Philology, literatures and history of the ancient world

RAFFAELE LUISELLI

In consistency with the educational purposes of the whole teaching course, aim of the teaching unit is to give students knowledge and comprehension skills in the field of Papyrology, that complete and/or reinforce those acquired in the first grade of studies. Moreover, it will make the students able to approach orginal themes in a research context, making more complex judgments, communicating knowledge and its process, and studying the subject in an independent and self-educational way. In particular, students are expected to acquire: (a) the basic technical and methodological tools necessary to study the Greek papyri, both literary and documentary; (b) a basic knowledge of the development of the Greek script from the fourth century B.C to the eighth century A.D.; (c) an ability to express their own distinctive scholarly voices on individual documents, as well as on select problems of historical and philological character; and (d) a good knowledge of the instrumenta studiorum of the discipline.

A good knowledge of classical Greek is required. It is helpful for students to have a basic knowledge of Greek palaeography; and it is important for them to be able to read secondary literature written in English.

«Greek books and documents from Ptolemaic Egypt».
This course offers an introduction to the Greek literary and documentary papyri from Ptolemaic Egypt. with the aim of teaching students the methods to be used to decipher, reconstruct, edit, and interpret the fragmentary texts preserved on papyrus.

Gli studenti impossibilitati a frequentare sono invitati a contattare il docente.

Coloro che avessero già sostenuto l’esame di Papirologia I (cod. 10593017) sono tenuti a concordare i testi d’esame con il docente.

Subject matter and skills will be taught to, and learned by, students in a variety of ways. Face-to-face teaching will be employed mainly during the first course unit. This will help students acquire key competences. In the second course unit, greater emphasis will be put on seminars and group-based discussion with the aim of enabling students not only critically to read the previously edited texts, but also to develop their own intellectual and practical skills which will enable them to prepare editions of papyrus texts. We will focus on a selection from the published papyri that range in date from the late fourth century B.C. to the late second century B.C. The papyri will be studied in chronological order. Students will be asked to transcribe and translate each text; and their work will be discussed in class. The teacher will give methodological information, and will also comment on the main data provided by the texts themselves, with particular emphasis on topics such as palaeography, language, textual criticism, and historical background. In addition, students will be asked to write two essays, of which one will focus on a literary papyrus, and the other on a documentary text. These essays will enable the teacher to determine the level of student understanding of course content, as well as the students’ perceptions of the methodologies needed in papyrology.

Attendance is strongly recommended.

An oral exam at the end of the course will be used to assess the student learning outcomes. The exam will yield the relevant information needed to determine the level of a student’s acquisition of key competences, as well as the level of their ability to critically communicate them. In order to pass the exam, students must get a mark of 18/30, and must show to have acquired a basic knowledge of one of the course topics. In order to get a mark of 30/30 cum laude, students must show to have acquired excellent knowledge of all the course topics.

Can you decipher and translate lines 1-3 of this papyrus text?
How would you describe this papyrus?
How would you describe the handwriting?
What are the steps of papyrus paper manufacturing process?
What is a kollesis, and how is it made?
How does this verb form compare with classical Greek?
What is a paragraphos, and what is it for?
Can you tell me something about the column layout in the ancient book rolls?

• Lesson 1 (course unit 1): Introduction to the course.


• Lesson 2 (course unit 1): Major instrumenta and databases used in papyrology.


• Lessons 3-6 (course unit 1): The manufacture of papyrus paper and papyrus roll.


• Lessons 7-8 (course unit 1): Editorial conventions; types of editions of papyrus texts.


• Lesson 9 (course unit 1): An introduction to the palaeography of Greek papyri.


• Lesson 10 (course unit 2): Transcription exercise.


• Lessons 11-21 (course unit 2): Decipherment, with translation and commentary, of a selection of papyrus texts, both literary and documentary.