Object of the Month

SB XII 10907 (P. 13308) Paying additional duties for the export and import of goods has never been popular and still is not today. However, customs duties are, in addition to taxes, an important source of revenue for the state…. Read More→

UPZ II 227 (P. 1382) At first glance, receipts appear monotonous and rather insignificant. But they provide us with an important insight into everyday life in the past and often lead to complex and socio-cultural questions. The text to be… Read More→

BGU I 255 (P. 7027) „I vouch for him!“ – is a statement that is linked not only today, but also in ancient times, with a complex legal procedure. This is a contractually secured interaction of debtor, creditor and guarantor… Read More→

P.Berl.Frisk 5 = SB V 7519 (P. 13921) Business was also done in antiquity. On papyri, parchments and ostraca countless texts survived that show the business acumen of the people of that time and provide insights into these aspects of… Read More→

P. 13229 A+B Cicero’s speeches are well-known across the world but only very few people are familiar with original copies – and nearly nobody knows that Egyptian transcripts of his works exist which have been written in late Antiquity. The… Read More→

SB VI 9545 Nr. 33 (P. 12065) Everything is controlled! For almost every job you need a permit or have to pay a tax. This is also the case in the trade license presented here, which was written on a… Read More→

BGU X 1994 = P.Zen.Pestm. 30 (P. 17487) Who likes to drink wine which has gone bad? Nobody. And so it is not particularly surprising when a replacement for such wine is demanded, as in this business letter from a… Read More→

SB XVIII 14043 (P. 21712) Help in the marriage crisis? In ancient Egypt this could be sought in ancient Egypt from the gods who were asked for help with oracular questions. A beautiful and almost complete example of such a… Read More→

P. 6926 R Acts of a love story – these two papyrus fragments allow us to gain an insight into two different scenes of an ancient Greek novel, the oldest survivor of its genre. It is not possible anymore to… Read More→

BGU I 1 + 337 = Chrest.Wilck. 92 = P.Louvre I 4 Kol. I-II (P. 6826 + 7412) Anyone annoyed today about the troubles of accounting can be reassured, because in antiquity, it was also necessary to keep a detailed… Read More→