Conference: Textile trade and distribution in antiquity

Textile trade and distribution in antiquity - 

International conference 

9th & 10th April 2013 Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany)

Organizer: Dr. Kerstin Droß-Krüpe

Textile trade and distribution in antiquity - International conference - 9th & 10th April 2013 Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany) Organizer: Dr. Kerstin Droß-Krüpe The interdisciplinary conference "Textile trade and distribution in antiquity" aims at providing new insights about the dynamics and extent of the distribution of textiles in antiquity. The main objective is to re-evaluate the ancient economy – using textiles as the key element. Other declared targets of this conference are making textile knowledge an integrated part of research in the Humanities, broadening scientific perspectives and joining methodological forces. Humanities and Textile Research alike can clearly benefit from the integration of Economic and Life Sciences – so fibres, dyes, textiles, written sources and economic theories can be interlinked to form new parameters for the explanation of the economics of ancient environments.

Though ancient textile production has received more and more attention during the last decades, trading and distribution textiles is still largely unresearched. This is even more astonishing as the qualitative and quantitative evaluation concerning the distribution levels and patterns of goods in ancient times has been heavily debated for more than a century within Classics. The distribution of textiles provides a highly promising field of the research of the underlying economic principles because textiles are a basic human need, but additionally can convey and symbolize the gender-related, social, occupational or political status of a person. Apart from that textiles are well suited for trading over long distances as the ratio between transporting costs and profit is particularly low. Besides the finished gown, almost all other intermediate steps of production can be easily traded and merchandised. Using data about the textile trade from different parts of the Mediterranean will make it become possible to gain new insights and thus provide a new interpretation of the complex nature of the ancient exchange of goods and open up new interdisciplinary research avenues. So this conference will bring together different disciplines and methodological approaches to analyse textile material traded, textile traders and the forming and operating of institutions to ensure a smooth running of all textile exchange processes alike. Moreover, the conference will also include examining the cultural and technological transfer in so-called "contact zones" and ancient trading routes. There will be five non-parallel sections: The economics of textiles Textiles in the Greek and Roman world Textiles between East and West More than texts – (New) Analytical methods Make it seen – Visualisation of professions and fashion in textile contexts Conference languages will be English and German. Internationally renowned scholars from seven European countries declared their willingness to attend and contribute to this conference – covering a wide range of disciplines. Their papers will focus on ancient written sources, archaeological remains or Natural Sciences to shed light on the functionality of ancient textile trade from Bronze Age to Late Antiquity from very different angles.

Call for Posters

More info here.

The Hobbit Is Coming to Toronto

The hobbit is coming to Toronto. I knocked on the door but there was no answer.

He's not here yet.

Can't wait to meet him.

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[Photo Credit: I took this picture in the commuter train concourse at Union Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]

D. Minutoli. ed., Inediti Offerti a Rosario Pintaudi per il Suo 65° Compleann

Inediti Offerti a Rosario Pintaudi per il Suo 65° Compleanno. 

Editore: Libreria Gonnelli Scheda: Testo Italiano, Francese, Greco e Inglese. 

A cura di D. Minutoli. 

Firenze, 2012; br., pp. 416, ill. 

Altre edizioni disponibili: 

ISBN: 8874680384 EAN: 9788874680382 

Soggetto: Codici Miniati e Manoscritti

1. Homère, Iliade II 38-49 (C. Saerens)

 2. Omero, Iliade XX 381-387 (P. Carrara) 

3. Unbekannte Anapäste (W. Luppe)

 4. Platone, Leggi VIII 843c2-6; 844a2-6 (M.S. Funghi) 

5. Demosthenes 21. In Midiam, §§ 39-40 [§§ 33, 39-43] (F. Montanari) 

6. Demosthenes 40. Contra Boetum II, §§ 7, 9 (D. Minutoli) 

7. Wartetexte (M.-H. Marganne) 

8. Un giudizio di Longino su Diocle e altri frammenti inediti (A. Guida) 

9-10. Fragmente zweier christlicher Kodizes in der Bodleian Library 

9. Fragment eines Miniaturkodex mit Resten aus apokryphen Apostelakten (?) (Th.J. Kraus) 

10. Fragmente eines Kodex mit Resten aus einer Paulus zugeschrie- 

benen apokryphen Schrift (Paulus-Apokalypse[?] oder PaulusAkten[?]) (Th.J. Kraus) 

11. Amuleto con Ps. 90. 1-2 (F. Maltomini) 

12. An Astronomical Almanac (A. Jones) 

13. Tabella di Frazioni (1⁄5) (G. Azzarello) 

Testi Greci Documentari 

14. Designazione di liturghi (G. Bastianini) 

15. Official Document (J.D. Thomas) 

16. Inizio di documento (R. Luiselli) 

17. Zeugenaussage zugunsten des Poseidonios, der den Zoilos weder 

in den Würgegriff genommen, noch niedergeworfen, noch 

bespuckt hat (C.E. Römer)

 18. A police report (?) containing a list of stolen items and village 

teretai in Byzantine Egypt (C. Balamoshev - T. Derda) 

19. A surety for an enapographos (T.M. Hickey - F. Reiter) 

20. Registro dell’episkepsis dei terreni (G. Messeri) 

21. Fragmentary List of Fayyum χωρία (J.G. Keenan)

 22. List of professional groups (N. Litinas) 

23. Administering Dioscorus’ Monastery: Evidence in lists 

(L.S.B. MacCoull) 

24. Dichiarazione di censimento (S. Russo) 

Lista dei testi editi 

25-26. Certificats de πενθήμερος (P. Heilporn - A. Martin)

 27. Reçu d’impôt pour le Prince des Croyants (J. Gascou) 

28-30. Dall’Archivio di Heroninos 

28. Registro fiscale di tasse fondiarie e kollybos 

(A. López García- D. Rathbone) 

29. Brutta copia di registrazioni mensili (M.S. Funghi) 

30. Comptes d’Eirènaios, phrontistès d’Euhèmeria (G. Husson) 

31. Unfinished Draft of a contract of loan (A.E. Hanson) 

32. Ende eines Verwahrungsvertrags (παραθήκη)  (D. Hagedorn - B. Kramer) 

33. Anfang eines Verwahrungsvertrags (παραθήκη) 

(D. Hagedorn - B. Kramer) 

Appendix (D. Hagedorn - B. Kramer) 

34. A vineyard lease in the Petrie papyri (W. Clarysse) 

35. Documento contenente un contratto di vendita di una casa 

(P. Pruneti) 36. Verstärkung für die fortissimi Transtigritani (B. Palme)

37. Vertragsfragment (H. Harrauer) 

38. Lista di nomi da Ossirinco (S. Strassi) 

39. Ordine di consegna di grano (G. Bastianini) 

40. Order to pay (B. McGing) 41. Ricevuta di rendiconti (G. Rosati) 

42. Receipt for Wet Nursing Wages from Hermopolis (P. van Minnen) 

43. Zahlungsanweisung (H. Harrauer) 

44. Quittung (H. Harrauer) 

45. Abrechnung über Essig (H. Harrauer) 

46. Aufzeichnungen über Geld (H. Harrauer)

 47. Liste der Genesenen (H. Harrauer)

 48. Saatgut (H. Harrauer) 

49. Brotlieferungen an Witwen, Waisen und andere hilfsbedürftige 

Personen als Zeugnis christlicher Philanthropie (A. Papathomas) 

