A Select Bibliography of Papyrology

This introductory bibliography to the field of papyrology has been categorized into specific fields of interest, as listed below.

Select a category:

Abbreviations

Literary Papyri

McNamee, K., Abbreviations in Greek Literary Papyri and Ostraca, BASP Suppl. 3, Chicago 1981

--, Sigla and Select Marginalia in Greek Literary Papyri, Pap.Brux. 26, 1992

--, Annotations in Greek and Latin Texts from Egypt. A.Stud.Pap. 45 (New Haven 2007)

Paap, A. H. R. E., Nomina Sacra in the Greek Papyri of the First Five Centuries, Pap.Lugd.-Bat. 8, Leiden 1959

Documentary Papyri

R.-E. s.v siglae (compiled by F. Bilabel; still useful but out of date).

There is no detailed modern study on the abbreviations used in the documentary papyri. Lists of some of the most commonly used abbreviations can be found at the end of Montevecchi's, La Papirologia, and in the indexes of P.Lond. as well as in A.Blanchard, Sigles et abreviations dans les papyrus documentaires grecs, BICS Suppl. 30, 1974.

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Agriculture

A.K. Bowman and E. Rogan (eds.), Agriculture in Egypt from Pharaonic to Modern Times. Proc.Brit.Acad. 96 (Oxford 1999).

Hennig, D., Untersuchungen zur Bodenpacht im ptolemäisch-römischen Ägypten, Dissertation, Munich 1967; contains exclusively leases of land

Schnebel, M., Die Landwirtschaft im hell. Ägypten, Münch. Beitr. 7, 1925

Rouillard, G., La vie rurale dans l'Empire byzantin, Paris 1953

Rowlandson, J. Landowners and Tenants in Roman Egypt. The Social Relations of Agriculture in the Oxyrhynchite Nome (Oxford 1996).

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Chronology

Bagnall, R.S.-Worp, K.A., The Chronological Systems of Byzantine Egypt, 2nd Edition. (Leiden 2004)

Bagnall, R.S.-Worp, K.A., Regnal formulas in Byzantine Egypt, BASP Suppl. 2, 1979

Bagnall, R.S. et al., Consuls of the Later Roman Empire, Atlanta 1987

Clarysse, W.-van der Vekken, G. (with S.P. Vleeming), The Eponymous Priests of Ptolemaic Egypt, Pap. Lugd.&endash;Bat. 24, Leiden 1984

Grzybek, E., Du calendrier mac¯donien au calendrier ptol¯maâque: Probl“mes de chronologie hell¯nistique, Schweizerische BeitrÌge zur Altertumswissenschaft 20, Basel 1990

Kienast, D., Rõmische Kaisertabelle. GrundzÈge einer rõmischen Kaiserchronologie (Darmstadt 1996)

Koenen, L., Eine agonistiche Inschrift aus ôgypten und frÈhptolemÌische Kõnigsinschriften, Beitr. z. Klass. Phil., Meisenheim am Glan 1977

Leunissen, P. M. M., Konsuln und Konsulare in der Zeit von Commodus bis Severus Alexander, 180-235 n. Chr.: prosopographische Untersuchungen zur senatorischen Elite im rõmischen Kaiserreich, Amsterdam 1989

Peachin, M., Roman Imperial Titulature and Chronology, A.D. 235-284, Stud.Amst. 29, 1990

Pestman, P.W., Chronologie ¯gyptienne d' apr“s les textes d¯motiques, Pap. Lugd.-Bat. 15, Leiden 1967

Pestman, P.W. et al., A Guide to the Zenon Archive, Pap.Lugd.-Bat. 21a, Leiden 1981

Samuel, A.E., Ptolemaic Chronology, MÈnch. Beitr. 43, MÈnchen 1962

Skeat, T.C., The Reigns of the Ptolemies, MÈnch. Beitr. 39, MÈnchen 1954

--, The Reign of Augustus in Egypt: Conversion Tables for the Egyptian and Julian Calendars, 30 B.C. - 14 A.D., MÈnch. Beitr. 84, MÈnchen 1993

For a searchable list of all dated Greek and Latin Papyri go to:
http://www.rzuser.uni-heidelberg.de/~gv0/gvz.html

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Codicology

Blanchard, A., Les débuts du codex, Bibliologia 9, 1989

Hussein, M.A., Von Papyrus zum Codex, Leipzig 1970
Turner, E.G.,The Typology of the Early Codex, Philadelphia 1977
--, The Terms Recto and Verso: The Anatomy of the Papyrus Roll, Actes XV Congr. Intern. de Papyrologie, Pap.Brux. 16, 1978
Roberts, C.H. & Skeat, T.C., The Birth of the Codex, London 1983
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Conventions in the Transliteration of Papyri

The following conventions were established in 1931 as the uniform system of critical signs used in papyrological editions. It is likely that you may encounter in your readings some of the older conventions. Please consult a handbook for understanding those older conventions, or see the preface of the editor in that particular edition where the signs are encountered.

