Title: Coptic and Copto-Greek ostraca in Warsaw (O. Vars. Copt.)
Authors: Katarzyna de Lellis-Danys, Grzegorz Ochała, Aleksandra Pawlikowska-Gwiazda
Publication year: 2025
Pages: 65–110
DOI:
Abstract: First editions and re-editions of six Coptic and Copto-Greek ostraca from the collections of the Warsaw National Museum and the University of Warsaw. Five objects come from the Polish-French excavations at Edfu (Egypt) in 1930s, one from the Polish works at Faras (Nubia), and one is most likely of Middle-Egyptian provenance. The pieces from Edfu represent the well-known types of texts on potsherds known from other publications of the material from this site. They include receipts and accounts connected with deliveries of wine and crops. The text from Middle Egypt is an addition to the collection some 170 ostraca of the so-called etmoulon type. The ostracon from Faras is the only literary text in the lot, preserving the beginning of Psalm 1. The edited ostraca are also studied from the perspective of their materiality, presenting the characteristics of vessel forms and fabrics used for their production.
Keywords: Coptic and Copto-Greek ostraca, Edfu, Faras, Middle Egypt, etmoulon ostraca, wine, literary ostraca, Psalms, materiality.
