Introduction to P46
The University of Michigan Papyrus Collection has produced a wonderful introduction to "P46, the oldest surviving copy of the Pauline Epistles."
The introduction begins with general information about the discovery of the manuscript, its age, and its contents. At the bottom of the section entitled The State of P46, is a link to high quality digital images of the 30 leaves of P46 in their possession (the other 56 leaves are part of the Cheaster Beatty Collection in Dublin, Ireland).
After you have had a chance to peruse the manuscript images, the next section of the introduction, Features of the Codex, displays a leaf of the manuscript with highlightable boxes that surround special features. Click on one of these features, such as "Stichometric Notes" or "Nomina Sacra", and you get a detailed explanation of that feature as it appears in the manuscript leaf.
In the next section, one is provided the opportunity to learn the palaeography of P46 by reading a leaf of the manuscript line by line. An image of one line is presented at a time. If you find it hard to read the faded letters, just click on the "Highlight Text" button, and Presto! the letters are traced over in bright colors, a different color for each word. If you still find this hard to read, then just click on the "Show Transliteration" button, and you will be presented with a more readable, modern Greek font just below the image.
Finally, the presentation ends with explanations and examples of a few variant readings found in P46.
For those interested, P46 is not the only manuscript for which such an attention grabbing presentation was created. There are also two examples of Latin manuscripts, Seneca's Medea and a private document, that can be found on their Reading the Papyri page.
I believe this is truly an incredible presentation and teaching tool that deserves much attention and praise. I hope you enjoy looking it over as much as I did.
The introduction begins with general information about the discovery of the manuscript, its age, and its contents. At the bottom of the section entitled The State of P46, is a link to high quality digital images of the 30 leaves of P46 in their possession (the other 56 leaves are part of the Cheaster Beatty Collection in Dublin, Ireland).
After you have had a chance to peruse the manuscript images, the next section of the introduction, Features of the Codex, displays a leaf of the manuscript with highlightable boxes that surround special features. Click on one of these features, such as "Stichometric Notes" or "Nomina Sacra", and you get a detailed explanation of that feature as it appears in the manuscript leaf.
In the next section, one is provided the opportunity to learn the palaeography of P46 by reading a leaf of the manuscript line by line. An image of one line is presented at a time. If you find it hard to read the faded letters, just click on the "Highlight Text" button, and Presto! the letters are traced over in bright colors, a different color for each word. If you still find this hard to read, then just click on the "Show Transliteration" button, and you will be presented with a more readable, modern Greek font just below the image.
Finally, the presentation ends with explanations and examples of a few variant readings found in P46.
For those interested, P46 is not the only manuscript for which such an attention grabbing presentation was created. There are also two examples of Latin manuscripts, Seneca's Medea and a private document, that can be found on their Reading the Papyri page.
I believe this is truly an incredible presentation and teaching tool that deserves much attention and praise. I hope you enjoy looking it over as much as I did.
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