Permalink: https://agate.academy/id/PR121

Sammlung, Kommentierung und Herausgabe von Papyrusurkunden

Collection: https://papyri.uni-koeln.de/

Papyrology, epigraphy, and numismatics frequently enrich our knowledge about the cultures of the old world by means of newly discovered materials. Therefore, the above mentioned professions may be regarded as disciplines conducting fundamental research and thus they provide the groundwork for further historical as well as literary research. The project is devoted to the editing, translation, and commenting of the Cologne collection of papyri. The Cologne collection is one of the largest corpora of papyri in present day Germany. Several different papyri have already caused a sensation around the world, e.g. the Cologne Archipolochos papyrus, the biography of Mani, the founder of the religion known as Manichaeism, which was found in the smallest book known from antiquity, and some verses composed by Sappho, a woman known to be the first poetess of the Occident. Currently, the features of the collection oblige the researchers to focus their work on non-literary texts. During the conducted research the researchers also include papyri located in other collections. A good example for this kind of inclusion of remote collections is the case of the “Ptolemaic banking papyri from Heraclopolis” or the “Acta Alexandrinorum”. The first papyrus was complemented with material from collections in Cologne, Heidelberg, and Vienna. The second papyrus is known for its depiction of inter-cultural tensions between certain population groups. Another important genre of sources besides the coins used by the Cologne research unit are the Greek language inscriptions, which in most cases originate from today’s Turkey. More than 50 volumes of the series “Inscriptions of the Greek Cities of Asia Minor” have been published so far. Currently the ancient lycian city of Oinoanda, where the philosopher Diogenes promoted Epicureanism by publishing the largest inscription known from antiquity, is being explored.

Persons

  • Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hammerstaedt (Project Leader)
  • Prof. Dr. Charikleia Armoni (Office Site Leader)
  • PD Dr. Gregor Staab (Research Associate)
  • Dr. Thomas Backhuys (Research Associate)
  • Dr. Natalia Vega (Research Associate)
  • Eleni Skarsouli (Research Associate)
  • Riccardo Vecchiato (Research Associate)
  • Giuseppina di Bartolo (Research Associate)
  • Sophie Breternitz M.A. (Research Associate)
  • Eva Käppel (Doctoral Candidate)
Running time
1974-2020
Project type
Collection

Contact person for the academies' programme

Sebastian Zwies M.A.

Geschäftsstelle Mainz
Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 2
55131 Mainz

Tel: 06131/218 528-17
E-Mail: sebastian.zwies@akademienunion.de