Facts and Questions about the Graz Mummy Book

The University of Graz has been in possession of the object since 1909. It was discovered during excavations at the Egyptian necropolis of Hibeh (today’s El Hiba) south of Fayum (El-Fayoum) and pertains to a collection of fragments of which a small portion was transferred to Graz.

The city of Graz partially funded the excavations of the researchers Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt, who were primarily interested in antique papyri. In exchange for the financial support, 52 papyrus fragments were transferred to Graz.

Grenfell und Hunt identified the fragment as a Greek language tax account of beer and oil and it was later reused as part of the mummy wrapping for “Mummy 46”.

The significance of the object is that it is a fragment of a bifolio in a codex-like form, rather than a scroll. This is apparent in the way the sheet was folded before it was written on. The document was then further folded and sealed using a technique that was unknown until now, with a loop of thread in each corner, of which holes and thread remnants survive. As a bifolio, the Graz Mummy Book is the first physical evidence of the early development of the codex format, challenging the general belief that the codex format only emerged with the rise of Christianity.

The central fold and the layout of the text indicate that the document was designed as a bifolio from inception.

The text is written within clearly defined margins with continuous text on both sides of the bifolio.

The pair of pricked holes near the central fold suggests the possibility of multiple leaves having been held together in what appears to be a precursor to the bound book.

There is ink transfer from left to right and vice verso where the text is written that suggests that the bifolio could have been closed along a pre-existing fold when the ink was still fresh.

There are early codices with stab sewing (in which the bifolios are fastened together by piercing thread tackets through the thickness of the textblock). In the Graz Mummy Book, there is a pair of pricked holes approximately 7mm either side of the central fold that have remnants of thread fibres in them showing this kind of structure.

Up until now it was generally believed that the codex format emerged with the rise of Christianity. The earliest known codices are dated to 50–250 CE. Some examples are De Bellis Macedonicis P.Oxy.30 (TM63267) and Demostenes, De falsa legatione Add MS 34473 art. 1 (British Library) and G29775 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) (TM59549). Predating the existing examples by 300-400 years, the Graz Mummy Book is the first physical evidence showing that the development of the codex format already began in the pre-Christian era.

During routine work on the papyrus fragments at the Special Collections of the University of Graz Library, book conservator Dr Theresa Zammit Lupi came across previously unnoticed material evidence that one of the fragments, UBG Ms I 1946, is a bifolio and hence a precursor to the codex.

Until now the earliest known codices were dated to 50-250 CE. The Graz Mummy Book, dated to 260 BCE, shows that the codex format was already developed significantly earlier. More research in this area will now be conducted.

On 12-13 February 2024, an expert meeting was held on the topic of the Graz Mummy Book. The participants, who are experts in the fields of ancient history, book history and conservation, papyrology and papyrus conservation, and analytical chemistry, examined the papyrus fragment using a digital microscope. Discussions on the various possibilities of interpreting the fragment resulted in general agreement that the fragment is significant for early book history. Further investigations are planned such as scientific analyses of the materials and other experimental investigations. The results of the meeting will be published soon. Colleagues working in other collections will systematically start looking for similar fragments.

According to Grenfell und Hunt, the Greek text can be identified as a list of tax accounts for beer and oil.

The dating of the fragment was based on the context of the mummy during its excavation, palaeography, and iconography of the mummy. The colours and style used on the mummy´s decoration and the writing style match the late Ptolemaic period.