( )
resolution of a symbol or abbreviation.

[ ]
a break in the text (lacuna); the text is supplied by the editor

< > a mistaken omission by the scribe

{ }
superfluous letter or letters

[[ ]]
letter or letters deleted by the scribe

\ /
insertion above the line

vac.

for "vacat"; indicates that the papyrus is blank at that point.

. . .
uncertain reading.

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Economy and Taxation

Bagnall, R.S., Egypt in Late Antiquity, Princeton 1993

Gascou, J., Les grands domaines, la cité et l'État en Égypte Byzantine, Travaux et Mémoires 9, 1985, 1-89.

Johnson, A.C.-West, L.C., Byzantine Egypt: Economic Studies, Princeton 1967

Préaux, C., L'économie royale des Lagides, Bruxelles 1939

Rostovtzeff, M., Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World, 3 vols., Oxford 1941. The Italian edition contains additional information in the notes.

--, Social and Economic History of the Roman World, 2 vols., Oxford 1957

--, A Large Estate in the Third Century BC, University of Wisconsin Studies in the Social Sciences and History 6, Madison 1922

Wallace, S., Taxation in Egypt from Augustus to Diocletian, Princeton 1938

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Lists of Editions, Published Papyri and Corrections

Oates, J., Bagnall, R., Willis, W., Worp, K.A., Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri, Ostraca and Tablets. BASP. Suppl. 9 (2001). Useful for decoding the abbreviations of the papyrological editions. (see also http://odyssey.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html for the most up-to-date information.)

Turner, E.G., Greek Papyri: An Introduction,Oxford 1980; the lists are at the end.

Pack, R.A., The Greek and Latin Literary Texts from Graeco-Roman Egypt, Ann Arbor 1965 (gives lists of all the literary and semi-literary papyri published until 1965.)

van Haelst, J., Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens,Paris 1976

Sammelbuch griech. Urkunden aus Ägypten (Marburg 1915- present); abbreviated as SB (currently vols. count 1-18); reprints papyri published in journals or volumes which provide no indexes.

Berichtigungsliste der griech. Papyrusurkunde aus Ägypten (Berlin-Leipzig, Leiden 1922-in progress); abbreviated as BL (currently vols. 1-10); collects suggested corrections to published texts.

Note:

A list of all published papyri in individual or serial volumes, or in periodicals, in a given year is provided at the end of the journal Aegyptus.
Horsley, G.H.R. et al., New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity reprints and discusses papyri, inscriptions and other type of texts and materials relevant to NT. For NT texts, see also K. Treu's (continued by C.Römer) series of articles "Christlische Papyri" in APF.
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Epistolography

Buzón, R., Die Briefe der Ptolemäerzeit: ihre Struktur und ihre Formeln, Diss., Heidelberg 1984

Exler, F.X., A Study in Greek Epistolography, Wash. D.C. 1923; out of date, but still useful for the various formulas.

Koskenniemi, H., Studien zur Idee und Phraseologie d. griech. Briefes bis 400 n.Chr., Suomalaisen tiedeakatemain Toikituksia 102.2,Helsinki 1955

Naldini, M., Il cristianesimo in Egitto,Firenze 1968; contains a number of letters as evidence for the early church in Egypt..

Tibiletti, G., Lettere private nei papiri greci dell III e IV secolo d.c.tra paganesimo et christianesimo, Milano 1979

White, J.L., The Form and Function of the Body of the Greek Letter: A Study of the Letter-Body in the Non-Literary Papyri and in Paul the Apostle, Missoula 1972

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Grammars

Mayser, E., Grammatik d. griech. Papyri aus d. Ptolemäerzeit, Berlin and Leipzig 1906-1938

Gignac, F., A Grammar of the Greek Papyri of the Roman and Byzantine Periods, v. 1: Phonology, Milano 1976; v.2: Morphology, Milano 1981

Jannaris, A.N., An Historical Greek Grammar, 1987

Mandilaras, B., The Verb in the Greek Non-Literary Papyri, Athens 1973

J.H. Moulton, A Grammar of the New Testament; 3 vols., Edinburg 1908, 1919, 1963; vol. 3 was written by N.Turner

Threatte, L., The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions, v.1: Phonology, Berlin and New York 1980

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Handbooks and General Works on Papyrology

