REVIEW of William E. Klingshirn, Linda Safran, The Early Christian Book

The topic of intensified and transformed bookishness in early Christianity, as well as in formative Judaism and Late Antiquity generally, has understandably caught the imagination of scholars who are themselves working in an age of media transformation.1 The volume of studies edited by William Klingshirn and Linda Safran took its beginning from a conference held at the Catholic University of America in 2002. The product, however, is considerably more integrated than most conference collections: there is more evidence than usual that the initial participants shared an understanding of the sweeping theme and that the process of revision and editing brought the separate essays into frequently explicit reference to each other. Most contributors are acknowledged experts in early Christianity, formative Judaism and Late Antiquity; others are more junior scholars writing about what they know best. The contributions are arranged harmlessly, but unnecessarily, into six thematic pairs. A vestige, presumably, of the original conference organization is that the essays vary sharply in length, so that some of the shorter pieces left this reader wanting more.
the rest at BMCR



Source BMCR

Brussels Copitc database

Université Libre de Bruxelles

Centre de Papyrologie et d'Épigraphie grecque

Brussels Coptic Database

Alain Delattre

This work, started early in 2000, was conceived on the model of the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis der Griechischen Papyrusurkunden Ägyptens , which had to be adapted to the specificities of the Coptic material.

The database regroups all the documentary Coptic texts published, i.e. approximately 6700 documents. This database will be updated periodically.

A card is devoted to each text. The information is recorded in the following fields : sigla, inventory number, support, origin, date, dialect, content, bibliography and remarks.


ABZU

Alain DELATTRE, Papyrus coptes et grecs du monastère d'apa Apollô de Baouît

Alain Delattre, Papyrus coptes et grecs du monastère d'apa Apollô de Baouît conservés aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire de Bruxelles. (Académie royale de Belgique. Mémoires de la Classe des Lettres. Collection in-8°. 3e série. Tome XLIII, No. 2045.)

Bruxelles, Académie royale de Belgique. Classe des Lettres, 2007, 8°, 351 pp. ISBN 978-2-8031-0236-5. Prix: EUR 30.

Le monastère copte d'apa Apollô, situé près du village moderne de Baouît en Moyenne-Égypte, a livré des centaines de textes grecs et coptes sur papyrus et ostraca. Le présent ouvrage est consacré à l'édition, à la traduction et au commentaire d'une cinquantaine de documents grecs et coptes de Baouît, conservés aux Musées royaux d'Art et d'Histoire à Bruxelles. Ces documents apportent de précieux renseignements sur l'histoire et l'économie du monastère aux VIIe et VIIIe siècles et, plus généralement, sur la vie monastique en Égypte au début de l'époque arabe.

Diffusion: Académie royale de Belgique . Prière d'adresser les commandes à M. Luc Moreau, par fax < +32 2 550 22 05 > ou par courriel arb@cfwb.be.


* * *

Table des matières
Avant-propos ... 7

Liste des textes ... 9

Introduction ... 13

1. Le lot "Demulling" ... 14
Albert Henri Demulling (1884-1941) ... 15
Les dons de papyrus ... 17
2. L'identification du lot au sein des collection ... 21
3. Composition du lot Demulling ... 25

PARTIE I

Chapitre 1. Le monastère d'apa Apollô de Baouît ... 29
1. Les sources ... 29
2. Le fondateur du monastère ... 36
3. Le monastère d'apa Apollô à Baouît ... 41
3.1. Les monastères d'apa Apollô ... 41
3.2. Le problème du monastère de Titkooh ... 42
3.3. Description du monastère ... 45
3.4. Aperçu historique ... 54
3.5. L'organisation du monastère ... 58
Le type d'organisation monastique ... 58
Une congrégation? ... 64
Organisation et hiérarchies ... 65
3.6. Les activités économiques du monastère ... 74
Le patrimoine du monastère ... 77
Les activités économiques du monastère ... 80
Les revenus du monastère ... 93
Les dépenses du monastère ... 99
3.7. Aperçu de la vie religieuse du monastère ... 104
3.8. Baouît et le monachisme de Moyenne-Égypte ... 108

Chapitre 2. Les textes documentaires du monastère de Baouît ... 111
1. Les critères d'attribution ... 111
Critères internes ... 112
Critères externes ... 114
2. Liste des textes de Baouît ... 117
3. Matériaux ... 125
4. Paléographie ... 127
Les scribes du monastère ... 130
"Orthographe" ... 132
5. L'usage de langues ... 133
6. Aspects linguistiques ... 140

PARTIE II
Chapitre 1. Ordres administratifs (1-3) ... 147
Chapitre 2. Ordres de paiement (4-27) ... 159

A. Présentation matérielle des documents ... 162

1. Dimensions ... 162
2. Paléographie ... 163
3. Langues ... 163
4. Sceaux ... 164
5. Réutilisation ... 165
B. Structure des documents ... 167
1. Bénéficiaire(s) ... 168
2. Denrée(s) ... 171
3. Responsable ... 174

