Papyrology Course eMail Communications (Fall 2006, then for Spring 2009 with the most recent first)

Quicklinks:

11 April 2009 Conservator Visit

Lynn A. Grant. Interim Head of Conservation
U of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Among (some of) the things I hope you might be able to address:

We will have some examples of most of these problems available in the papyri room.

Thanks. We are all looking forward to this special session!

Bob

25 March 2009 Papyrology: Medicine List Resource

I tripped across a new book on ancient and medieval medicines, and one of the authors is an expert in the history of such substances. I've added appropriate links to the beginning of that file. One of us should probably write to Mr/Dr Touwaide at the Smithsonian, to see if he can offer any help with the identifications. His email address is on his web page (linked from the file) --
http://botany.si.edu/staff/staffPage.cfm?ThisName=71&homepage=no

In the morning, we will meet in the normal classroom and discuss such things for a few minutes, then go down to the papyrology room in the basement (er, on the ground floor, I mean -- the lower ground floor) at 9:30. So don't be late!

Bob

08 March 2009 Papyrology: Ptolemaic Document WIKI

I'm pleased to report that with Jay Treat's help, we've been able to rescue the information from the old WIKI page for E16542A. It is now linked to the expected spot on the course web page --

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/museum/E16542A/wiki.html

It no longer functions as a WIKI (with interactive editing), but has the final form of the information that was on that site, line by line, with the most readable images I could create at the time. Hopefully this will help us to finish up what we can for the first full edition of this text.

Enjoy the week! And think about what items you would like to be able to examine at more leisure during our visit(s) to the papyri room in the Museum.

Bob

05 March 2009 Papyrology: Ptolemaic Document

Some of you may be having problems getting to printable material on the Ptolemaic Document project. It is possible to download from the Library SCETI images, as I described in this note on 15 January:

Otherwise, here are some quick and easy files that might be useful, and printable --
the "raw" SCETI image -- http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/museum/E16542A/E16542A-00-all.jpg
the dating formula file that we were looking at in class --
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/museum/E16542A/formula.html
the paleography file for this document --
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/museum/E16542A/paleography.jpg

I've made an inquiry about the fate of the WIKI files, and will let you know the results. There was some useful information (conjectures, etc.) in that material.

Enjoy the week!

Bob

18 February Papyrology: Literary texts 2, Paleography

What's new with the Papyrology course this week? A couple of things:

1. We will spend a bit more time looking at the Greek literary text in the Museum collection. To that end, I've listed those already published, with links to their images. There is a "QickLink" to get you there, uh, speedily.

2. I found the more detailed Greek paleography charts, which should help in our quest for rough dates. The charts are almost a century old, but still provide a useful starting place. Another "QuickLink" has been added.

Otherwise, I stole another afternoon from Jean's schedule to make images of several more pieces of interest. For the puzzle experts, the Coptic Gospel of John can soon be explored for fitting various loose ends. I'm not sure it will be ready for tomorrow, but it is in process.

Bob

03 February 2009 Papyrology: Literary Texts

With Jean's generous help, I've been able to update the old file on the Patristic fragments in the Museum papyri collection. The results are available from the class web page, at
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/museum/patr/PPennPatristic.html

It is not easy material, but is illustrative of aspects of papyrological codicology, among other things. There still remains the identification of "fragment 1" -- which might indeed come from one or the other of the identified materials, which seem to expose some textual variations compared to the TLG texts. In any event, this material is a good practice field for learning how to go about identifying literary fragments, and some of the things that need to be done along the road to publication.

Jean and I also found the one Latin piece that had been recognized in the Museum papyri, and I hope to provide some images as well, for any of you inclined to give it a closer look.

Enjoy the snow!

Bob

30 January 2009 Papyrology: Coptic

Changes to the class page so far today include

1. Table created for your names and projects (near the bottom of the page; let me know as you decide)
2. Updated links for the Michael hymn
3. HTML version of the Patristic fragments page, to which some text (and images?) will be added.

Carry on, and have a productive SuperBowl weekend!

Bob

29 January 2009 Coptic

Those of us interested in Coptic are in luck. Plumley's older grammar is available online, and I've added the information and link to the "Coptic" section of the course page. It may not be the most uptodate grammar, but it will get you started quite nicely.

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/Papyri/papyrology.html#coptic

Bob

24/25 January 2009 Papyrology: For your enlightenment and amusement

Ann Kuttner was most helpful (read: brilliant!) with the images that we looked at, and I've started to revise the page in the light of her comments. Please check it now, and see what you think --

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/pictures/PPennPictures.html

And on the fun side, papyrologically speaking, Ann called my attention to the attached Oxyrhynchos papyrus from the Alexandrian Museum, which is described as follows at http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/detail.aspx?id=14635 :

This magic papyrus contains two Coptic <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=118> texts. There are also two human figures that have been drawn between the two texts. The figure on the right has a very strange face.

       Present location
     Bibliotheca Alexandrina <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=411> MUSEUM [01/027] ALEXANDRIA <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=49> BA <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=80>

       Inventory number
     508

       Dating
     ROMAN PERIOD <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=320>

       Archaeological Site
     EL-BAHNASA [[i.e. Oxyrhynchos]]

       Category
     PAPYRUS <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=287>

       Material
     PAPYRUS <http://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/glossary.aspx?id=287>

       Technique
     WRITTEN WITH A REED PEN/REED WITH SPLIT NIB

       Width
     12.5 cm


It is clearly not in the Coptic language, and should be relatively easy to transcribe and decipher. For openers, here is a first attempt (in Beta code). Improvements will be most welcome -- it seems to be a curse text of some sort --

Names of power (?) seem to be accumulated on the left, each introduced by X -- AWR, QWR, ARARBA, OLBAS, E\R/YQYR, RBK?E?, QAMNW, QOAUXRA, UXXUX.

The main text, on the right, goes something like this

XWAR ECWRKIZW{UMAS}KAI? |
EWS TA TWN ONWMA? |
KATW TWN MEGALWN? |
EKBALE TON FILO |
CENON  TON YALTHN |
ME?TA GEN?NADIOU |
FLON EIS MAXHN TON Q? |
EKBALE TON PELAGION? |
TON PRESBUTERON EIS |
MAXHN META FIL... |
NOU TON YALTHN ||

I'm at home, without my lexica, but it seems to be some sort of curse against Filocenon, Gennadion and a presbyter Pelagion (at least). Much more could be done with it -- I expect there are many comporanda in the various online resources. Indeed, I now see (searching EIS MAXHN) that the almost identical wording appears in PapMagicaeGr 66 according to the TLG, although I can't determine (without my office books) whether the TLG/PGM text comes from this papyrus; probably not, since there are some minor differences in the respective transcriptions. Who copied what? And what is the picture all about?!

Bob

20 Jan 2009 Papyrology: This Thursday

Several things in anticipation of Thursday's class:

1. We will go over (lightly) the "topics" section near the top of the online class page
2. We will look at the papyri pictures that I sent in an earlier email (if you didn't get them, please let me know)
3. We will test our deciphering skills by looking at the new class project, E 16238 (a list)
4. If time permits, I'll try to introduce you to Coptic papyrology.

