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Papyrological Sources

Vak
2024-2025

Admission requirements

Successful completion of the lecture course on Oude Geschiedenis and meeting the BSA-norm.

Description

From the sands of Egypt, tens of thousands of texts written on papyrus have emerged. These texts, varying in content from letters to tax registers, from amulets to contracts, form a fascinating source for many types of ancient historical research. This course serves as an introduction to the specialization that deals with the unlocking of this source material: Papyrology. Knowledge of Greek, Latin, or Egyptian is not necessary: only translated texts are used.

Course objectives

Knowledge and Insight

The student will acquire:

  • knowledge of the terms and methods used in papyrology;

  • basic knowledge of the history of Egypt in the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Byzantine periods;

  • insight into the importance of papyrological sources for historical research.

Skills

The student will be able to:

  • cite Greek texts on papyrus according to current papyrological conventions;

  • consult papyrological tools (such as papyrus editions, handbooks, corpora, SB, and BL) in the library;

  • independently use digital tools (such as PN, TM, HGV, APIS, and BP);

  • analyze and evaluate the use of papyri as historical sources in secondary literature;

  • independently interpret Greek texts on papyrus (in translation) in the historical context using editions and secondary literature;

  • convey the contribution of a papyrological source to our knowledge of antiquity in writing to a general audience.

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

Seminar
Attendance is mandatory for this course.

Assessment method

Assessment and weighing

Partial assessment weighing
Written assignments 60%
Written final paper 40%
Oral presentation pass or fail

The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average, with the additional requirement that both the presentation and the final paper must be satisfactorily completed (passed and grade 5.5 or higher) and all written assignments must be submitted on time.

Resit

If the final grade is below 5.5 or if the oral presentation and/or final paper are not passed (grade below 5.5 for the final paper), there is the possibility to retake the oral presentation and/or revise the final paper. If the final grade is below 5.5 and/or not all written assignments have been submitted (on time), one or more new written assignments can be handed in (in consultation with the convener of the course).

Review and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will to organized.

Reading list

The literature for this course will be made available through Brightspace.

Registration

Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.

Contact

  • For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.

  • For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr

Remarks