A Millennium on the Nile - The History of the Basel Papyrus Collection
On February 22, 2017, the exhibition on Basel Papyrology opens with a vernissage at the University Library.
Prof. Dr. Sabine Huebner (University of Basel), with a foreword by Prof. Dr. Maarten J.F.M. Hoenen (Vice Rector Teaching & Development of the University of Basel)
Meeting point: 6:00 p.m.; UB Basel lecture hall (1st floor); until approx. 7:15 p.m.
The University Library of Basel owns a small papyrus collection of about 65 papyri from Ptolemaic, Roman as well as Late Antique times, which is the center of an exhibition at the University Library of Basel.
The Basel papyrus collection includes some papyri of considerable international interest, such as the oldest known Christian private letter, dating to the first half of the 3rd century, and copies in scroll and codex form of Homer's Iliad. In addition, the Basel collection contains the first papyri known to occidental scholars. The latter probably originated in Italy and belonged to the art cabinet of Basilius Amerbach since the 16th century. Thus, 300 years before the news of papyrus finds in Egypt reached Europe and the first papyrus collections were established, one could already admire papyri in Basel.
The majority of the Basel papyri have not yet been published. In a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and led by Prof. Huebner, the papyri are now being edited and translated.
Following the opening lecture, there will be an opportunity for a guided tour of the exhibition, and regular tours will be offered in the following weeks.