Also, I'd like to include your respective names on the course web page (as I did with the 2006 class), but I would need your permission to do so. If you have an objection, please let me know. (If you reply to this message, it will probably go to the whole list, so be aware of that situation and use my personal address if you don't want your message to be public.)

17 Jan 2009 Papyrology: Working with Papyrus Art

To get things rolling without initial pressures about language competence, I've thrown together three interesting "picture" papyri, both to whet your appetites and to illustrate the sorts of simple publications that are possible (as well as to show the need for revised descriptions in our Library database, and ultimately in APIS). Please take a look at
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/ppenn/pictures/PPennPictures.html
which is also linked from the class page under "Quick Links."

Incidentally, along the way I made some use of the feature on the SCETI display page that permits comparison of two images. It might be useful in attempting to determine whether similar looking fragments actually come from the same piece.

Bob

15 Jan 2009 Downloading SCETI images

I knew there was a way to download the large SCETI images, and here it is:

1. Display the largest "zoom" option
2. From the dropdown "File" option (Windows machines) choose "Save page as"
3. Choose under "save as type" the option "Web Page, complete"
4. This gives you a folder named "index.cfm_files" (or you can rename it before saving it)
5. Within that folder will be a large .jpg file with the image of the page including the papyrus
6. Move the .jpg file to wherever you want it, and delete the remaining "index.cfm_files" folder
7. The .jpg file can then be manipulated in an image editor to save whatever you need (e.g. only the papyrus image, or the image with the ruler).

It's not all that difficult, when you've done it once or twice, and gets the desired results. Let me know if you have problems. I'll provide links to a few of such images in a future mailing.

Bob

-----------------------------[from here, the 2006 messages are in chronological order]---

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:23:34 -0400
From: Robert Kraft <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: updates & notes on dieresis dating
To: RELS735-401-06C@LISTS.UPENN.EDU


I think I have the class list together now. Be aware that if you use the "reply" key (or its equivalent) you will reach the entire list. Sometimes that is what you ought to do, but perhaps not always.

I've done some updating to the class page -- http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/courses/735/papyrology.html

Note the suggested group projects for you to play with (send suggestions and solutions to the list if you like, to inspire further comments, corrections, etc.). I've tried to select some interesting problems. Don't get discouraged if you find some of it hard sledding, but move along to what you are able to do. I'm trying to prep you for your own projects, and nudge you to using the various online resources as you go (learn by doing).

Trying to date E16542C paleographically is challenging, partly because the available tables for comparison (Thompson) are much too limited on the "literary" side, partly because it is not clear whether to consider the fragment to be "literary" or to evaluate it as "paraliterary" or even careful documentary. The hand is a bit too careless (letter sizes, alignment, ligatures, spacing) to be trained (professional) literary, yet the letters in general are carefully made and clearly presented. The Ks are especially attractive, with high left stroke and the top right stroke bending downward at the end, and lower right stroke bending gently at the outer foot. The X is rather impressive as well. The As are irregular, and made in one stroke starting from the left and with a loop at the top (quite "cursive" looking). The tall slanted stroke with the top hook just before the I with a dieresis/trema is (as was noted in class) rather unusual, and seems to be followed by a middle height dot, the significance of which eludes me. Did the scribe begin to write the letter I, then change his/her mind because a dieresis was expected? (Do documentary papyri use dieresis?)

My impression, with all that in mind, is that there is nothing here that would be inconsistent with a first century CE dating, on up to the 4th century (and beyond?). It is a very difficult hand to place on a chonological scale, I think, unless the double dotted dieresis moves it towards the later dating. My intuition is to date it later rather than earlier, but without any clear reasons. What do you think?

[PS. A google search uncovers discussion by Bell and Skeat in 1935 regarding dieresis/diaeresis as a clue to dating, and they argue that it is not unknown in second century CE texts, or even earlier, but becomes more frequent after that. They add "a systematic investigation of the subject might be of some value for palaeography." Perhaps it has been done in the intervening years?]

And that's how we will learn together!

--

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:33:03 -0400
From: Robert Kraft <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Papyrological Talk tomorrow (Thursday)
To: RELS735-401-06C@LISTS.UPENN.EDU


[announcement deleted]

Incidentally, the book about the Herculaneum Library finds to which yesterday's
movie alluded is by David Sider, The Library of the Villa dei Papiri at
Herculaneum (Getty Museum 2005). I have the library copy but can give it up (or
lend it out) if this is a special interest of someone. It's fascinating, and very
useful as a supplementary introduction to literary papyri as well. Great pictures!

--

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 15:11:39 -0400
From: Robert Kraft <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Potential Projects #1
To: RELS735-401-06C@LISTS.UPENN.EDU


Caroline Kelly reports as follows, on the papyri Penn received from the Egyptian
Exploration Society a century ago (Oxyrhynchos, Fayyum, Hibeh). While the
published series identified these pieces briefly, no full transcription was
provided. We will try to supply transcriptions for the APIS project.

I also have on hand a notebook with basic information on all such pieces. It
should be consulted to be sure we don't miss anything. Also, we need to check with
the Museum offices in case someone has already requested permission to publish any
of these items. The "Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten" (SB) should
have a record of any published corrections or additions to the original published
information. Dan Harris has been checking this. The online Duke Data Base should
also be consulted.

> Here is the list as I have it, of Greek records from the Fayum and Oxyrhynchos still
> needing transcriptions:-- CK [supplemented 15 Sept 2006; 10oc06]
>
> NEEDING TRANSCRIPTIONS
>
> Transcription totally lacking


> E02755 -- 5 partial lines wedding invitation 3rd century C. E.
>
> E02762 -- 18 lines part of the signatures to a loan of money (cancelled), with
> acknowledgement of repayment to the lender and docket of the bank of Pamphilius
> stating <gk>??????????? ? ?????????</gk>. 35 C. E.
>
> E02774 -- 8 lines certificate for 5 day's work (Penthemeros) by Dius at
> Theadelphia, dated in the third year of Imp. Caes. T. Ael. Hadr. Antoninus Aug.
> Pius (139 C.E.)
>
> E02777 -- 23 lines account of expenditures on a farm. approx 100 C. E.
>
> E02778 -- 7 lines beginning of a letter from Sabinus to his father Gemellus.
> approx 100 C. E.
>
> E02793 -- 43 lines fragment of the will of Sarapion, written in the reign of
> Hadrian. 117-138 C.E..
>
> E02794 -- 27 lines portions of the will of Heracles, son of Sarapas. Early 2nd
> century.
>
> E02795 -- 11 lines will of a woman. Late first, early 2nd century. (*Jessica Sisk;
Andrew Mihailoff working on for papyrology class)
>
> E02796 -- ends of 12 lines from the will of a woman. Early 2nd
> century. (*Jessica Sisk; Andrew Mihailoff working on for papyrology class)

>

+ E02797 -- left column, parts of 16 lines from a property registration, Nero's reign (?)
>
> E02806 -- 19 lines from a taxing-account, untranscribed. 24 lines
> transcribed-letter from Heraclides to Hatres, reproaching him for not sending
> 20 drachmae. 2nd century C. E.
>
> E02807 -- 7 lines authorization issued by Diogenes and Chaeremon for the
> payment of 32 artabae to Andronicus. Practically complete. August 29, 159 C.E.
>
> E02808 -- 18 lines authorization issued by Idomeneus for the payment of 1 and
> one half artabae in all. 159-160 C.E.
>
> E02809 -- 13 lines authorization issued by Idomeneus for the payment of 1 and
> one half artabae in all. 159-160 C.E.161 C.E.
>
> E02810 -- 12 lines authorization addressed to the sitologi of the middle
> toparchy <gk>????????? ??? ????? ?????</gk> (lines 3-4) by Alexandrus for the
> payment of 20 artabae to Theon. 158 C. E.
>
> E02811 -- 8 lines authorization addressed to the sitologi <gk>????? ???(??)</gk>
> by Chaeremon for payment of 2 artabae to Apollonia. 159 C.E.

