Publication of Coptic Documentary Texts from Aphrodito

The aim of the project applied for is the scientific publication of 42 Coptic texts from Late Antiquity. These Coptic texts are part of the Doresse-Collection of the Biblioteca Vaticana in Rome. Their publication has been awaited by the scientific community since a long time. Aphrodito is mentioned as location of origin of the texts. This has to be modified since at least one text was definitely written in the Hermopolite nome. Quite a number of texts which are from Aphrodito has been published in the course of the past century, most of them are in Greek. These contribute to writing a history of this place especially for the 6th century. The Coptic texts will help to widen the time-frame into the 7th century. Legal documents, letters, lists and two fragments of literary texts can be found in this collection. Various legal dealings are attested in the texts, quite a number of persons are mentioned, some of them are already known from other texts. The monastic environment is prevalent within the texts and leaves its traces in legal and economic matters. Two of the legal documents show that women are acting as legal representatives of their children who are not yet of age. The aim is the publication of these texts within one volume containing the transcription of the texts, the translation and a critical apparatus as well as a commentary which conforms to the scientific standard expected of such a volume. The value of these texts for the research of Aprodito and the Hermopolite nome has to be shown as well as the contribution of the legal documents to the research into the last stage of the Roman Law in Egypt, which happens to be preserved in Coptic.

The aim of the project applied for is the scientific publication of 42 Coptic texts from Late Antiquity. These Coptic texts are part of the Doresse-Collection of the Biblioteca Vaticana in Rome. Their publication has been awaited by the scientific community since a long time. Aphrodito is mentioned as location of origin of the texts. This has to be modified since at least one text was definitely written in the Hermopolite nome. Quite a number of texts which are from Aphrodito has been published in the course of the past century, most of them are in Greek. These contribute to writing a history of this place especially for the 6th century. The Coptic texts will help to widen the time-frame into the 7th century. Legal documents, letters, lists and two fragments of literary texts can be found in this collection. Various legal dealings are attested in the texts, quite a number of persons are mentioned, some of them are already known from other texts. The monastic environment is prevalent within the texts and leaves its traces in legal and economic matters. Two of the legal documents show that women are acting as legal representatives of their children who are not yet of age. The aim is the publication of these texts within one volume containing the transcription of the texts, the translation and a critical apparatus as well as a commentary which conforms to the scientific standard expected of such a volume. The value of these texts for the research of Aprodito and the Hermopolite nome has to be shown as well as the contribution of the legal documents to the research into the last stage of the Roman Law in Egypt, which happens to be preserved in Coptic.