Liste des différents responsables ... 175
4. Date ... 176
5. Scribe ... 178
6. Annotations ... 179
7. Sceau ... 180

C. Signification des documents ... 183
1. Les acteurs ... 183
2. Les modalités pratiques ... 184
3. Les rémunérations en nature ... 185
Chapitre 3. Comptes et listes (28-33) ... 227
Chapitre 4. Contrats de prêt (34-35) ... 241

A. Présentation matérielle ... 242
B. Structure du contrat et formulaires ... 243
1. Présentation des parties ... 244
2. Formule d'emprunt ... 245
3. Objet du prêt ... 245
4. Promesse de remboursement ... 246
5. Clause de bonne foi ... 246
6. Serment ... 247
7. "Signature" du débiteur ... 247
8. Témoins ... 247
9. Mention du scribe ... 247
10. Date ... 248
11. Résumé ... 248

C. Le prêt dans le monastère de Baouît ... 249
Les intérêts ... 250
Un service de prêt sans intérêt offert par le monastère? ... 251
Les moines comme débiteurs ... 251
Les moines comme créanciers ... 252 ...
Chapitre 5. Lettres (36-42) ... 261
Chapitre 6. Varia (43-47) ... 273
Chapitre 7. Fragments de provenance incertaine (48-54) ... 281
Chapitre 8. Protocoles (55-60) ... 289
Bibliographie ... 297
Concordances ... 323
Textes édités ... 323
Textes réédités ... 324
Textes corrigés ... 324

Index ... 325

Source Papy-L (A. Martin)

Correction: ONOMASTICON OASITICUM

NB this ONOMASTICON has two main parts, and two authors, not one, as the original entry mistakenly indicates.
My apologies for the omission.

ONOMASTICON HIBITICUM:
AN ONOMASTICON OF PERSONAL NAMES
found in the
KHARGEH OASIS
compiled by
R.P. Salomons
(Radboud University, Nijmegen)


ONOMASTICON MOTHITICUM:
AN ONOMASTICON OF PERSONAL NAMES
found in the
DAKHLEH OASIS
compiled by
K.A. Worp
(University of Leiden)

The Evolution Poll of Sandwalk Readers

 
The poles are closed and the results are in. Richard Dawkins is the clear winner (boo!).

The good news is that 87% (499/573) Sandwalk readers have legitimate scientific views of evolution (Dawkins + Gould + Futuyma). Only a small number of readers are creationists or proponents of theistic evolution.

The bad news is that most readers are split between three different views of evolution. Some people have asked me to explain these three views so here's a brief summary of how I distinguish between Dawkins, Gould, and Futuyma.

Richard Dawkins holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University (UK). In his first book, The Selfish Gene (1976), he promoted the idea that evolution can be viewed as a competition between genes. This concept was amplified in The Extended Phenotype (1982) where he also answered the main criticism of the selfish gene concept. Dawkins' most popular book was The Blind Watchmaker, first published in 1986. In that book he made the case for design by natural selection and attempted to dismiss, or minimize, all other mechanisms of evolution. The emphasis on the power of natural selection was expanded in Climbing Mt. Improbable (1996).

Dawkins is the leading exponent of adaptationism—or Ultra-Darwinism—the idea that everything interesting in evolution can be explained by adaptation. This is especially true of traits that give rise to visible phenotypes. Dawkins is not very interested in macroevolution and he dismisses punctuated equilibria and species sorting. He believes, along with most adaptationists, that macroevolution is just an extension of natural selection acting on populations. (See RichardDawkins,net for a complete list of books and articles.)

Stephen Jay Gould was Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology at Harvard University from 1967 until his death in 2002.

He published Ontogeny and Phylogeny in 1977 where he made the case for a relationship between development and evolution. In The Mismeasure of Man (1981) he criticized biological determinism. Wonderful Life (1989) described the Burgess Shale fossils and explained Gould's ideas about the role of chance and contingency in evolution. In 2002, Gould published The Structure of Evolutionary Theory where he attempts to explain macroevolution, punctuated equilibria, and species sorting. These are part of Gould's hierarchical approach to evolutionary theory. Gould identifies himself as a pluralist—one who recognizes many different mechanisms of evolution that can give rise to important and interesting features. He tends to place much more emphasis on chance and accident in evolution than Dawkins.

Gould, along with Niles Eldredge, is famous for the concept of punctuated equilibrium. This is the idea that much of the change in the characteristics of species is concentrated in brief speciation (by cladogenesis) events.

Gould wrote a regular column for Natural History magazine and many of his articles have been collected in a series of anthologies: Ever Since Darwin, The Panda's Thumb, Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, The Flamingo's Smile, Bully for Brontosaurus, Eight Little Piggies, Dinosaur in a Haystack, Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms, The Lying Stones of Marrakech, and I Have Landed. Some of his essays and some of his scientific articles are widely cited. (For a complete list see SJG Archive.)


