Subject: Re: Life of papyrus MSS

From: "DC PARKER" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 09:41:42 GMT

I don't believe in a 'standard' life for a papyrus MS (or any other kind, 
for that matter) - see recent correspondence.  I can think at once of 
three variables:

1.  The degree of use.

2.  The care taken by the user(s).

3.  The climate.

DC PARKER
DEPT OF THEOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
TEL. 0121-414 3613
FAX  0121-414 6866
E-MAIL [email-masked]

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From: Jonathan "D." Safren <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Jan 97 15:10:38 PST

DC Parker wrote:
I don't believe in a 'standard' life for a papyrus MS (or any other 
kind, 
for that matter) - see recent correspondence.  I can think at once 
of 
three variables:

1.  The degree of use.

3.  The climate.

I can think of support for that: 
1) ancient Egyptian papyri;
2) the palimpsest found at Qumran, dating, if memory serves me 
right, from the 7th century BCE.
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
44905 Beit Berl Post Office
Israel

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From: Maurice Robinson <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 10:37:48 -0500 (EST)

> 2.  The care taken by the user(s).

Dr Parker is precisely correct on these points.  

I would assume, however, the following points:

(1) Papyrus copies of the biblical books were probably used fairly
frequently (unlike the many printed bibles which might remain unused on
our shelves), since in a time of persecution and limited literacy, the
time needed to produce a copy on papyrus would tend to indicate a need and
desire for continued use. MSS under such continual use would in fact
wear out and require replacement far more frequently than other
non-religious MSS which might be consulted only sporadically.

(2) The care taken would likely be high, so long as the material on the
papyrus was considered sacred text. But even if not, there would still be
sufficient care as with any other laboriously-copied hand-produced MS. MSS
of any type simply were too valuable to treat with merely casual care. 

(3) The climate is the primary destructive element, and that is why
probably 99% of all papyri perished in the non-dry regions of the Roman
and Byzantine Empires.

So, even while there is no "standard" life for papyrus MSS, assumptions
can at least be made based upon principles 1 through 3 to some degree, and
I think one would not be too far afield from supposing a 30-40 year life
for MSS which were well cared for but in heavy use; a 50-100 year life for
MSS which were consulted only infrequently, and a very short life for MSS
which ended up in damp climates and which got moist or mildewed.

_________________________________________________________________________
Maurice A. Robinson, Ph.D.           Professor of Greek and New Testament
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary     Wake Forest, North Carolina
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