50. Brotliste (H. Harrauer) 

51. Wein für den Weinhändler (H. Harrauer) 

52. Private Letter (K.A. Worp) 

53. A Letter from Taos to Markos (R. Ast - R.S. Bagnall) 

54. Greetings (J. Whitehorne) 

55. Freundschaftsbrief (D. Hagedorn - B. Kramer) 

56. Reparierter Papyrus (H. Harrauer) 

57. Una Lettera tardobizantina (L. Migliardi) 

58. Lettera ad Anatolios (D. Minutoli) 

Lista dei testi editi Testi Copti 

59-64. Entraînements calligraphiques avec AP IX 538, 539 (grec), Is 37, 25-26, Jr 4, 15 et Pr 27, 3 (copte) (J.-L. Fournet) 

65. Striscia amuletica di papiro con testo copto e figura magica (E. Bresciani) 

66. Ein weiterer Beleg für das Kloster der Salamiten im Hermopolites (H. Förster) 

67-68. Un ostracon copte inédit de la Finnish Egyptological Society

 67. Lettre relative au prêt d’un livre de Grégoire de Nysse (A. Delattre) 

68. Compte de laine (A. Delattre) 

69. Liste mit Geld- und Warenzuteilungen (M. Hasitzka) 

Testi Arabi 

70. Taking Care of the Weak. An Arabic Papyrus from the Tropen- museum, Amsterdam (P.M. Sijpesteijn) 

R. Ast, H. Cuvigny, T. Hickey, J. Lougovaya edd. Papyrological Texts in Honor of Roger S. Bagnall

Publication Date: October 2012ISBN: 978-3-11-022883-0

Papyrological Texts in Honor of Roger S. Bagnall: [Hardback] Rodney Ast (Editor); Hélène Cuvigny (Editor); Todd Hickey (Editor); Julia Lougovaya (Editor)
In press

1. Frammento medico con elenco di sintomi (Isabella Andorlini)
2. Schedule of Work Days (Rodney Ast)
3. Remains of an agnitio bonorum possessionis: P.Duk. inv. 466 (Jean-Jacques Aubert)
4. Gemellos and His Animal Farm: Full Edition of P.Fay. 253 descr. (Giuseppina Azzarello and Fabian Reiter)
5. Versione in greco di un testamento romano (Guido Bastianini)
6. Récupération d’outils de briquetiers (Jean Bingen)
7. Letter about Court Proceedings and Agricultural Matters (Alan K. Bowman)
8. Translation of a Letter of the praefectus Aegypti (Adam Bülow-Jacobsen)
9. A Ptolemaic Register of Unused Land in the Arsinoite Nome (Willy Clarysse)
10. A List of Words of Christian Origin from the Kelsey Museum (Raffaella Cribiore)
11–12. Conductor praesidii (Hélène Cuvigny)
13. P.Qasr Ibrim inv. 80/1: A Testimony to Zenodotos’ Edition of the Iliad? (Tomasz Derda and Adam Łajtar)
14–25. Neue Dokumente zur Salzsteuer in Elephantine (Ruth Duttenhöfer)
26. Le poète Dioscore d’Aphrodité à l’oeuvre : une première version de P.Aphrod.Lit. IV 18, enkômion d’adventus du duc Kallinikos (Jean-Luc Fournet)
27. Plainte au praeses Simplicius (Jean Gascou)
28. Register of Requisitions (Nikolaos Gonis)
29–31. Drei dokumentarische Papyri aus der Hamburger Sammlung (Dieter Hagedorn und Bärbel Kramer)
32. Report under Oath to Apollonios the Strategos: P.CtYBR inv. 4079 (Ann Ellis Hanson)
33. A Labor Contract for a pronoētēs (P.Lond. inv. 2219) (Todd M. Hickey and James G. Keenan)
34. Maternal Division of Housed Property near the Temples of Memphis (Francisca A. J. Hoogendijk) 35. P.Cornell inv. 69 Revisited: A Collection of Geometrical Problems (Alexander Jones)
36. Beeidete Erklärung über die Umbuchung adärierter Naubien (Andrea Jördens)
37. New Epigrams (Julia Lougovaya)
38. Copy of a Census Declaration from Oxyrhynchus (AnneMarie Luijendijk)
39. Coptic Letter (Leslie S. B. MacCoull)
40. Invocation (Alain Martin)
41. Grammatical Text: A Treatise on the Declension of Nouns (Kathleen McNamee)
42. Rules of an Association of Soknebtunis (Andrew Monson)
43. A Fourth-Century Inventory of Columns and the Late Roman Building Industry (Arietta Papaconstantinou)
44. Brief über kirchliche Angelegenheiten (Amphilochios Papathomas)
45. Rapporto allo stratego (MS 1802/38) (Rosario Pintaudi)
46. A Reconstructed Land Survey from Kerkeosiris (Dominic Rathbone, Dorothy J. Thompson, and Arthur Verhoogt)
47. A Draft of a Rider to a Cession Contract (David M. Ratzan)
48. A New Fragment of a Techne grammatike (P.Mich. inv. 30) (Timothy Renner)
49. O.BM EA 20300: In Search of the Latest Dated Demotic Ostrakon (Tonio Sebastian Richter)
50. Letter from Philotas to His Brother Dioscourides: Philotas, a Black Sheep in a High-Class Family? (Cornelia Römer)
51. List of the Parts of the Forearm and Hand (Paul Schubert)
52. Order for Delivery of Wheat and Lentils (Jennifer Sheridan Moss)
53. An Arabic Land Lease from Ṭuṭūn (Petra M. Sijpesteijn)
54. Payment Record (Timothy Teeter)
55. Letter from Theophanes to Anysios (J. David Thomas)
56. A Census Return from Hermopolis from AD 189 (Peter van Minnen)
57. A Saite Book of the Dead Fragment in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology (Terry G. Wilfong)
58–69. Greek Ostraka from the Mut Precinct, South Karnak (Klaas A. Worp, with a preface by Richard Fazzini)
70. P.Col. inv. 33r and the Processing of Data in Early Roman Egypt (Uri Yiftach-Firanko)

F. Reiter, BKT X

Literarische Texte der Berliner Papyrussammlung Zur Wiedereröffnung des Neuen Museums  [Literary Texts in the Berlin Papyrus Collection] 
Ed. by Reiter, Fabian
Publication Date: October 2012
ISBN: 978-3-11-022883-0

Breaking News: IDiots Don't Understand Genomes or Biology

Just when you think they couldn't get more stupid, along comes some IDiot to prove you wrong. Here's the latest from an anonymous contributor at Evolution News & Views [Your Genome? Which One?].

A new finding about DNA differences in somatic cells overthrows a common assumption and might have dramatic implications for evolutionary studies.

Young's Law (from Murphy's catalog of perverse tendencies in nature) states that all great discoveries are made by mistake. A corollary is that the greater the funding, the longer it takes to make the mistake, but we won't go there. Anyway, a team of Yale scientists wasn't looking to overturn a huge assumption in genetics -- but they did. The ripple effects of their discovery remain to be seen.

We've all been told that every cell in our body has a copy of our unique genetic code. That's one of those simplistic beliefs that sounds sensible but is almost impossible to check. Doesn't the whole body arise from cell divisions of a single zygote with its unique genetic code? Yes, but it doesn't necessarily follow that the genes in cells downstream don't get modified. That was just assumed....

"Somatic mosaicism" is jargon for the finding that genomes differ from cell to cell -- not only in copy number variations (CNV's), but in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP's). The assumption that you have one genome is thus falsified. You have lots of genomes!

