Papyrology is the study 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 i ...

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'') can also refer to ...

, the principal writing material in the ancient civilizations of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. 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 scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

s in several locations in

, such as Arsinoe ( Faiyum) and

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus (; grc-gre, Ὀξύρρυγχος, Oxýrrhynchos, sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian ''Pr-Medjed''; cop, or , ''Pemdje''; ar, البهنسا, ''Al-Bahnasa'') is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cai ...

. Leading centres of papyrology include

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 the ...

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

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

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city o ...

, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

and the Istituto Papirologico "G. Vitelli" connected to the University of Florence. Founders of papyrology were the Viennese orientalist (Arabic papyrology), Wilhelm Schubart (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, 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 a British 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 f ...

, Otto Rubensohn, Ulrich Wilcken,

Bernard Pyne Grenfell Bernard Pyne Grenfell FBA (16 December 1869 – 18 May 1926) was an English scientist and Egyptologist. Life Grenfell was the son of John Granville Grenfell FGS and Alice Grenfell. He was born in Birmingham and brought up and educated at Cli ...

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

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