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Ancient Lives

Ancient Lives is a collaboration between a diverse collection of Oxford Papyrologists and Researchers, The Imaging Papyri Project, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project, the Egypt Exploration Society and the following institutions.

The papyri belong to the Egypt Exploration Society and their texts will eventually be published and numbered in Society's Greco-Roman Memoirs series in the volumes entitled The Oxyrhynchus Papyri.


BBC report

F. Naether, Die Sortes Astrampsychi

FRANZISKA NAETHER

Die Sortes Astrampsychi

Problemlösungsstrategien durch Orakel im römischen Ägypten

"Du wirst deine Geliebte heiraten, aber es wird dir leid tun"; "Du wirst von deiner Frau erben, aber nicht als Alleinerbe". So spricht ein dem Pythagoras zugeschriebenes Orakel, das schon Alexander zur Weltherrschaft verholfen haben soll. Das Losbuch "Sortes Astrampsychi" ist auf römerzeitlichen Papyri und mittelalterlichen Handschriften in griechischer Sprache überliefert. Mit 92 vorformulierten Fragen und 1030 Antworten aus fast allen Lebensbereichen liegt eine ergiebige Quelle zur Sozialgeschichte Ägyptens vor - vom Überleben von Krankheiten über Geschäftsbeteiligungen hin zu Verhandlungstaktiken vor Gericht. Wichtige Fragestellungen dieses Kommentars zu den Sortes Astrampsychi zielen auf den Anwendungskontext und die Einordnung des Werks innerhalb der religiösen, divinatorischen und magischen Praktiken Ägyptens unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der "Ticket-Orakel" in demotischer, griechischer und koptischer Sprache.

NAETHER, FRANZISKA  Die Sortes Astrampsychi. Problemlösungsstrategien durch Orakel im römischen Ägypten
2010. XVIII, 491 pages.ORA 3

ISBN 978-3-16-150250-7

cloth € 109.00

English blurb

"You will marry your girlfriend, but you will be sorry." "You will inherit from your wife, but you will not be the sole heir." These are the words of an oracle attributed to Pythagoras which supposedly also helped Alexander gain world supremacy. The "Sortes Astrampsychi" were transmitted on papyri from the Roman period and medieval manuscripts in Greek. Consisting of 92 pre-formulated questions and 1030 matching answers from nearly all areas of daily life, the oracle represents an important source for the social history of Egypt, for example its demography, economy and jurisdiction. In this commentary on the "Sortes Astrampsychi," the author focuses on the background of its use in antiquity and the contextualization among the religious, divinatory and magical practices of Egypt, in particular the "ticket" oracles in Demotic, Greek and Coptic.


BMCR review
Franziska Naether, Die Sortes Astrampsychi: Problemlosungsstrategien durch Orakel im römischen Ägypten. Orientalische Religionen in der Antike 3.   Tübingen:  Mohr Siebeck, 2010.  Pp. 550.  ISBN 9783161502507.  $195.00.   

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Reviewed by Pieter W. van der Horst, Utrecht, The Netherlands (pwvdh@xs4all.nl)

Even though the text of the ancient lot oracle known as Sortes Astrampsychi is not one of central concern to classical scholarship, it has had its share of attention in recent years. The Teubner edition of the shorter version by G. M. Browne appeared in 1983, and in 2001 R. Stewart’s Teubner text of the longer version (the so-called ‘ecdosis altera’) came out;1 both scholars also published a series of valuable articles on this document. Stewart’s English translation of the text appeared in W. Hansen (ed.), Anthology of Ancient Greek Popular Literature (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998) 285-324. In 2006 an edition of the Greek text with a German translation was published by K. Brodersen, Astrampsychos: Das Pythagoras-Orakel (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft). And now we have the monumental and exhaustive study of the Sortes Astrampsychi by Franziska Naether, an immensely learned work that the author completed when she was only 29 years. The book is so densely packed with information on all possible aspects of the study of the Sortes Astrampsychi (and many related documents) that it is impossible to do justice to its contents in this short review. The book can best be characterized as a comprehensive contextualization of the Sortes Astrampsychi.

 etc. at BMCR

43. Ständige Ägyptologenkonferenz (SÄK), Leipzig, 22.-24. Juli, 2011

Registration information here

Freitag, 22.07. 2011

ab 12:00 Uhr Registration im Tagungsbüro (Seminargebäude, Raum S 204)

ab 13:00 Uhr Gelegenheit zur Besichtigung des 2010 neu eröffneten Ägyptischen Museums

14-16:00 Uhr Treffen der Studiengangsverantwortlichen (Thema: Flexibilisierung von BA und MA, Seminargebäude, Raum S 420)

14-16:00 Uhr „StudierendenSÄK“ (Thema: Studium – und danach?, Seminargebäude, Raum S 202)

16:00 Uhr Begrüßung in Hörsaal 9

Prof. Dr. Beate Schücking (Rektorin der Universität Leipzig)

Prof. Dr. Hans-W. Fischer-Elfert Prof. Dr. Pirmin Stekeler-Weithofer (Präsident der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig)

