Derveni Papyrus
Overview
The oldest substantially intact manuscript found in Greece, carbonized and preserved in a tomb at Derveni, dated around 340 BCE. It preserves an allegorical commentary on an Orphic theogonic poem. Formally Greece, it is the earliest dated European book and a UNESCO Memory of the World object.
Related Manuscripts
Knossos Linear B Tablets
Thousands of clay tablets from the Minoan palace at Knossos, written in Linear B and dated around 1400 to 1200 BCE. Michael Ventri...
Herculaneum Papyri
Over 1,800 carbonized papyrus rolls from the Villa of the Papyri, buried by Vesuvius in 79 CE. Mostly works of the Epicurean philo...
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Half a million papyrus fragments excavated from rubbish mounds of Oxyrhynchus since 1897 by Grenfell and Hunt. They include lost G...
Codex Sinaiticus
One of the two oldest complete Greek Bibles, written around 330 to 360 CE on parchment in uncial script. Found at St Catherine Mon...