The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...
s discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by
papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and
Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient
rubbish dump
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
near
Oxyrhynchus in
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 Medit ...
(, modern ''el-Bahnasa'').
The manuscripts date from the time of the
Ptolemaic (3rd century BC) and
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
periods of Egyptian history (from
32 BC
__NOTOC__
Year 32 BC was either a common year starting on Monday or Tuesday or a leap year starting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further in ...
to the
Muslim conquest of Egypt
The Muslim conquest of Egypt, led by the army of 'Amr ibn al-'As, took place between 639 and 646 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long period of Roman reign over Egypt that began in 30 BC. Byzantine ru ...
in 640 AD).
Only an estimated 10% are literary in nature. Most of the papyri found seem to consist mainly of public and private documents:
codes
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
,
edicts
An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement".
''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum.
Notable edicts
* Telepinu Pro ...
,
registers, official correspondence,
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
-returns,
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
-assessments,
petitions
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offic ...
,
court-records,
sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in ...
,
leases
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
,
wills Wills may refer to:
* Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the pr ...
,
bills,
accounts,
inventories
Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation.
Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sha ...
,
horoscopes
A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...
, and private letters.
Although most of the papyri were written 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 ...
, some texts written in Egyptian (
Egyptian hieroglyphics,
Hieratic,
Demotic
Demotic may refer to:
* Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language
* Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language
* Chữ Nôm, the demotic script for writing Vietnamese
See also
*
* Demos (disa ...
, mostly
Coptic),
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
were also found. Texts in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
,
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
,
Syriac Syriac may refer to:
*Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic
*Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region
* Syriac alphabet
** Syriac (Unicode block)
** Syriac Supplement
* Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
and
Pahlavi have so far represented only a small percentage of the total.
Since 1898, academics have collated and transcribed over 5,000 documents from what were originally hundreds of boxes of papyrus fragments the size of large cornflakes. This is thought to represent only 1 to 2% of what is estimated to be at least half a million papyri still remaining to be conserved, transcribed, deciphered and catalogued. The most recent published volume was Vol. LXXXVI, .
Oxyrhynchus Papyri are currently housed in institutions all over the world. A substantial number are housed in the
Sackler Library
The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.
History
The Sackler Library building was completed in 2001 and opened on 24 September of tha ...
at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
. There is an online table of contents briefly listing the type of contents of each papyrus or fragment.
Administrative texts
Administrative documents assembled and transcribed from the Oxyrhynchus excavation so far include:
* The contract of a wrestler agreeing to throw his next match for a fee.
* Various and sundry ancient recipes for treating haemorrhoids, hangovers and cataracts.
* Details of a
grain dole mirroring a similar program in the Roman capital.
Secular texts
Although most of the texts uncovered at Oxyrhynchus were non-literary in nature, the archaeologists succeeded in recovering a large corpus of literary works that had previously been thought to have been lost. Many of these texts had previously been unknown to modern scholars.
Greek
Several fragments can be traced to the work of
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, for instance the ''
Republic'', ''
Phaedo
''Phædo'' or ''Phaedo'' (; el, Φαίδων, ''Phaidōn'' ), also known to ancient readers as ''On The Soul'', is one of the best-known dialogues of Plato's middle period, along with the '' Republic'' and the '' Symposium.'' The philosophica ...
'', or the dialogue ''
Gorgias'', dated around 200-300 CE.
Historiography
Another important discovery was a papyrus codex containing a significant portion of the treatise ''
The Constitution of the Athenians'', which was attributed to
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
and had previously been thought to have been lost forever. A second, more extensive papyrus text was purchased in Egypt by an American missionary in 1890.
E. A. Wallis Budge of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
acquired it later that year, and the first edition of it by British
paleographer
Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...
Frederic G. Kenyon was published in January, 1891. The treatise revealed a massive quantity of reliable information about historical periods that classicists previously had very little knowledge of. Two modern historians even went so far as to state that "the discovery of this treatise constitutes almost a new epoch in Greek historical study." In particular, 21–22, 26.2–4, and 39–40 of the work contain factual information not found in any other extant ancient text.
The discovery of a historical work known as the ''
Hellenica Oxyrhynchia
''Hellenica Oxyrhynchia'' is an Ancient Greek history of classical Greece in the late 5th and early 4th centuries BCE, of which papyrus fragments were unearthed at Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt. The author, whose name is not recorded in the surviving fragm ...
'' also revealed new information about classical antiquity. The identity of the author of the work is unknown; many early scholars proposed that it may have been written by
Ephorus
Ephorus of Cyme (; grc-gre, Ἔφορος ὁ Κυμαῖος, ''Ephoros ho Kymaios''; c. 400330 BC) was an ancient Greek historian known for his universal history.
