Collection items

Showing 8 results

  • A page from Codex Sinaiticus, featuring details about Christ’s passion from the Greek text of Luke’s gospel, arranged in four columns.

    Codex Sinaiticus

    Manuscript

    Despite its rather austere appearance, Codex Sinaiticus is a treasure beyond price. Produced in the middle of the 4th ce...

  • A 4th-century papyrus, preserving a deed of divorce.

    Deed of divorce

    Papyrus

    Marriage contracts and deeds of divorce are recorded in the Greek papyri that survive from Egypt, although the union and...

  • A fragment of a 4th-century papyrus codex, containing a handbook of magical texts.

    Handbook of magical texts

    Papyrus

    The Theban Magical Library includes magical texts on papyrus, mainly written in Greek and Demotic.  These papyri, dated ...

  • A 4th-century papyrus sheet, containing a private letter addressed to the hermit Papnouthius.

    Letter to the anchorite Papnouthius

    Papyrus

    Dating to the mid fourth century, this papyrus sheet contains a private letter. The sender is a woman called Valeria, wh...

  • A fragment of a 4th-century collection of the letters of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, showing a column of biblical quotations written in red ink.

    Letters of Cyprian

    Manuscript

    These fragments are all that survive of a book written in North Africa in the late fourth century. They preserve part of...

  • A 5th-century papyrus, featuring a magical text invoking a deity.

    Magical text invoking a deity

    Papyrus

    Magic played an important role for centuries in ancient Egypt, and represented a central tenet of religion and everyday ...

  • A 4th-century papyrus, containing a petition filed against a wife by her husband.

    Petition against a wife

    Papyrus

    Petitions surviving on papyrus shed light on everyday problems in the ancient world. Many of the complaints recorded con...

  • A 4th-century papyrus, containing the text of two magical spells, with a drawing of the Egyptian deity Besas, standing and holding a sword and a wand.

    Two magical spells

    Papyrus

    This fourth- or fifth-century papyrus, overall well preserved, is one of the Greek magical papyri from the British Libra...