Object of the Month

BKT V.1, 3 (P. 6845) The Iliad is probably the best known of the epics of the Greek poet Homer and has been regarded as a masterpiece of literature from antiquity until today. The main subject of the work is… Read More→

SB III 6216–6218 (P. 14000) „Only with writing and reading life really gets started“ – this is how a Greek writing exercise starts, written by the last owner of this schoolbook. It is probably a sentence his teacher dictated to… Read More→

SB I 5943 (P. 13430) This papyrus from Theadelpheia features a fully preserved libellus, a certificate attesting the completion of a sacrifice to the gods, dated to 250 AD. The text contains 22 lines in Greek written on just one… Read More→

SB IV 7401 (P. 12560) In this text a person with the name Choareris, whose name is not mentioned in any other Greek text from ancient Egypt, received a receipt for the payment of 240 drachmas for a tax on… Read More→

BGU I 103 (P. 6876) This papyrus was part of the private collection of Heinrich Brugsch and got to the Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung in 1891. It was probably found in the area of the Fayum, the oasis on the… Read More→

P.Berl.Leihg. I 21 (P. 11750) This papyrus was found during the excavations in el-Ashmunein, the ancient Hermupolis, but originated from the neighbouring district Cynopolites. The back is blank the recto contains a sales contract: Aurelios Theodoros, son of Harpokration, from… Read More→

BKT VI 5 (P. 10677) “And let us keep the feast on the holy Sunday at dawn, the 21st of the same Egyptian month of Pharmouthi, according to the Romans sixteen days before the Kalends of May, which is April… Read More→

P.Eleph. 1 (P. 13500) This papyrus belongs to one of the most significant findings in the history of papyrology. It came to light during the excavations of Otto Rubensohn on the Nilotic island Elephantine. On February 12, 1906 the archaeologists… Read More→

PGM XIX a (P. 9909) Amulet with erotic charm from Hermupolis, dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE. The papyrus sheet has been folded several times and contained a brownish-red hair lock. The spell is introduced by a 13-lines… Read More→

BGU I 28 (P. 6932) In this text Pakysis, priest of the god Soknopaios in the village Soknopaiu Nesos in Arsinoites, and his wife Tabus declare their seven-years-old daugther to the authorities. The document is dated on the 11th October… Read More→