The history of papyrological research at the University of Michigan is long and rich. On this page you can meet the people at the University of Michigan who work with the collection and other papyri, including the current staff of the Papyrology Collection, associated faculty, and graduate students. Also, you can explore the rich Michigan Tradition of Papyrology and learn about the people who established and studied this collection over the years.
Staff
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Acting Archivist of the Papyrology Collection Arthur Verhoogt received his PhD from the University of Leiden in 1997 and joined the University of Michigan in 2001. He specializes in the social, cultural and economic history of Greek and Roman Egypt and is currently working on several Karanis papyri from the U-M collection. |
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Adam Hyatt Papyrology Collection Manager Adam has been working with the Papyrology Collection since 2009. His primary responsibilities are to manage the day-to-day operations of the Papyrus Collection and the Papyrology Reference Collection, to make the collection available to scholars both here and abroad, and to present the collection to the public in the form of exhibits, tours, and lectures. His current work with the collection involves reintegrating the Karanis papyri into their larger archaeological contexts. |
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Senior Papyrus Conservator Leyla has been the conservator of the Michigan Papyrus Collection since 1990. She was trained at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and as one of the foremost papyrus conservators in the world, she has worked internationally at several collections, including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Carlsburg Collection in Copenhagen, and the Chester Beatty Collection in Dublin. In order to help provide instruction in papyrus conservation, she has published and regularly updates the APIS Conservation Guidelines, which is now the standard guide in the field. She has also organized an International Seminar in Papyrus Conservation at the University of Michigan in order to train professionals from other collections in all aspects of papyrus conservation. |
Associated Faculty
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Gerald F. Else Collegiate Professor of Classical Studies Richard Janko has worked on a variety of literary and philosophical papyri, including the Strasbourg Empedocles and the Derveni papyrus. At present he is reconstructing a 16-meter long roll from Herculaneum which contains Book 2 of On Poems by Philodemus, the Epicurean philosopher and teacher of Vergil. |
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Herbert C. Youtie Distinguished University Professor of Papyrology Retired 2002 |
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Assistant Professor of History Ian Moyer's investigation of historical interactions between ancient Greeks and Egyptians often lead him to the papyri, ostraca and inscriptions of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, and to the wealth of resources in the University of Michigan Papyrology Reference Collection. In his recent book, Egypt and the Limits of Hellenism, he has explored the history of cultural and intellectual encounters between ancient Greeks and Egyptians, and in his current research he is re-examining relations between the Ptolemaic state and the indigenous élite in Egypt. He also uses papyrus documents to teach ancient history at Michigan. |
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Associate Professor of Classical Studies Francesca Schironi (PhD in 2002 from the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa) studied Papyrology at the University of Pisa and then at Oxford with Dirk Obbink, where between 2003 and 2004 she also worked on the Oxyrhynchus Papyri Imaging Project as a research assistant to Dr. Dirk Obbink. While assistant and associate professor at Harvard (2004-2010), Francesca founded and directed the Harvard Papyri Digitization Project, which digitized the papyrological collection at Harvard and made it available online. Beyond editing papyri of Oxyrhynchus and working on the connection between papyri and ancient scholarship, she is the author of two monographs on papyri; the edition and commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (From Alexandria to Babylon. Near Eastern Languages and Hellenistic Erudition in the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (P.Oxy. 1802 + 4812), Berlin-New York 2009) and a monograph on book-conventions in rolls and codices containing hexametric poetry (Book-ends, End-titles, Coronides in Papyri with Hexametric Poetry, «American Studies in Papyrology» 48, Durham NC 2010). |
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Associate Professor of Egyptology Associate Curator of Graeco-Roman Egyptian Collections, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology Terry Wilfong is curator in charge of Graeco-Roman Egyptian material at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, and is particularly interested in the connections between the Kelsey collections and the excavated material in the Papyrology Collection. He frequently incorporates papyri from the Papyrus Collection into his Kelsey Museum exhibitions, most recently for the exhibition "Karanis Revealed." He has published a number of Coptic texts from the collection, and is currently working on several more. In addition, he is also working on the publication of the hieratic funerary papyri in the collection, including the Book of the Dead papyri. |
Associated Graduate Students
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Department of Classical Studies |
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Interdepartmental Program in Greek and Roman History Graham's first exposure to papyrology was in Egypt’s Dakhleh Oasis, where the troves of ostraka found at Amheida (Roman Trimithis) sparked his love for the study of ancient documents. Graham presented an edition of a Ptolemaic petition at the 26th International Congress of Papyrology in Geneva, which has been published in ZPE 176. He is currently Assistant Editor of the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri (DDbDP) and is part of an international project to publish papyri from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, with biannual meetings in Cairo and elsewhere. Graham's dissertation will focus on Roman Karanis (Kom Aushim), where the University of Michigan excavated from 1924-1935. |
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Interdepartmental Program in Greek and Roman History |
The Michigan Tradition of Papyrology
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Traianos Gagos Years at Michigan: 1988-2010 Archivist of the Papyrology Collection Professor of Papyrology and Greek |
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Years at Michigan: 1938-1978 Professor of Greek |
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Years at Michigan: 1938-1975 Professor of Greek and Latin |
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Years at Michigan: 1929-1975 Research Professor of Papyrology |
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Years at Michigan: 1934-1996 Unofficial Overseer of the Papyrology Collection |
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Years at Michigan: 1925-1965 Curator of Manuscripts and Papyri Curator of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology |
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Years at Michigan: 1914-1958 Professor of History |
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Years at Michigan: 1906-1951 Professor of Latin Language and Literature Director of the Museum of Archaeology |
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Years at Michigan: 1908-1910, 1925-1949 Professor of Semitics |
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Years at Michigan: 1907-1946 Professor of Classical Studies, Greek |
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Years at Michigan: 1893-1938 Professor and Chair of Speech, Phonetics and General Linguistics Professor of Latin |
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Years at Michigan 1889-1927 Professor of Classical Studies, Latin Language and Literature |
