RSS03.14 Greek Papyri and the Society of Graeco-Roman Egypt

The aim of this course is to experience ‘doing Greek papyrology’, by preparing an edition of unpublished Greek papyrus fragments from Hellenistic and Roman Egypt.

In order to go from a papyrus fragment to a publication, a papyrologist needs to transcribe, translate and contextualize (that is, offer a commentary, look for parallels and offer an interpretation of) the papyrus text. Doing papyrology, therefore, requires a broad set of skills and knowledge, for instance of the Greek language, Greek palaeography and of Greek, Roman and Egyptian history.

One aim of this course is to familiarize the participants with the various aspects of Greek papyrology through lectures in which experts will share their knowledge and experience. The other aim is to gain insight in the tasks of a papyrologist through a hands-on approach featuring unpublished papyrus fragments. In small groups (of 2 or 3 participants), you will study one of the fragments and prepare an edition of the fragment.

In addition, each group will peer-review the results of the other groups in plenary discussions. Using these discussions’ input, each group can finalize the edition of its own fragment. The ultimate goal will be to submit the collected editions to a papyrological journal. The results of the 2023 Radboud Summer School on the Nijmegen fragments will be published soon in an international, peer-reviewed journal.

Detailed program (pdf, 33 kB)