Colin A Hope

Miniature Codices from Kellis

This article contains a first edition of two wooden mini-codices found during Australian excavations at Ismant el-Kharab (ancient Kellis) in the Dakhleh Oasis (Egypt). The first codex contains fifteen Greek hexameters belonging to an anonymous and unknown parody of Homer; the second codex contains three Greek division tables. Both texts date from the fourth century CE and apparently come from a local school.

Cobalt blue painted pottery from 18th Dynasty Egypt

Abstract Cobalt blue painted pottery was produced in New Kingdom Egypt, with the heyday for its production being from about 1400 bc to 1200 bc. Previous scientific examination has established that the cobalt blue pigment was a CoAl-spinel, which it was suggested was produced from cobaltiferous alums from the Western Desert of Egypt. In the present paper, quantitative analyses of a range of cobalt blue painted pottery have confirmed the Western Desert as the source of the cobalt blue pigment but suggested that the cobaltiferous alums used for the pottery differed in composition from those used in the production of contemporary cobalt blue glass. The pottery bodies were produced using either non-calcareous Nile silt or calcareous clay. Before being painted, the Nile silt bodies were first coated with pale firing calcareous clay slip to which gypsum had probably been added.

Family Papers from Second-Century A.D. Kellis

Edition of seven Greek 2nd-century C.E. papyri excavated at Ismant al-Kharab (Kellis). These documents (2 census declarations, 4 complete, respectively fragmentarily preserved contracts and 1 tax receipt) illustrate a relatively early phase of the occupation of the settlement. The census declarations suggest the existence of female professional spinners at Kellis.