Strengthening Research Capacity in the Papyrus Collection of the Oslo University Library

The core research activity in this project is the edition of the texts on papyrus fragments which belong to the collection of the Oslo University Library. The collection was formed between 1910 and 1936 due to the concerted efforts of the classicists Samson Eitrem and Leiv Amundsen. The texts are mainly in Greek - the language used in administration and education from Egypt's conquest by Alexander the Great in the late fourth century BCE to the Arab conquest in the mid-seventh century, but there are texts also in Egyptian (Demotic and Coptic), in Latin and in Arabic. This project concentrates on editing texts in Greek script, i.e. papyri in Greek and papyri in Coptic (Egyptian written with an alphabet which is extended version of the Greek alphabet). Editing a papyrus text involves the following research tasks: (a) Reconstructing the text and offering a first translation into English; (b) Dating the manuscript in light of either just the handwriting or of contextual factors (names of persons mentioned, type of text, historical or archaeological background); (c) Offering a first assessment of the text's content and of its contribution to the knowledge of life and society in Egypt or of the Greek culture in Egypt and in general. The texts that we are editing for the first time represent primary sources on the society and culture of Egypt during the Ptolemaic (331-31 BCE), Roman (31 BCE-325 CE) and Byzantine period (325-641 CE). The editions will appear in two volumes that will be published in the series Beihefte zum Archiv für Papyrusforschung (De Gruyter). For a sample of the team's work and of the new knowledge generated by the fragments see http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/english/research/news-and-events/news/2013/last-poet-of-antiquity.html and http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2017/forskere-undersoker-privatlivet-til-mennesker-som-.html The team presented papyrological research at the Oslo Science Fair: http://www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/for-ansatte/aktuelt/saker/2014/host-2014/levende-fortid-pa-forskningstorget.html The project co-organised a course in the restoration and conservation of papyri in collaboration with the University of Oslo Library, see http://www.ub.uio.no/fag/sprak-litteratur/klassisk/aktuelt/course-in-papyrus-conservation.html The course was open to students of papyrology, Classics, Egyptology and Religious Studies at PhD level and to conservators. Its aim was to combine conservation of papyri in the University of Oslo Library papyrus collection with creating expertise in papyrus conservation in Norway.

This is a project in the field of papyrology. The project seeks to consolidate, strengthen and specialise research capacity and related activities, centred around the still unpublished papyrus texts from the collection of the Oslo University Library. The core research group (Maravela, Oslo/ Andorlini, Parma/ Roemer, Cairo & Sandnes, Oslo) have expertise on papyrology and early Christianity and/or ancient medicine - the two research fields to which the collection of the Oslo University Library has made an d may still make a significant contribution. The appointed junior research fellows will carry out research aiming at (i) the preparation of editions of select early Christian texts in the Oslo collection (including the extremely important bunch of fragmen ts said to originate from the White Monastery, one of the most important monastic centres in early Christian Egypt) and (ii) the exploration of medical termini technici in the papyri (some of which are in the Oslo collection) as well as of the methodologi cal challenges related to their identification and lexicographical presentation. The research results will be tested and discussed by expert panels in the frame of three workshops to take place while the research is still ongoing.