Biography
Information on his biography is limited. He was born in Cyme, A ...
or
Theopompus
Theopompus ( grc-gre, Θεόπομπος, ''Theópompos''; c. 380 BCc. 315 BC) was an ancient Greek historian and rhetorician.
Biography
Theopompus was born on the Aegean island of Chios. In early youth, he seems to have spent some time at Athen ...
, but many modern scholars are now convinced that it was written by
Cratippus. The work has won praise for its style and accuracy
and has even been compared favorably with the works of
Thucydides
Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...
.
Mathematics
![Oxyrhynchus papyrus with Euclid's Elements](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/P._Oxy._I_29.jpg)
The findings at Oxyrhynchus also turned up the oldest and most complete diagrams from
Euclid
Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
's ''
Elements''.
[ Fragments of ]Euclid
Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the '' Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ...
discovered led to a re-evaluation of the accuracy of ancient sources for ''The Elements'', revealing that the version of Theon of Alexandria
Theon of Alexandria (; grc, Θέων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; 335 – c. 405) was a Greek scholar and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. He edited and arranged Euclid's '' Elements'' and wrote commentaries on wor ...
has more authority than previously believed, according to Thomas Little Heath
Sir Thomas Little Heath (; 5 October 1861 – 16 March 1940) was a British civil servant, mathematician, classical scholar, historian of ancient Greek mathematics, translator, and mountaineer. He was educated at Clifton College. Heath translat ...
.
Drama
The classical author who has most benefited from the finds at Oxyrhynchus is the Athenian
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
playwright Menander (342–291 BC), whose comedies were very popular in Hellenistic times and whose works are frequently found in papyrus fragments. Menander's plays found in fragments at Oxyrhynchus include ''Misoumenos'', ''Dis Exapaton'', ''Epitrepontes'', ''Karchedonios'', '' Dyskolos'' and ''Kolax''. The works found at Oxyrhynchus have greatly raised Menander's status among classicists and scholars of Greek theatre
Ancient Greek theatre was a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was its centre, where the theatre was ...
.
Another notable text uncovered at Oxyrhynchus was ''Ichneutae
The ''Ichneutae'' ( grc, Ἰχνευταί, ''Ichneutai'', "trackers"), also known as the ''Searchers'', ''Trackers'' or ''Tracking Satyrs'', is a fragmentary satyr play by the fifth-century BC Athenian dramatist Sophocles. Three nondescript quotat ...
'', a previously unknown play written by Sophocles
Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...
. The discovery of ''Ichneutae'' was especially significant since ''Ichneutae'' is a satyr play
The satyr play is a form of Attic theatre performance related to both comedy and tragedy. It preserves theatrical elements of dialogue, actors speaking verse, a chorus that dances and sings, masks and costumes. Its relationship to tragedy is str ...
, making it only one of two extant satyr plays, with the other one being Euripides's '' Cyclops''.
Extensive remains of the ''Hypsipyle
In Greek mythology, Hypsipyle (Ancient Greek: Ὑψιπύλη) was a queen of Lemnos, and the daughter of King Thoas of Lemnos, and the granddaughter of Dionysus and Ariadne. When the women of Lemnos killed all the males on the island, Hypsipyle ...
'' of Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
and a life of Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars a ...
by Satyrus the Peripatetic were also found at Oxyrhynchus.
Poetry
* Poems of Pindar
Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...
. Pindar was the first known Greek poet to reflect on the nature of poetry and on the poet's role.
* Fragments of Sappho, Greek poet from the island of Lesbos
Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...
famous for her poems about love.
* Fragments of Alcaeus, an older contemporary and an alleged lover of Sappho, with whom he may have exchanged poems.
* Larger pieces of Alcman, Ibycus
Ibycus (; grc-gre, Ἴβυκος; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, a citizen of Rhegium in Magna Graecia, probably active at Samos during the reign of the tyrant Polycrates and numbered by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria in the cano ...
, and Corinna
Corinna or Korinna ( grc, Κόριννα, Korinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia. Although ancient sources portray her as a contemporary of Pindar (born ), not all modern scholars accept the accuracy of this tradition ...
.
* Passages from 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 '' Odys ...
''. See Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 20 – ''Iliad'' II.730-828 and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 21 – ''Iliad'' II.745-764
Latin
An '' epitome'' of seven of the 107 lost books of Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
was the most important literary find in Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
.
Christian texts
Among the Christian texts found at Oxyrhynchus, were fragments of early non-canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...