Okay, let's take a poll.

How many of you thought that mutations such as nucleotide substitutions, deletions, and insertions, could never take place during the thousands of generations that give rise to our somatic cells? (How were they supposed to be suppressed?)

How many of you thought that all of our cells, including red blood cells, contain copies of our unmodified genome?

How many of you thought that there were no polyploid cells in our liver?

How many of you thought that B cells, and T cells (and others) contain the same identical copy of our genome that's found in germ cells?

How many of you thought that spermatocytes and ovaries have exactly the same genome as our original zygote?

How many of you thought that cancer-causing gene rearrangements and mutations in somatic cells were impossible?

How many of you are completely ignorant of any medical problems due to genetic mosaicism?

If you answered "yes" to all of those questions then, congratulations!, you're as smart as an IDiot.

Sheeesh!

One thing is clear at this stage: the assumption that each individual has a unique genome has been overthrown to some extent. Think how this might impact common evolutionary studies. For years, evolutionists have claimed small differences between human and chimpanzee genomes. What if the percent difference is a function of the source cells used? Remember, the Yale team found differences between cells in the same organ -- human skin. If the percent difference grows or shrinks depending on the source, any conclusions about human-chimp similarities would prove unreliable.

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I Get Mentioned, Again, on an IDiot Blog

The nameless people at Evolution News & Views (sic) didn't like my comments about Michael Behe. Naturally they focus right in on defending the IDiot science (not!) [Giving Thanks for Minority Opinions]. (The reference to "thanks" is in honor of today's American Thanksgiving holiday.)

When in the future they write the history of modern biology, if it turns out that contemporary ID theorists were onto something big, then Michael Behe's name will figure very prominently as one who helped launch the intelligent-design revolution.

When that history is written, whatever fate holds in store for ID, no one thinks that University of Toronto biochemist Larry Moran's name will figure prominently in any account as a thinker of great stature or influence.

So there's some irony in Moran's patronizing three-part series, at his blog Sandwalk blog, about meeting Mike Behe when the latter came to visit and speak recently in Toronto. Moran is full of condescension and, sticking to the science as always, carefully points out the discrepancy in physical stature between himself and Behe where Moran does have the advantage -- "He's a lot shorter than I imagined but otherwise looks just like his photos." Moran includes a photo of himself leaning over Behe with a smirk to prove the point. Well then!

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J. Lundon, The Scholia Minora in Homerum: an Alphabetical List

Trismegistos Online Publications-7-
John LUNDON, 
The Scholia Minora in Homerum An Alphabetical List
Köln / Leuven

© 2012 Trismegistos 

Version 1.0 November 2012
Compiled by


This is a new version of the  previous editions of this work, most notably updated with clickable links to the TM bibliography.

M. C. Scappaticcio, Accentus, distinctio, apex. L’accentazione grafica tra Grammatici Latini e papiri virgiliani

Corpus Christianorum, Lingua Patrum (CCLP 6) 

M. C. Scappaticcio 
Accentus, distinctio, apex. L’accentazione grafica tra Grammatici Latini e papiri virgiliani 
VIII+354 p., 14 colour ill., 155 x 245 mm ISBN: 978-2-503-54438-0 
Languages: Italian, Latin Hardback 
The publication is in production. (11/2012) Retail price: EUR 145,00 excl. tax 

Accentus, distinctio, apex... intends to offer a functional instrument for the exegesis of some of the unregulated norms of the Grammar of Legibility – to use Malcom Parkes’ lucky expression – and a point of departure for further research. Structured on the double track of ‘texts’ (Virgilian uolumina) and ‘texts about texts’ (Late Antique grammatical treatises), this survey focuses on the value of graphic accentuation signs. These signs are, actually, a way of reading in praxis, besides being graphematic units, in Latin papyrological documents, and they provide a direct expression of the textual performance and ‘material’ effect of grammatical precepts. 

In fact, there is a common denominator in all the sections de accentibus and de distinctionibus in the Artes: in scholarly and didactic contexts (in particular, in the eastern Empire), accentus and distinctio were not simply oral realities, but also inheritances of Τέχναι γραμματικαί, and they had their completeness in a written dimension. Talking about nota, figura, forma and describing how to mark signs meant giving directions about making accents and distinctiones and looking at them as features belonging to a reality other than the simply ‘spoken’ text. 

The first part of the volume is an analysis of accentus, distinctio and apex, aiming to illustrate the oral, the written and the ‘material’ dimension. The second part is an attempt to examine the application of the theoretical precepts and linguistic terminology in practice, within the limits of a corpus papyrorum Vergilianarum. 

Maria Chiara Scappaticcio, who holds a PhD (2011) from the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, is now a post-doctoral researcher at the Cedopal at Univeristé de Liège, in whose series Papyrologica Leodiensia her Corpus papyrorum Vergilianarum will be published. Together with the Classical Philology Department ‘F. Arnaldi’ of the University of Naples ‘Federico II’, she is researching the Latin papyrological grammatical tradition. Her philological interests are the role of Latin papyrological sources (previous topics are the PHerc. 817, the so-called Carmen de bello Actiaco, and the Virgilian papyri) and the Latin grammatical tradition in Late Antiquity. 

Elisabeth Lloyd: Gould and adaptation: San Marco 33 years later

This is a talk by Elizabeth Lloyd from a conference in Italy last May on "Stephen J. Gould’s Legacy: Nature, History, Society." Thanks to Ryan Gregory for posting all the videos [Stephen Jay Gould conference in Italy — full series of talks].

Lloyd explains the problems with the adaptationist approach to the logic of research questions using a case study on the evolutionary origins of female orgasm. She points out that Gould & Lewontin were right 33 years ago when they called attention to the adaptationist bias and that things haven't changed very much.

This is an excellent example of a philosopher of biology, Elizabeth Lloyd, making a substantial contribution to science and the philosophy of science

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SBL day 3

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds 11/19/2012 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: S504a - McCormick Place Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Presiding

“As long as the heir is a child”: The Rhetoric of Inheritance in Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153 John Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute 

Although Galatians 4.1-2 has historically been interpreted as an analogy taken from Greco-Roman practices of inheritance and guardianship, an increasing number of scholars, following the initial proposal of James M. Scott, have interpreted the passage as an allusion to the exodus (e.g., Sylvia Keesmaat, N.T. Wright, John Byron, Justin Hardin, Mark Harmon, Rodrigo Morales). Proponents of the exodus reading often claim that the conventional guardianship view is untenable due to the passage’s lack of allusions to a distinctly Greco-Roman source domain. Seeking to defend the conventional guardianship interpretation, this study will identify a number of significant verbal and conceptual parallels between Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153, the mid-second-century CE will of a Hermopolite gentleman. By offering a close reading of an important yet neglected parallel text, this paper will show that Paul’s rhetoric inheritance in Galatians 4, even if owing its substructure to a New/Second Exodus framework, most closely resonates with contemporary practices of Greco-Roman succession.

Names Of Biblical Women in the Papyri from Egypt to the time of Constantine Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University

Mary in its various forms is by far the most common Biblical name in the Greek papyri from Egypt to the early fourth century, since it can be Roman as the feminine of the family name Marius , and either Jewish or Christian as a BIblical name,.Aside from Mary, we find in the papyrus letters and documents the names of Esther and Susanna together with other Biblical women. This paper will examine usages of these names with a discussion of possible Jewish or Christian provenance. In conclusion it will mention newer Christian women's names arising from the Christianisation of Egypt. 

