Research Catalog

Title

The Petra papyri / edited by Jaakko Frösén, Antti Arjava and Marjo Lehtinen ; with contributions by Zbigniew T. Fiema ... [et al.].

Publication

Amman, Jordan : American Center of Oriental Research, c2002-c2018.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Frösén, Jaakko.
• Arjava, Antti.
• Lehtinen, Marjo.
• Fiema, Zbigniew T.
• Buchholz, Matthias
• Gagos, Traianos.
• Caldwell, Robert C.
• Arjava, Antti
• Buchholz, Matias
• Daniel, Robert W. (Robert Walter)
• Frösén, Jaakko
• Gagos, Traianos
• Kaimio, Jorma
• Kaimio, Maarit
• Koenen, Ludwig
• Lehtinen, Marjo
• Kuehn, Clement A., 1952-
• Purola, Tiina.
• Vahtikari, Vesa.
• ACOR (Center)

Description

v. : ill., maps, plans; 34-35 cm.

Summary

• "The Petra Papyri series is the scholarly publication meticulously documenting, translating and interpreting the information recovered from approximately 140 carbonized papyrus scrolls found in 1992 during ACOR’s excavation of the Petra Church. The scrolls had been carbonized in a fire and were thus preserved, although many scrolls were in a destroyed condition and could not be read. Such discoveries are exceedingly rare. The Petra papyri texts are often dated—ca. 537 to 594–thanks to the law promulgated by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian to place the date at the beginning and end of a document. The scrolls vary in size from a single sheet as P. Petra 6 (L. 28 cm), a list of stolen goods, to the exceptionally long P. Petra 2 (L. 8.5 m), which is an agreement concerned with inherited property. These documents deal with real estate transactions, disputes, contracts, divisions of property, marriages, dowries, and inheritance. The central figures of the archive are Theodoros, son of Obodianos, who was deacon and later archdeacon in the church, and his extended family and peers. The language indicates that the people in Petra at this time were speaking an early form of Arabic. A team of papyrologists from Finland conserved these sixth century texts from 1994 to 1995 at ACOR in Amman as part of a major effort headed by Jaakko Frösén. The original fragments were placed on Japanese rice paper and sandwiched between glass plates so that they could be preserved and examined for study. Some scrolls are written on both sides (and they could not be mounted on paper) but most are single-sided. As noted, many texts have been translated and published in The Petra Papyri series (Amman: ACOR) by scholars from Finland and the University of Michigan. Some documents are exhibited at the Jordan Museum in Amman."-
• What is called the Petra archive or Petra papyri is a group of ca. 140 carbonized papyrus rolls found in 1993 in a room adjacent to the main Byzantine church of Petra. The documents date from the 6th century. They are private papers of a well-to-do local family, mainly financial documents concerning marriage, inheritance, sales, loans and disputes, but also documents connected with taxation. The documents are written in Greek. The Petra Papyri are one of the most important finds of ancient documentary texts ever made outside of Egypt.

Series Statement

American Center of Oriental Research publications ; no. 4-8

Uniform Title

American Center of Oriental Research publications ; no. 4-8.

Subject

• Manuscripts, Greek (Papyri) > Jordan > Petra (Extinct city)
• Manuscripts, Classical (Papyri) > Jordan > Petra (Extinct city)
• Nabataeans
• Petra (Extinct city) > History > Sources
• Jordan > Antiquities

Genre/Form

• History
• Sources

Note

• Vol. 3: Edited by Antti Arjava, Matias Buchholz, and Traianos Gagos ; with contributions by Robert C. Caldwell ... [et al.] and plates prepared by Terrence Szymanski and Vesa Vahtikari.
• "We are pleased to offer here the fifth and final volume of the Petra Papyri."--Foreword, page xi.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language (note)

• Texts in Ancient Greek with English translation and commentary.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The Petra papyri I / edited by Jaakko Frösén, Antti Arjava, and Marjo Lehtinen ; with contributions by Zbigniew T. Fiema, Clement A. Kuehn, Tiina Purola, Tiina Rankinen, Marjaana Vesterinen and Marja Vierros. 2002 -- The Petra papyri II / edited by Ludwig Koenen, Jorma Kaimio, Maarit Kaimio, and Robert W. Daniel, with contributinos by Antti Arjava, Matias Buchholz, Robet C. Caldwell, Hani Ali Falahat, William H. Finch, Jaakko Frösén, Traianos Gagos, Omar al-Ghul, Ahmad M. al-Jallad, Clement A. Kuehn, Marjo Lehtinen, and Tiina Purola, and plates prepared by Maija Holappa. 2013 -- The Petra papyri III / edited by Antti Arjava, Matias Buchholz, and Traianos Gagos ; with contributions by Robert C. Caldwell, Robert W. Daniel, Ludwig Koenen, Marjo Lahtinen, Mari Mikkola, Mari Mustonen, Tiina Purola, Erja Salmenkivi, Marjaana Vesterinen, and Marja Vierros, and plates prepared by Terrence Szymanski and Vesa Vahtikari. 2007 -- The Petra papyri IV / edited by Antti Arjava, Matias Buchholz, Traianos Gagos, and Maarit Kaimio ; with contributions by Jorma Kaimio, Clement A. Kuehn, and Tiina Purola ; and plates prepared by Maija Holappa and Vesa Vahtikari. 2011 -- The Petra papyri V / edited by Antti Arjava, Jaakko Frösén, and Jorma Kaimia ; with contributions by Matias Buchholz, Traianos Gagos, Ahmad M. Al-Jallad, Maarit Kaimio, Ludwig Koenen, Marjo Lehtinen, Tiina Purola, and Marja Vierros ; and plates prepared by Maija Holappa.. 2018.

ISBN

• 9789957854362 (v. 2)
• 9789957854324 (v. 3)
• 9957854321 (v. 3)
• 9789957854355 (v. 4)
• 9789957854379 (v. 5)

LCCN

^^20024584008

OCLC

• 52040954
• SCSB-11118900

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library