Study note for papyri from open web sources.

1. Here & There Among the Papyri
WITH LINKS TO FREE RESOURCES.

2. Introduction
Here & There Among the Papyri was written by George Milligan (1860-1934), a
Scottish Minister and Biblical Scholar. In his words, "This small book is
addressed in the first instance to that wide and ever-increasing public who are
keenly interested in the study of the New Testament, and are anxious to know
more of the bearing of the papyrus discoveries, of which they hear so much,
on its language and literature."
(Milligan, Here & There Among the Papyri, pg. vii)
It was among many popular and advanced writings describing the importance
of the discoveries made amidst the ancient garbage heaps in Egypt since the
late 18th Century.
(Milligan, Selections from Greek Papyri, pg. XXV Selections from Greek Papyri, pg. XXV)

3. What is Papyrus?
 Papyrus /pəˈpaɪrəs/ is a material similar to
thick paper that was used in ancient times as writing
surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus
plant, Cyperus papyrus, a
wetland sedge.[1] Papyrus(plural: papyri) can also refer
to a document written on sheets of such material, joined
together side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early
form of a book.
 Read the rest of this article about Papyrus at Wikipedia.

4. How Papyrus Paper is Made

5. What is Papyrology?
 Papyrology is "....the care, reading, and
interpretation of ancient documents
written on papyrus, which is of prime
importance in Egyptian, Middle Eastern,
and Classical archaeology."
 Read the rest at Britannica Online.

6. What Do Papyrologists Do?
 According to Monica Tsuneishi of the University of Michigan,
"There are many things that happen to a papyrus fragment once
it is discovered. From its original unearthing at an archaeological
site, to restoration and preservation, and finally to being
inventoried, studied and published, it takes many people and
many steps to complete the process. However, the bulk of a
papyrologist's work consists of reading the text, creating a
detailed transliteration of what he sees, and putting the
fragment in context with other fragments, its site of origin, and
its historical and, perhaps, literary significance."
 Read the rest at Library University of Michigan.

7. Papyrus Collections
There are many excellent digitized collections of ancient
papyri, both literary and non-literary, on the Internet.
 British Museum - Digitized Manuscripts
 British Museum - The Ramesseum Papyri
 Duke University Papyrus Archive
 Harvard University' - Digital Library at Houghton Library
 Princeton University Digital Library - Papyri Collections
 Of major importance are the Oxyrhynchus Papyri which has
thousands of literary and non-literary texts from the ancient
trash heaps of Egypt. The collection and interpretation of
this vast horde of documents is part of on-going publication
process.

8. Where Is Oxyrhynchus?
 Oxyrhynchus (/ɒksɪˈrɪŋkəs/; Greek: Ὀξύρρυγχος Oxýrrhynkhos; "sharp-
nosed"; ancient Egyptian Pr-Medjed; Coptic Pemdje; modern Egyptian
Arabic El Bahnasa) is a city in Middle Egypt, located about 160 km south-
southwest of Cairo, in the governorate of Al Minya. It is also an
archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever
discovered. For the past century, the area around Oxyrhynchus has been
continually excavated, yielding an enormous collection of papyrus texts
dating from the time of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods of Egyptian
history. Among the texts discovered at Oxyrhynchus are plays of
Menander, fragments from the Gospel of Thomas, and fragments from
Euclid's Elements. They also include a few vellum manuscripts, and more
recent Arabic manuscripts on paper (for example, the medieval P. Oxy. VI
1006[1]).
 Read the rest of this article about Oxyrhynchus at Wikipedia.
 Also see: Oxyrhynchus, Ancient Egypt’s Most Literate Trash Heap

9. What are the Oxyrhynchus Papyri?
 The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered
during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge
Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump
near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (28°32′N 30°40′E, modern el-Bahnasa).
 The manuscripts date from the time of the Ptolemaic (3rd century
BC) and Roman periods of Egyptian history (from 32 BC to
the Arab conquest of Egypt in 640 AD).
 Only an estimated 10% are literary in nature. The lion’s share of
the papyri found seem to consist mainly of public and private
documents: codes, edicts, registers, official correspondence,
census-returns, tax-assessments, petitions, court-records, sales,
leases, wills, bills, accounts, inventories, horoscopes, and private
letters.[1]

10. Only A Percentage Read
 Although most of the papyri were written in Greek, some texts written in Egyptian
(Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic, mostly Coptic), Latin and Arabic were also found.
Texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Pahlavi have so far represented only a small
percentage of the total.[2]
 Since 1898 academics have puzzled together 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 percent of what is
estimated to be at least half a million papyri still remaining to be conserved,
transcribed, deciphered and catalogued.
 Read the rest of this article about the Oxyrhynchus Papyri at Wikipedia.

11. Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project

12. Finds from the Trash Heaps
 The trash heaps at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
are a treasure trove of important
documents opening new insight into
the ancient world. The following
document finds provide a brief look at
the importance of this collection.

13. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 (P. Oxy. 1) is a papyrus fragment of the logia of
Jesus written in Greek (Logia Iesou). It was among the first of
the Oxyrhynchus Papyri discovered by Grenfell and Hunt. It was
discovered on the second day of excavation, 12 January 1897, in the
garbage mounds in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus.[1] The fragment is
dated to the early half of the 3rd century.[2][3] Grenfell and Hunt
originally dated the fragment between 150-300, but "probably not written
much later than the year 200."[4] It was later discovered to be the oldest
manuscript of the Gospel of Thomas.[3]
 Read the rest of this article on Wikipedia.
 Also see Grenfell and Hunt's description of P. Oxy. 1 in Logia Iesou (romanized
form) Sayings of Our Lord from an Early Greek Papyrus.
Image of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1 (P. Oxy. 1) from Wikipedia.

14. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 23
 23, is an early copy of the New
Testament in Greek. It is
a papyrusmanuscript of the Epistle of James,
it contains only James 1:10-12,15-18. The
manuscript paleographically has been
assigned to the early 3rd century.[1]
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
mage of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 23 from Wikipedia.

15. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 29
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 29 (P. Oxy. 29) is a fragment of the
second book of the Elements of Euclid in Greek. It was
discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus.
The fragment was originally dated to the end of the third
century or the beginning of the fourth century, although
more recent scholarship suggests a date of 75–125
CE.[1][2] It is housed in the library of the University of
Pennsylvania (in a University Museum, E 2748). The text was
published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.[3]
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.

16. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3035
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3035 (or P. Oxy. XLII 3035) is
a warrant for the arrest of a Christian, issued by the
authorities of the Roman Empire. This is one of the earliest
uses of the word Christian attested on papyrus.
 The order was issued by the head of the Oxyrhynchus ruling
council, to the police in a country village, to arrest a man
described as a Christian (note χρισιανόν, the papyrus has the
early spelling, χρησιανόν). The charge which makes the
Christian liable for arrest is not given, unless this is Christianity
itself.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
Image of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3035 from Wikipedia.

17. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3929
 "This document belongs to the category of
certificates of sacrifice issued to those who
satisfied the pagan commissioners during the
Decian persecution of Christians," according to
Oxyrhynchus Papyri.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
Image of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3929 from Wikipedia.

18. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 7
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 7 (P. Oxy. 7) is a papyrus
discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. It was discovered
by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt in
1897 in Oxyrhynchus, and published in 1898. It dates to
the third century AD.[1] The papyrus is currently
housed in the British Library.[2].
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
Image of Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 7 from Wikipedia.

19. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1231
 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1231 (P. Oxy. 1231 or P. Oxy. X
1231) is a papyrus discovered at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt,
first published in 1914 by Bernard Pyne
Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt.[1] The papyrus
preserves fragments of the second half of Book I of
a Hellenistic edition of the poetry of the archaic
poet Sappho.[a][1]
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.

20. Things to Read
 Many books have been written concerning the papyrus finds
from the 18th Century onward. You can search to see what
books are available from your local libraries via WordCat.org.
Here are several searches you may follow:
 Egyptian papyri
 Greek papyri
 Greek magical papyri
 Oxyrhynchus papyri
 papyrus collections
 Many books can be purchased through Amazon.com or local
bookstores.
 However, there are online books from the Internet Archive early
works written by the scholars who first examined the
Oxyrhynchus Papyri to read online or download. We present a
few of those here.

21. Works by Gustav Adolf Deissmann
 Gustav Adolf Deissmann (7 November 1866 – 5 April 1937) was a German
Protestant theologian, best known for his leading work on the Greek
language used in the New Testament, which he showed was the koine, or
commonly used tongue of the Hellenistic world of that time.[1]
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
 Works available from the Internet Archive include:
 Bible Studies: contributions chiefly from papyri and inscriptions to the history of
the language, the literature, and the religion of Hellenistic Judaism and primitive
Christianity
 New Light on the New Testament, from records of the Graeco-Roman period
 The Philology of the Greek Bible, Its Present and Future
 A Complete List
Image of Gustav Adolf Deissmann from Wikipedia.

22. Works by B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt
 Bernard Pyne Grenfell (16 December 1869 – 18 May 1926) was
an English scientist and Egyptologist, born in Birmingham. He was a
member of The Queen's College, Oxford.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
 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 in Egypt, including the Oxyrhynchus
Papyri.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
Images from WikiMedia

23. B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt Texts
Works available from the Internet Archive
 An Alexandrian Erotic Fragment and other
Greek Papyri Chiefly Ptolemaic
 The Amherst Papyri
 The Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Vol. 10
Vol. 11
Vol. 12
Vol. 13
Vol. 14
Vol. 15
Select Papyri
Catalogue of the Greek papyri in
the John Rylands Library
Vol. 1
Vol. 2

24. Works by Frederic G. Kenyon
 Sir Frederic George Kenyon GBE KCB TD FBA FSA (15 January
1863 – 23 August 1952) was a
British palaeographer and biblical and classical scholar. He
occupied from 1889 to 1931 a series of posts at the British
Museum. He was also the president of the British Academy from
1917 to 1921, and from 1918 to 1952 he was Gentleman Usher of
the Purple Rod.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
 Works available from the Internet Archive include:
 Classical Texts from Papyri in the British Museum
 The Paleography of Greek Papyri
 Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts : Being a History of the Text and Its
Translations
 Greek Papyri in the British Museum
 A Complete List
Image of Frederic George Kenyon from WikiMedia.

25. Works by George Milligan
 Very Rev Prof George Milligan DD DCL LLD (1860-1934) was
a Scottish minister of the Church of Scotland who served
as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland in 1923.[1] He was Professor of Divinity and Biblical
Criticism at Glasgow University.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
 The Autographs of the New Testament in the Light of Recent
Discovery
 Here & There Among the Papyri
 The New Testament Documents : Their Origin and Early History
 Selections from the Greek Papyri
 A Complete List
Image of George Milligan from Wikipedia.

26. Works by James Hope Moulton
 The Reverend James Hope Moulton (11 October
1863 - 9 April 1917, died at sea) was a British non-
conformist divine. He was also a philologist and
made a special study of Zoroastrianism.
 Read the rest of this article at Wikipedia.
 Works available from the Internet Archive include:
 From Egyptian Rubbish-heaps
 A Grammar of New Testament Greek Vol 1.
 A Grammar of New Testament Greek Vol 2.
 The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from
the Papyri and other Non-literary Sources
 A Complete List
Image of James Hope Moulton from Wikipedia