What's New in Papyrology

Recent publications of papyri & ostraca 4th BC-8th AD; conferences, lectures etc. from Papy-L and other sources as noted. PLEASE SEND SUGGESTIONS

Friday, August 28, 2009

CONFERENCE: Lire les papyrus du Nouveau Testament avec les autres papyrus d’Egypte New Testament Egyptian Papyri Among Other

Referring page: Evangelical Textual Critisicm.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Report on the new fr. of Codex Sinaiticus

REVIEW: Harald Froschauer (ed.), Zeichnungen und Malereien aus den Papyrussammlungen in Berlin und Wien


Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.08.56
Harald Froschauer (ed.), Zeichnungen und Malereien aus den Papyrussammlungen in Berlin und Wien. Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer). Neue Serie XXI. Folge (MPER) XXXI. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Pp. xvi, 121. ISBN 9783110207392. $112.00.

Reviewed by Eric M. Moormann, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (e.moormann@let.ru.nl)
Word count: 1836 words

The hot debate that is going on in Italy about the status of the Turin Papyrus named after the author of a text fragment by Artemidorus (P. Artemid.) as a genuine document or a forgery has not yet come to an end that satisfies the scholarly world. Outside Italy, however, more scholars than not seem to accept the extraordinary document, containing part of the Geographoumena by Artemidorus, including an uncompleted map and drawings of animals and of human figures as genuine. In any case, the lavish publications of the last couple of years have apparently kindled an interest for illustration of papyrus material. The book under review is an excellent example of this attention and, although the scraps of papyrus and parchment -- from 3 x 4 to 17 x 23 cm in size --rarely contain drawings of the same quality as the human heads on the recto of P. Artemid., they are worth being presented as examples of ancient drawing


etc at BMCR

Blurb from De Gruyter:
Zeichnungen und Malereien aus den Papyrussammlungen in Berlin und Wien
[Drawings and Paintings on Papyrus and Parchment from the Papyrus Collections in Berlin and Vienna]
2008. 29.5 x 21 cm. XVI, 121 pages. 30 fig. 24 S. Tafelbeilage. Hardcover. Euro [D] 79.95 / for USA, Canada, Mexico US$ 112.00. *
ISBN 978-3-11-020739-2 Series: Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (Papyrus Erzherzog Rainer). Neue Serie (MPER) XXXI
Languages: German
Type of Publication: Monograph
About this Title
This volume presents an edition of twenty-six drawings on papyrus and parchment from the holdings of the papyrus collections in Berlin and Vienna. Starting from previously published material of illuminated papyri, parchments and papers, this study is intended as a contribution to the discussion about the use of sketches and models in the visual arts. The actual edition catalogue of the twenty-six drawings is prefaced by an introduction reflecting on the definition of the terms "sketch" and "model" and commenting on the term "pattern book".

Saturday, August 22, 2009

G. CAVALLO and H. Maehler, Hellenistic Bookhands


Hellenistic Bookhands
Ed. by Cavallo, Guglielmo / Maehler, Herwig
2008. 29.5 x 21 cm. XVII, 153 pages. 108 fig. 50 ill. Hardcover. RRP Euro [D] 98.00 / for USA, Canada, Mexico US$ 118.00. *
ISBN 978-3-11-020124-6
Languages: English, Ancient Greek
Type of Publication: Reference Work


The handbook illustrates 94 Greek literary papyrus texts from Egypt and Herculaneum and documents the different types of scripts used in copying works of Greek literature, from the earliest surviving bookrolls written in the 4th century BC up to the first century AD. The aim is twofold: (1) to establish their relative (and, wherever possible, absolute) chronological sequence, and (2) to distinguish and characterize their stylistic features. Specimens of different types of scripts (“hands”) that appear stylistically related have been grouped together. In their joint introduction, the authors summarize the main results of their investigation and attempt to identify the social and cultural factors that have determined the development of different types of Greek literary scripts during the Hellenistic and Augustan era. The book also contains a comprehensive bibliography and indices.
Hellenistic Bookhands is a tool for scholars and students of Classics, Greek papyrology, palaeography, and the transmission of Classical Greek literature
.

Reviewed at BMCR

Sunday, August 16, 2009

F. Schironi, From Alexandria to Babylon


Schironi, Francesca
From Alexandria to Babylon
Near Eastern Languages and Hellenistic Erudition in the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (P.Oxy. 1802 + 4812)
2009. 23 x 15.5 cm. X, 176 pages. 14 plates. Hardcover. RRP Euro [D] 58.00 / for USA, Canada, Mexico US$ 78.00. *
ISBN 978-3-11-020693-7 Series: Sozomena / Studies in the Recovery of Ancient Texts 4
Languages: English
Type of Publication: Monograph

This book provides the first full edition and commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (POxy 1802 and 4812). This is a unique document both for the history of Greek lexicography and for the study of the cultural and linguistic exchange between the Greeks and the “others” in the Hellenistic near East. The fragment contains a fully alphabetized glossary with lemmas defined as “Persian,” “Babylonian,” and “Chaldaean”, as well as lemmas taken from Greek dialects or common Greek. The entries are rich in quotations from ancient authorities including Berossus, Apollodorus and Erasistratus. This glossary had never been analyzed in depth previously. Francesca Schironi provides a comprehensive introduction and commentary that places the Oxyrhynchus Glossary into the wider context of Greek lexicography and scholarship, discusses its interest for non-Greek languages and the problems related to linguistic exchanges in the Near Eastern areas, and shows the uniqueness and value of this document. The Oxyrhynchus glossary and this study will be of interest to classicists, papyrologists, comparative philologists, and scholars interested in the history of Greek lexicography and scholarship.