Gospels, ''Oxyrhynchus 840'' (3rd century AD) and '' Oxyrhynchus 1224'' (4th century AD). Other Oxyrhynchus texts preserve parts of Matthew 1 (3rd century: ''P2'' and ''P401''), 11–12 and 19 (3rd to 4th century: ''P2384,'' ''2385''); Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
10–11 (5th to 6th century: ''P3''); John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
1 and ''20'' (3rd century: ''P208''); Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
1 (4th century: ''P209''); the First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John is the first of the Johannine epistles of the New Testament, and the fourth of the catholic epistles. There is no scholarly consensus as to the authorship of the Johannine works. The author of the First Epistle is ter ...
(4th-5th century: ''P402''); the Apocalypse of Baruch (chapters 12–14; 4th or 5th century: ''P403''); the ''Gospel according to the Hebrews
The Gospel of the Hebrews ( grc, τὸ καθ' Ἑβραίους εὐαγγέλιον), or Gospel according to the Hebrews, is a lost Jewish–Christian gospel. The text of the gospel is lost, with only fragments of it surviving as brief quot ...
'' (3rd century AD: ''P655''); ''The Shepherd of Hermas
''The Shepherd of Hermas'' ( el, Ποιμὴν τοῦ Ἑρμᾶ, ''Poimēn tou Herma''; la, Pastor Hermae), sometimes just called ''The Shepherd'', is a Christian literary work of the late first half of the second century, considered a valuab ...
'' (3rd or 4th century: ''P404''), and a work of Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
, (3rd century: ''P405''). There are many parts of other canonical books as well as many early Christian hymns, prayers, and letters also found among them.
All manuscripts classified as "theological" in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri are listed below. A few manuscripts that belong to multiple genres, or genres that are inconsistently treated in the volumes of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, are also included. For example, the quotation from Psalm
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
90 (P. Oxy. XVI 1928) associated with an amulet, is classified according to its primary genre as a magic text in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri; however, it is included here among witnesses to the Old Testament text. In each volume that contains theological manuscripts, they are listed first, according to an English tradition of academic precedence (se
Doctor of Divinity
.
Old Testament
The original Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
(or LXX, both 70 in Latin), because there is a tradition that seventy Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish scribes compiled it 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, Alexandri ...
. It was quoted in the New Testament and is found bound together with the New Testament in the 4th and 5th century Greek uncial
Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...
codices Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...
, Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...
and Vaticanus. The Septuagint included books, called the Apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
or Deuterocanonical
The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...
by Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
, which were later not accepted into the Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
of sacred writings (see next section). Portions of Old Testament books of undisputed authority found among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri are listed in this section.
*The first number (Vol) is the volume of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri in which the manuscript is published.
*The second number (Oxy) is the overall publication sequence number in Oxyrhynchus Papyri.
*Standard abbreviated citation of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri is:
::P. Oxy. Roman numerals> .
*Context will always make clear whether volume 70 of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri or the Septuagint is intended.
*P. Oxy. VIII 1073 is an Old Latin
Old Latin, also known as Early Latin or Archaic Latin (Classical la, prīsca Latīnitās, lit=ancient Latinity), was the Latin language in the period before 75 BC, i.e. before the age of Classical Latin. It descends from a common Proto-Italic ...
version of Genesis, other manuscripts are probably copies of the Septuagint.
*Dates are estimated to the nearest 50 year increment.
*Content is given to the nearest verse where known.
Old Testament Deuterocanon (or, Apocrypha)
This name designates several, unique writings (e.g., the Book of Tobit) or different versions of pre-existing writings (e.g., the Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a 2nd-century BC biblical apocalypse with a 6th century BC setting. Ostensibly "an account of the activities and visions of Daniel, a noble Jew exiled at Babylon", it combines a prophecy of history with an eschatology ...
) found in the canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
of the Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
scriptures (most notably, in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
''Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...
status amongst Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
by the beginning of the second century A.D., they retained that status for much of the Christian Church. They were and are accepted as part of the Old Testament canon by the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Eastern Orthodox churches. Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
Christians, however, follow the example of the Jews and do not accept these writings as part of the Old Testament canon.
*PP. Oxy. XIII 1594 and LXV 4444 are vellum ("vellum" noted in table).
*Both copies of Tobit are different editions to the known Septuagint text ("not LXX" noted in table).
Other related papyri
New Testament
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri have provided the most numerous sub-group of the earliest copies of the New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
. These are surviving portions of codices
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
(books) written in Greek uncial
Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to ...
(capital) letters 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 ...
. The first of these were excavated by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt in Oxyrhynchus, at the turn of the 20th century. Of the 127 registered New Testament papyri
A New Testament papyrus is a copy of a portion of the New Testament made on papyrus. To date, over 140 such papyri are known. In general, they are considered the earliest witnesses to the original text of the New Testament.
This elite status amo ...
, 52 (41%) are from Oxyrhynchus. The earliest of the papyri are dated to the middle of the 2nd century, so were copied within about a century of the writing of the original New Testament documents.