>
> E02815 -- 3 fragments; Illiad 7.1-27(27 lines against the fibers) which needs work (see below) and an
untranscribed list of names on the other side; 2nd-3rd c CE (worked on previously by P Oxy, LCK,
and an anonymous editor)

>

> E02818 25 lines Odyssey 10.26-50 and an untranscribed letter on the back, 150-299 CE
>
> E03068 -- 13 lines against the fibers, unidentified; 17 lines Hippias (?),
> Discourse on Music transcribed in P.Oxy (and available in LCK's MWDoc);
> further fragment possibly belonging to this; heavily fragmented piece of
> papyrus, cartonnage highly evident. Three distinct patterns of cartonnage:
> Solid blue, red and white striped, and a diamond pattern consisting of a red
> background with light blue lines and orange circlets at the corners. 280-240
> B.C.E. [see RAK for more information]
>
> Transcription with no attribution


> E02756 -- 26 lines acknowledgment addressed to Flavius Apion, or his heirs, of the
> loan by Aurelius Ptollion of one solidus for a ?????? ????????? ??????. 6th
> century C.E. [fragment reported "lost" in 1994]
>
> E02763 -- the beginnings of 8 lines notice sent to the agoranomus to register the
> sale for a half share of a slave Dioscorus, about thirty years of age. Late
> first century C.E.
>
> E02764 -- 24 lines almost complete notice to the agoranomi from Panther and
> Hermogenes...of a cession of catoecic land near the village ????????? in the
> ?????? of Theodotus and Drimakus 1st century C.E. (*Amanda Reiterman checking it for papyrology class)
>
> Transcription incomplete, no attribution [thus in need of verification]

> E02766 -- 7 lines beginning of a notice from [De]metrios and Didymus to the
> agoranomus, requesting him to free a female slave, ??? ??? ?????. Late 1st
> century C.E.
>
> E02771 -- 7 lines receipt for 20 drachmae for poll-tax of the thirtieth year, and
> 10 [obols of copper for ????????????????], paid by Souchas. 7 lines. Dated in
> the thirty-first year of Marcus Aurelius Commodus (190 C.E.)
>
> E02773 -- 10 lines two receipts for poll-taxes of the twelfth year (?) in the
> ??????? ????? ????? paid apparently by the same person through Diodorus, the
> first payment being 8 drachmane with [4] obols for ????????????????, the second
> for 12 drachmae with 6 obols for ????????????????. The second receipt is dated
> in the 13th (?) year of Hadrian (128-9 C.E.); the date of the first is lost,
> but was probably the same. Incomplete.
>
> E03072 -- 6-7 lines acknowledgment by a ?????????. 252 (251) or 251(250) B.C.E.
> This one has something in P. Oxy. and has been worked on by an anonymous hand
> since, as well as myself (LCK).
>

> Records I transcribed previously but which still need work (i.e., there is a MSWord Doc with the Greek in my files or in ORACLE):

>E02815  -- 3 fragments; Illiad 7.1-2 7(27 lines) which needs work and untranscribed list of names (see above); 2nd-3rd c CE (worked on previously by POxy, LCK, and an anonymous editor)


> E28016 -- 12 lines Odyssey 17.137-148; 12 lines Odyssey 17.182-193 3rd century CE

>

> E28017 -- 10 lines Odyssey 4.520-529 0-150 CE

>

> E02819 -- 14 lines Odyssey 16.243-256; 14 lines Odyssey 16.288-301, 200-299 CE

>

> E02821 -- 13 lines Odyssey 4.388-400 (399 omitted) 200-299 CE

>

> E03076 -- 11 lines Illiad 10.233-243; 6 lines Illiad 10.250-255200-299 CE
>

> Ones I have started on and want to keep working on (LCK):

> E02765 16 lines notice to the agoranomi announcing the payment of tax upon a
> mortgage. Late 1st century C.E.

> E02747 Thucy IV

> E02814 Thucy IV from the same manuscript

 

--

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 16:36:38 -0400
From: Robert Kraft <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Getting Started on E16542A
To: RELS735-401-06C@LISTS.UPENN.EDU


As a long range class project, I chose E16542A because it is substantial in size,
appears to be readable, and is probably Ptolemaic in date. But getting one's foot
in the door, so to speak, is not simple. The start of the top line is badly
damaged, where we might expect some sort of formulaic beginning. So I've looked
for something in the top lines that is recognizable, to work backwards and
forwards from.

How about the fairly clear, if also fairly unusual word KOKKALON (if I'm reading
it correctly) in the middle of the second line? It is a kernel of the pine-cone
(or something of the sort), and perhaps had medical uses (Galen attests the word
several times, according to TLG). It seems to be followed by TON. Then what?

Also, in the non-linguistic category, note that this text is written against the
fibers (not along them), and the other side (with the fibers) is blank. Can that
tell us anything about the genre or the expected contents? It does not seem to be
a reused piece of scroll, as sometimes explains a Greek text written against the
fibers. What sorts of texts normally were inscribed this way?

--

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:25:43 -0400
From: Robert Kraft <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>
Subject: Tonight's Riddle
To: RELS735-401-06C@LISTS.UPENN.EDU


You have come across a small scrap of papyri, written against the fibers, with the
following letters [corrected!] quite clear in a neat upright uncial hand:

S [blank]
NTA (or perhaps APA)
SANES
NWN [blank]
ENHOS [apparently blank]

It's in the upper left corner of this image (don't strain your eyes! trust me):
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/temp/images/grp00.JPG

Can you identify it? Don't spend more than half an hour trying!

--

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:27:21 -0400

Subject: Tonight's Riddle -- more clues and a correction!!

Two responses thus far, which I will share with the list since we will all learn from our combined problems and mistakes.

| Those are all acceptable Greek word endings (with the possible exception
| of APA). I don't suppose one would consider finishing one's lines on the
| 'verso' if one ran out of space on the 'recto'? Seems a waste of
| papyrus, but otherwise why all the blanks? (And I did a wildcard TLG
| search for SANES near ENNOS and got noplace!)