Bagnall, R.S., Reading Papyri, Writing Ancient History, London 1995

Mitteis, L.-Wilcken, U., Grundzüge und Chrestomathie der Papyrusurkunde, Leipzig and Berlin 1912; I. Historischer Teil (U. Wilcken). v.1: Grundzüge; v.2: Chrestomathie II. Juristischer Teil (L. Mitteis). v.1: Grundzüge; v.2: Chrestomathie

Montevecchi, O., La Papirologia, 2nd ed., Milano 1988

Pestman, P.W., The New Papyrological Primer, Leiden, 1990

Rupprecht, H.-A., Kleine Einführung in die Papyruskunde, Darmstadt 1994

Turner, E.G., Greek Papyri, an Introduction, 2nd. ed., Oxford 1980

--, The Papyrologist at Work, GRBS Monograph 6, 1973

Youtie, H.C. The Textual Criticism of Documentary Papyri: Prolegomena, 2nd ed., BICS Suppl. 33, 1974

--, Papyrologist, Artificer of Fact, GRBS 4, 1963; 24ff. = Scriptiunculae vol. 1, 1ff.

A.S. Hunt-C.C. Edgar (eds.), Select Papyri, vol. 1: Non-Literary Papyri, Private Documents; vol. 2: Non-Literary Papyri, Public Documents

D.L. Page (ed.), Select Papyri, vol. 3: Literary Papyri: Poetry, Cambridge, 1941

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General History of Graeco-Roman Egypt

Bagnall, R.S. Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton 1993)

Bagnall, R.S. (Ed.) Egypt in the Byzantine World, 300-700 (Cambridge 2007)

Bagnall, R.S. and D. Rathbone, Egypt from Alexander to the Copts: an Archaeological and Historical Guide (London 2004)

Bell, H.I., Egypt from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest: a Study in the Diffusion and Decay of Hellenism, Oxford 1948

Bowman, A., Egypt after the Pharaohs, Oxford 1990

Lewis, N. Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt. Case Studies in the Social History of the Hellenistic World (Oxford 1986)

Lewis, N. Life in Egypt under Roman Rule (Atlanta 1999, reprint)

Rowlandson, J. (ed.) Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt. A Sourcebook. (Oxford 1998)

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Journals

Aegyptus

Anagennesis (ceased publication in 1986)

Analecta Papyrologica

Archiv für Papyrusforschung = Archiv, or APF

Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists = BASP

Chronique d'Égypte = CÉ or CdÉ

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology = JEA

Journal of Juristic Papyrology = JJP

Minima Papyrologica et Epigraphica

Studia Papyrologica = Stud.Pap. (ceased publication in 1983)

Tyche

Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik = ZPE

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Law

Seidl, E., Ptolemäische Rechtsgeschichte, Ägyptologische Forschungen 22, Hamburg 1962

--, Rechtsgeschichte Ägyptens als römischer Provinz, Sankt Augustin, Warsaw 1973
Taubenschlag, R., The Law of Greco-Roman Egypt in Light of the Papyri, München 1955
Wolff, H. J., Das Recht der griech. Papyri Ägyptens in der zeit der Ptolemäer und des Prinzipats, Handbuch d. Altertumswiss. X.5.2, 1978
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Lexica

Preisigke, F., Wörterbuch der griechischen Papyrusurkunden, Berlin 1926-31
(selected topics treated in v.3, Abschnitte, grouped by subject)

Kiessling, E., Wörterbuch, Supplement IV in 5 fascicules, Marburg 1944-1993 (an
update of Preisigke with very useful parallels for each entry)

Rübasm, W. Wörterbuch. Supplement III, 1966-1969 (only an index; entries are not
defined, but are dated)

Daris, S., Spoglio lessicale papirologico, Milano 1968

Rupprecht, H.-A., Wörterbuch der griechischen Papyrusurkunden, Supplement II,
Wiesbaden 1992

Preisigke, F., Fachwörter des öffentliches Verwaltungsdienstes Ägyptens, Göttingen
1915 (It treats technical, bureaucratic, and legal terms)

Ronchi, G., Lexicon Theonymon, 5 vols., Milano 1974-77 (Now slightly out of date; it
should be used in combination with the DDBDP)

Calderini, A.-Daris, S., Dizionario dei nomi geographici e topographici dell' Egitto greco- romano, with Supplemento I, Milano 1935-continuing

Bauer, W., Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments
und der frühchristlichen Literatur, Berlin 1988 (also available in the second English edition of 1979)

Lampe, G.W.H., A Patristic Greek Lexicon, Oxford 1963-1969

Kretschmer, P.-Locker, E., Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Sprache, Göttingen 1944

Buck, C.D.-Peterson, W., A Reverse Index of Greek Nouns and Adjectives, Chicago 1948

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Magic

Betz, H.D., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation Including the Demotic Spells, Chicago 1996

Brashear, William M., "The Greek Magical Papyri: an Introduction and Survey; Annotated Bibliography (1928-1994)," ANRW II 18.5 (1995) 3380-684.

