{"id":862059,"date":"2026-08-18T03:36:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T03:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/862059\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T03:36:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T03:36:16","slug":"papyrus-exhibit-brings-2000-year-old-documents-to-the-university-of-manitoba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/862059\/","title":{"rendered":"Papyrus exhibit brings 2,000-year-old documents to the University of Manitoba"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rare collection of papyrus documents is now on display at the University of Manitoba. <\/p>\n

Ancient letters and a document recording the sale of an enslaved man are among roughly 20 papyri now on display at the University of Manitoba, offering a window into everyday life some two millennia ago.<\/p>\n

The exhibit, called \u201cThe Ancient Inbox,\u201d showcases handwritten documents on papyrus\u2014an ancient writing material originating in Egypt\u2014on loan from the University of Michigan Papyrology Collection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ancient world comes to life, and you very quickly realize when you\u2019re faced with the tangible remains of ancient peoples that they were real people,\u201d said Mike Sampson, a professor in the department of classics at the University of Manitoba.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mike Sampson, a professor in the department of classics at the University of Manitoba, is pictured on Aug. 17, 2026. He says the documents on display offer insight into Greco-Roman life in the Egyptian countryside. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) Mike Sampson, a professor in the department of classics at the University of Manitoba, is pictured on Aug. 17, 2026. He says the documents on display offer insight into Greco-Roman life in the Egyptian countryside. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) <\/p>\n

From June to July, the department hosted the Summer Institute of Papyrology, offered by the American Society of Papyrologists, bringing more than 20 participants and guest lecturers from around the world to Winnipeg to study and decipher the documents. According to the university, it\u2019s the first institute of its kind held in Canada since the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding the past is important, and when you\u2019ve got the best kinds of documentation, your understanding can be enriched and improved,\u201d Sampson said.<\/p>\n

All of the papyri on display, at the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, are written in Ancient Greek and date to the period of Roman rule over Egypt, which lasted from 31 BCE to the 600s.<\/p>\n

\"\"Several papyrus documents are pictured on Aug. 17, 2026, at the University of Manitoba’s Archives and Special Collections as part of a new exhibit. The documents are on loan from the University of Michigan. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) Several papyrus documents are pictured on Aug. 17, 2026, at the University of Manitoba’s Archives and Special Collections as part of a new exhibit. The documents are on loan from the University of Michigan. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) <\/p>\n

Among the documents are a court record detailing a labour dispute, and a marriage contract naming the couple and outlining the bride\u2019s dowry and the groom\u2019s financial obligations.<\/p>\n

Also on display is a contract for the sale of an enslaved man, which an interpretive sign notes was a \u201crelatively common thing\u201d in the Roman Empire. The contract, dated Nov. 13, 246 CE, details the sale of 20-year-old Alexandros for 2,000 drachmas, a historical currency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey provide us with insight onto all aspects of Greco-Roman life in the Egyptian countryside over hundreds of years, both at the level of the government bureaucracy, but also at the level of the individual, the mother and the father living in a village in the countryside, trying to grow crops,\u201d Sampson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"One of the papyrus documents, pictured on Aug. 17, 2026, is a contract for the sale of an enslaved man, along with the corresponding bank record. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) One of the papyrus documents, pictured on Aug. 17, 2026, is a contract for the sale of an enslaved man, along with the corresponding bank record. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) <\/p>\n

\u201cThey also give us a really cool insight into just everyday folks who are living their lives and what it was like to be alive, as I say, in the countryside in antiquity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attendees can also expect to see petitions and what Sampson described as \u201creally mundane material\u201d that could just as easily be found in a 21st-century junk drawer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in antiquity, if it was worth writing down, it means it was important for one reason or another,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, as we sort of pour through all these materials, we might learn something about how the estate management of a particular crop was operating, or how goods or people are being moved around the Egyptian countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the papyri are handwritten and frequently cursive, the exhibit notes the shapes of letters don\u2019t always resemble the forms they\u2019re expected to take. Ancient Greek was also written without spaces between words or punctuation between sentences, adding another layer of difficulty.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ancient Greek Ancient Greek writing is pictured on papyrus at the University of Manitoba’s Archives and Special Collections on Aug. 17, 2026. The lack of spaces between words or punctuation adds another layer of difficulty for researchers trying to decipher the text. (Jamie Dowsett\/CTV News Winnipeg) <\/p>\n

To read the documents, the exhibit explains, a papyrologist\u2014someone who studies ancient texts written on papyrus\u2014needs an excellent understanding of the Ancient Greek language and a deep familiarity with the cursive scripts used over hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find that when I bring students in to see these kinds of materials or any archeological objects, the vividness of their encounter with antiquity garnishes interest. It makes people curious,\u201d Sampson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why we need scholars and papyrologists to explain and interpret the abundant resources that have survived for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sampson said he also worked with two University of Manitoba students who did the largest part of the work of designing and organizing the exhibit for the public.<\/p>\n

The exhibit runs until Sept. 30. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rare collection of papyrus documents is now on display at the University of Manitoba. Ancient letters and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[712,49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-862059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}