Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library Ostrakon Collection, 1920s-2005, 150 BCE-800 CE

Creator:

Westermann, William Linn, 1873-1954, Day, John, 1902-, Schiller, A. Arthur, 1902-1977, Bagnall, Roger S., and Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Abstract:

Ostraca are pottery fragments and flakes of limestone with writing in ink. "Ostraka" is the plural; "ostrakon" is a single item; the word can also be spelled with a "c" as in ostraca and ostracon. Some contain Greek, but the majority is Coptic, and they range in date from the sixth to the seventh century CE. They include about one hundred school exercises (especially abecedaries), private letters, religious texts, receipts, etc. With few exceptions, the ostraka come from monasteries in Upper Egypt around Luxor. Columbia Libraries Ostraka range in date from 150 BCE to the ninth century CE; the majority is dated 6th – 7th century CE. Some of the ostraka come from early gifts and from Egypt Exploration Society distribution of Oxyrhynchos ostraka, but most of the ostraca were acquired at the behest of Professor A. Arthur Schiller in two lots from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1958 and 1961. They come largely from the unpublished material deriving from the Museum's excavations at Deir el Bahri and at the Monastery of Epiphanius, though some were purchases by and gifts to the MMA. Many of these Coptic ostraka are very fragmentary and little can be said about their contents. In 1991, 10 ostraca found near the ancient Mons Porphyites, in the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea, in Egypt, were donated by Roger Bagnall and added to the collection.

Extent:

200 Linear Feet (Circa 3,600 ostraka and one manuscript box of papers)

Language:

Coptic, Greek, Ancient (to 1453), English

Biographical / historical:

Professor A. A. Schiller of the Law School made a preliminary inventory of the MMA purchases in the 1960s and 1970s, and counted 3350 pottery and limestone ostraca.

In the 1990s, the ostraca were cataloged by Raffaella Cribiore with assistance from Todd Hickey, and the descriptions and many images were included in APIS. At this time, they were moved from boxes into flat file drawers.

Because of the renovation of Butler Library, in 2002 the ostraca were packed for storage into 68 record storage cartons; some 200, mostly school texts, were selected out to be consulted during the construction period by Raffaella Cribiore and Todd Hickey, and housed in custom-fitted out flat boxes by Conservation. After renovation, the ostraca were rehoused in new flat files.

In 2008 a small group of ostraca were identified for conservation, mostly pieces which needed to be glued together, and some of them were worked on by an NYU object conservation class.

Catalog record:

View in CLIO

Local call number:

MS#1768

Processing information:

Series II (box 323) was processed together with the papryi files in 2019 by graduate student Elizabeth Heintges.

Acquisition information:

Purchase from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1958 and 1961. Gift of Rager Bagnall, 1991.

Related material:

RBML holds the papers of many Columbia professors who helped obtain and manage the papyri and ostraca collections. These include the William Linn Westermann papers, the John Day papers, the A. Arthur Schiller papers, and the Roger Bagnall papers.

The Columbia University Papyrus Collection is related by content and provenance.

RBML also holds the records on the development and administration of the Advanced Papyrological Information System.

Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library Ostrakon collection; Item Number or Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Access and use

Restrictions:: This collection is located on-site.
Terms of access:: The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

RBML Home Page
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Contact:: rbml@library.columbia.edu

Collection