Chester Beatty Library – Collections – The Western Collection – Papyri | The Western Papyri Collection, Chester Beatty Library Papyri Collection Ranging in date from 1800 BC to AD 800, the Chester Beatty Library's collection of papyrus includes rolls, codices and individual documents from Ancient, Roman and Coptic Egypt. It includes many works of outstanding importance, with unique documents and, in some cases, the earliest known copies of particular texts. Many of the papyri in the collection (both religious and documentary) are written in Greek, the official language of Egypt for over 1000 years from the conquest of Alexander the Great until the Arab conquest. In addition, there are texts written in hieroglyphic, hieratic, Demotic and Coptic. The Papyrus Collection was, for the most part, established in the 1920s under the guidance of senior curators in the British Museum's Department of Egyptian Antiquities and Department of Manuscripts; allied Oxford and Cambridge academics also contributed to its formation and development.
Digitised Manuscripts Almost 900 Greek manuscripts and some of the most important papyri, ranging in date from the first to the 18th centuries, are now included in the Digitised Manuscripts site. The first two phases of the Greek Manuscripts Digitisation Project were generously funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the third phase was funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, Sam Fogg, the Sylvia Ioannou Foundation, the Thriplow Charitable Trust, and the Friends of the British Library. A guide to the Greek Manuscripts collections, including articles, videos and collection highlights, is available here. Over fifty Thai manuscripts and the Chakrabongse Archive of Royal Letters have been digitised with the generous support of the Royal Thai Government, in celebration of the occasion of the eightieth birthday anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand on 5 December 2007.
EAGLE Portal Attic Inscriptions Online