Participating in a citizen science project is a great way to help out researchers and be a part of the scientific community. One great project falls under the humanities and is titled “Ancient Lives.” This project is hosted by a number of organizations, including Oxford Papyrologists and Researchers, The Imaging Papyri Project, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Project, and the Egypt Exploration Society among others. This project is designed to help researchers transcribe text from Greco-Roman Egypt to learn more about the lives of those living in ancient Greece.
The process of transcribing each damaged fragment of text is one that is extremely time consuming. The pieces that are received are covered in a series of symbols, which must be matched to the known letters. The texts may be stories, or other things that one may not think to find, like letters, receipts, or other private accounts. Analyzing these pieces allows the researcher to learn more about the lifestyle of the civilization in a thorough and effective way and further understand the culture surrounding Greco-Roman Egypt.
The quest to find these fragments has an entire history behind them. Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt searched for a place to find pieces of papyrus, or papyri, and found a city named Oxyrhynchus. This city is also known as the “City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish” and is the birthplace of Papyrology. After about 10 years of searching and digging through the abandoned plot, they had 700 boxes of papyri with about 500,000 fragments. This was all brought back to Oxford where it was then deciphered and studied. This type of research still exists to this day and is vital in understanding the time period.
The actual transcription process is one that takes a lot of time and can be difficult at points. When looking at one of the fragments, one must decipher what each symbol is. Some letters are obvious and clear, but others can be difficult to transcribe. Comparing it to other letters that are provided can be helpful, but some seem to not match any of them. The process may be compared to reading a student’s messy handwritten assignment and trying to determine if the letter is an “M” or “N” or if it is an “I” or “L.”
Trying to decode these symbols provided me with an appreciation for what people have to do in order to obtain new information and learn more about a particular society. Although this research is not one that involves one of the typical subjects that people often associate with “science”, it involves long hours of analysis just as any other research would, but from a humanities perspective.
Since the process is an extensive one, it makes sense that “Ancient Lives” was created to allow others to help analyze the data. The only doubts that may come along with this study may be whether or not to actually trust the people that are helping with this study. One could easily misread letters and thus contribute false data to the entire project, especially if that person has never transcribed ancient texts. Luckily, the University of Oxford has allowed the research to be overseen by the Egypt Exploration Society, who plans on publishing books titled “The Oxyrhynchus Papyri.” Although the research and transcription is extensive, the entire project seems very interesting and would be exciting to one day see what they discover through further analysis.
