: acquiring, leasing out, and managing property, and helping in the administration of the village. His first dated appearance in the papyrus is 543. Dioscorus had the assistant of the ''
defensor civitatis'' of Antaeopolis examine the damage done by a shepherd and his flock to a field of crops, which was owned by the Monastery of Apa Sourous but managed by Dioscorus.
Constantinople
Dioscorus also became engaged in legal work. In 546/7, after his father Apollos died, Dioscorus wrote a formal petition to
Emperor Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...
and a formal explanation to
Empress Theodora
Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift".
Theodora may also refer to:
Historical figures known as Theodora
Byzantine empresses
* Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church
* Theodora of ...
about tax conflicts affecting Aphrodito. The village was under the special patronage of the Empress, and had been granted the status of ''autopragia''. This meant that the village could collect its own public taxes and deliver them directly to the imperial treasury. Aphrodito was not under the jurisdiction of the
pagarch, stationed in Antaeopolis, who handled the public taxes for the rest of the ''nome''. Dioscorus's petition and explanation to the imperial palace described the pagarch's violations of their special tax status, including theft of the collected tax money.
The communications to Constantinople seem to have had little effect, and in 551 (three years after the death of Theodora), Dioscorus travelled with a contingency of Aphroditans to Constantinople to present the problem to the Emperor directly. Dioscorus may have spent three years in the capital of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. In poetry, the city was very active. Not only was
Agathias
Agathias or Agathias Scholasticus ( grc-gre, Ἀγαθίας σχολαστικός; Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 23–25582/594), of Myrina (Mysia), an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor (Turkey), was a Greek poet and the principal histo ...
now writing there, but also
Paul the Silentiary
Paul the Silentiary, also known as Paulus Silentiarius ( el, , died AD 575–580), was a Greek Byzantine poet and courtier to the emperor Justinian at Constantinople.
Life
What little we know of Paul's life comes largely from the contemporary ...
and
Romanus the Melodist
Romanos the Melodist (; late 5th-century — after 555) was a Byzantine hymnographer and composer, who is a central early figure in the history of Byzantine music. Called "the Pindar of rhythmic poetry", he flourished during the sixth century ...
. In respect to the Aphroditans' tax problems, Dioscorus was able to obtain an imperial rescript, three copies of which have survived in his archive. The Emperor instructs the Duke of the Thebaid to investigate and, if justified, to stop the aggressions of the pagarch. There is no evidence of further tax violations by the pagarch until after the death of Justinian in 565.
Antinoopolis
In 565/6 Dioscorus left Aphrodito for Antinoopolis, the capital city of the Thebaid and the residence of the ''doux''. He remained there for about seven years. His motivation for the move is nowhere made clear. But surmising from the surviving documents, one can conclude that he was attracted by the opportunity to advance his legal career in the proximity of the Duke and likewise was compelled by the increasing violence of the pagarch against Aphrodito and his own family. The legal documents from that period show that Dioscorus wrote the final will for the Surgeon General (Phoebammon), arbitrated in family property disputes, composed marriage and divorce contracts, and continued writing petitions about the offenses of the pagarch. One such petition, P.Cair.Masp. I 67002, describes how a group of Aphroditans on their way to the annual cattle market were ambushed. They were eventually put into a prison in Antaeopolis, under the control of the pagarch Menas, where they were tortured and robbed and their animals were seized. Menas and his men then attacked the village of Aphrodito itself: he blocked the
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
, extorted money, burned down homes, and violated the nuns. All these crimes were committed in the name of collecting the public taxes, although Aphrodito had never failed a payment and Menas had no right to collect them. A formal explanation, P.Lond. V 1677, describes the attacks by Menas on Dioscorus himself and his family. He seized property owned by Dioscorus and transferred it to his assistants, leaving Dioscorus with only the tax liability. Menas proceeded to pillage the home of Dioscorus's brother-in-law and seized his land too, reducing him and his family to poverty. He then arrested Dioscorus's own son.
Before May 574, Dioscorus left Antinoopolis. The reason for his departure is not explained. It might have been related to domestic affairs, to his career, or to the changed situation in Constantinople. The violent crimes against Aphrodito and Dioscorus (described above) were committed under the reign of
Justin II
Justin II ( la, Iustinus; grc-gre, Ἰουστῖνος, Ioustînos; died 5 October 578) or Justin the Younger ( la, Iustinus minor) was Eastern Roman Emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the ...
