New Papyri from Graecon-Roman Egypt

In the ancient world papyrus was used as a writing material from the earliest days of writing. Manufactured from the papyrus plant, it had physical features similar to those of modern paper. Both literary texts and a wide variety of documents from everyday life were written on it. Papyrus can only survive under extremely dry climatic conditions. Although it was widely used all over the ancient Mediterranean world, by far the largest number of papyri have been preserved in the dry sands of Egypt. These texts illustrate the history and development of this country from the Old Kingdom to the middle ages. Papyri written in the Graeco-Roman and early Arab periods (about 330 BC - AD 800) illuminate everyday life in what was a Hellenistic kingdom and then an (eastern) Roman province, as well as the circumstances and consequences of the Arab conquest. Egypt may, therefore, serve as a model for understanding historical processes and phenomena in other parts of the ancient and early medieval Mediterranean as well. The scholarly value of documentary papyri lies in the fact that every single piece is an original testimony and thus a primary source for historians. When put into the right context, papyri offer a wealth of information on every aspect of private and social life, administration and taxation, religion and cults, the legal system and the economy. Information of this kind and depth cannot be obtained from any other type of source-material. Papyri, therefore, shed light upon numerous aspects of life in antiquity which would otherwise remain unknown. By presenting new texts of extraordinary detail, papyrology makes an invaluable contribution to basic research into antiquity and the early middle ages. The main objective of the project is the edition or re-edition of documentary papyri from the Graeco-Roman and early Arab periods held at the Vienna Papyrus Collection, one of the world`s largest collections of ancient papyri and related materials (inscribed pottery shards, wooden and wax tablets, animal bones, parchments, etc.). Two additional aims are, on the one hand, the edition of literary texts, many of which derive from works which have not otherwise been preserved and, on the other, the publication of papyri which are of special significance for related disciplines, such as archaeology, ancient history, Byzantinology, the history of law and theology.

The main objective of the internationally staffed research project "New Papyri from Ancient Egypt" was the publication of documentary papyri held at the Vienna Papyrus Collection. The result is the surveying, deciphering, translation, historical interpretation of and the philological and text-critical commenting upon approximately 450 papyrus documents which are significant from a scholarly perspective. These texts, written in ancient Greek and Latin and originating from Graeco-Roman and early Arab Egypt (approximately 300 BC - 800 AD), are either published for the first time or are re-published with major improvements. The project has been physically based at the Austrian National Library (ÖNB) and has been carried out through the institutional support of the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Papyrus was the universally used writing material of Antiquity and, being an organic material, it can only survive in regions which have an extremely dry climate. This is the reason why the majority of surviving papyri originate from Egypt. The scholarly value of papyri consists of the fact that every single piece is an original testimony and thus a primary source for historians. Among them are legal and administrative documents, correspondence, accounts, school-texts, literature and works of a scientific or practical nature, etc. This material offers a unique insight into the politics, administration, society, economy, culture and religions of the Greek and Roman worlds and opens up perspectives for which no other sources exist. The findings made on the basis of this Egyptian material also allow conclusions to be drawn concerning historical processes in other parts of the ancient and early medieval world. The results of this project have been presented in 80 publications (among them 5 volumes of text-editions) in some of the most prestigious series of the discipline. The volumes of text-editions concentrate on papyri concerning the economy and administration of Ptolemaic Egypt, on Byzantine private letters and on texts of fundamental importance to the economic history of 6th -8th century Egypt. Numerous documents which have a general historical significance and which are thus highly relevant to neighbouring disciplines, such as ancient history, Byzantinology, classical philology, palaeography and the history of law, were published in journals. This has made scholars working in a wide range of disciplines of ancient studies aware of the results and potential of papyrology. Finally, the project has also succeeded in understanding the structure of the Vienna collection better, identifying new archives and joining numerous fragments together. It opened up new fields for future research, e.g. on the Latin papyri of the collection. The project`s results have enriched our knowledge considerably and have forged innovative methods of presenting new papyrus texts in a broad historical context. Its members could establish themselves well in the field and it could also help a new generation of young scholars be trained. A major success of the project is the fact that, by the creation of new positions and by the signing of a cooperation agreement, the Austrian National Library, the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences have marked their commitment to papyrology. This "tripod" guarantees fruitful research and teaching to the highest international standards for the long-term and is intended to form the core of a future centre of excellence.