The Oxyrhynchus papyri

[Efstathios]

Yesterday i send an email to the Oxyrhynchus papyri website http://www.papyrology.ox.ac.uk/POxy/
asking them if there has been anything new found about Alexander.I saw at their site that by the infra red method they keep transcribing the unreadable papyri,and those that have writings on top of the old texts.There is so much to be found there.They recently found in this way some lines of a lost tragedy of Euripedes. I guess that it is very possible that something about Alexander,like a lost source, will come up. The email that i send has been in a 4 hours queue,according to my email report.So that means that either they get tons of emails or that their email is down.Anyway,i am waiting for the response.I dont know if they can give information like that though.As soon as they answer i will inform you. It is notable that in the oxyrhynchus excavation site have been found works like that of Plutarch's moralia.The egyptian goverment wont give permission (as usual)to excavate in the modern village of Oxyrhynchus,but there are tons of papyri found in dumps near the village.They expect that they will have another 20% !!! of the total of the ancient greek literature in this way.I think that by now we only had a 2%.

[Athanasios]

Efstathios,I saw a documentary on t.v. recently concerning the Oxyrhynchus papyri - ABSOLUTELY amazing! Yes, like you, I am sure that here, along with other finds to be made in the Old World, will shed more light on ATG and other individuals during the Hellenic Era. I refuse to admit (or accept) that so much has been lost to sacking, pilfering, etc. I mean, was it not the Arabs who eventually shed some light on the Dark Ages brought about by the religious zealots that took a stranglehold on the West? It is strange that they were the only guardians of Hellenic literature of a certain pursuasion, i.e. science and philosohpy, that was so much frowned upon [and destroyed] by the Church in its initial years.We may need to wait longer than four hours, but I am confident there is so much more to be revealed...Out of interest, does anybody know what works, other than theological, are kept in the library of St. Catherine's at Mount Sinai? This is the second largest library of its kind, only surpassed by the Vatican. Given its locality [to Alexandria] and its protected status by both Christians and Muslims, is it not likely that some documents of historic interest are contained within? Surely more than just the original old testament...Your thoughts?Regards,
Atha

[marcus]

"Out of interest, does anybody know what works, other than theological, are kept in the library of St. Catherine's at Mount Sinai?"No, I didn't even know they had a library. I know they have the "burning bush" (curiously non-burning), and a well that Moses apparently dug (or used). I thought the church there was amazing - never before have I seen so many icons in one place (literally covering the walls) - but they are so strict about photographs that one is reduced to buying really shoddy postcards. But, of course, no mention of a library if you go there as a tourist, so that completely passed me by.ATBMarcus

[Athanasios]

Marcus,I believe the only way to get access is by dispensation from the Egyptian Embassy. Normal visitors are denied access.No, this library is definitely intriguing. Has anybody visited it? It is something that I would like to see...Regards,
Atha

[Efstathios]

This library contains many ancient greek,arabic,armenian,coptic and hebrew texts.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cath ... ount_Sinai In monasteries like this many papyri have been preserved and transcribed.i believe that all these texts have been published. About the Vatican,i dont know.There are a lot of rumors.It is said that there may be some texts hidden.Who knows. By the way,i still havent got a reply from the Oxyrhynchus project.The email is in queue for over 30 hours now.Maybe their email is down.I will try again.

[Athanasios]

Efstathios,I am aware texts in the above mentioned languages, but are they all theological??Regards,
Atha