Virginity as identity in female Christian life: designations in the papyri María-Jesús Albarrán, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid)

 Since the beginning of Christianity one of its main doctrinal aspects was virginity or sexual abstinence. The spiritual life involved the purity of the body according to the Sacred Scriptures, a style of life which many Christian people followed. They were differentiated from the rest of the Christians community by their titles or designations. Terminology used in papyri of early Christian times allow the identification of women who had consecrated their lives to the Christian religion. This paper will examine the terms which refer to virginity and virgins, to observe their involvement and development in Christian society.

Invoking the Septuagint to Interpret Ptolemaic Law: Cataloguing More Instances of Ptolemaic Law Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College

Interpreted by its Own Rhetoric In a study of P.Heid. Inv. G 5100 (=SB 26 16801, “Eingabe an einen Archiphylakiten”) I demonstrate that the Judean petitioner we meet in that text used a juridical norm of the LXX shaped by the vocabulary of Ptolemaic law to interpret that same Ptolemaic legal rhetoric anew (“Uncovering a New Dimension of Early Judean Interpretation of the Greek Torah: Ptolemaic Law Interpreted by its Own Rhetoric,” in XIV Congress of the IOSCS, Helsinki, 2010, forthcoming). This paper will report the results of a survey of the corpus of documentary papyri involving Judeans from ca. 200 BCE to the late Roman period. The survey identifies the further instances of this juridical hermeneutic method. The paper will also summarize several of the additional instances of this phenomenon turned up by the survey. Lastly, the paper will locate this phenomenon in the broader context of legal history and theory to demonstrate its essentially “conventional” nature. John Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute “As long as the heir is a child”: The Rhetoric of Inheritance in Galatians 4.1-2 and P.Ryl. 2.153 (30 min) Alanna Nobbs, Macquarie University Names Of Biblical Women in the Papyri from Egypt to the time of Constantine (30 min) María-Jesús Albarrán, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid) Virginity as identity in female Christian life: designations in the papyri (30 min) Robert Kugler, Lewis & Clark College

A Syntactical Analysis of OUN in Papyrus 66 Trent A. Rogers, Loyola University of Chicago

Greek particles are often overlooked in the interpretation and translation of ancient texts, but a better understanding of their syntactical functions aids in understanding the relationships among clauses and results in a better understanding of the texts’ meanings. This article examines the use of oun in Papyrus 66 and provides examples and explanations of the different uses of oun. It clarifies established uses and paves new ground by locating the comparative use. Moreover, it notices a dialogical pattern wherein lego + oun serves as an alternative to apokrinomai (kai lego), and in this pattern, asyndeton may convey increased markedness.

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds 11/19/2012 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: W181a - McCormick Place Christina Kreinecker, University of Birmingham, Presiding

Greek Musical Documents at Oxyrhynchus and an Ancient Christian Hymn with Musical Notation (POxy 1786) Charles H. Cosgrove, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Among the diverse papyri from Oxyrhynchus are musical documents, all of them stemming from the Roman era—second century to the end of the third/early fourth centuries. Some of these materials are fragmentary musical scores. The scores of songs, which contain both lyrics and musical notation, include a Christian hymn from the later third century. This paper describes the musical documents of Oxyrhynchus, including their place in ancient Greek music and life, and gives special attention to the ancient Christian hymn.

If papyri could speak: Insights into the world of early Christianity gained from two unpublished papyri Renate V. Hood, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Sylvie T. Raquel, Trinity International University

This paper will provide new data extracted from translations and reconstructions of two recently acquired, unpublished papyri fragments of Hebrews 9 and 11. A discussion of the condition, physical characteristics, usage, and dates of the papyri (preliminary data suggests that one is from the second century and one from the third century, while awaiting further dating in summer 2012), along with a presentation of scribal features, will provide insight into early (Egyptian) Christian writing practices and religious life. An examination of nomina sacra presented in light of paleographical data will bear significance on the discussion of the origin and function of nomina sacra in early Christianity. Additional observations from a variant in an explicit quotation in Hebrews, while making reference to the assumed LXX Vorlage, and other textual and paleographical data, will likewise illumine the socio-cultural world of the early Jesus followers.

A New Coptic Fragment of 2 Samuel 10 (McGill MS No Coptic 2) Brice C. Jones, Concordia University - Université Concordia

This paper is a preliminary report on a previously unpublished Coptic fragment recently discovered in the McGill University Library. This manuscript is one of four (unrelated) Coptic manuscripts in the McGill University Library that originally belonged to Erik von Scherling, a Swedish rare book dealer who, in the first half of the twentieth century, sold various Greek and Coptic papyri and parchments in a private catalogue titled Rotulus. The present location of many of the original contents of von Scherling’s collection is unknown; the McGill collection represents only a few pieces of a very large puzzle that must be put back together. The fragment in question is a parchment palimpsest fragment written in Sahidic, which is part of an already published codex in the Montserrat Abbey (P.Monts. Roca II 4). The over text contains a Coptic magical text, and the first text portions of 2 Samuel 10. The paper aims at introducing the fragment through a discussion of its contents, date, palaeographical features, function, and the remaining open questions. There will also be a discussion about how the fragment will help to correct a few textual reconstructions in the edition of P.Monts. Roca II 4.

Initial Findings on a Newly Discovered Early Fragment of Romans Grant Edwards, Baylor University and Nicholas Zola, Baylor University

This presentation will discuss the initial results for a newly discovered papyrus fragment of Paul's epistle to the Romans. After noting the papyrus's physical characteristics, we will address the features and significance of its text which contains a nomen sacrum and may support a previously known textual variant. Additionally, since this papyrus may be one of the earliest witnesses to the Pauline corpus, attention will also be given to a likely date range and potential comparanda.
The Style of Early Christian Literature Don Barker, Macquarie University
Various claims have been made about the production of early Christian literary documents and especially that the New Testament documents have been produced by copyist who are more at home in producing documentary texts. This paper will examine in particular the nature of the New Testament manuscripts from the perspective of the care, training and or ability of the copyist in their production. This exercise will in part involve examining letter formation in a selection of New Testament documents and the conclusions that are able to be drawn from that evidence as to the training and ability of the copyists.

Dennis Markuze Arrested, Again

From The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada): Man charged with threatening people using social media — again.

A Saint-Laurent man has been charged, again, with abusing social media to threaten people who express their views online.

Dennis Markuze, 40, faces three new charges, including one alleging he violated the conditions of a sentence he received in May for the same offence. He was also charged with threatening the Montreal police officer who was investigating claims from several of Markuze’s past victims. Those victims alleged that Markuze’s threats have intensified in recent months.

In May, Markuze received an 18-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to uttering threats toward eight people he believed to be atheists. The court was told Markuze’s problems could be attributed to drug consumption, which caused him to believe he was “the Voice of God.” As part of his sentence, he was ordered to “abstain from participating in a social network, blog and discussion forum.” But during the summer, several people contacted The Gazette to report that Markuze appeared to be ignoring the court order.

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[Hat Tip: Friendly Atheist]

Michael Behe in Toronto: Part 3

I went to three of Michael Behe's talk while he was in Toronto [see Michael Behe in Toronto!, Part 1,
Part 2].

The third talk was on Friday morning (Nov. 15, 2012) in the Multifaith Centre. It was sponsored by Power to Change (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). There were about 150 people in the audience, mostly undergraduates. I estimate that less than half were believers.