I should have mentioned that there is a line on the other side, in a completely different hand, so don't think codex; this is either a roll, or a separate sheet.

> I'm stumped! I was expecting a library list in line with today's talk, but I
> can't think of anything on such a list that would end in NTA or APA or in the
> genitive plural (NWN). I thought a word terminating in "ENNOS" was worth
> TLG'ing, and I turned up a Euripides fragment and some Plutarch. But Plutarch
> seems a little late, and I can't find the other words in the Euripides
> fragment. The other lines are too common to yield much on a TLG search.

Well, I'm not so clever or resourceful as to have a library list available, but it was a nice thought. Also, as happens in these matters, I find that I mistyped the last line. Mea culpa. It should have been ENHOS. Sorry. And don't forget that if it is a literary text it probably doesn't have word division, so that can complicate things (but not as much as transcribing H as N)!

Fifteen minutes more and you should be home free!

--

Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:40:20 -0400
Subject: KOKKALON and Ibycus

I spent half an hour tonight in the Library here in Logan, refreshing myself on how to use the Papyri & Inscriptions disk on the Ibycus system, with the specific target the word KOKKALON from our long term project papyrus.

Turns out that is occurs several times in inscriptions and papyri as a name. Now we need to consult Preisigke's Namenbuch (1922) and its successors for further light regarding that option (is Preisigke in the Logan Library? I couldn't find it). The word also appears in a list of products, with prices, perhaps as a feul (right after "oil"). But given its location near the top of our papyrus, its use as a name makes good sense.

Next class I'll show you how to use the Ibycus search resource, which will sometimes come in handy, although it is very slow compared to TLG and the like.  Still, it is faster than browsing all those papyri catalogs (most of which we also have on microfiche in the Logan Library), and it permits "ignore spacing" as well.  Bring your target terms for searching -- Ibycus does documentary papyri, not literary.

--

Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 12:33:54 -0400
Subject: Weekend Diversion

Some of you have correctly identified the previous "mystery" and were sent this "bonus" fragment. Just so the rest of you do not feel left out, see [literary2]

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/pcjs0104.jpg

This is an enlarged and enhanced ePlate of both sides of a scrap from the UPenn collections, but you don't need to know that, so pretend it just came to light today. What do you make of it?

I'll reveal the identity of both this and the previous fragment in class Tuesday, or privately in response to your guesses.

[For "literary1" see the eBay image and the resulting identification (Homer, Il 23); for "literary2," see the first item in the PPennLibrary collection (Homer, Od 4).]

--

Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:49:13 -0400
Subject: Moving Ahead?

Please remember that we plan to meet tomorrow (Tuesday) for our second seminar at 3:15 (not 4:00) in Logan 204.

The plan is to go over your experiences with the mystery texts, both those assigned in class -- E16542C (readable letters) and E16542A (mostly unreadable but we'll stare at it together!) -- and the two thrown at you by email (both are "literary" -- many of you have been successful with the first, few responses on the second -- but one correct identification a few minutes ago!).

Then we will look at the new section I've added to the web page, listing some possible projects for your consideration, and talk about how to approach such projects (all of which involve transcription of literary and/or paraliterary materials). If you get a chance to review that section before class, it might be useful in the discussion. Don't forget also to look at Caroline's list of needed transcriptions (in the "eMail" link from the course page), including some supplementary information (in green) that you will not yet have seen.

We will also take a "field trip" to the Library on the 2nd floor of Logan to become acquainted with two tools available there: especially the microfiche edition of published papyri, and the IBYCUS system for searching inscriptions and documentary papyri.

Finally, if time permits, we can look at another film that describes some technological developments in the study of papyri -- "Out of the Ashes" (2003) on the Herculaneum papyri. Or we can hold that for another time. If you've already seen it, don't give away the plot!

Get some sleep. See you tomorrow!

--

Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 21:02:27 -0400
Subject: Working with the Transcription WIKI

With the help of Jay Treat, we now have a WIKI for transcriptional notes, starting with the big KOKKALOS piece. WIKI permits you to make changes to the file at will (sort of), which is intended as an invitation to participate directly.

To get to the WIKI, click on the "Quicklink" on the class home page (with "Class Projects"). This takes you to the "Blackboard" suite, which has a WIKI module. Here you need to log in -- those of you without PennKey have been given a "bb-Login" that I'm hoping works. Please report any problems getting through that gateway!

Once in to Blackboard, you should see a box containing a link to "Papyrology WIKI" -- that takes you to a page with a link to "View" -- and that gets you to the current state of the transcription file!

The file is entirely experimental, so let me know your reactions. I've divided the images into half-lines (the WIKI editor would not accept full lines), and placed the transcription suggestions beneath each line. Thus far, I've only done three lines (it takes time and effort!), but that ought to suffice for seeing whether this is a useful approach.

My suggestions are in black. To add yours and/or question mine, click on the "Edit Page" button in the middle directly above the image/transcription area itself. Once into the edit mode, you can do all sorts of things, but the line format may be screwed up if your screen is not wide enough. Stretch the left and right borders of the main file as far as possible, hoping that the transcription lines will not remain broken. If they do break, tell me and I'll modify the format (or do it yourself if you know how -- the images can be made smaller, if necessary, by clicking on them and moving the borders).

When you make changes, color them red (or some other convenient color) by using the appropriate tools in the WIKI editor. That way we can tell what is new. Try to leave the old as well (there should be room between letters), and we can argue things out as they erupt. Of course, the proof of the readings will rest on whether the resulting Greek makes any sense. I haven't even begun to apply that test yet.

I've made dots to approximate the locations of unidentified letters -- replace them if you think you can read what is in the image. I've also tentatively used the | stroke for possible word separations. Much more of that when we start making some sense units.

So, it's an experiment. If it works, it can be applied to other texts, but this is still the "big one" with which I hope we will be able to make significant headway together.

I've also begun a "paleography" file for this document, but it isn't yet ready for prime time. I need to pay some bills and do some other things first! But as we discover more "sure" readings, this ought to become a valuable tool for disambiguation.

Enjoy?

--

Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:18:30 -0400
Subject: Blackboard WIKI access

Please try to get into the papyrology WIKI on blackboard and let me know if you encounter problems. You are all on the list of users now (I just added Doug, Jessica, Caroline, Dan, and Allison Fandl), but in some instances that may be deceptive. I'm especially concerned about Andrew (whose email does not appear on the Bb list), Virginia (listed with a sas.penn.edu address), and Allison Fandl (whose old sas.penn.edu address still seems to be active and recognized by Bb).

Feel free to play a bit with the WIKI file, since if it cannot be made to work adequately on your respective machines, I'll scrap the project before spending any more time on it. In the abstract, it seems like a good idea but "the proof of the pudding is in the eating," as grandma used to say. So take 15 minutes, see if you can get to the text, try editing a letter or two in the six lines that have images, and report. If you don't see images, let me know too. There should be split images (two to a line) of the first 6 lines.

Also feel free to add notes below the relevant lines, explaining your reasoning on problematic transcriptions -- e.g. "this occurrence doesn't look like the other Ks" or "we haven't seen any PIs; could this be one?" Probably most of you will not be able to enter stuff in Greek, so use Beta code. I'll figure it out.

