Excavating and Conserving Europe's Oldest Books
A Papyrus from Mangalia on the Black Sea ( P. Callatis 1)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7575880 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Richard Janko (University of Michigan), Sorin M Colesniuc, Sorin Colesniuc (National Museum of Archaeology), Mihai Ionescu, Ion Pâslaru (Museum of London Archaeology) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 125 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 65-89 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9114 • E-ISSN: 1939-828X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.3764/aja.125.1.0065 |
| OpenAlex | W3113098718 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 20 |
In 1959, the oldest book that had then been found in Europe, a scroll of papyrus datable to ca. 350–325 BCE and here named P. Callatis 1, was discovered in an imposing tomb of Macedonian type at Callatis (Mangalia, Romania) on the west coast of the Black Sea. In 2011, it was recovered in Moscow and returned to Mangalia. The polymer used to conserve it obscures its 224 fragments in visible light, but digital infrared microphotography suggests that it contained a Greek work on Persian history. Since Xenophon attests to an extensive trade in books across the Black Sea, many papyrus rolls probably survive in shipwrecks on its anoxic seabed. We end this article with recommendations for the preservation and recording of papyri that are found in humid environments.1
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Biblical studies · Black sea · Dead Sea Scrolls · Geography · Macedonian · Papyrus · Persian · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Geology · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Oceanography · Philosophy
Papyrus in Classical Antiquity.
Pseudo-Skylax and the Natural Philosophers
Ancient Theatre and Performance Culture Around the Black Sea
Săpăturile arheologice de la Mangalia (Callatis) / Les fouilles archéologiques de Mangalia (Callatis)
Deep-water Archaeological Survey in the Black Sea
The Papyrus from the ‘Musician’s Tomb’ in Daphne (MΠ 7449, 8517-8523)
Lysimachus, the Getae, and archaeology
Inscribed Silver Plate from Tomb II at Vergina
Excavation, Dating and Content of Two Tombs in Daphne, Odos Olgas 53, Athens
Supplementum Hellenisticum
Callimachus and His Critics
New Finds from the Cremains in Tomb II at Aegae Point to Philip II and a Scythian Princess
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |