28 March 2004
Three Letters From Oxyrhynchus
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In 1897 Oxyrhynchus in Egypt was a treasure trove of antiquities and ancient documents written on papyrus. The discovery of Christian texts identified the region as important for the early church. Macquarie University has just acquired 3 valuable papyri from the 4th and 5th centuries and papyrologist Don Barker explains their significance.
Transcript
Transcript
THEME
Rachael Kohn: Oxyrhynchus: the name conjures Raiders of the Lost Ark! But in the early 1900s, the ancient discoveries at Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt, were so abundant and accessible, there was no need for an Indiana Jones. Grenfell, Hunt and Hogarth discovered thousands of Greek texts, including fragments from the New Testament.
Macquarie University has just acquired three papyri, thanks in part to papyrologist, Don Barker, who first tells us about their place of origin.
Don Barker: Oxyrhynchus is in middle Egypt, about 200 kilometres west of Cairo. The name itself means The Place of the Sharp-snouted Fish, and the Oxyrynchites worshipped this fish. And across the river, the Sinopolites worshipped the dog, so there was a bit of inter-rivalry between the two towns and the Oxyrynchites went across to the Sinopolites and asked them to stop eating their fish because they worshipped it. And the Sinopolites said, No, we won't do that. And so they went back and they had a big feast themselves of dog, which the Sinopolites worshipped.
But Oxyrhynchus was a very important town, because it was the administrative centre of a province in Egypt in the Greco-Roman period, and it was a very big centre for Greek civilisation in Egypt. And there have been lots and lots of literary documents that have been found in the rubbish dumps at Oxyrhynchus, which pertained to the Greek classics.
Rachael Kohn: Now why on earth would Greek classics find their way into rubbish dumps?
Don Barker: Firstly, why would there be Greek classics in Egypt, I guess is the first part of the answer to that question.
Rachael Kohn: Well weren't the Greeks, the Ptolemies, ruling in Egypt?
Don Barker: Yes, they were. And so it really started with Alexander the Great's empire and his domination of Egypt. He brought in soldier settlers, and that continued while the Ptolemies - the Ptolemies stem from the General who took over from Alexander the Great - ruled Egypt, and so the Greek civilisation flourished in Egypt.
Rachael Kohn: And I gather the Christians also flourished in Egypt?
Don Barker: Yes. Christianity and especially monastic Christianity flourished in Egypt. The beginnings of monasticism are to be found in Egypt itself.
Rachael Kohn: What was the actual discovery at Oxyrhynchus that has had a great deal of impact on Christian research?
Don Barker: The discoveries in the rubbish dumps in Oxyrhynchus not only included Greek classics and documentary literature, official and non-official documents, and just ordinary letters, but they also included many fragments from the New Testament itself, in fact on the first day that archaeologists and classical scholars Grenfell and Hunt came to Oxyrhynchus -
Rachael Kohn: And that was when?
Don Barker: That was in about 1897. They found a fragment of the Gospel of Matthew, which is dated around about 200AD.
Rachael Kohn: Are they the earliest extant books from the Christian Bible?
Don Barker: Yes, yes. And that's why they're so important. There's about 115 fragments of the New Testament that have been found in Egypt.
Rachael Kohn: And would those fragments have had some impact on the way Bible translations have been done in recent years?
Don Barker: Yes, they impact upon the text of the New Testament, and working out what the originals would have looked like, yes.
Rachael Kohn: Well you've just presided over the purchase of three documents for the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre at Macquarie University; are they first in your collection from Oxyrhynchus?
Don Barker: Yes, they are, yes. We have manuscripts from elsewhere, but not from Oxyrhynchus.
Rachael Kohn: Well I gather you didn't have to roam around on the rubbish dumps to acquire these things?
Don Barker: No, no.
Rachael Kohn: How did you find them?
Don Barker: Well it's a long story. I was alerted to the fact that Sotheby's were auctioning papyri by a bulletin board on the internet, and it just said 'Look at eBay' and punch in papyri, so I did that. And lo and behold, up came these very important Oxyrhynchus papyri for sale by Sotheby's on behalf of a seminary in New York.
Rachael Kohn: And is that unusual to find this kind of quality of archaeological material on eBay?
Don Barker: I don't think it'll ever happen again.
Rachael Kohn: Why not?
Don Barker: No-one ever sells it, especially of that importance.
Rachael Kohn: Were you at all suspicious?
Don Barker: No, no, because we knew that these papyri were located in that seminary. They were given to them by Grenfell and Hunt back in the early 1900s, and the seminary itself had got into financial difficulty, and they looked around and said, 'Well what can we sell to get ourselves out of this?'
Rachael Kohn: So when you saw that these were for sale, did your eyes light up, did you immediately want to run to the University, to the Department, and beg them to come up with the money?
Don Barker: Yes, that's exactly what happened. I just couldn't believe my eyes at first. So we approached the Vice Chancellor, Professor Di Yerbury, who saw the value of these pieces, and offered us a certain amount of money to play with in the live auction which was to take place in New York.
Rachael Kohn: Were you the one doing the bidding?
Don Barker: No, the Manager of the Museum of Ancient Cultures did the bidding for us. So he did a marvellous job at about 2 o'clock in the morning because it was live, and he did it by telephone.
Rachael Kohn: And how much did the marvellous job cost in the end?
Don Barker: In the end, the three papyri all together would have been about $AU55,000.
Rachael Kohn: Now, the texts themselves. They're not actually religious documents, they're really more of a domestic nature.
Don Barker: Yes, that's right. Well they're letters from certain people to other people, about everyday life, and so they're just general letters.
Rachael Kohn: From?
Don Barker: Well one is from a boy by the name of Peter. Another one is from a person by the name of Boethus, and he's just sending greetings, and asking for prayers that he'll be able to do his business; and another one from a woman, addressed to her 'father' because it doesn't appear to be her father, but probably father and God.
Rachael Kohn: Can you actually read from one of them, say the letter from the boy to his mother?
Don Barker: Yes. This is a letter of Peter. It's dated in the 5th century, and it's written in a very sort of crude hand by a young person to his mother, Maria. He writes,
To my most esteemed and virtuous Mother, the lady Maria, from your son Peter in the Lord God, greeting.I have found a good opportunity by this letter to greet you many times with my brother Theon, and my sister the Lady Plusia, and my sweetest brethren, Herais, Nonna, Omaia and Phoebammon, by name.
Be pleased, my lady Mother, to send me the... (and we're not quite what sure what that is) and the rings. Do not neglect to send them to me by Athanasius.
Many greetings to my lord brother Athanasius the valet of Abel and also of Dorotheus; many greetings to my mother, Cyrillous. I pray for your long health. Be pleased, my lady Mother, to buy me a thick veil for the winter, and to get the Oasis hood from Peter son of Esour, that I may wear it when I come.
(And it's addressed) Deliver to my dearest Maria from your son Peter.
Rachael Kohn: Now how do you we know that this letter is from a Christian?
Don Barker: The names give that away: Maria, and especially the name Peter, which wasn't used as a personal name until Peter in the Gospel was given the name Peter by Jesus, and so it's the names themselves which give it away.
Rachael Kohn: Now how valuable is a letter like this for research into early Christianity in Egypt?
Don Barker: It gives us an indication of how widespread Christianity was in Egypt, and to what cultural group it was being accepted by, and what socio-economic groups were becoming Christians.
Rachael Kohn: What does this letter tell you, say about the socio-economic group?
Don Barker: Well it tells us that it's a fairly rich family that we're dealing with here, that the boy is able to write, so he's been taught to write and that would involve some expense. He spells some words wrong, but still, he can write. And he's asking for things such as rings and so you would assume that they're sort of in a fairly well-off family.
Rachael Kohn: How easy was it for you to translate these?
Don Barker: They're easy to translate because Grenfell and Hunt actually did the hackwork for us. Grenfell and Hunt were the first ones who found it and they then published the results. The Oxyrhynchus volumes that are produced.
Rachael Kohn: And you refined the translation.
Don Barker: Yes, we refined it, that's right.
Rachael Kohn: Well the second letter is from Boethus, I was wondering how you knew that was a Christian letter, because Boethus was a temple priest, was he not? I think he was appointed by Herod, so that could have been a Jewish name. What in this letter gives you its Christian identification? Were they found together perhaps?
Don Barker: No, this one is early fourth century, going by the hand, that's the only way we can work out the dating.
Rachael Kohn: The script.
Don Barker: The script, yes.
Rachael Kohn: The style.
Don Barker: The style of writing, yes. With this one it's a possible Christian letter, you're right, and there's a question mark as to whether it actually is or not. It may not be. Boethus writes:
I salute my sweetest brethren, Dionysodora and her slave Achillis. I salute my sister Macaria and Romana and all our friends by name, and, if you like, I will buy some old jars of olives at 3 talents a jar. (And then) If I am to receive... (and he breaks off there, and then) write to me. I pray for your health. There are some Christian indications here. For instance 'Hear your prayers and a straight way be made for us', that's echoing the sentiments by Paul himself so it could be an echo here of Christian sentiment, yes. Rachael Kohn: Are they written in koine Greek? Don Barker: Common Greek, yes, koine Greek, yes. Rachael Kohn: And that was the lingua franca of Christians? Don Barker: It was the trade language of the eastern part of the Empire, Roman Empire, so all the trade was done in Greek in Egypt, for instance all official documents were written in Greek, so it was just the trade language. Rachael Kohn: Does an acquisition of this kind by Macquarie University, raise its stature in the eyes of scholars around the world in this field? Don Barker: I would hope so. It makes our collection at Macquarie much more internationally recognisable I think. We have other very early Christian documents at Macquarie. We have a small fragment of the Acts of the Apostles, and it's probably one of the earliest surviving fragments of the Acts of the Apostles. As well as, we have some Christian hymns and prayers. Rachael Kohn: Don Barker is a papyrologist at the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre at Macqauarie University. Next week, the Quest for the True Cross. One scholar thinks he's found it. That's The Ark next week with me, Rachael Kohn. THEME
Guests
Dr Don Barker
is a Research Associate and Papyrologist with the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University.
Further Information
Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, Macquarie University
Christian Letter: Ptolemaeus to Thonius
Image of papyrus fragment - Christian letter
Two Oxyrhynchus Images
Two images - The sharp-nosed fish, or Oxyrhynchus, sacred animal of the town, and Astronomical prose, a fragment of a Nativity cast for 4.00am on 7 July, 430 CE. Scroll down halfway on this page from Cambridge University.