Enjoy the weekend!

And remind me to introduce you to the PAPY email discussion list by next class.

--

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:29:04 -0400
Subject: Assignments!!

OK. The WIKI seems to be working as hoped. That means we have 30 lines of a documentary Greek text to be (1) deciphered, then (2) read, and finally (3) translated and studied. For the decipherment stage, I've decided to make each of you initially responsible for one line of text, to see how far you can get with transcribing. At present, I've assigned (quite arbitrarily) lines 20-29 to the 10 registered members, and when you tell me you are ready, we will switch assignments so that at least two of you are involved in transcribing each line. I chose those lines because they have received less work than the others, and the images were just added to the WIKI yesterday. If any of the course auditors also want to be involved formally, let me know. We still have lots of other lines!

What I'm expecting you to do is mainly to try to decipher the letters and letter combinations, and where possible attempt to make some lexicographical and/or linguistic sense out of what you find (e.g. searching TLG or DDB [Duke Data Bank] for possible words and expressions to stimulate your further decipherment). Meanwhile, I'll continue to try to put together some paleographic helps for this document. Hopefully it will be possible to identify what sort of document it is through the clues you will discover. The fact that it is a Ptolemaic era text written against the fibers is probably significant, although it is not yet clear exactly how -- does your background reading in Turner, Pestman, etc., help with this? I don't find any clear statement in the old Thompson Paleolgraphy book.

Enough for now. More later. Here are the initial assignments. Don't worry about marking your transcription with different colors -- those lines are yours to adjust as you think right:

Seth BERNARD --                 WIKI 21
Christina C. GIESKE --          WIKI 22
Marian MAKINS --               WIKI 23
Andrew MIHAILOFF --        WIKI 28
Matthew V. NOVENSON -- WIKI 26
Amanda REITERMAN --       WIKI 25
Jessica SISK --                       WIKI 29
Emlen SMITH --                     WIKI 20
Christian TEUCHTLER --       WIKI 27
Alison TRAWEEK --              WIKI 24

See you in class at 3:15.

--

Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:14:47 -0400
Subject: Cartonnage & Preservation Problems

For the rest of the course, we will be dealing (among other things) with problems of recovery and conservation of papyri, as well as description and decipherment, with the eBay sales (and my own purchases) as a convenient point of departure. With this in view, I've begun a "Study" page describing some of the issues and problems. The page is named "cartonnage," and is now linked from the course web page, or you can access it independently at

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/temp/ebay/cartonnage/cartonnage.html

Please look through it as a prelude to your own adventures with some of the small cartonnage scraps. I will be assigning individual scraps (like the final image, front and back, on the new page) for each of you to describe in as much detail as possible to determine what would need to be done next to enhance their value for papyrological study -- how many layers can you identify by looking? is there evidence of split layers? of jumbled layers (as in the lower right hand image, or the left side of the middle double image)? can you see any ink traces? etc.

If you have convenient magnification devices for viewing these small pieces, try to remember to bring them to class. I have a couple, but hardly enough to go around!

--

Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 11:32:19 -0400
Subject: Another thing -- scaled imaging

Forgot to mention; if you take digital photos of your piece, it is a good idea to have a centimeter scale (or fixed measurement grid) in the image. Part of any full description is size (the ideal rectangle in which the fragment would fit), width then height. Measuring is easy, but often overlooked.

Please prepare a description of your piece and the stages you followed in doing whatever you do to it. As you will see from the "cartonnage" page, I found writing (probably Demotic) on the underside of some split layers on 055.2 -- not enough (or clear enough) to cause much excitement, but writing nonetheless!

Marian, stop by to pick out a piece! Caroline, shall I send you one?

--

Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:07:59 -0400
Subject: Breakthrough! E16542A transcription

Jessica's note (below) has helped crack some of the code!

Although I have not yet been able to access the DDB [Duke Data Bank] item she mentions (Perseus is not responding; perhaps a mirror site would work), I did go to IBYCUS and check for SUGGRAFOFUL- and found several documents from the 3rd BCE in which it appears (meaning a "keeper of records" of one sort or another). Thus our last line presumably said "keeper of records" and gave a name.

Further, these documents typically began with a set formula:
BASILEUONTOS PTOLEMAIOU TOU PTOLEMAIOU KAI [another Ptolemaic ruler, sometimes BERENIKH], and so forth. So I've fit this formula into our WIKI, and leave it to you to fill out what follows. Note that the "M" is a bit odd, but attested on Thompson's chart; similarly our problematic "O" (not H or A) in SUGGRAFOFUL-. This gives us a better foot in the door for character recognition (with "P" and "M" barely distinguishable, and "L" with a high right stroke, sometimes, etc.).

Thanks, Jessica! Now back to you all -- it should be more downhill from here, although not without further mysteries.

Bob

Forwarded message:
> Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 09:57:14 -0400 (EDT)

> Subject: Re: wiki 29 and the Namenbuch
> From: jsisk@brynmawr.edu
> To: "Robert Kraft" <kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu>

> While I was using various resources in an attempt to figure out what is
> going on with the chalkia/chalkideu- in line 29, I happened across a
> Ptolemaic document in the Duke Databank (14.2395).
>
> It may not be of any import, but the latter document seems to utilize
> vocabulary similar to our class piece. Bebaioi- terms appear (at least
> three times), as does tessares (we have a tessara in line 19). Near the
> end of the document, below "Chalkideus" (which is what I was examining in
> the first place) appears the following term: "sungraphophulax." Glancing
> back at the class piece, I wonder whether we may have a very similar term
> at the close of our document.
>
> Lastly, Kokkal(os) appears as a name in Preisigke. The reference given is
> B I 71, 12 [II].
>
> Best,
> Jessica

--

Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2006 13:44:42 -0400
Subject: Pursuing the Ptolemies

Now that we have identified the opening formula of E16542A as referring to the rule of a Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy and Arsinoe, it will be useful to know more about the rulers and the dating formulas. For that we are fortunate to find the book by E.R.Bevan, The House of Ptolemy (1927) online, with discussions and translations of similar formulae. I've created links to it on the papyrology home page (beside the WIKI link). Chapter 6, on Ptolemy III, is especially relevant, as well as the discussion in chapter 4.7 on state cult and its language.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/home.html

Here is an interesting sentence from Bevan's 4.7 section:

"The kanephoros [basket carrier] of Arsinoe appears in the dating of documents, together with that of the priest of Alexander and the Theoi Adelphoi, from January 266 onwards."

Your challenge: can you find any of these elements in our document?

--

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:38:13 -0400
Subject: More Progress with Kokkalos Document

Thanks, Matt, for this further breakthrough. The document is beginning to take some shape!

After class, I did some Perseus searching myself, to start to isolate elements in the dating formula. It occurs to me that if we can find or create a list of the priests of Alexander during the reign of Ptolemy III Eurgetes with their dates and names, we can see what gaps are present for our Kokkalos (or whatever -- now that we know there can be confusion between K and H, it might be KOKHALOS or the like) to have filled, and we can also see whether any of the other priestly names resemble the name of his father, in case family might be involved in transmission of this office (how often did it change?). Such a list will also help us decipher the number of the year, by locating gaps in the available record.