Behe gave pretty much the same talk he had given the night before. There was only time for a few questions and most of them were from skeptics. Two students challenged the science but their questions were convoluted and confusing and Behe had no trouble dismissing them. (The standard trick is to say "That's a very good question" and then suggest they could discuss it later on so that others have a chance to ask questions right now.)

One student asked about the philosophical justification for some of Behe's conclusions. It was a valid question but way over the heads of the audience. Behe gave an incorrect answer. I spoke to that student and her friends after the talk. Several of them were taking biology/evolution courses but they weren't really prepared to identify the flaws in Behe's arguments. They just knew that he had to be wrong.

This is the problem. It's just not that easy for the average person to refute the arguments of people like Michael Behe and Jonathan Wells. That's why we need to teach the controversy in school and show why their science is flawed.

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My Posts on Michael Behe

Here's a bunch of posts that I've done over the years on Michael Behe and his ideas about evolution. I'm putting them here so I don't have to repeat myself, again.

Understanding Mutation Rates and Evolution

The Edge of Evolution

Evolution in Action and Michael Behe's Reaction

Mutations and Complex Adaptations

Blown Out of the Water

Joe Thornton vs Michael Behe

Irreducible Compexity

Defining Irreducible Complexity

Another Bad Review of The Edge of Evolution

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The Discovery Institute Presents the Case for Magic

Here's a propaganda video produced by the Discovery Institute. It's based on a book called The Magician's Twin edited by John G. West. John G. West is "a Senior Fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute (DI), and Associate Director and Vice President for Public Policy and Legal Affairs of its Center for Science and Culture (CSC), which serves as the main hub of the Intelligent design movement."

In other words, he's one of the chief IDiots.

The video is interesting for several reasons. Not only does it have the look and feel of a 1950's American propaganda film but it mimics the same utter lack of critical thinking that characterized that genre of film. Perhaps this is intentional since the goal is to attack rationality and critical thinking and the last thing you want to do is be accused of using the very tools that lead to evils such as eugenics, evolution, atheism, and Marxism. (But see "doublethink," below.)

Read more »

Michael Behe in Toronto: Part 2

Behe's main talk was last Thursday evening at 7pm (Nov. 15, 2012). It was in the lecture theater were we teach medical students. The room holds about 350 students and every seat was taken. There were about 100 people sitting in the aisles and on the floor.

The gist of Behe's talk was that "Darwinism" can't explain macroevolution. The problem isn't common descent—Behe agrees that common descent is "trivial." The problem isn't natural selection—Behe doesn't have a problem with natural selection. The problem is random mutation. It's incapable of generating the required changes in a timely manner.

Read more »

Monday's Molecule #193

Last week's molecule was capsaicin, the molecule responsible for the "hot" sensation of chili peppers. There were two winners: Seth Kasowitz and Bill Gunn [Monday's Molecule #192].

This week's molecule is featured in an article that I will (hopefully) blog about in the next few days. There's a common name of sorts but you will need to supply the correct IUPAC name to win the free lunch.

Post your answer as a comment. I'll hold off releasing any comments for 24 hours. The first one with the correct answer wins. I will only post mostly correct answers to avoid embarrassment. The winner will be treated to a free lunch.

There could be two winners. If the first correct answer isn't from an undergraduate student then I'll select a second winner from those undergraduates who post the correct answer. You will need to identify yourself as an undergraduate in order to win. (Put "undergraduate" at the bottom of your comment.)

Read more »

Michael Behe In Toronto: Part 1

Michael Behe was in Toronto last Thursday and Friday (Nov. 15 & 16, 2012). His visit was sponsored in part by the Copernicus Group, a group of Christian men who are interested in the dispute between science and religion. I met several of them (three physicians and an engineer).

The first of Behe's talks was organized by the Copernicus Group who invited faculty and graduate students from the Dept. of Biochemistry and the Dept. of Molecular Genetics to a session at Hart House in the afternoon. Only eleven people showed up—four (five?) of them were from the Copernicus group. There were ten bottles of wine!

This was the first time I had a chance to meet Michael Behe in person. He's a lot shorter than I imagined but otherwise looks just like his photos.

Read more »

Waiting for Santa

Today's the day of the Santa Claus parade in Toronto. The radio tells me that one million people will be lining the parade route when the parade begins. Here's the Santa Claus fans just outside my building on Queen's Park Circle. You can see that some of them were smart enough to bring a Tim Hortons coffee.

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Ancient Society 42 (2012)

Peeters

1 - 32 - 'A Delight and a Burden' (Hes., Sc. 400) Wine and Wine-drinking in Archaic Greece PAPAKONSTANTINOU, Zinon 

 Abstract : The purpose of this paper is to examine the major patterns of wine-drinking practices and their ramifications (social, political, cultural) in archaic Greece. Due primarily to the emergence of the symposion and other forms of commensality as vital components of social interaction, wine-drinking acquired new significance in the economically developing and politically polarized archaic communities. Archaic Greeks actively engaged in wine-drinking on a number of occasions and contexts. As practices and contexts of wine-drinking multiplied and changed, so did ideas about its meaning and responses to what were perceived as problematic aspects of wine-consumption. Archaic poetry and vase iconography suggest two major elite drinking paradigms advocating inebriation and moderation. These paradigms were closely intertwined with wider aristocratic discourses on leisure, social differentiation and political power.

33 - 59 - Secretaries, Psephismata and Stelai in Athens OSBORNE, Michael J. 

61 - 69 - The Birth-date of Arsinoe II Philadelphus VAN OPPEN DE RUITER, Branko 

Abstract : This article examines the modern assumption that Arsinoe II was born ca. 316 — and argues that her birth cannot be dated more precisely than between 320/19 and 312/1. More importantly, I intend to reveal the dubious rationale underlying scholarly assumptions about (royal) marriageable age and marital relations. Historians appear reluctant to accept, on the one hand, that Arsinoe may have been as young as twelve when she married Lysimachus, and, on the other hand, that Ptolemy I may well have married Berenice I around the same time as Eurydice. I will further explore the implications of post- or ante-dating Arsinoe’s birth in relation to her position at the courts of Lysimachus and Ptolemy II. This note may thus serve as a general warning about the intricacies of the marital behavior of the (early-) Hellenistic dynasties.

71 - 88 - The Kronion Family's Loans An Egyptian Peasant Family Declining under Roman Rule? TAKAHASHI, Ryosuke 

Abstract : This article examines the financial history of the Kronion family on the basis of the evidence from their archive (P. Kron.). Although several previous studies have treated the Kronion family as an example of Egyptian peasants gradually declining under Roman rule, a close examination of the evidence suggests that their economic decline and financial difficulties happened not as slow process but as the result of a huge debt which was incurred at one particular point and then discredited the family’s financial reputation. 

89 - 107 - An Accidental Tourist? Caracalla's Fatal Trip to the Temple of the Moon at Carrhae/Harran HEKSTER, Olivier, KAIZER, Ted 

109 - 125 - Vertical Integration in the Roman Economy A Response to Morris Silver BROEKAERT, Wim

127 - 158 - Whirlwind of Numbers Demographic Experiments for Roman Corinth WILLET, Rinse 

159 - 218 - Auf dem Holzweg. Bevölkerungsdichte und natürliche Ressourcen Überlegungen zum Holzbedarf im römischen Rheinland EHMIG, Ulrike 

219 - 254 - Plutarch and mos maiorum in the Life of Aemilius Paullus TRÖSTER, Manuel 

255 - 292 - La datazione dell'Epitoma rei militaris e la genesi dell'esercito tardoromano La politica militare di Teodosio I, Veg. r. mil. 1.20.2-5 e Teodosio II COLOMBO, Maurizio

Today (Sunday) at the SBL

Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds 11/18/2012 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: S401d - McCormick Place Theme: Form, Format, and Formation: Papyrus Manuscripts in Antiquity 

Malcolm Choat, Macquarie University, Presiding 

Early Christian Texts on the Verso of Reemployed Papyri (30 min)
Giovanni B. Bazzana, Harvard University 

The present paper will focus on a peculiar – and rather small – group of early Christian papyri that are characterized by some very specific “formal” features. A number of (not only Christian) Greek literary texts are written on the verso of reemployed sheets of papyrus. This feature is quite frequently accompanied by other characteristic elements, as, among others, a cursive or relatively unskilled handwriting. The first part of the paper will ask what kinds of texts were mostly put into writing in this particular fashion. It will be evident that texts happened to be written on the verso when their use was connected to specific practical purposes, as in the case of the numerous school exercises that can be found on the verso of discarded papers. Following the increasing attention that paleographers (as Guglielmo Cavallo) and papyrologists (as William Johnson in his recent book on reading) are paying to reading (and writing) as a social practice and to the ways in which the latter is reflected in the “formal” features of ancient manuscripts, it is easy to conclude that the appearance of literary texts on the verso of reemployed papyrus hints at some more general inferences concerning the circulation and the social fruition of the texts themselves. The paper will end by bringing these conclusions to bear on the study of early Christian papyri specifically. It is worth inquiring whether those texts that appear more frequently (as it happens for apocalyptic writings, for instance) or exclusively on the verso of reemployed papyrus are identified by specific traits, as being part of the same literary genre or sharing a certain social function. 

Size Matters? Revisiting Some Physical Features of the Bodmer Codices
Brent Nongbri, Macquarie University 

 This paper will examine physical features of the Greek and Coptic codices among the Bodmer papyri. In addition to addressing questions of dimensions and quire make-up, the paper will also discuss the somewhat neglected area of bookbinding techniques, for which the Bodmer codices provide a surprising amount of evidence.

The Curious Case of P43: Another New Testament Opisthograph? (30 min) 
Jeff Cate, California Baptist University 

P.Sarga 12 (British Library, papyrus 2241) is a tiny scrap from Wadi Sarga in Egypt with barely 100 letters visible on front and back. This fragment, more commonly known as P43, is one of only seven known Greek papyrus manuscripts of the Apocalypse of John and is quite an enigma. The manuscript was discovered nearly a century ago, yet rarely is it mentioned in publications. Oddities abound with the fragment. The text on front and back is not from adjacent passages (Rev 2:12-13 and 15:8-16:2, respectively) as would be expected from a codex. Furthermore, the text on the verso is upside-down compared to the recto and does not appear to be from the same hand. The fragment is generally dated to the seventh century, which is late for NT papyri and long after the establishment of the codex over the scroll as the preferred format for copies of the Christian scriptures. Nevertheless, reconstructing the extant text leads to the reasonable conjecture that P43 is another rare example of a New Testament opisthograph, albeit the only example of which the text on recto and verso is from the same book.

Sofia Torallas Tovar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Respondent (15 min) Discussion (10 min)

New Testament Textual Criticism 11/18/2012 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM Room: S402b - McCormick Place Theme: Presentation of Ehrman & Holmes, The Text of the New Testament and open session 

Scriptural Quotations in the New Testament – An Examination of P46 (20 min) Discussion (10 min) Johannes de Vries, Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal/Bethel The Textual History of the 

The Textual History of the Scriptural Quotations in the New Testament – An Examination of P46 In several instances a Septuagint influence on the transmission of the New Testament text is likely or has at least been suggested; however, the extent of the mutual influence between the two traditions is still up for debate. This paper focuses on the earliest textual history of the scriptural quotations in the New Testament which is preserved in the oldest New Testament papyri. Due both to its antiquity (c. 200 CE) and extent of preservation, Papyrus 46 (P46) is an excellent example and worthy of a comparative analysis. The analysis of several selected scriptural quotations in P46 shows on the one hand a broad variety of variants of all kinds – many of which are unparalleled by any Septuagint reading; on the other hand, a few occasional harmonizations with the Septuagint can be detected. More precisely, only in two instances, a Septuagint influence on the text of P46 is the most probable explanations for variant readings. Thus, the influence of the Septuagint is just one (and rather minor) factor among many other more dominant factors contributing to the emergence of variants. It seems to be limited to clearly recognizable quotations and is supported by an explicit reference to the quoted text and its prominence.  These findings on the earliest textual tradition complement the results of the Wuppertal research project on the textual history of the New Testament quotations. Thus, even though further examinations are required to generalize these particular conclusions regarding P46, one can venture a thesis: The transmission of Septuagint and New Testament took place independently during (at least) the first five centuries. Singular exceptions are likely, but remained limited to particular passages or particular strands of the textual tradition. This, in turn, means that these exceptions can easily be identified when contrasted with the overall textual tradition.

Ann Gauger Says Random Mutation Can't Possibly Account for Observed Evolution

The Intelligent Design Creationists change their stories so often that it's sometimes hard to keep up. The latest rationalization has to do with the sufficiency of random mutations. Here's the version given by Ann Gauger, Senior Research Scientist at Biologic Institute.

There's a lot of discussion about this video on the Biologic Facebook page [Biologic Institute]. Some commenters (e.g. Nick Matzke) raise the issue of neutral mutations and Gauger responds (not very well). This is one of the main problems with the current IDiot propaganda. They confuse the probability of specific, single nucleotide, beneficial, mutations at a specific binding site—which have a low probability—with the total number of possible mutations at thousands of different sites, any of which could have an effect on development. Many of the mutations could have been neutral giving rise to an enormous amount of standing variation in the population. (This makes it much more likely that you will get multiple mutations.)

Don't forget we're looking at a specific outcome (evolution of Homo sapiens from a common ancestors over 6 million years). There were thousand and thousands of other possible outcomes that could have given rise to intelligent beings (maybe smart chimps?) who would eventually spawn Intelligent Design Creationists.¹ We don't know the total number of possibilities but it certainly isn't just one (1). Our species is a lottery winner and we all know that specific lottery winners are highly improbable.

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1. I wonder if there are any possible pathways that would have given rise to truly intelligent beings and no IDiots?

Is It Science?

I've been having discussion with several of my friends and colleagues about whether the activities of the Intelligent Design Creationists count as "science." My position is that much of what they do is science, especially when they criticize existing scientific explanations. It may not be very good science but that's not the question. After all, there are atheist scientists who don't do much better.

One argument is that simply criticizing current theories doesn't count as science unless you can also offer a plausible, scientific, competing model. I don't think that's a requirement. Here's an example we can discuss ...

One of the latest posts on Evolution News & Views (sic) is an article by Casey Luskin criticizing the old Urey-Miller experiment by pointing out that their origninal conditions didn't mimic the conditions on the primitive Earth [On the Miller-Urey Experiment, Wikipedia Offers a Citation Bluff]. He goes on to say that scientists still haven't shown convincingly that amino acids (and other molecules) could have formed spontaneously on Earth. Furthermore, the "chirality problem" hasn't been solved.¹

Luskin correctly points out that a Wikipedia reference misrepresents the science it reports.

Is this (Luskin's article) scientific? Isn't criticism of current models and hypotheses an example of how science is supposed to work?