Dr. Volker Rodekamp (Direktor des Stadtgeschichtlichen Museums Leipzig und Präsident des Deutschen Museumsbundes)

Dr. Mamdouh el-Damaty (Botschaft der Arabischen Republik Ägypten, Berlin)

16:30-max. 17:45 Uhr Berichte aus den Institutionen (über das INFO online hinausgehende Informationen)

Pause 

18:15-19:15 Uhr Festvortrag von Prof. Dr. Stefan Rebenich (Bern): 

Zwischen Verweigerung und Anpassung. Die Altertumswissenschaften im „Dritten Reich“

19:30-22:00 Uhr Empfang im Grassimuseum am Johannisplatz 

Samstag, 23.07. 2011

09:00-09:15 Uhr Einführende Worte

09:15-09:45 Die Ägyptologie im Nationalsozialismus: Umriss eines Forschungsgebietes

Thomas Schneider (Toronto; gelesen von Claus Jurman)

09:45-10:15 Das Deutsche Haus in Theben 1904 bis 1958 – ein Spiegel deutscher Politik in der ägyptischen Provinz

Daniel Polz (Kairo)

10:15-10:45 Ludwig Stern – ein Ägyptologe zwischen Keltologie und Bibliothek

Barbara Magen (Hildesheim)

10:45-11:15 KAFFEEPAUSE

11:15-11:45 Der lange Arm des Nationalsozialismus: Die politischen Einflüsse auf die Abteilung Kairo des DAI während der Amtszeit Hermann Junkers von 1929-1949

Susanne Voß (Kairo/Köln)

11:45-12:15 Hermann Junker – Ein deutsch-österreichisches Forscherleben zwischen Pyramiden, Kreuz und Hakenkreuz

Julia Budka (Berlin/Wien); Claus Jurman (Wien)

12:15-12:45 Das Institut für Ägyptologie der LMU München im Nationalsozialismus

Thomas Beckh (München)

12:45-14:45 MITTAGSPAUSE

14:45-15:15 Ludwig Borchardt und sein „Institut für ägyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde“ in Kairo – Ein Beitrag zur Urgeschichte des Schweizer Instituts Kairo

Cornelius von Pilgrim (Kairo)

15:15-15:45 Bissing – Küthmann – Hölscher: Ägyptologie und Bauforschung zwischen Den Haag, Hannover und Ägypten 1922-1951

Christian E. Loeben (Hannover)

15:45-16:15 Ein Ägyptologe in Königsberg. Zum Leben und Wirken Walter Wreszinskis

Alexander Schütze (Leipzig/München)

16:15-16:45 KAFFEEPAUSE

16:45-17:15 Erich Lüddeckens – ein Pfarrerssohn auf Abwegen

Heinz-Josef Thissen (Erftstadt)

17:15-17:45 Die deutsche Ägyptologie zwischen 1945 und 1949 im Spiegel der Autorenkorrespondenz des Leipziger Verlages J.C. Hinrichs

Anke Weber; Henning Franzmeier (Berlin)

17:45-18:15 Hedwig Fechheimers Plastik der Ägypter – Ägyptologie, Kunstwissenschaft und jüdisches Schicksal

Sylvia Peuckert (Berlin)

18:15-18:45 Steindorffs Brief an Wilson

Dietrich Raue (Leipzig)

18:45-19:15 Uhr Abschließende Diskussion

ab 19:30 Abendveranstaltung in der Moritzbastei Leipzig, Universitätsstraße 20:00 Uhr Eröffnung des Buffets

ab 22:30 Uhr nicht mehr geschlossene Veranstaltung (Discobetrieb „All you can dance“, freier Eintritt für SÄK-Besucher), www.moritzbastei.de

Sonntag, 24.07. 2011

09:30- 10:00 Bericht des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abt. Kairo (DAI)

Ulrike Fauerbach

10:00- 10:30 Bericht des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts, Zweigstelle Kairo (ÖAI)

Irene Forstner-Müller

10:30- 10:45 Bericht des Schweizerischen Instituts für Ägyptische Bauforschung und Altertumskunde in Kairo

Cornelius von Pilgrim

10:45- 11:00 KAFFEEPAUSE

11:00- 11:30 Bericht des Internationalen Ägyptologenverbands (IAE)

Ursula Verhoeven

11:30- 12:00 Bericht des Sondersammelgebiets Ägyptologie der UB Heidelberg, Propylaeum, INFO online

Nicole Kloth

12:00- 12:15 Situation ägyptischer Museen in kommunaler Trägerschaft

Katja Lembke, Christian E. Loeben

12:15- 12:30 Bericht des Treffens der Studiengangsverantwortlichen

Hans-W. Fischer-Elfert

12:30- 12:45 Bericht der Studierenden SÄK 

Juliane Seemann, Marc Brose

12:45- 13:00

Festlegung des nächsten Austragungsorts

NN

C. KUEHN, The Poetry of Dioscorus of Aphrodite in English Translation

These are the oldest surviving poems written by the hand of a known poet. Dioscorus’s sixth-century manuscripts, with revisions and corrections, were discovered on papyrus in 1905 beneath the village of Kom Ashkaw, Egypt (ancient Aphrodito). The manuscripts are now held in museums and libraries around the world. Although Dioscorus was an Egyptian, he composed his poetry in Greek, the cultural language of the Byzantine Era. This critical edition begins with one of Dioscorus’s masterpieces: Hymn to St. Theodosius. Once considered obscure, its meaning becomes clear when seen through the lens of Byzantine spirituality.