, who had launched a savage persecution of Christians that did not adhere to
Chalcedonian
Chalcedonian Christianity is the branch of Christianity that accepts and upholds theological and ecclesiological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christolo ...
dogmas, including
Egyptian Copts
Copts in Egypt refers to Coptic people born in or residing in Egypt.
Demographics
As of 2019, "Copts are generally understood to make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt's population,"Michael Wahid HannaExcluded and Unequal: Copts on the Margin ...
. But Justin went completely insane and abdicated, and in 574,
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...
and Empress
Sophia, the wife of Justin, took over the management of the Byzantine Empire.
Return to Aphrodito
Back home in Aphrodito, it seems that Dioscorus withdrew from legal affairs and administrative responsibilities. Much of his poetry was composed during his stay in Antinoopolis or after he had returned to Aphrodito. His documents now focus on mundane, rural activities. His last dated document, a land lease written by his hand in an account book, is April 5, 585.
Poetry
Publications
Dioscorus might have recited his poems and circulated them locally, but there is no evidence that they were ever published during his lifetime. Jean Maspero published the first collection of Dioscorian poems in 1911: “Un dernier poète grec d’Égypte: Dioscore, fils d’Apollôs.” This journal article included the texts of 13 poems, French translations, and an analysis of the style. Then between 1911 and 1916, Jean and Gaston Maspero republished the poems along with Dioscorian documents in three volumes of ''Papyrus grecs d'époque byzantine''. These poems were all part of the papyrus collection owned by the
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. In 1962, Ernst Heitsch published 29 Dioscorian poems that were among papyrus fragments held in a variety of museums and libraries. For over thirty-five years, this was the authoritative edition. The most comprehensive edition at the present time is by
Jean-Luc Fournet, who in 1999 published 51 Dioscorian poems and fragments (including 2 that he considered of dubious authenticity). In addition to the texts and commentaries offered by Maspero, Heitsch,
Fournet, and the initial editors of other poems, a comprehensive study of his poetry was published by Leslie MacCoull in 1988: ''Dioscorus of Aphrodito: His Work and His World'' (Berkeley). Clement Kuehn published a reinterpretation of his poetry in 1995: ''Channels of Imperishable Fire: The Beginnings of Christian Mystical Poetry and Dioscorus of Aphrodito'' (New York).
Interpretations
The reactions by modern readers to his poetry have varied widely. The papyrologists and historians that first examined them were not impressed. Influenced by their backgrounds in
Classical poetry, they compared the Dioscorian verses primarily to Classical standards. The most frequent objection was that his verses were obscure: the editors thought that the lines did not make sense – or at least, were not saying what the editors expected them to say. A more positive assessment was offered by Leslie MacCoull, who insisted that a reader must take Dioscorus's Coptic background into consideration when reading the poetry. Many of the poems seemed to be praising unknown dignitaries – including an Emperor and several Dukes – and some papyrologists concluded that Dioscorus wrote the poems to get favors from government administrators (whom the papyrologists vaguely and inconsistently identified). Clement Kuehn, however, proposed that the poems be viewed not from a Classical,
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
, or even a strictly
Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
perspective, but through a lens of
Byzantine culture
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
and
spirituality
The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...
, in which Dioscorus and the Thebaid were so deeply immersed. Kuehn demonstrated that the poems fit neatly and masterfully into the
allegorical style that was pervasive in the pictorial art and literature of the Early Byzantine Era. That is: Dioscorus, influenced by allegorical commentaries on the
Homeric epics
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
and Bible, and by the allegorical icons and church art of the
6th century
The 6th century is the period from 501 through 600 in line with the Julian calendar. In the West, the century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The collapse of the Western Roman Empire late in the previous c ...
, was praising Christ, Old Testament patriarchs, and the saints in heaven as if they were the Emperor, kings, and dignitaries in a Byzantine court.
[Kuehn 1995, pp. 2, 156, and passim; Kuehn 2011, pp. 9–12 (“Introduction”).]
References
Citations
Sources
*
Bagnall, Roger S., ed. 2007. Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300–700. Cambridge.
* ----- 2009. The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology. Oxford.
