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Book/Printed Material Johnson Papyrus.

About this Item

Title

  • Johnson Papyrus.

Summary

  • Herbals are directories of plants, their properties, and their medicinal uses. Herbals most likely were at first not illustrated, but in late antiquity they acquired illustrations. This fragment of a leaf from an illustrated herbal from Hellenistic Egypt shows a plant that is possibly Symphytum officinale, or comfrey. The herbal is made of papyrus, a plant that flourished in the valley of the Nile, and the text is in Greek, the language of science throughout the eastern Mediterranean at this time. The fragment is probably from a copy of the herbal of Dioscorides of Anazarbus, a first-century Greek physician born in Asia Minor whose work became the foundation text of medieval botany. The fragment is thought to be the earliest surviving example of an illustrated herbal. It is not known for certain whether this fragment originally was part of a roll (the usual format of papyrus manuscripts until the later Roman period) or a codex (the book form with which we are now familiar). The date of the fragment suggests that most likely it was from a codex, as does the fact that it is written and illuminated on both sides, which would have made it difficult to consult in roll form.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 0400.

Headings

  • -  Egypt--Al Minyā--Sheikh-'Ibada
  • -  400
  • -  Herbal remedies
  • -  Herbals
  • -  Illuminations

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  "Found by J de M Johnson in 1904 at Antinoe, Egypt, while working for the Egypt Exploration Fund. Recto. Colored drawing of the plant sumfuion [Symphitum officinale], followed by the left hand section of eight lines of text, in an uncial hand. Verso. Colored drawing of the plant flommos [identity uncertain], followed by the right hand section of ten lines of text, in an uncial hand."--Note extracted from World Digital Library.
  • -  Original resource extent: Papyrus fragment : 227 x 111 millimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: Wellcome Library.
  • -  Content in Ancient Greek (to 1453).
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021667641

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Johnson Papyrus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 0400] Image. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667641/.

APA citation style:

(0400) Johnson Papyrus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified] [Image] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021667641/.

MLA citation style:

Johnson Papyrus. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 0400] Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021667641/>.