Papyri and Ostraca
The University Library’s papyrus and ostraka collection preserves original handwritten witnesses from ancient Egypt. They are either on papyrus, a fragile writing material made from plant fibers, or on ceramic shards, known as ostraka, or less frequently on parchment made from animal skin. With a total of around 5,500 items, of which around 4,000 are papyri and 1,500 are ostraka, the collection is one of the largest in Germany, after Berlin, Heidelberg, and Cologne.
The papyrus and ostraka collection began in 1902. It is based on the Leipzig efforts in the so-called German Papyrus Cartel. This association, which brought together several collections, acquired papyri and ostraka in Egypt. The original written witnesses from ancient Egypt were distributed among the members of the Papyrus Cartel through a lottery.
For the Leipzig collection, over 5,000 papyrus fragments and ostraka were acquired between 1902 and 1913. With the initial enthusiasm, a small part was immediately recorded in an inventory book, some papyri were put between glass panels, and the first 123 papyri were published in an edition. Between 1931 and 1932, 52 papyri were donated to the collection by friends and supporters of the University of Leipzig. After that, there was a period of silence. For decades, the papyrus fragments were stored in their transport boxes. Since the 2000s, the collection has been conserved, fully digitized, and made accessible and publicly available through DFG-funded projects in the Papyrvus Portal.
The Leipzig papyrus collection focuses on documentary papyri and ostraka, i.e., written witnesses that document everyday life in ancient Egypt. These include tax receipts, rental and lease agreements, adoption and divorce documents. The collection also includes some literary papyri, such as three fragments that contain verses from a tragedy by Euripides on the front (recto) and an astrological treatise on the back (verso). In most cases, the fragments were part of a papyrus roll or less frequently a codex from Christian times. Greek is the dominant language, but various stages of the Egyptian language, such as Hieratic, Demotic, and Coptic, are also represented. From the period after the Arab conquest, there are written documents on paper in Arabic.
The history of the collection includes the acquisition of Coptic fragments by Konstantin von Tischendorf in the mid-19th century. In 1873, the Egyptologist Georg Ebers acquired the Papyrus Ebers, a more than 18 meters long, 3,600-year-old medical manuscript written in hieratic script, which makes it the oldest remaining text of its kind.