Papyry can be classified into two broad categories: Literary and Documentary. Literary papyri are those which contain works of ancient authors, such as Homer, Hesiod, Sappho, and others. Documentary papyri are all other texts, such as private letters, official decrees, inventory lists, tax-rolls and reciepts.
Literary Papyri
Popular works of prose and poetry, or religious texts such as the New Testament, usually copied by professional scribes.
Documentary Papyri
Letters, lists, contracts and other offical and personal documents. Some were written by scribes, some were not.
