From Alexandria to Babylon : Near Eastern languages and Hellenistic erudition in the Oxyrhynchus glossary (P. Oxy. 1802 + 4812)

This book provides the first full edition and commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (POxy 1802 and 4812). This is a unique document both for the history of Greek lexicography and for the study of the cultural and linguistic exchange between the Greeks and the â??othersâ? in the Hellenistic near East. The fragment contains a fully alphabetized glossary with lemmas defined as â??Persian,â? â??Babylonian,â? and â??Chaldaeanâ?, as well as lemmas taken from Greek dialects or common Greek. The entries are rich in quotations from ancient authorities including Berossus, Apollodorus and Erasistratus. This glossary had never been analyzed in depth previously.Francesca Schironiprovides a comprehensive introduction and commentary that places the Oxyrhynchus Glossary into the wider context of Greek lexicography and scholarship, discusses its interest for non-Greek languages and the problems related to linguistic exchanges in the Near Eastern areas, and shows the uniqueness and value of this document. The Oxyrhynchus glossary and this study will be of interest to classicists, papyrologists, comparative philologists, and scholars interested in the history of Greek lexicography and scholarship.

This book provides the first full edition and commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (POxy 1802 and 4812). This is a unique document both for the history of Greek lexicography and for the study of the cultural and linguistic exchange between the Greeks and the “others” in the Hellenistic near East. The fragment contains a fully alphabetized glossary with lemmas defined as “Persian,” “Babylonian,” and “Chaldaean”, as well as lemmas taken from Greek dialects or common Greek. The entries are rich in quotations from ancient authorities including Berossus, Apollodorus and Erasistratus. This glossary had never been analyzed in depth previously.Francesca Schironiprovides a comprehensive introduction and commentary that places the Oxyrhynchus Glossary into the wider context of Greek lexicography and scholarship, discusses its interest for non-Greek languages and the problems related to linguistic exchanges in the Near Eastern areas, and shows the uniqueness and value of this document. The Oxyrhynchus glossary and this study will be of interest to classicists, papyrologists, comparative philologists, and scholars interested in the history of Greek lexicography and scholarship.

This book provides the first full edition and commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary (POxy 1802 and 4812). This is a unique document both for the history of Greek lexicography and for the study of the cultural and linguistic exchange between the Greeks and the “others” in the Hellenistic near East. The fragment contains a fully alphabetized glossary with lemmas defined as “Persian,” “Babylonian,” and “Chaldaean”, as well as lemmas taken from Greek dialects or common Greek. The entries are rich in quotations from ancient authorities including Berossus, Apollodorus and Erasistratus. This glossary had never been analyzed in depth previously. Francesca Schironi provides a comprehensive introduction and commentary that places the Oxyrhynchus Glossary into the wider context of Greek lexicography and scholarship, discusses its interest for non-Greek languages and the problems related to linguistic exchanges in the Near Eastern areas, and shows the uniqueness and value of this document. The Oxyrhynchus glossary and this study will be of interest to classicists, papyrologists, comparative philologists, and scholars interested in the history of Greek lexicography and scholarship. Main description: This is an edition with introduction and detailed commentary of the Oxyrhynchus Glossary, a lexicon preserved in several papyrus fragments with glosses taken from Greek, Greek dialects and "foreign languages", especially Near-Eastern languages. In the entries many historians, periegetes, mythographers of Hellenistic time are quoted. The Oxyrhynchus Glossary is a unique document for the history of Greek lexicography as well as for the study of the relationship between Greek and non-Greek languages and the problems related to linguistic exchanges in the Near Eastern areas The manuscript Dialects and foreign languages References and quotations The Pergamene hypothesis The Alexandrian hypothesis The languages of the Oxyrhynchus glossary Acquisition and transcription of the glosses Glossography and dialectology in the Hellenistic period Glossography and dialectology on papyrus The unique value of the Oxyrhynchus glossary Authorship Edition Commentary Problems in editing the Oxyrhynchus glossary The Oxyrhynchus glossary and Greek glossography Old and new numeration of the Oxyrhynchus glossary Fragments. Frontmatter 1 Table of Contents 9 1. Introduction 11 2. The Manuscript 15 3. Content 18 4. Dating and Origin 23 5. Near Eastern Glosses and the Problem of their Acquisition 30 6. The Oxyrhynchus Glossary and Greek Glossography 38 7. Authorship 53 8. Edition 63 9. Commentary 84 10. Conclusions 142 Backmatter 151