Grenfell and Hunt discovered the first New Testament papyrus (), on only the second day of excavation, in the winter of 1896–7. This, together with the other early discoveries, was published in 1898, in the first volume of the now 70-volume work, ''The Oxyrhynchus Papyri''.
*The third column (CRG) refers to the now standard sequences of Caspar René Gregory.
*𝔓 indicates a papyrus manuscript, a number beginning with zero indicates vellum.
*The CRG number is an adequate abbreviated citation for New Testament manuscripts.
*Content is given to the nearest chapter; verses are sometimes listed.
New Testament Apocrypha
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri collection contains around twenty manuscripts of New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
, works from the early Christian period that presented themselves as biblical books, but were not eventually received as such by the orthodoxy. These works found at Oxyrhynchus include the gospels of Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
, Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
, James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguati ...
, ''The Shepherd of Hermas
''The Shepherd of Hermas'' ( el, Ποιμὴν τοῦ Ἑρμᾶ, ''Poimēn tou Herma''; la, Pastor Hermae), sometimes just called ''The Shepherd'', is a Christian literary work of the late first half of the second century, considered a valuab ...
,'' and the '' Didache.'' (All of these are known from other sources as well.) Among this collection are also a few manuscripts of unknown gospels. The three manuscripts of Thomas represent the only known 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 ...
manuscripts of this work; the only other surviving manuscript of Thomas is a nearly complete Coptic manuscript from the Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammadi ( ; ar, نجع حمادى ) is a city in Upper Egypt.
It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. It had a population of close to 43,000 .
History
The town of Nag Hammadi is name ...
find. P. Oxy. 4706, a manuscript of ''The Shepherd of Hermas,'' is notable because two sections believed by scholars to have been often circulated independently, ''Visions'' and ''Commandments'', were found on the same roll.[Barbantani, Silvia. "Review: Gonis (N.), Obbink (D.) ]t al.
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
(edd., trans.) ''The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Volume LXIX. (Graeco-Roman Memoirs 89.)''" (2007) ''The Classical Review,'' 57:1 p.66 Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
* P. Oxy. V 840 and P. Oxy. XV 1782 are vellum
* 2949?, 3525, 3529? 4705, and 4706 are rolls, the rest codices.
Other related texts
*Four exact dates are marked in bold type:
::three '' libelli'' are dated: all to the year 250, two to the month, and one to the day;
::a warrant to arrest a Christian is dated to 28 February 256.
See also
*List of early Christian writers
Various Early Christian writers wrote gospels and other books, some of which were canonized as the New Testament canon developed. The Apostolic Fathers were prominent writers who are traditionally understood to have met and learned from Jesus' p ...
* List of Egyptian papyri by date
*List of New Testament minuscules
The list of New Testament Minuscules ordered by Gregory-Aland index number is divided into three sections:
* List of New Testament minuscules (1–1000)
* List of New Testament minuscules (1001–2000)
* List of New Testament minuscules (2001– ...
*List of New Testament papyri
A New Testament papyrus is a copy of a portion of the New Testament made on papyrus. To date, over 140 such papyri are known. In general, they are considered the earliest witnesses to the original text of the New Testament.
This elite status amo ...
*List of New Testament uncials
*Novum Testamentum Graece
*Palaeography
*Papyrology
*Tanakh at Qumran
*Textual criticism
*The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus
*Zooniverse (citizen science project)#Projects, Zooniverse - Ancient Lives
*Serapeum of Alexandria
References
External links
The Oxyrhynchus papyri
(1898 publication by S.H. Hunt)
* Oxford University
Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project
Oxyrhynchus Online
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri.
Trismegistos.org
Online database of ancient manuscripts.
* GPBC
Gazetteer of Papyri in British Collections
* The Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri
''P. Oxy.: The Oxyrhynchus Papyri''.
* Wieland Willke
* The papyri on line
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. I
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. II
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. III
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. III
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. Digitized by Cornell University Library Digital Collections
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. IV
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. V
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. VI
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. VII
edited with translations and notes by Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. VIII
edited with translations and notes by Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. IX
edited with translations and notes by Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. X
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. Digitized b
Cornell University Library Digital Collections
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. X
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. XI
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. XII
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. XIII
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. XIV
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. XV
edited with translations and notes by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt at the Internet Archive
The Oxyrhynchus papyri vol. I - XV
(single indexed PDF file)
{{Authority control
Oxyrhynchus papyri,
1st-millennium BC manuscripts
1st-millennium manuscripts
Archaeological corpora
Egyptian papyri
Manuscripts
New Testament papyri, Oxyrhynchus
Papyrology
History of Phoenicia