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1. I agree that the spontaneous formation on Earth of significant amounts of amino acids, carbohydrates, and, especially, nucleotides, is extremely unlikely. That's why I support "Metabolism First." I disagree about the chirality problem—I think we have a good explanation.

The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History

Benjamin Phelan is a writer. He has an article in Slate on The Most Spectacular Mutation in Recent Human History.

I'm not going to tell you what it is. You'll have to read his article. But here are a few hints.

1. The mutation is only common in Europeans. Asians and Africans get along just fine without it.
2. It's not clear whether the mutation confers selective advantage. There's some evidence that it does but it's difficult to understand why.
3. There are several different mutations that produce the same phenotype and it's not clear which one of them is the "most spectacular."
4. The article claims that the mutation appeared 10,000 years ago but that's probably not true.
5. The mutation has nothing to do with walking upright, opposable thumbs, big brains, or the ability to talk. Apparently those mutations are either much less spectacular or they don't qualify as "recent."

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[Photo Credit: How to Milk a Cow]
[Hat Tip: Mike the Mad Biologist]

Today at the SBL

Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy 11/17/2012 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM Room: E260 - McCormick Place Theme: The Ancient Economy 

The Name ‘Erastus’ in Antiquity: A Literary, Papyrical, and Epigraphical Catalog Timothy Brookins, Houston Baptist University

Abstract to be considered for the Second Project (First-Century Christianity and Ancient Economy): One of the most critical pieces in the debate about social stratification in the Corinthian church is that of the socio-economic profile of “Erastus,” whom Paul describes in Rom 16:23 as ho oikonomos tes poleos. Hot debate has surrounded this figure ever since the 1929 discovery of an ancient inscription bearing his name. Two portions of a paving slab situated east of the stage building of the Roman theatre together contain the inscription: “Erastus in return for his aedileship laid (the pavement) at his own expense (Erastus pro aedilitate s.p. stravit)” (Corinth VIII 232). Upon its discovery, the inscription immediately roused the interest of biblical scholars. If this was the same man as the Corinthian Christian named by Paul, it would have seismic ramifications for our understanding of the socio-economic composition of the early church, for the aedileship was one of the highest municipal offices in Corinth. Three questions have remained central to the debate: the date of the inscription, the nature of the office of oikonomos, and the frequency of the name “Erastus” in antiquity. Several recent articles have treated questions related to the date of the inscription and the nature of Erastus’ office (Goodrich 2010; Weiss 2010; Friesen 2010; Goodrich 2011). The present paper attempts to make a contribution with regard to the frequency of the name in antiquity. Moving beyond Meggitt’s earlier research (1996; 1999), this paper furnishes a comprehensive catalog of literary, papyrical, and epigraphical occurrences of the name (in Greek and in Latin) in antiquity. The payoff of the catalog is two-fold: (1) it provides, for the first time, comprehensive quantitative proof that the name was in fact rare; and (2) it reveals a chronological, geographical, and institutional distribution for the name which allows for a tantalizing new hypothesis regarding the social station of Paul’s Erastus.

Christianity in Egypt: Scripture, Tradition, and Reception 11/17/2012 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: E260 - McCormick Place

Clairvoyance and Conflict: the Political Implications of Pachomius’s VisionsLance Jenott, Princeton University 

In 345, a year before his death, the great monastic innovator Pachomius was hauled into an ecclesiastical court by local bishops to answer charges of clairvoyance. Since the Greek Life does not clarify the exact nature of the conflict, scholars have suggested that the charge was largely motivated by politics, including disputes between Pachomius and local clergy over the control of parish finances, pastoral care, and Pachomius’s resisting ordination. In this paper, I will suggest that Pachomius’s justification for the expansion of his federation into new territories also prompted the charge of clairvoyance: for according to the Coptic (Bohairic) Life, Pachomius established each new monastery in response to a divine revelation. Local clergy who felt threatened by the presence of a Pachomian monastery in their district could hardly have let such a justification go unchallenged. In addition, I will discuss how the Greek Life, though including the story of the trial, downplays the role such charismatic visions played in the federation’s growth by systematically omitting them from its narrative.

Think global, buy local: shopping for a church in Hermopolis Peter van Minnen, University of Cincinnati

One of the great revolutions in Late Antiquity was the disestablishment of religion. This leveled the playing field and created a religious market place worthy of its name. How did the abandonment of religion by the government affect the inhabitants of the Roman Empire? One way of finding this out is a case study: Hermopolis in Middle Egypt. The trappings of traditional religions were still in place, and the material evidence for their presence was hard to miss, for much of the fourth and early fifth century. Likewise Christian churches and ascetics lived happily side by side with pagan priests and temples, as we can tell from contemporary papyri. Yet, inexorably, the inhabitants of Hermopolis shifted away from traditional religions and adopted Christianity. Why? The most plausible answer is the two-sided appeal of Christianity: on the one hand it was a universal religion (“think global”), on the other hand it only asked for local support (“buy local”). “Universal religion” here means that Christianity (“ready-to-assemble”) was basically the same everywhere and that it came with an (unparalleled) empire-wide network that local Christian communities could tap into. Local Christians, who supported their local church, lived among the visible results of that support without having to go through the government anymore. As a bonus Christians could “shop,” choose from a variety of churches, all of them pretty much the same, yet deeply divided. The evidence, mainly papyrological and archaeological, for these “visible results” of local support will be reviewed. It eventually consisted of a multitude of churches and other religious facilities in and around Hermopolis. The evidence for the variety of churches there and the persistence of divisions at the local level before and after the early fifth century will also be reviewed. Also inexorably, the trappings of traditional religions disappeared in fourth- and early fifth-century Hermopolis. Why? Again, the most plausible answer is twofold: on the one hand state support eventually dried up altogether, on the other hand people started to put their money more and more on the Christian ticket. Both of these tendencies can be documented for the fourth and early fifth century, in part with the help of the onomastic revolution, which also took place at this time. As a bonus traditional religions had produced a lot of materials that could be recycled, most obviously the pagan temples, which, after they were no longer used, could be used as quarries for building material for churches or given some other purpose. This latter aspect can also be documented for early fifth-century Hermopolis.

Female terracotta figurines from late antique Egypt as evidence of local religion David Frankfurter, Boston University

Local religion involves a synthesis of great tradition and little tradition in the negotiation of landscape, social roles, spatial boundaries, and ritual practices, sometimes to the degree that the great tradition is no longer recognizable to an outsider. In this case, a great diversity of female figurines produced in coroplath workshops from Aswan to Karanis to the Abu Mina pilgrim city points to local religious practices performed under the aegis of Christianity (e.g., at saints' shrines) but without evident connection to Christian liturgy or mythology (i.e., they do not seem to represent Mary or Thekla). Their usage seems to have been predominantly votive, signifying a desired procreative body to deposit in hope, while the great diversity of these clay figurines points to an authochthonous, rather than imported or imposed, ritual tradition. This paper stems from a larger project on the local sites of Christianization.

Christianity and Local Religion in the Great OasisMalcolm Choat, Macquarie University

So far from the Nile that its inhabitants still talk of ‘going to Egypt’ when they make the trek to the Valley, the Great Oasis of Graeco-Roman period (the modern Dakhleh and Khargeh Oases) was nevertheless home to Christian communities by the end of the third century. This paper will survey the papyrological, archaeological, and literary evidence for the spread of Christianity, and Manichaeism, in the Oasis down to the fifth century against the backdrop of Graeco-Egyptian religious traditions in the area.

