How to Thank the Gods: ‘Religious Language’ in Greek Verse Inscriptions? (12/11/2023) - By Dalia Pratali Maffei Postdoctoral researcher, Ghent University The special form and function of religious languages Have you ever thought that speaking to the supernatural permeates our everyday life? Prayers, words of thanks, and blasphemies are heard and performed… Read more
The things I might tell you of Umm Abū l-Qāsim: the function of gossip in an Arabic letter on papyrus (2/28/2023) - By Fokelien Kootstra Postdoctoral researcher, Ghent University Nobody likes a gossip, yet everyone has encountered gossip in their life, and likely even participated in it. Our intuitive familiarity with the genre makes the following passage from an Arabic letter written… Read more
Accounts of building activities, through the perspective of a modern parallel case (1/18/2023) - By Kyriaki Giannikou Research assistant@EVWRIT Among all types of documentary texts written and preserved on papyrus, accounts have undoubtedly received the least attention, perceived as “unremarkable” economic texts (Jones in Bagnall (ed.) 2009, 370). Although taken into account when… Read more
Writing wishes. Back to the future with the papyri (9/2/2022) - By Ezra la Roi Affiliated PhD Researcher@EVWRIT Emails, cards and letters We might not realize, but we consciously adapted our communication practices to the pandemic. When you write an email to someone during the pandemic, whether it is a close… Read more
The Study of the Septuagint, Its Language, and the Importance of Hellenistic Papyri (2/8/2022) - By Marieke Dhont Post-doctoral researcher@EVWRIT The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures born out of the encounter of the ancient Mediterranean East with the Hellenistic expansion of the Greek world, represents the oldest substantial corpus of translated texts… Read more
Female Voices in Greek Papyrus Letters. Women Letter-Writers and Their Male Correspondents (12/3/2021) - by Marianna Thoma Associated researcher@EVWRIT Across the centuries, women’s letters offer us direct contact with their thoughts and feelings and illuminate the roles women played within their families, their communities, and the social and political movements of their times. Over… Read more
The non-literary canon: an (unexpectedly) up-to-date version of our daily lives (10/13/2021) - By Brian Cluyse (MA student and jobstudent@EVWRIT) “Consciously distancing myself from the literary canon has allowed me to not only broaden my perception of what everyday writing is (and was), but also made me more aware of the continuum… Read more
Getting Involved with Greek Papyri (3/29/2021) - By Klaas Bentein (PI@EVWRIT) Postcards and personal letters Nowadays, when multiple people send a postcard, it is customary that each person signs. Not to do so could be taken as a lack of personal interest, or even of rudeness towards… Read more