Oxyrhynchus

Oxyrhynchus, ancient capital of the 19th Upper Egyptian nome (province), on the western edge of the Nile valley, in Al-Minyā muḥāfaẓah (governorate). It is best known for the numerous papyri uncovered there, first by B.P. Grenfell and A.S. Hunt (1897–1907) and later by Italian scholars early in the 20th century. The papyri—dating from about 250 bce to 700 ce and written primarily in Greek and Latin but also in demotic Egyptian, Coptic, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic—include religious texts (e.g., miracles of Serapis, early copies of the New Testament, and such apocryphal books as the Gospel of Thomas) and also masterpieces of Greek classical literature. Among the papyri were texts once considered lost, including selections of early Greek lyric poetry, Pindar, dramatists such as Menander and Callimachus, and innumerable prose works of oratory or history, such as those of the Oxyrhynchus historian. The modern village of Al-Bahnasā is located on the site.