*Bagnall, Roger, and Dominic Rathbone, eds. 2004. Egypt from Alexander to the Early Christians: An Archaeological and Historical Guide. Los Angeles.
*Bell, H. I. 1917. Greek Papyri in the British Museum, Vol. V. London.
.Lond. V* ----- 1944. “An Egyptian Village in the Age of Justinian.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 64: 21–36.
*Bell, H. I., and W. E. Crum. 1925. “A Greek-Coptic Glossary.” Aegyptus 6: 177–226.
*Cameron, Alan. 1965. “Wandering Poets: A Literary Movement in Byzantine Egypt.” Historia 14: 470–509.
* ----- 2007. “Poets and Pagans in Byzantine Egypt.” In Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300–700, ed. by R. Bagnall, Cambridge, 21–46.
*Cameron, Averil. 1970. Agathias. Oxford.
*Cameron, Alan and Averil. 1966. “The Cycle of Agathias.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 86: 6–25.
*Cavero, Laura Miguélez. 2008. Poems in Context: Greek Poetry in the Egyptian Thebaid 200–600 AD. Berlin.
*Countryman, L. William. 1997. Review of Channels of Imperishable Fire: The Beginnings of Christian Mystical Poetry and Dioscorus of Aphrodito, by Clement A. Kuehn. In Church History 66 (4): 787–789.
*Cribiore, Raffaella. 2007. “Higher Education in Early Byzantine Egypt: Rhetoric, Latin, and the Law.” In Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300–700, ed. by R. Bagnall, Cambridge, 47–66.
*Dawson, D. 1992. Allegorical Readers and Cultural Revision in Ancient Alexandria. Berkeley.
*Gomme, A. W., and F. H. Sandbach. 1973. Menander: A Commentary. Oxford.
*Emmel, S. 2004. Shenoute's Literary Corpus. 2 vols. Leuven.
*Feissel, Denis, and
Jean Gascou, eds. 2004. La pétition à Byzance. Paris.
*
Fournet, J.-L. 1999. Hellénisme dans l’Égypte du VIe siècle. La bibliothèque et l’œuvre de Dioscore d’Aphrodité. MIFAO 115. 2 vols. Cairo.
*Fournet, Jean-Luc, and Caroline Magdelaine, eds. 2008. Les archives de Dioscore d’Aphrodité cent ans après leur découverte: histoire et culture dans l’Egypte Byzantine : actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 8–10 décembre 2005. Paris.
*Gagos, T., and P. van Minnen. 1994 . Settling a Dispute: Toward a Legal Anthropology of Late Antique Egypt. Ann Arbor.
*Gascou, Jean. 1972. “La détention collégiale de l’autorité pagarchique.” Byzantion 43 (1972): 60–72.
* ----- 1976. “P.Fouad 87: les monastères pachômiens et l’état byzantin,” BIFAO 76: 157–84.
* ----- 1981. “Documents grecs relatifs au monastère d’Abba Apollôs.” Anagennesis 1 (2): 219–30.
*Grossmann, Peter. 2002. Christliche Architektur in Ägypten. Leiden.
* ----- 2007. “Early Christian Architecture in Egypt and its Relationship to the Architecture of the Byzantine World.” In Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300–700, ed. by R. Bagnall, Cambridge, 103–36.
* ----- 2008. “Antinoopolis Oktober 2007. Vorläufiger Bericht über die Arbeiten”; and “Antinoopolis Januar/Februar 2008. Vorläufiger Bericht über die Arbeiten.” In Aegyptus: Rivista Italiana di Egittologia e di Papirologia, Milan, n.p.
*Heitsch, Ernst. 1963. Die griechischen Dichterfragmente der römischen Kaiserzeit. Vol. 1, 2nd edn. Göttingen.
* ----- 1964. Die griechischen Dichterfragmente der römischen Kaiserzeit. Vol. 2. Göttingen.
*Keenan, James G. 1984a. “The Aphrodite Papyri and Village Life in Byzantine Egypt.” Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie Copte 26: 51–63.
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External links
Man and CircumstanceBiography of Dioscorus of Aphrodito
CicadaThe Poetry of Dioscorus of Aphrodito: The Critical Edition
AWOLThe Ancient World Online (see July 14, 2011)
Papy-LWhat's New in Papyrology (see March 30, 2011)
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