Object of the Month

BGU III 953 (keine Inv.Nr.) We have probably all written a shopping list at some point. Very few people think that this piece of paper could be found and examined many centuries from now. Nikon, the author of this order… Read More→

O.Wilck. 1224 (P. 321) Egypt’s wealth relied on the annual flooding of the Nile and its fertile riverbanks; hence, the land was considered the granary of the ancient world. The ancient Egyptians also possessed excellent irrigation systems, further augmenting their… Read More→

BKT IX 38 (P. 6934 V + P. 21137 V) The conflict between wisdom and power is an old topic. It is therefore not surprising that stories of many famous wise women and men have been handed down in which… Read More→

P. 12311 First used a receipt, then upcycled as a surface for a writing exercise: this ostracon contains remnants of a receipt as well as being an “anthology” with three short texts! To be precise, three independent texts are recognisable… Read More→

P. 8687 Most definitely, you have heard of Christmas, perhaps you often even celebrated it and sang carols while doing so. But what have thorns to do with Christmas? What was it like 1400 years ago? Were there the same… Read More→

SB XXII 15312 (P. 11702) An odd drawing, a multiplication-table and a bird! All of this can be found on a Berlin papyrus and gives puzzles. What does that mean? In what context are these elements related to each other?… Read More→

P. 16511 V Anybody who is eager to determine the precise position of stars or planets in the sky, can nowadays open their computer and find everything they seek with a few clicks through modern software. In antiquity, this was… Read More→

BKT IX 42 (P. 21141) Reason in the head, bravery in the heart, desire in the liver – the famous ancient physician Galen tries to build a bridge between Hippocratic medicine and Platonic philosophy. A small fragment from this great… Read More→

BKT V.2, S. 123–128, Nr. XX A (P. 9772) How to get an idea of what Greeks thought about marriage? Go to the anthologies! An anthology is a collection of selected literary passages by one or more authors. Greek papyri… Read More→

FGrHist 533 F 2 (P. 11632) Who can name all Seven Wonders of the World, let alone say, when and why they were built? With the Colossus of Rhodes, a papyrus can help us to understand its creation. The papyrus… Read More→