Rhineland-Palatinate: “Whatsapp messages from antiquity” – University of Trier digitizes papyri

Trier University’s papyrus collection includes around 1000 objects – ranging from the smallest fragments to large rolls. In order to be able to research them even better, the ancient pieces are currently being digitized in a complex project until 2024. Hyperspectral cameras are used, which deliver extremely high-resolution scans. “You can then zoom in on the PC down to fiber depth for deciphering,” said papyrology junior professor Patrick Reinard of the German Press Agency. “Sometimes these scans also make ink visible that would otherwise not be visible with the naked eye or with a magnifying glass. That’s a huge added value.”

Another big plus of a digitized collection is that researchers can track down papyri pieces that belonged together in different places and reunite them. “There is the constant hope that one will recognize that this and that fragments in different collections could belong together,” said Reinard, who has been in charge of papyrology at the University of Trier since September 2021. For example, there are texts from Brussels and Trier that are not only related in terms of content, but also belong together materially.

According to the expert, papyri originated between the third century BC and the eighth century AD in Egyptian, but also in Greek, Latin or Arabic. They included documents that told “from the full life”: deeds, receipts, decrees and personal letters. “Many are written in short, simple language and are sometimes something like whatsapp messages of antiquity,” he said.

The variety is enormous. There are authors from Egypt who wrote about hippos infesting their gardens. Others reported personal fates, lovesickness and quarrels in the family. “Anything can happen, it’s very exciting,” says the scientist. Papyri are handcrafted pieces of the papyrus tree that were written on in classical antiquity using ink made from Rus, Nile acacia resin, and water.

When deciphering the texts, there is “a certain potential for addiction,” said Reinard. Especially if it succeeds in recognizing more and more lines and then possibly merging texts. “It’s like detective work.” Recently, for example, it was discovered that the left half of a small papyrus fragment in Gießen is in Cairo, while the right half is in Italy.

More than 160 pieces have already been digitized in the ongoing “PapyHyp” project in Trier. “There is momentum. Every week we digitize around 30 new papyri.» Papyrology can be studied in German-speaking countries in addition to the University of Trier in Heidelberg, Cologne and Vienna.

In the winter semester in Trier, the minor subject Historical Papyrology will be added to the bachelor’s degree. In Trier there is also a master’s degree in papyrology and the opportunity to study papyrology as part of the Ancient Studies course.