Friday, August 14, 2009

EES Summer book sale

Brochure here

Thanks to Chris Naunton for this reference.

Monday, August 10, 2009

BAGNALL, Early Christian Books in Egypt now available.



For the past hundred years, much has been written about the early editions of Christian texts discovered in the region that was once Roman Egypt. Scholars have cited these papyrus manuscripts--containing the Bible and other Christian works--as evidence of Christianity's presence in that historic area during the first three centuries AD. In Early Christian Books in Egypt, distinguished papyrologist Roger Bagnall shows that a great deal of this discussion and scholarship has been misdirected, biased, and at odds with the realities of the ancient world. Providing a detailed picture of the social, economic, and intellectual climate in which these manuscripts were written and circulated, he reveals that the number of Christian books from this period is likely fewer than previously believed.

Bagnall explains why papyrus manuscripts have routinely been dated too early, how the role of Christians in the history of the codex has been misrepresented, and how the place of books in ancient society has been misunderstood. The author offers a realistic reappraisal of the number of Christians in Egypt during early Christianity, and provides a thorough picture of the economics of book production during the period in order to determine the number of Christian papyri likely to have existed. Supporting a more conservative approach to dating surviving papyri, Bagnall examines the dramatic consequences of these findings for the historical understanding of the Christian church in Egypt.

Roger S. Bagnall is professor of ancient history and director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. His books include Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton).

Endorsements:

"This book is brilliant, concise, and elegantly written. Bagnall provides a masterful and readable study, while also addressing a number of controversies in early Christian studies. The book will be an instant and major classic in the field--it is that good."--T. G. Wilfong, University of Michigan

"Written by one of the world's leading papyrologists, this book is full of valuable and interesting information that will help to advance the discussion of a hot topic."--Robert Kraft, University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents:

List of Figures ix
Preface xi
A Note on Abbreviations xv
Chapter I: The Dating of the Earliest Christian Books in Egypt General Considerations 1
Chapter II: Two Case Studies 25
Chapter III: The Economics of Book Production 50
Chapter IV: The Spread of the Codex 70
Notes 91
Bibliography 99
Index of Subjects 105
Index of Papyrological Texts Discussed 110

Thursday, August 06, 2009

ZPE on JSTOR: covers 1967-2005 (Bde. 1-154)

Thanks to Chuck Jones for this info.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

ISABELLA ANDORLINI, Greek Medical Papyri II

Greek Medical Papyri II

Edited by ISABELLA ANDORLINI

With contributions by
C. FISCHER BOVET, R. FLEMMING, W.D. FURLEY, A.E. HANSON, D. LEITH, R. LUISELLI, J. LUNDON, F. MITTHOF, A. MARAVELA-SOLBAKK

ISTITUTO PAPIROLOGICO «G. VITELLI», FIRENZE 2009
(Progetto Corpus dei Papiri Greci di Medicina)
pp. ix + 257 + XII Plates

ISBN 978-88-87829-40-2

Euro 50,00


***********************
Distribuzione:

CASALINI LIBRI
via Benedetto da Maiano 3, I-50014 Fiesole (FI)

(not yet listed on their Casalini Libri's website).

tel. 0039 055 50181
fax 0039 055 5018201

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Alan Bowman and Andrew Wilson, Quantifying the Roman Economy



Quantifying the Roman Economy
Methods and Problems
Edited by Alan Bowman and Andrew Wilson

Add to Cart
ISBN13: 9780199562596
ISBN10: 0199562598
Hardback, 360 pages
Aug 2009, Not Yet Published



1. Introduction. Quantifying the Roman economy: integration, growth, decline? , Alan Bowman & Andrew Wilson

I. Urbanization
2. Urbanization as a proxy of demographic and economic growth , Elio Lo Cascio

3. Response to Elio Lo Cascio , Roger Bagnall

II. Field survey and demography
4. Archaeology, demography, and Roman economic growth , Willem Jongman

5. Peopling the countryside: Roman demography in the Albegna Valley and Jerba , Elizabeth Fentress

6. Peopling ancient landscapes: potential and problems , David Mattingly

III. Agriculture

7. Quantifying Egyptian agriculture , Alan Bowman

8. Response to Alan Bowman , Roger Bagnall

IV. Trade
9. Approaches to quantifying Roman trade , Andrew Wilson

10. Approaches to quantifying Roman trade: response , Michael Fulford

11. A comment on Andrew Wilson: 'Approaches to quantifying Roman trade' , William Harris

V. Coinage
12. Coinage and metal supply , Bruce Hitchner

13. Roman silver coinage: mints, metallurgy, and production , Matthew Ponting

14. Some numismatic approaches to quantifying the Roman economy , Chris Howgego

VI. Prices, earnings and standards of living

15. Earnings and costs: living standards and the Roman economy , Dominic Rathbone

16. How prosperous were the Romans? , Bob Allen

17. New ways of studying incomes in the Roman economy , Walter Scheidel