Discovered mainly in the sands of Egypt, where the dry climate allowed them to be preserved, papyri - whether written in Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Coptic or Arabic - bear witness to many aspects of ancient societies that are not known from any other source: literature, administration, economy, law, daily life, family, etc. Papyri are the gateway to a living antiquity.
Two collections of authentic Greek, Demotic and Coptic papyri are kept at the Centre de Documentation de Papyrologie Littéraire (CEDOPAL) of the University of Liège.
Belonging to the University, the collection of Papyri Leodienses (expression designating, in Latin, the "papyri of Liège", abbreviated P.Leod. ) counts 20 pieces, dated between the 1st and the 6th / 7th centuries of our era.
Entrusted to CEDOPAL about ten years ago by a private collector from Liège, the collection of Papyri Leodienses private collection (in abbreviated form P.Leod. coll. priv.), mainly made up of Coptic and Greek papyri, is currently composed of 143 pieces restored on site and continues to grow.
The papyri preserved at CEDOPAL provide an introduction to the restoration, deciphering, editing, translation and digitisation of papyri: operations that are all facets of the papyrologist's work. In particular, the editing of the P.Leod. and P.Leod. priv. coll. as well as the comparisons made with papyri preserved in other collections around the world, reveal the contribution of these pieces to Greek and Coptic literature. More generally, they help to shed light on the history and daily life of Greco-Roman and Byzantine Egypt, which lasted for more than a millennium, from the 4th century BCE to the 7th / 8th century CE.
Découverts principalement dans les sables d’Égypte, où le climat sec a permis leur conservation, les papyrus – qu’ils soient écrits en langue égyptienne, grecque, latine, copte ou arabe – témoignent de nombreux aspects des sociétés antiques qui ne sont connus par aucune autre source : littérature, administration, économie, droit, vie quotidienne, famille, etc. Les papyrus sont la porte d’accès vers une Antiquité vivante.