Douglas J. Futuyma is a Professor of Ecology & Evolution at the State University of New York at Stoney Brook. He is best known for his textbooks on evolution; Evolutionary Biology (1998) and Evolution (2005). His major research interests are evolutionary theory [see Hypotheses, Facts, and the Nature of Science] and the interactions of plants and insects [see Insect Pests: Resistance and Management].

Futuyma's view of evolution is different from that of Richard Dawkins because Futuyma is interested in random genetic drift and speciation. Futyuma is much more aware of population genetics than Dawkins or Gould and he (Futuyma) frequently refers to it in his books and papers. Unlike Gould, Futuyma is skeptical of punctuated equilibria and particularly species selection/sorting, although, ironically, he is credited with proposing the best explanation of the connection between cladogenesis and evolution.

You can check out some of Futuyma's ideas in this interview. In response to the question, "Is natural selection the only mechanism of evolution?", Futuyma replies,

No, certainly not. There cannot be evolution without genetic variation in the first place. So there must be mutation and often recombination to generate the different genotypes or the different versions of the genes, known as alleles, which then may or may not make a difference in the ability of an organism to survive and reproduce. You can’t have any evolutionary change whatever without mutation, and perhaps recombination, giving rise to genetic variation. But once you have genetic variation, there are basically two major possibilities:

First, there is simply no difference between the different genotypes or different genes in their impact on survival or reproduction, and in that case, you can have random changes of one versus the other type in a population or a species until eventually one replaces the other. That is an evolutionary change. It happens entirely by chance, by random fluctuations. That is what we call the process of genetic drift.

Genetic drift is very different from possibility number two, natural selection, which is a much more consistent, predictable, dependable change in the proportion of one gene vs. another, one genotype vs. another. Why? Simply because there is some consistent superiority, shall we way, of one genotype vs. another in some feature that affects its survival or some feature affecting its reproductive capabilities.

Neither Gould or Dawkins would respond in this way. Dawkins would admit to random genetic drift but downplay its importance. Gould would focus on higher mechanisms of evolution like species sorting.

Futuyma also thinks about the role of mutation in a different way than either Dawkins or Gould, especially Dawkins. While Dawkins is very much opposed to crediting mutations per se with any substantial influence on evolution, Futuyma is more sympathetic to a limited mutationism point of view. For example, when asked what would happen if the tape of life were re-played he says.

Of course, it wouldn’t be the same, because first of all, random processes are involved in the evolutionary process. For example, the origin of new mutations: a lot of evolution is dependent on particular mutational changes in genes that were very, very rare or unlikely, but that just happened at the right time, in the right species, in the right environment, but it need not happen that way. So, there’s this unpredictability.

This is very unlike Dawkins who is more inclined to think of evolution as design and strongly resists any attempt to sneak randomness into the equation. For the most part, Dawkins believes that all possible mutations will be available for selection so mutations can never determine the direction of evolution. Gould prefers to focus on developmental constraints as possible limits to the effectiveness of natural selection.

Monday's Molecule #41

 
Today's molecule is actually three related molecules. You have to name all three by giving the common names and the complete IUPAC names. There's a direct connection between these molecules and Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s). (Hint: The Nobel Prize winner was not allowed to receive the prize.)

The reward goes to the person who correctly identifies the molecules and the Nobel Laureate(s). Previous free lunch winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There are two ineligible candidates for this Wednesday's reward. Both of them are waiting to collect their prize this week or next week. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

Send your guess to Sandwalk (sandwalk(at)bioinfo.med.utoronto.ca) and I'll pick the first email message that correctly identifies the molecules and the Nobel Laureate(s). Correct responses will be posted tomorrow along with the time that the message was received on my server. This way I may select multiple winners if several people get it right.

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

UPDATE: The three molecules are:

1. pyridoxine: 3-hydroxy-4,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpyridine


2. pyridoxal: 3-hydroxy-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methyl-pyridine-4-carbaldehyde


3. pyridoxamine:
   4-(aminomethyl)-5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methyl-pyridin-3-ol

Nomenclature for Vitamins B-6 and Related Compounds

Today at the 13th Int'l Congress of Greek and Latin Epigraphy

Selected papers touching on Papyrology:

1.3. Non-Greek and Latin Epigraphy of the Roman Empire (Room 7, Ground Floor)

d. Hannah Cotton - Jonathan Price: "Semitic languages in the epigraphy of the Graeco-Roman Near East: the case of Judaea/Syria Palaestina."

1.6. Epigraphy and Information Technology (Lecture Room 2)

a. Charles Crowther (convenor):

c. Alan Bowman, Ruth Kirkham, John Pybus: "A Virtual Research Environment for epigraphy and papyrology."