V. BARTOLETTI, La corrispondenza di Heronino nei papiri fiorentini

La corrispondenza di Heronino nei papiri fiorentini
(Osservazioni e note critiche ai testi)
Tesi di Laurea di Menotti Stanghellini
Relatore: Chiar.mo Prof. V. Bartoletti
Anno Accademico 1957-58

Heroninus Archive in general at Trimegistos

NYU Excavations at Amheida in Egypt's Dakhleh Oasis

Fifth International Society for Arabic Papyrology Conference, Carthage, March 28-31, 2

Fifth International Society for Arabic Papyrology Conference, Carthage, 
March 28-31, 2012

The fifth ISAP conference will be hosted by the Tunisian Academy of 
Sciences, Letters and Arts, Beït Al-Hikma (/www.baitelhekma.nat.tn) in 
Carthage. It will be organized by the International Society for Arabic 
Papyrology in cooperation with the Institut français d’archéologie 
orientale (Ifao) in Cairo.

The conference will start on the evening of Wednesday, March 28, and 
continue through Saturday, March 31. The programme will include 
20-minute lectures presenting text editions or studies based on 
documentary material from the Islamic medieval world, workshops in which 
unedited Arabic documents will be presented, and evening lectures. There 
will also be the opportunity to visit the National Library of Tunisia 
(Tunis) and the National Museum of Islamic Arts of Raqqada (Kairouan), 
which hosts the only collection of Arabic payri in Tunisia, and 
important early Islamic manuscripts written on parchment.

Participants are supposed to be or become members of the International 
Society for Arabic Papyrology.

Summary

The fifth conference of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology 
(ISAP) will take place at the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and 
Arts, Beït Al-Hikma, in Carthage.

It will bring together scholars using documentary evidence to study the 
history of the early Islamic world, including Arabic, Coptic, and Greek 
papyri, paper and other documents, as well as epigraphic and numismatic 
material. Participants may present their research either as 20-minute 
papers or within the context of workshops on Greek, Coptic, and Arabic 
papyrology and palaeography.

Conference Format

The Conference will include 1) text workshops and 2) sessions for the 
presentation of 20-minute papers and 3) evening lectures at local 
research institutes. Although the "official language" of the conference 
is English, papers and workshops may be given in English, French, 
German, or Arabic.

Text Workshops

These workshops will focus on a single text, or group of texts, to be 
circulated in advance. The texts used may be in any of the languages of 
the documentary sources relevant to the history of early Islamic Egypt 
and the wider Mediterranean world (Greek, Coptic, or Arabic). A 
translation of the text should also be circulated to allow for the 
widest possible participation. The presenter will have the first thirty 
minutes to introduce the text and its problems, and then the remaining 
hour will be spent in discussion.

Paper Sessions

There will be several sessions during which three or four 20-minute 
papers, followed by questions and discussion, will be read. While the 
topics addressed need not focus exclusively on documentary evidence, it 
is expected that documentary sources will be an integral and substantive 
part of each paper.

Abstracts and Handouts

The deadline for 400-word abstracts is November 1 2011. Please send 
abstracts to Sobhi Bouderbala (sbouderbala at ifao.egnet.net). If your 
presentation will require audio-visual equipment of any kind, please 
describe what is needed. Notification regarding the acceptance of 
proposals will be made by the end of November 2011.

Also, please send a copy of all texts and translations to be used in the 
text workshops by 15 February 2011. These will be made available to 
participants.

Registration

There will be no conference fee charged. Participants who currently have 
no membership should renew their membership in Carthage on the first day 
of the conference. Payments have to be made in cash in Euros, dollars or 
Tunisian dinars. If you are interested in joining ISAP, information can 
be found at the ISAP sign-up website.

Please send a notice of intent to participate in the Conference to one 
of the conference organizers, Petra Sijpesteijn (p.m.sijpesteijn at 
hum.leidenuniv.nl) or Sobhi Bouderbala (sbouderbala at ifao.egnet.net)

Travel Subsidies

It is hoped that the Conference will be able to offer a few awards for 
scholars not able to get institutional subventions for travel to Carthage.

Please let us know as soon as possible whether you will be in need for 
such sponsoring.
Conference Organizers

If you have any further questions about the Conference, please contact: 
Petra Sijpesteijn (p.m.sijpesteijn at hum.leidenuniv.nl) or Sobhi 
Bouderbala (sbouderbala at ifao.egnet.net) or check the conference 
website (http://www.ori.uzh.ch/isap/Conference2012.html).