Egypt

Review: Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology Helsinki

Bryn Mawr Classical Review (Reviewed by Rodney Ast, Columbia University )

Jaakko Frösén, Tiina Purola, Erja Salmenkivi, Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology Helsinki, 1-7 August, 2004. 2 vols. Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum, 122. Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 2007.
Of all ancillary disciplines that fall under the general rubric of Ancient Studies, papyrology probably exhibits the widest reach, contributing to literary and religious studies; economic, political and social history; linguistics; the histories of medicine and science, etc. Perhaps no other event highlights this extraordinary breadth more clearly than the triennial International Congress of Papyrology. The 24th Congress, which took place in Helsinki in the summer of 2004, was no exception, and the two-volume collection of proceedings that forms the subject of this review goes a long way in reflecting the broad interests of papyrologists, even if the great success of the event is muted to an extent by the quality of some contributions. These are Congress proceedings, and some pieces bear the hallmark of the genre: brief reports and announcements that might not otherwise have warranted publication and partially developed topics or editions destined for full treatment in proper journal articles.

Despite the shortcomings of some articles, a large number of the ca. 85 pieces contribute in important and varied ways to our understanding of both Greco-Roman Egypt and of the classical world in general. Here are a few examples illustrating the range of topics encountered in the two volumes. M. Mirkovic (pp. 743-755) offers interesting insight into the economic realities in place prior to Diocletian's reforms, suggesting that we view the reforms not so much as a dramatic departure from earlier practice but as the natural consequence of changes that were afoot centuries earlier. J. Dalrymple (pp. 205-213) provides a fascinating discussion of the real threat, as documented by papyrological sources, that scorpions and snakes posed inhabitants of Egypt. From Th. Kruse we get detailed analysis of Roman management in Egypt of the production of alum (alumen, stuptêria) (pp. 523-547), a class of sulfates used in medicine and in the production of gold, silver and gems, as well as for dyeing and tanning. In a contribution to the history of early Christianity (pp. 341-352), H. Förster reasonably questions the rather simplistic distinction occasionally drawn between religion and magic, taking as his starting point a recent edition of a codex page from Psalms that was thought by the original editors to have been "re-used" as an amulet for the purpose of magic. Förster argues that use as an amulet does not necessarily entail employment as an instrument of magic.

See the above page for the full review.

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Egypt