Manuscripts from Eastern Christian Traditions 11/17/2012 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: E264 - McCormick Place

Caroline T. Schroeder, University of the Pacific
Coptic Studies on the Digital Frontier: Creative Approaches to Manuscript Publication (35 min)

PPT cards here

Coptic Studies on the Digital Frontier: Creative Approaches to Manuscript Publication This paper and presentation will explore the possibilities for the publication of a digital companion edition of a manuscript in addition to a traditional print edition. For many Greek and Latin texts, critical editions, or at least simple editions in the original language are available in digital form. The editions of manuscripts in languages of some of the other Eastern Christian traditions are not as widely available. I will present a potential digital exhibition of a Coptic folio from the monastery of Shenoute (also known as the White Monastery). This folio comes from one of the most important set of early Christian monastic sources—Shenoute's letters, sermons, treatises, and rules, written in the Sahidic dialect of Coptic. This monastery was (and still is) located near the ancient city of Atripe in Egypt. It consisted of as many as four thousand male and female monks in three residences. Shenoute led the monastery from the late fourth century to the middle fifth century and was succeeded in leadership by a monk named Besa. We no longer have any direct sources from the founder of the monastery, named Pcol, but we do have a fragment of monastic rules that date to the time of Pcol's leadership. This fragment is quoted at the beginning of the first known letter of Shenoute. It is unpublished, located in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. I hold the publication rights and am working on a traditional-media journal article to publish a photograph, edition, and translation of this two-page fragment. The digital edition of the manuscript will contain the original Coptic text, a translation, an introduction to the context of the text, and a visual and textual analysis of aspects of the rules in the text. My paper will present the edition in progress and discuss the technologies necessary for such a project, the advantages of the digital format, and the challenges to such a project. The digital edition of the folio will direct the reader to other monastic rules from the fourth through sixth centuries with similar regulations using linked maps. This visualization will identify consistencies across the early monastic tradition, dependencies of one set of rules upon another, and conditions unique to children in Shenoute's monastery. The edition will also direct the reader to later sections of Shenoute's letter, which reference back to rules he quotes in this folio.

At the Source of Biblical Texts: The Bodmer Papyri

Gabriella Gelardini, Universität Basel, Presiding Sylviane Messerli, Martin Bodmer Foundation Cologny

The oldest complete copy of the Gospel of John, the oldest surviving examples and the only known papyrus copies of the Epistles of Jude and Peter, the oldest Greek copy of The Nativity of Mary (Protoevangelium of James): these and other source-texts for the piety of the early Christian centuries are found in the “Bodmer Papyri.” Comprising over 1800 pages written in Coptic and Greek, this collection brings together some fifty biblical and apocryphal texts, as well as secular works. The exceptional quality of each part of this find is augmented by the fact that most of them come from the same collection and thus constitute a veritable library, probably assembled in the fifth or sixth century in a non-monastic setting by a newly-converted scholar. After presenting the history of their discovery and reception, we will focus on one artefact in particular: an anthology of nine texts, copied in the third and fourth centuries and collected in the fourth century in a single binding, by a member of the anti-gnostic Christian community in Egypt, whose folios of Psalms 33 and 34 in selected extracts are on exhibit at the University of Chicago Library.

Manuscripts and Historical Assumptions: The Varied Fabric of Literary Remains among Eastern Christians 

Scott Johnson, Georgetown University

This paper seeks to compare how historians use manuscripts, inscriptions, and papyri from eastern Christian languages, mainly Greek, Aramaic/Syriac, and Coptic. In the context of a workshop on manuscripts it offers an overview of the historian's task of combining these disparate types of evidence in very different linguistic and cultural settings. Each linguistic setting has different survival rates in each category. In practice this means that the writing of eastern Christian history is fraught with varying emphases. In recent years Roman historian Fergus Millar has repeatedly highlighted the use of Greek in formal inscriptions from the region of greater Roman Syria where Aramaic/Syriac was a spoken and literary lingua franca among Christians. By contrast, historians of late Roman Egypt in the same period and later have pointed to the profusion of multilingualism (Greek-Coptic-Syriac-Arabic) as evidenced by the papyri, arguing that a single language did not achieve public dominance but that code switching, ad hoc translation, and literary interference were dominant elements of the everyday life of Christians. This paper will attempt to bridge the gap of these competing interpretations by arguing that continuity between the literary history of Syriac in the 2nd–3rd centuries and the manuscript history of Syriac in the 5th–6th centuries offers an important opportunity to correct the misapprehension of Syriac as less of a public language than Greek in the period, and consequently that Roman Syria was more in line with the multilingual experience of Egyptian Christians. This paper will therefore focus on bilingual manuscript culture and how it fits into the cognitive landscape of other literary material culture. It will attempt to provide a larger context for understanding how a problematic inscription like the Nisibis Greek baptistery (359/60) can be profitably read alongside the early Syriac manuscripts and papyri, both east and west of the Euphrates.

The Coptic Testament of Job and its Reception in the Early Christian Period

Gesine Schenke Robinson, Episcopal Theological School at Claremont

 The apocryphal Testament of Job has been known for quite some time, but mainly through Greek manuscripts from the early to late medieval period, or by some even later translations of the text into Old Slavonic. It is generally assumed that the Testament of Job was composed sometimes between the first century bce and the early second century ce. Hence these medieval renditions are removed from the original composition by almost thousand years. This made it difficult, thus far, to provide definite answers regarding its original make-up and assumed later redactions, as well as its early tradition- and transmission history. In 1964 however, the papyrus collection of the University of Cologne bought remains of a papyrus codex that contained at least four Coptic translations of apocryphal texts, one of them being the Testament of Job. Given that the Cologne copy of the text – on codicological grounds as well as based on the palaeographical evidence – can be dated to the fourth century, the Coptic witness is by far the earliest testimony of this literary product. Hence it had raised high hopes for the advancement of the study of this important haggadic document of the Jewish lore. Though the text of the Testament of Job follows along the general lines of the narrative familiar from the medieval manuscripts, it became clear that the Greek text lying behind the Coptic translation represents a recension independent from the tradition of the younger witnesses. Compared to those versions, the Coptic text not only shows different variants as they normally occur due to the process of repeated copying and revising of a document, but it also reveals different interpretations of traditional material, dissimilar explanations of events and situations, distinct motivations, and the like. This makes it particularly interesting for the analysis of the transmission history of the various traditions. Of special importance has always been the question of the reception of Jewish lore by early Christianity, and its possible influences on the development of the text. The mere fact that the Testament of Job was translated into Coptic shows the great interest of the early church in this narrative that eventually led to the veneration of Job as a model martyr in the later church.

Two New Coptic Fragments of the Apocalypse of Paul (Visio Pauli)? 
Antti Marjanen, University of Helsinki

Two Coptic parchment fragments of a Christian apocryphal text have turned up in a Finnish collection of Coptic manuscripts (Ilves Collection). On the basis of a tentative analysis of the fragments, one can conclude that they seem to have close thematic connections with Paul’s vision of the paradise in the Apocalypse of Paul (or a very similar text). The fragments refer to the encounters of Paul with Lot, Noah, and possibly Hiob. Unlike the majority of the known versions of the Apocalypse of Paul, the Coptic fragments of the Ilves collection do not report the vision of Paul in the first but in the third person. On paleographical grounds, the fragments may be dated to the fifth or sixth century. If the two Coptic fragments can be identified as part of a Coptic version of the Apocalypse of Paul and their dating proves to be right, the two fragments of the Ilves collection may be among the earliest extant manuscripts of the Apocalypse of Paul.