The Aramaic World through an Egyptian Lens: A Critical Edition of Papyrus Amherst 63

The aim of this project is to produce a critical edition of Papyrus Amherst 63, a long and unique papyrus from the early Hellenistic period in Egypt, which is written in the Aramaic language but with the Demotic Egyptian script. Its contents represent an amalgam of religious concepts, deities, and literary traditions from Arameans and Aramaic speakers who had come to Egypt from Syria-Palestine and Mesopotamia, including some Judeans and Samaritans. Although the papyrus came to light well over a hundred years ago, to date only limited sections have been edited in a very preliminary fashion. The proposed critical edition will include photos, a lengthy introduction to the papyrus, a transcription of the Demotic script, a normalization in Aramaic, an English translation, and extensive commentary addressing philological, literary, historical, religious, and other matters.