Object of the Month

P.Kramer 17 R (P. 13102 R) Ancient horoscopes from Egypt are most familiar on sheets of papyrus. These “original” horoscopes are attested in the hundreds in Greek and Egyptian in Roman times and complement the evidence from authors on astrology,… Read More→

BKT III, S. 30–31 (P. 9765) Valuable recipes are still written down today, so that they are not forgotten. This is all the more important when it comes to recipes for medicines. Even in ancient times, such recipes were written… Read More→

BKT IX 90 (P. 11754 + P. 21187) “Men are pigs” is a phrase often uttered by women when they have been treated disrespectfully by men, be it through infidelity, selfishness, ruthlessness or abusive behavior. This topic is very old… Read More→

BKT IX 16 (P. 21260 V) In European stories, the wolf is often portrayed as a predatory villain. For example, in “Little Red Riding Hood”, a fable by the Brothers Grimm, he deceives an innocent young girl in order to… Read More→

BGU III 726 (P. 7788) Buying at the right time has always been a good deal. This is true today and was also the case 1500 years ago. This also seems to be the case with a business deal that… Read More→

P. 14283 Ordinary people have their wills written by a lawyer. Ancient poets, however, wrote theirs themselves, namely in verses. Is this the case here and is this a testament by the famous epigrammatic poet Posidippus of Pella, who is… Read More→

SB XVIII 13250 = BKT IX 173 (P. 21269 R) Two young people, the future still ahead of them – but what will it bring? Is it worth going down this path together permanently? Because you can never be so… Read More→

P. 11517 V In this fragment of a novel or an aretalogy on a papyrus from the 2nd century CE, there is a rhetorical duel between Daulis, who has just seized Delphi with his army and criticizes the oracle practice,… Read More→

BGU I 229 (P. 7318) We have all been there: you are faced with a difficult decision or an urgent question and simply do not know what to do. It would be extremely practical if you could ask someone who… Read More→

BGU VII 1568 (P. 11473 R) If you lend something, you want to get it back. It does not matter whether the loan was ordered or voluntary. The text on this papyrus provides a brief insight into one such case:… Read More→