7A Technologies of Writing

Question 1

On what side of papyri should one write on?

Answer 1

On the side with horizontal fibres (inside of the scroll)

Question 2

Why are there horizontal fibres on the outside of the very first papyrus sheet in a book?

Answer 2

For the title

Question 3

What was used to write on papyri?

Answer 3

Reed pens and ink

Question 4

How did papyrus users store ink?

Answer 4

In ink wells

Question 5

Give an example of a library in which a vast number of papyri would have been stored

Answer 5

The Library at Alexandria

Question 6

How are papyri usually found?

Answer 6

Through archaeological excavation, usually of tombs and rubbish dumps

Question 7

In what country are papyri mostly found? Why? Where is the most important site?

Answer 7

• Egypt
• Because the dry climate preserves the material
• The most important Egyptian site is Oxyrhynchus

Question 8

Where else has papyri been found other than Egypt? (2)

Answer 8

• A carbonized library in Herculaneum

- Some have been found elsewhere, usually when they were buried in sealed containers

Question 9

Who led the main excavations at Oxyrhynchus? When?

Answer 9

• Grenfell and Hunt

- c.1896

Question 10

What has been discovered to often contain papyri?

Answer 10

Mummy cartonnage (e.g in crocodile mummies)

Question 11

What building was discovered in Herculaneum? What did it contain? What is special about this?

Answer 11

• Villa dei papiri
• A library containing a great number of papyri that was carbonized by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
• It is the only library from the Graeco-Roman world that survives in its entirety

Question 12

What is a codex?

Answer 12

• A book in the modern book shape

Question 13

When did the first codex appear?

Answer 13

In the first century AD

Question 14

Who was the codex the preferred book of?

Answer 14

• Early Christians and Roman lawyers

Question 15

What are 4 advantages to a codex over books (scrolls)?

Answer 15

• Uses both sides of the papyrus
• Comes with covers that protect the papyrus
• Makes it easy to start reading somewhere other than at the beginning
• Can be almost any size

Question 16

What is papyri made of?

Answer 16

• Made from the papyrus plant that grows in marshy areas around the river Nile

Question 17

What is parchment?

Answer 17

• The skin of a sheep (or goat or similar animal), treated to make a good writing surface

Question 18

What is the advantage of parchment over papyri?

Answer 18

• It is stronger and more durable than papyrus

Question 19

How does parchment come?

Answer 19

In sheep sized pieces (naturally)

Question 20

As they were made with sheepskins, parchment codexes were not cheap. What did this lead to?

Answer 20

• Libraries keeping books attached to the shelves with chains

Question 21

What were the consequences of the shift from roll to codex? (4)

Answer 21

• Only works that were copied into the new form of book survived
• Textual transitions became more stable as books lasted longer and were recopied less often
• Coloured ink, decorations and pictures became more common
• Ancient scholarship was transferred from self-standing works to marginal notes (‘scholia’)