The Thin Line Between mise en page and mise en abyme: An Examination of the Layout of Multiple Letters on Papyrus (1st-6th Centuries CE) Yasmine Amory Ghent University, Belgium This is a section of Text, Layout, and Medium(DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9) by Davide Amendola, Cristina Carusi, Francesca Maltomini, Emilio Rosamilia Firenze University Press Florence 2024 https://doi.org/10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.08

Available for academic research purposes

Open Access

Copyright Author(s)

Content licence CC BY 4.0

Metadata licence CC0 1.0

This is original content, published for academic research purposes

 Digital edition XML powered by Booksflow

Although letters are probably the most intensively studied type of documents in papyrology, their material and visual aspects have received little scholarly attention. Yet, in recent years there has been a noticeably growing interest in these aspects and their relation to the content of documents. Among the many examples of preserved letters, this chapter examines the formal features of one specific communication practice, namely the penning of multiple messages on a single support (papyrus, ostracon, or wooden tablet). This practice, which allowed the letter writer to save paper and time, since letters could easily encounter delays or never make it to their final destination, usually involved one individual addressing a group of people living together or in proximity, or a group of close individuals addressing the same person. Personal and social reasons could also come into play in choosing a single writing medium. The examination of this group of texts shows that multiple letters could be arranged according to four different types of layout: (1) by placing one message on top of another; (2) side by side; (3) by using the two faces of the writing medium; or (4) by shaping them into a single letter, in what I suggest we call the “shell letter.” By discussing each of these visual arrangements, this chapter investigates the reasons that may have led the scribe to prefer one layout to another, as well as the relationship between text, layout, and correspondents.

 papyrology; multiple letters; communication practices; layout; “shell letter.”

It is available online at https://doi.org/10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.08

References Amory, Y. 2022. “A Glimpse into the Fourth Generation of the Philosarapis Archive. SB III 7244 Revised and its Unpublished Recto”, APF 68, 109-145. Azzarello, G. 2008. “Il ‘dossier di Thermuthas’: ipotesi per la ricostruzione di una vicenda familiare nell’Arsinoites dell’età di Traiano”, in C. Griggio and F. Vendruscolo (eds.), Suave mari magno… Studi offerti dai colleghi udinesi a Ernesto Berti. Udine, 23-39. Bagnall, R. S. and R. Cribiore. 2006. Women’s Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300 BC – AD 800. Ann Arbor. Barbis Lupi, R. 1994. “La paragraphos: analisi di un segno di lettura”, in A. Bülow-Jacobsen (ed.), Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Papyrologists. Copenhagen, 414-417. Bell, H.I. 1950. “A Happy Family”, in S. Morenz (ed.), Aus Antike und Orient. Festschrift Wilhelm Schubart zum 75. Geburtstag. Leipzig, 38-47. Cribiore, R. 1996. Writing, Teachers, and Students in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Atlanta. Cribiore, R. 2002. “The Women in the Apollonios Archive and their Use of Literacy”, in H. Melaerts and L. Mooren (eds.), Le rôle et le statut de la femme en Égypte hellénistique, romaine et byzantine. Leuven, 149-166. Deissmann, A. 1908. Licht vom Osten. Das neue Testament und die neuentdeckten Texte der hellenistisch-römsichen Welt. Tübingen. Fournet, J.-L. 2001. “Du nouveau dans les archives de Dioscore d’Aphrodité”, in I. Andorlini, G. Bastianini, M. Manfredi, and G. Menci (eds.), Atti del XXII congresso internazionale di papirologia. Florence, 475-485. Fournet, J.-L. 2007. “Disposition et réalisation graphique des lettres et des petitions protobyzantines: pour une paléographie ‘signifiante’ des papyrus documentaires”, in J. Frösen, T. Purola, and E. Salmenkivi (eds.), Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology. Helsinki, 353–367. Fournet, J.-L. 2009. “Esquisse d’une anatomie de la lettre antique tardive d’après les papyrus”, in R. Delmaire, J. Desmulliez, and P.-L. Gautier (eds.), Correspondances: documents pour l’histoire de l’Antiquité tardive. Lyon, 23-66. Hanson, A. and P. van Minnen. 1998. “Family Matters”, in J. Rowlandson (ed.), Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt. A Sourcebook. Cambridge, 84-154. Head, P. 2009. “Named Letter-Carriers among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri”, JSNT 31, 279-299. Homann, M. 2012. “Eine Randerscheinung des Papyrusbriefes: der versiculus transversus”, APF 58/1, 67-80. Huebner, S.R. 2018. “Frauen und Schriftlichkeit im römischer Ägypten”, in A. Kolb (ed.), Literacy in Ancient Everyday Life. Berlin - Boston, 163-178. Luiselli, R. 2008. “Greek Letters on Papyrus First to Eight Centuries: a Survey”, in E. M. Grob and A. Kaplony (eds.), Documentary Letters from the Middle East. The Evidence in Greek, Coptic South Arabian, Pehlevi and Arabic (1st-15th c. CE). Bern et alibi, 677-737. Martin, A. 2020. “Le vacat, un silence souvent éloquent”, in N. Carlig, G. Lescuyer, A. Motte, and N. Sojic (eds.), Signes dans les textes. Continuités et ruptures des pratiques scribales en Égypte pharaonique, gréco-romaine et byzantine. Liège, 187-200. Mirizio, G. 2021. Amministrare e comunicare nell’Egitto tolemaico: la funzione delle copie (antigrapha) nella documentazione papirologica. Wiesbaden. Reinard, P. 2016. Kommunikation und Ökonomie: Untersuchungen zu den privaten Papyrusbriefen aus dem kaiserzeitlichen Ägypten. Rahden. Sarri, A. 2018. Material Aspects of Letter Writing in the Graeco-Roman World. 500 BC - AD 300. Berlin - Boston. Schubert, P. 2021. The Bearers of Business Letters in Roman Egypt. Leuven - Paris - Bristol, CT. Sijpesteijn, P.J. 1976. “A Happy Family?”, ZPE 21, 169-181. Speidel, M. A. 2018. “Soldiers and Documents: Insights from Nubia. The Significance of Written Documents in Roman Soldiers’ Everyday Lives” in A. Kolb (ed.), Literacy in Ancient Everyday Life. Berlin-Boston, 179-200. Van Beek, B. 2013. “Saturnila and Her Sons (‘Happy Family’)” [version 2], https://www.trismegistos.org/arch/archives/pdf/212.pdf. Winter, J.G. 1933. Life and Letters in the Papyri. Ann Arbor. Youtie, H.C. 1978. “P.Mich. Inv. 1355 Verso: ἀπὸ Ἀμεσυσίων μέχρι Ἀμεσυσίων”, ZPE 30, 186-190. Zellmann-Rohrer, M.W. 2017. “Five Private Letters on Papyrus in the British Library”, APF 63/1, 135-170.