Where did Oxyrhynchites get their Papyrus?

In 1898, a British archaeological team made a remarkable discovery—approximately 500,000 papyrus rolls, books, sheets, and fragments—buried in the sands around the town of El-Bahnasa in middle Egypt. These ancient documents, coming out of the site of the ancient Roman city of Oxyrhynchus, shed light on various aspects of life in Roman Egypt during the 2nd to 4th centuries CE. However, amidst this treasure trove of papyrus material, a perplexing mystery emerges—where did it all come from?

By this of course, I mean to ask: from where did this city source its papyrus? Oxyrhynchus had an astounding wealth of papyri documents and artifacts. The material was ubiquitous and used for such things as writing material, shoe soles, and wrapping paper. Yet, there's a striking absence of evidence regarding the sources of this abundant material. There are seemingly no references to the cultivation of Cyperus Papyrus or the sale of papyrus paper sheets, the chartai. At least as far as I can tell (if a reader can point me to some publications in this regard I would be exceptionally thankful). This disconnect between archaeological evidence and documentary records raises two intriguing possibilities.

Firstly, it's possible that evidence for papyrus production exists but remains unpublished. Only about 2% of the discovered papyri have been published so far, leaving a vast body of unpublished documentary evidence (hopefully) sitting in the storerooms at Oxford and elsewhere. While we have extensive information about other industries in Egypt, such as wheat and wine production, the same cannot be said for papyrus. We might just have to wait for new documents to come to light (though the rate of publication suggests to me that we might have to wait a while for that).

The second, more actionable possibility revolves around the terminology used in these documents. It's essential to remember that administrative language may not always provide a complete picture of activities on the ground. I’ll give you an example. Vineyards in Egypt, the ampela, were not solely dedicated to grape cultivation as their name might suggest; they also grew date palms and other fruit-producing plants. Similarly, the term “reed plot” kalameion, might also hide a diversity of reed cultivation. Though the term derives from kalamos which is, based upon descriptions in medical and naturalist texts, some hearty reed such as Arundo donax, it might be the case that the word is used more generally. Certainly, some variety of words are used in these lease agreements for plants in the kalameion but these terms seem to form a binary: useful reeds as kalamoi with rushes or weeds as thrya. One could have easily distinguished these from one another as the long stalks of the kalamoi would have differentiated them from the shorter thrya.

While vineyards produced wine on-site, reed plots seemed to have had limited processing activities. This raises questions about the ultimate use of the reeds and whether they were solely intended to support vines as has been supposed by the editors of P.Oxy. or if they did not have more varied uses. Given the extensive areas devoted to reed cultivation, it seems unlikely that all reeds were used exclusively for vine support. Many agreements between landlords and lessees mention activities like cutting and replanting reeds, and their preparation for transport. Many landlords were particularly interested in exerting direct control over reed cultivation, more than even the vineyards for which these agreements were mainly aimed. All this suggests to me that these reeds were being sent to market or to sites for further processing and manufacture into finished products like the chartai which our precious papyri represent.

As I delve into this aspect of material culture and economic history, I realize that my expertise is really being stretched. I’m a social historian, yes, but specifically a “new” social historian as opposed to an economic historian. I try to study religion, not receipts. But in the pursuit of exploring the materiality of Oxyrhynchus’ amulets, I want to grapple with these things. So, I invite readers who possess more knowledge in this aspect of things to share their insights and thoughts. I plan to explore the body of scholarship on Egyptian economy and agriculture to gain a deeper understanding of this subject, but I value the contributions of those of you who know more about this subject than I do.

This mystery of papyrus production in Oxyrhynchus is a fascinating (in the ancient sense too I suppose) problem in the documents. There's much to still consider and investigate about the origins of this abundant resource. Hopefully, by expanding our focus and collaborating with each other, we may unearth the secrets behind Oxyrhynchus' papyrus supply.

Men Gathering papyrus. Tomb of Puyemre, ca. 1473–1458 BCE, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 30.4.11. (Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)