My Perseus search began with the formulaic word BASILEUONTOS and got 352 hits. I stopped collecting after the first 100 (other things to do!), but about 40 of those were from Ptolemy III Euergetos, so if that percentage continues, we would have about 140 parallels from which to draw. With that, I pass the projects over to the class members -- let me know if you are picking up one of those balls, so that we can avoid too much duplication of effort. Here are a few examples from what I've gathered, to illustrate the quest:

(etous) 10,
eph'] hiereos Apollonidou tou Moschionos to 2 (etos) Alexandrou

(etous) 12
eph' hiereos Eukleous t[ou E]ubata Alexandrou

(etous) 15 [sic -- Ptolemy V, according to the list]
e?ph' hiereos Antipatrou tou Dionusiou Ale?xandrou

e]t?ou?[s] deute?r?o?u kai eikostou?,
[e]ph' [hie]r?[eos] A?l?[exikr]a?t?ous [tou Theo]genous Al[exa]n?d?rou

etous 22 [sic -- Ptolemy V, according to the list]
eph' hiereos Marsuou tou Tami?.... [Alexa]ndrou

I've also updated the "cartonnage" page and the "paleography" clips, for your viewing pleasure. But examples of H (eta) in the K form need to be added.

Bob

Forwarded message:
> Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:00:35 -0400
> From: novenson@sas.upenn.edu
>
> Bob,
>
> Here's what I discovered just before class yesterday. I am reasonably certain
> that my line (26) reads something like this: [H SU]GGRAF[H DE KURIA ES]TW OU AN
> EPIFERHT[AI]; I have edited the WIKI accordingly. I thought I could see a form
> of EPIFERW, and a DDB search helped make sense of the rest of the line. This
> formula appears in a number of Ptolemaic documents (lots in BGU, vols. 6, 10,
> 14, all dated between 250 and 200 BCE). Usually it is part of a longer formula:
>
> H PRACIS ESTW [name in dative] PARA [name in genitive] PRASSONTI KATA TO
> DIAGRAMMA. H DE SUGGRAFH H DE KURIA ESTW OU AN EPIFERHTAI. MARTURES [list of
> names]
>
> In a number of cases, this is followed by the Ptolemaic dating formula
> (BASILEUONTOS PTOLEMAIOU TOU PTOLEMAIOU KAI BERENIKHS QEWN EUERGETWN, etc.)
> that we identified at the top of our piece yesterday. What is more, lots of the
> words we have identified in our piece (e.g., XALXOS, BEBAIWSIS, BASILIKON,
> TESSARES) show up in these same BGU papyri. In particular, one often finds
> these phrases:
>
> EAN DE MH BEBAIWSHI
> EAN MH TI BASILIKON KWLUMA GENHTAI
> XALXOU DRAXMAS DEKA
> ARGURIOU DRAXMAS TESSARAS
>
> Other words to look for are DIAGRAMMA, TIMH, EPITIMAW, KWLUMA, DRAXMA, PRACIS,
> commercial terms all. Is this a tax document (DIAGRAMMA can be a register of
> taxable property), or a private contract ("if one should fail to make
> BEBAIWSIS," etc.)? I'll move on to line 16 and look for more clues.
>
> Matt

--

Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 23:33:27 -0400
Subject: Eureka -- Kokkalos is found!

The list I was trying to recall is in

The Eponymous Priests of Ptolemaic Egypt: Chronological Lists of the Priests of Alexandria and Ptolemais With a Study of the Demotic Transcriptions of Their Names (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 24, 1983) by Willy Clarysse and G. Van Der Veken assisted by S. P. Vleeming.

Fortunately, it was available in our library so I borrowed the copy. In the list for the reign of Ptolemy III, we find that during his 18th year, 27 July 230 - 13 August 229, the priest of Alexander was a certain "[Demotic] Kkls, var. Kkwrs" son of [Demotic] = "(Euelthwn?)" -- that is, in 1983 the only information available for this year was in Demotic (two unedited texts). The Kanhphorh that year is listed as [Demotic] = Swteira, daughter of "(Epimenes?)."

For additional work on these (and other) names, see http://www.iaw.uni-heidelberg.de/hps/pap/WL/WL.pdf compiled just this summer by Dieter Hagedorn (Wo%rterListen aus den Registern von Publicationen griechischer und lateinischer dokumentarisher Papyri und Ostraka). He lists a KOKALOS for Sammelbuch 21, and a EUELQWN for PKo%ln 08 (also EPIMENHS and SWTEIRA) and PMich 18. SWTEIRA is also listed for POxy 63, SB 23, and Tyche 09. PKo%ln came out in 1997, SB 21 and 23 in 2002, PMich 18 and POxy in 1996, and Tyche 9 (a journal) in 1994. They will all need to be checked, of course, for additional light (and to see if we've been scooped).


In any event, we now have our date (although some of these documents may give an earlier or a later number, so we ought to have year 17 or 18 or 19; these priests were in office for only a year, with a few explicit exceptions), and the name of the father (I'm reading EUELQONTOS), but the name of the KANHPHORH is very badly preserved.

We also have excellent incentive to publish the piece, or at least notes on its special significance in providing these Greek details. Publishing the dating formula itself would certainly be an appropriate start, and a good project for any of you who are (or want to be) "into" Ptolemaic history.

At very least, this information will be published electronically in the brief descriptions of the PPennMuseum materials on APIS. When we are clearer about what we can or can't decipher, it will also make a good note to post on the PAPY list, which might then lead to further suggestions from the real experts -- and to inclusion of the piece in updated lists.

Anyhow, I find this pretty exciting. We actually lucked onto a project that can contribute some significant new details to the study of Greco-Egyptian antiquity!

On the WIKI page, I've begun to transcribe our progress as running text at the top. It makes for a more convenient overview.

--

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:22:04 -0400
Subject: Update on KOKKAΛOS son of EΥEΛΘΩN

Although our Bryn Mawr colleagues are on Fall Break tomorrow, they have not been idle. Jessica checked the reference to Sammlebuch 21 and found that it referred to a Princeton papyrus, the description of which is available on APIS (but no images yet). It is a later KOKAΛOS (ca 35 ce!), not ours, showing the survival of the name in a streamlined spelling, at least. See details below.

Other KOKKAΛOI are attested in inscriptions from the period of our papyrus, although a quick check (on IBYCUS) didn't lead to any who are named as priests, but one is a GRAMMATEUS, with his father named TROKONDOS (Asia Minor, TAM III.552.1). The name KOKKΑLOS also appears in the papyrus BGU 1.71.10 (dated to189 ce). Other occurences in inscriptions also are much later than our papyrus.