Faraone, Chr.-Obbink, D., Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion, Oxford 1991

Hopfner, T., Griechisch-ägyptischer Offenbarungszauber, 2 vols., Amsterdam 1974

Pinch, G., Magic in Ancient Egypt (Austin 1994) (Egyptological material)

Preisendanz, K.-Henrichs, A., Papyri Graecae Magicae, 2 vols., Stuttgart 1974. A xerox of the unpublished word indexes from the first edition is in a black binder.

Ritner, R.K., The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice. SAOC 54 (Chicago, 1993) (Egyptological material)

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Monograph Series

American Studies in Papyrology = ASP; some arranged by subject

Collectanea Hellenistica = Coll.Hell.; arranged by subject

Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien, Neue Serie = MPER, NS; arranged by subject

Münchener Beiträge für Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte = Münch. Beitr.

Papyrologica Bruxellensia = Pap.Brux.; arranged by subject

Papyrologica Castroctaviana = Pap.Castr.; arranged by subject

Papyrologica Coloniensia = Pap.Colon.; some contain papyrus editions of the Cologne collection and are located in the editions section; some arranged by subject.

Papyrologica Florentina = Pap.Flor.; most arranged by subject

Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava = P.Lugd.-Bat. or PLB; some contain papyrus editions; all located in the editions section.

Papyrologica Lupiensia (Pap. Lup.)

Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen = PTA

Studia Amstellodamensia = Stud.Amst.; arranged by subject

Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyrusurkunde = Stud.Pal. or SPP; all located in the editions section.

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Onomastica

Preisigke, F., Namenbuch, Heidelberg 1922

Foraboschi, D., Onomasticon Alterum Papyrologicum, Milano 1967

Peremans, W.-van t'Dack, E., Prosopographia Ptolemaica = Studia Hellenistica 6, 1950 (= pt. i); 8, 1952 (= pt. ii); 11, 1956 (= pt. iii); 12, 1959 (= pt. iv); 13, 1963 (= pt. v).

Dornseiff, F.-Hansen, B., Reverse-Lexicon of Greek Proper Names = reprint of Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen, Sachsichen Akad. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig, Berlin 1957, Chicago 1978 (=reprint of Rückläufiges Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen. Sachsichen Akad. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig [Berlin 1957])

Pape-Benseler, Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen, Oxford 1911 (Library also has the 1959 edition with additions by Benseler, G.)

Frazer, P.M.-Matthews E., A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, vol. I: The Aegean Islands-Cyprus-Cyrenaica (Oxford 1987); vol. II: Attica (Oxford 1994); vol. III (published, but not in HHGL).

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Palaeography

Cavallo, G., Ricerche sulla maiuscula biblica, Studi e Testi di Papirologia 2, Firenze 1967; with useful plates

Cavallo, G.-Maehler H., Greek Bookhands of the Early Byzantine Period, BICS Suppl. 47 1987

Roberts, C.H., Greek Literary Hands, 350 BC-AD 400, Oxford 1956

Schubart, W., Papyri graecae Berolinenses, Bonn 1911

--, Paleographie d. griech. Papyri in Handbuch d. Altertumswissenschaft I.vi.1, 1925

Seider, R., Paläographie d. griech. Papyri, Stuttgart 1967-70; v.1: documentary texts; v.2: literary texts; v.3: (transcriptions should be read critically)

Sijpesteijn, P.J. -Boswinkel, E., Papyri, Ostraca and Mummy Labels, Amsterdam 1968; contains only documentary papyri.

Turner E.G., Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, BICS Suppl. 46, 1987

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Titulature

Ptolemaic Period

There is no exclusive study on the titulature of the Ptolemies. Some information can be found in P.W. Pestman, Chronologie égyptienne d'après les textes démotiques (332 av. J.-C. - 453 ap. J.-C.), Pap. Lugd.-Bat. 15, 1967 and in Preisigke, WB vol. III Abschn. 2, as well as in the most recent supplement by Rupprecht, WB. Supplement 2, Abschn. 2B.
Roman Period

Bureth, P., Les titulatures impériales dans les papyrus, les ostraca, et les inscriptions d'Égypte 30 a.C.-284 p.C., Bruxelles 1964 = Pap.Brux. 2
Grenier, J.-Cl., Les titulatures des empereurs romains dans les documents en langue égyptienne, Pap.Brux. 22, 1989
Byzantine Period

For this period consult the two studies by Bagnall-Worp given in the chronology section.
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