Papyrology

A. General introduction to the subject: 1) material aspects: writing materials (papyrus, parchment, ostraca, wooden tablets, lead tablets, ivory, wall), with particular attention to the process of papyrus and parchment production; writing tools and inks; 2) text types (literary, paraliterary and documentary); 3) languages in which the papyri are written (apart from Greek); 4) geographical areas in which papyri and texts on other writing materials have been found (Greece, Egypt, Herculaneum and other regions of the Near East); 5) archaeological contexts related to the finding of papyri; 6) problems of conservation and restoration; 7) brief history of the development of the field (with particular attention to the archaeological and papyrological discoveries of the 19th century and the early 20th century; 8) general framework of the historical period to which documents on papyrus or other written materials that will be deciphered, read and/or examined in class belong; 9) archives and dossiers.

B. How to prepare a critical edition of a (Greek) text preserved on papyrus: the Leiden System. Problems of interpretation of a damaged text that has been partially reconstructed through conjecture, and its exploitation as historical source in the study of the ancient world.

C. Introduction to Greek Palaeography (see practical application below, D).

D. Deciphering, reading and palaeographical, philological, and linguistic analysis of literary texts and documents representative of a wide range of text types (official letters, private letters, administrative documents) which illustrates the use of the papyri as historical sources. Each text will be contextualized within the socio-cultural milieu in which it was produced and circulated.