As for daddy EUELQWS (gen. EUELQONTOS), there is a QEOGENES of EUELQONTOS in PMich 18.781, available on APIS. Interestingly, he is described as IOUDAIOS, a Jew, in the long list of names from 186/185 bce. Otherwise the name appears in several inscriptions from the 4th and 3rd centuries bce, especially from Delos, but also Rhodes, Tenos, and Euboia Eretria. His father is TIMOKLEOUS in one of the Delos inscriptions.

But knowing that we are in year 18 of Ptolemy III Euergetes allows us to find our EUELQWS in the lacuna in PKoln 345: EF' IEREWS [... TOU ...]TOS (in an abbreviated fromula lacking the title "of Alexander"?). You can view the image on the top two lines (starting ADELFWN [etous] IH [=18] at

http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/NRWakademie/papyrologie/PKoeln/PK20773r.jpg

[Since we would expect the top line to have held the entire dating formula in the lacuna prior to the word ADELFWN, probably much more than the two names are missing in the subsequent lacuna! This must have been a very wide document, missing about 50 letters in the first line to the left; space for about 60 letters would be needed for the normal formula at this point in line two. Try your hand at filling in the gaps? I've put the formula structure on the WIKI site, with which you can compare the surviving Koln/Cologne fragment.]

So we remain the only attested Greek reference to KOKKALOS and his father, and need to plan how to proceed with that information.

Bob

PS. I seem to have broken the IBYCUS CD drive in my recent searches. Any mechanics among you? I don't have the time to try to fix it now. [It was fixed the next day, by substituting a spare drive that I had.]

Forwarded message (RAK responding to Jessica):

> Great. Thanks. Since the Princeton collection is on APIS, the description (but no
> images) can be found at
>
> http://wwwapp.cc.columbia.edu/ldpd/app/apis/search?mode=search&institution=princeton&
pubnum_coll=P.Princ.&pubnum_vol=1&pubnum_page=13&invnum_coll=princeton&sort=date&resPer
Page=25&action=search&p=1
>
> As you recognize, it's not our KOK(K)ALOS at this late date.
>
> Have a good (if short) fall break!

>
> Bob
>
> > Dear Bob,
> >
> > I checked Sammelbuch 21, and the entry given is:
> >
> > Kokalos, V.d. Phasis, 14576, 490
> >
> > This information sent me to Vol. 20, where a Kokalos is listed as the
> > father of Phasis in some sort of a tax record document. Vol. 20 gives some
> > more bibliographic information:
> >
> > 14576. Papyrus. Buchhaltung eines Steuereinnehmers (Nd. von P. Princ. I
> > 13). A. E. Hanson, P. Princeton I 13: Text and Context Revised (a.a.O.
> > [14528] S. 259ff.), S. 263-276; Princeton (N.J., USA), University Library,
> > P. Princ. Inv. Nr. AM 8917 Verso. - Philadelphia (= Charabet el-Gerza).
> > 14. Januar 43 und 46/7 n. Chr.
> >
> >
> > The document seems too late for our purposes, but we do not have the A.E.
> > Hanson in Bryn Mawr's library if one wants to dig around some more -- I
> > believe Penn has a copy of the publication (Miscellanea Papyrologica in
> > occasione del bicentenario dell' edizione della Charta Borgiania (1990:
> > 259-283).
> >
> > Best,
> > Jessica

--

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:41:35 -0400
Subject: Literary Papyri, &c

I've added a file on identifying "literary" papyri to the course page quick links, in case you have nothing to do. I'm skeptical about identifying the fragments imaged there, but perhaps you can do better. Take a look, at least, for an example of the down side of the soaking technique (mea culpa).

I've also updated the email file, and the KOKKALOS (not KOKKINOS! must have been tired!) assignment entry, to facilitate access to the various pieces of information that have been collected. Hopefully some of you have progressed further with your lines for transcription and interpretation.

We will meet in 211 Logan at 3:15 again today, to discuss projects and problems; then move to 204 at 4:00 for further exploration of the images. Attendance today will be somewhat smaller due to the Bryn Mawr Fall Break, among other things.

Apparently our Fall Break will be next week, Monday and Tuesday. You should have identified your term project(s) by the time we return in two weeks.

--


Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:48:01 -0500
Subject: Back to Work!

OK. Break is over. In the meantime, I've devised some additional challenges for you to explore.

(1) On the class page for identifying "literary" fragments, I've started a probe into PAmherst 196, with a description of how I've approached it, and some of the results. I'm sure you can pursue this further with minimal effort so that we can at least make a reasonable proposal about the contents of the materials (and, indeed, whether they all belong together).

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/publics/papyri/pKraft/studies/literary.html

(2) On the class page for excavating cartonnage, I've added the new piece that came to light after we last met, with a tentative transcription and the identification of a full line which, luckily is a well used idiom in documentary texts. Whether that line is sufficent for identifying the fragment's genre remains to be seen.

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/temp/ebay/cartonnage/cartonnage.html

(3) Near the bottom of the main home page, I've tried to divide up what needs to be done for the proposed study/article on the Kokkalos formula. If you are interested in doing one or another of the assignments, let me know. Probably working in pairs also makes sense here:

The Dating Formula of our E16542A Ptolemy III Euergetes papyrus:

compile list of all similar formulas in Greek papyri, with format and subject
matter noted [I've done some of this, from Perseus]
compile list of dates in such documents, with attention to the year numbers
get as much information as possible about Kokkalos and his father, priesthood
of Alexander's cult
get similar information for the "basket bearer" at that time, and the
associated cult
compile list of months and days from this corpus
compile list of location identifications from this corpus
compile list of opening lines for the doucment's contents following the dating
formula

See you tomorrow in 211 Logan!

--

Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 00:08:56 -0500
Subject: Project Reports

I've just spent some time with two project reports delivered to me electronically, as I requested. Since we are not yet at the "one size fits all" status in electronic files, let me make some recommendations and invite your input and/or questions.

Ultimately, I'd like to put your reports, or digests of them, online, including (of course) the relevant images. But to do that, it is easiest to have the online files in "HTML" (hyper-text markup language) or a compatible format. This will permit editing of the text, if necessary (e.g. to create streamilined versions), as well as inclusion of the images.

Writing in HTML is only for the brave, but there are ways to facilitate the task. The most convenient free software of which I am aware is the "Composer" "Window" in the older version of Netscape (7.2 is what I use), which can be downloaded from the net at no cost. Once the Netscape browser is on your screen, go to the drop-down menu called "Window" and click on "Composer." That will give you an empty window into which things can be imported, or written and edited, very much like MSWord (.doc), but producing ".html" extensions and files. Images can be imported into the file, or linked to it (which creates other problems, but let's not worry at this point). The resultant "Composer" files need to be uploaded to the web if that is the desired destination.

For the spenders, programs such as "Contribute" (Macromedia) are similar and easier to use (they grab stuff from your web page, if you have one, and deliver it back directly), although "Contribute" tends to choke on large files. The "cartonnage" and "literary" pages on the class web site are maintained in "Contribute," for now anyway. The large file of Ptolemy III dating formulas brought "Contribute" to its knees, and had to be shifted to "Composer."

