PREFACE

The first-fruits of the discoveries in Egyptian papyri made during the last two seasons at Oxyrhynchus are contained in the present volume. The task of editing and publishing so large a mass of material is one which will necessarily occupy a considerable time; and in view of the novelty and interest of the finds, it has been thought better to issue a series of volumes at fairly regular intervals, rather than to wait for the completion of the whole.

The present volume includes about a hundred and fifty texts, of which the majority are literary. Of these, some are of great interest as being previously unknown, others as being versions of works already known, while a large number consist of non-literary documents of various kinds, illustrating the social and economic history of the period. A full account of the circumstances of the find will be given in the second volume, which it is hoped to publish in the course of next year. In the meantime, it may be stated that the papyri were found in the rubbish-mounds of the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus, a site which has proved to be one of the richest in Egypt for the preservation of Greek papyri.

The editors wish to express their thanks to the many scholars who have assisted them in the task of identification and reconstruction. Their names will be found in connection with the particular texts with which they have dealt. A list of those who have contributed to the Egypt Exploration Fund, which is responsible for the excavation, will be found at the end of the volume.

QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD,
June, 1898.

BERNARD P. GRENFELL.
ARTHUR S. HUNT.