N. Gonis - Böcker

Papyri nos 4639-4704

Oxyrhynchus was a vibrant ancient city and a remarkable archaeological site. Oxyrhynchus: A City and its Texts immerses the reader in its rich material culture and captivating art objects, from sculptures to draftsmanship, all set against the backdrop of numerous papyrus texts. It offers an exploration of the site itself – its city plan, topography, monuments and art architecture – and delves into the history of the excavations carried out in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Ultimately, it weaves together a compelling synthesis of the social, cultural and intellectual life under Greek, Roman and Byzantine rule, igniting a deeper appreciation for this fascinating chapter of Egyptian history.

This volume publishes a selection of texts prepared to highlight recent work on the Oxyrhynchus Collection. Part I includes papyri of the Old and New Testaments. Part II offers Comedy Old and New: Aristophanes, a sizeable chunk of Menander's Epitrepontes and Georgos . Part III presents previously unknown Greek literature, including a new papyrus of Empedocles, a work by Thrasyllus (Tiberius' court astrologer and philosopher in residence) on the classification of Plato's dialogues, as well as Dictys of Crete's account of the Trojan War in unpretentious prose, complete with its 'author's' own subscription. These add two new papyri of the Greek original to the two already known. They show more clearly the relation of the Greek original to the Latin version, casting doubt on the status of the letter as a straightforward translation. Part IV showcases texts of previously known Greek literature of the Roman period uncommon among the papyri, while Part V presents texts at the subliterary level. On the documentary side, Part VI includes: themes of extortion in petitions; a military muster, in Latin; a letter on recovery from illness in high-flown Greek; a certified copy of a petition to a prefect, which besides its impressive format has interesting though enigmatic implications for the use of Roman Law.

Papyri nos 4968-5019

The core of this volume is the biggest concentration of magical papyri published in some 25 years, giving a fascinating insight into approaches to averting and treating illnesses, and attracting a partner. Further material contains theological texts (Philo), extant classical texts (Menander, Theocritus, Euclid, Polybius, Plutarch), and a new classical text (Sophokles).

Volume LXXXIII of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri continues our publication of biblical texts, including what is only the second Egyptian witness to the Epistle of Philemon as well as further early witnesses to the text of Mark and Luke, and an amateur copy of excerpts from Ezekiel’s Exagoge. Other sections offer new fragments from two popular genres: trials from the Acta Alexandrinorum, notably the trial of the former Prefect Titianus before Hadrian (an event sensational enough to reach the Historia Augusta); and adventures from the Greek Novel, including the Crimean narrative of Calligone and the Amazons. There is also a glimpse of the anonymous copyists to whom we owe our texts, practising the various graphic styles from which their customers could choose. Other documents contribute a mass of detail to the social and economic history of Roman and Byzantine Egypt, such as an official letter about the tax-grain destined to supply Rome; a tax-receipt that attests a Jewish community at Oxyrhynchus in the late fourth century; and, quite an extraordinary object, part of a ceremonial painted with a laurel wreath and a Latin inscription that celebrates the twentieth anniversary of some fourth-century emperor. The final section of the volume contains art: a fine pen-and-ink drawing of a rampant goat, and seven sketches on a single sheet, including a cockerel and a peacock, a wild boar, and a unicorn. As the Artemidorus papyrus has renewed discussion of drawing as an art in the Greek world, with some finding its own spread of drawings so striking as to suggest forgery, the new examples from Oxyrhynchus now demonstrate comparable technique and similar subject-matter in papyri of undoubted authenticity.