There are easier alternatives, but since they might involve more work on my part, I've saved them to last. You can do the original report in MSWord (or equivalent) as a .doc (or equivalent) file, even embedding the images. Then it can be saved as HTML, or cut and pasted into one of the aforementioned editors. This usually produces bloated HTML, but you wouldn't know that, and for those who are bothered by it, there are some automatic reducing programs. Whether the images transmit automatically with such a .doc file (e.g. as attachments) needs further exploration. I just created such a file, saved it as .html, and discovered that an image folder was automatically created to fill out the package. Things could be worse. Then again, I haven't yet tried to send it to myself.

Some of you have software that is easier to use for these purposes. For example, Amanda just sent me her cartonnage report in a beautiful ".MDI" file created by a Microsoft Office 2003 (or later) program. I couldn't open it on my office machine, which has an older version of "Microsoft Office Document Imaging," but finally thought to try my newer laptop, and succeeded. But I haven't found a way to save it as a HTML file, or to deal with the text separately from the images, or to edit the text. So it serves one purpose well (documenting Amanda's work), but frustrates another (making it available to others). Blame Bill Gates and crew.

Virginia, on the other hand, sent a .doc file (MSWord) with the text of her report and separate images (in .jpg/.jpeg format) to illustrate it. I can figure out where to insert the images, so this is more manageable, although inserting such instructions into the text would also be helpful. Of the two, Amanda's is more polished and together, but Virginia's is more adaptable to the purposes of information exchange.

All this is new to many of you, I expect, and may even be gibberish. Perhaps an appropriate bottom line is to check with me before you commit to software that does not appear to be transferrable to the web (i.e. to HTML). I haven't mentioned the "PDF" option because it is not editable or searchable by normal means, so I don't recommend it. I don't much like FAX either, but that's life in the 21st century!

--

Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 14:12:34 -0500
Subject: More Papyrological Online Tools

These tools can be very useful, once you master the learning curve. If you go to the main site, it links to the four main collections. By using the Heidelberg site, I could ask for all papyri from 230-229 BCE, for example, of which they listed 40 (with some ambiguities in dating). On the Leuven site, I could search for certain types of literature, as well as specific literary documents. Etc.

I'll add links to the web page.

Bob

Forwarded message:
> Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 17:23:49 +0100
> From: Mark Depauw <Mark.Depauw@ARTS.KULEUVEN.AC.BE>
> Subject: [PAPY] new digital tools: DAHT, DL and TM
> To: PAPY@LISTSERV.HUM.KU.DK
>
> Dear Papy-list members,
>
> The project Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Graeco-Roman Egypt
> [MMGRE], sponsored by a Kovalevskja Award of the Alexander von
> Humboldt Stiftung at the University of Cologne, is pleased to announce a first
> version of

> Demotic and Abnormal Hieratic Texts [DAHT]
> http://www.trismegistos.org/daht
>
> (this site and the others mentioned below are best seen with recent
> versions of Firefox or Safari, since Internet Explorer is not fully
> CSS-compatible)
>
> The aim of this online database of metadata is to provide information
> about all published (and semi-published) texts written in these two
> scripts, currently some 13120 items. Data entry is of course a
> continuous process, but we hope our current coverage is sufficient for
> the tool to be useful.
> In a first stage the number of fields shown is rather limited: only
> the various editions, present and former whereabouts, writing surface,
> type, and date are listed. Even fewer fields (publication, inventory,
> material, and language) are searchable, so that the service currently
> provided is mainly a converter between inventory and
> publication numbers and a tool to find the most recent edition of a
> text. This will change in the months to come, when more fields will
> become available.
>
> The new tool is fully linked to the online version of the
> Demotistische Literatur<FC>bersicht (Enchoria) [DL] which we put online
> in May. This means that all abbreviations of publications used in the
> DAHT can be decoded by clicking on them, which will lead the user
> to the corresponding full bibliographic entry as found in the DL. And, the
> other way round, for each publication in the DL the related
> publication entries in the DAHT metadata database are provided. To
> this aim we have supplemented the online DL with many pre-1968 entries
> and some more recent publications. The DL can still be consulted at
> the following address:

>
> http://www.trismegistos.org/dl
>
> The new database is also a part of Trismegistos [TM], a platform
> aiming to surmount barriers of language and discipline
> in the study of Late Period Egypt (roughly BC 800 - 800 AD). Called
> after the famous epithet of Hermes - Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom
> and writing who also played a major role in Greek religion and
> philosophy, it brings together a variety of projects dealing with
> metadata of published documents, not only in Greek, Latin, and
> Egyptian in its various scripts, but also in Aramaic, Carian, and
> other languages.
> Trismegistos contains some 93000 records.
>
> Currently the following projects and institutions are partners in
> Trismegistos:
>
> Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis der griechischen Papyrusurkunden
> <C4>gyptens [HGV]
> http://aquila.papy.uni-heidelberg.de/gvzFM.html
> Papyrus-Editionen (Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften)
> Institut f<FC>r Papyrologie, Universit<E4>t Heidelberg
> D. Hagedorn / J. Cowey (Universit<E4>t Heidelberg)
>
> Demotic and Abnormal Hieratic Texts [DAHT]
> http://www.trismegistos.org/daht
> Multilingualism and multiculturalism in Graeco-Roman Egypt
> Kovalevskaja Preis (Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung)
> Seminar f<FC>r <C4>gyptologie, Universit<E4>t K<F6>ln
> M. Depauw (K.U.Leuven / Uni K<F6>ln)

> Leuven Database of Ancient Books [LDAB]
> http://ldab.arts.kuleuven.be/
> Onderzoekseenheid Oude Geschiedenis
> K.U.Leuven
> W. Clarysse (K.U.Leuven)
>
> Banque de donn<E9>es des textes coptes documentaires [Copt]
> http://dev.ulb.ac.be/philo/bad/copte/base.php?page=accueil.php
> Centre de Papyrologie et d'<C9>pigraphie grecque (CPEG)
> Universit<E9> Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
> A. Delattre (FNRS / ULB)
>
> Trismegistos also includes other sets of metadata for which
> collaboration with other partners is forthcoming. For details please
> consult the website.
>
> The aim of Trismegistos, coordinated by the project Multilingualism
> and Multiculturalism in Graeco-Roman Egypt (Cologne, Mark Depauw) in
> cooperation with the Leuven Homepage of Papyrus Collections (Leuven,
> Willy Clarysse and Katelijn Vandorpe), is to facilitate cross-cultural
> and cross-linguistic research in a number of ways. First, we have
> started establishing direct connections between projects. Bilingual
> records included in both the HGV and the DAHT will be identified as
> such in the two databases, and it will be possible to compare the two
> sets of information. The same holds true for semi-literary texts,
> magical papyri and school exercises that are found in both the LDAB
> and the HGV.
> Secondly, texts of any language or script can be sought for in a
> central search engine. The number of fields is very limited right now
> (again publication and inventory numbers, material and language), but
> we plan to expand facilities in the near future. Trismegistos can be

> consulted at the following address:
>
> http://www.trismegistos.org
>
>
> For the MMGRE-team
>
> Mark Depauw
> K.U. Leuven / Universit<E4>t K<F6>ln

--