Historical and Textual Notes on Magical Texts in the Papyrus Collection of the University of Oslo Library†

This article, which concerns the history and texts of some of the magical papyri in the collection of the University of Oslo Library, has two parts. The first part (Hickey and Maravela) sheds light on the acquisition of the celebrated Oslo magical roll, P.Oslo I 1, by drawing on Samson Eitrem's account of the purchase in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten and the correspondence of Francis W. Kelsey, who had sought to buy the papyrus for the University of Michigan. The second part (Zellmann-Rohrer) offers critical remarks on the formats and texts of the magical papyri P.Oslo I 1, 4–5 and II 15.     

A New Demosthenes Fragment From Kellis

This article presents the first edition of a fourth-century CE papyrus from Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis) presenting Demosthenes’ De Corona 82-83 and 84-85.     

Fragments of an early Islamic Arabic papyrus from Khirbet Hamrā Ifdān

Excavations in 2013 at the site of Khirbet Hamrā Ifdān in the Faynān revealed several pieces of an Arabic papyrus, the first ever found in Jordan. Although the papyrus is poorly preserved, a detailed analysis of the fragments based on parallels have suggested that it dates to the late seventh/early–mid‐eighth century AD. This article discusses the papyrus fragments and places them within their papyrological and archaeological contexts.     

论纸莎草纸的兴衰及其历史影响

纸莎草纸的出现是一种进步,表明了人类利用自然之赐,探索新的书写材料的创造力。但纸莎草纸也具有自身不可克服的诸多局限性,其最终被羊皮纸和纸所代替,更是一种历史的必然和进步。然而,纸莎草纸毕竟曾经是多达六种语言文字符号的载体,记录了包括古埃及、古希腊、古罗马和阿拉伯帝国弥足珍贵的历史信息,从而使其成为人类历史上最早的、应用时间最长的、最重要的纸质传播媒介。因此,无论是研究近东和欧洲古代文明史,还是研究人类传播媒介史,都离不开对纸莎草纸及其所承载的文献进行的研究,它是古代文明留给后人的一笔宝贵的文化遗产。