Strasbourg!

The Coptic papyrology summer school at Strasbourg was FUN. Basically I hung out with a bunch of other Coptic nerds from Europe and the US. We listened to lectures about palaeography, Shenoute, bilingual archives, what have you—then we all went out for a big meal accompanied by many glasses of beer and wine. I even got my own swank room to stay in all week!



My papyrus was a letter written to an important monk by a couple of guys who were keen to visit and pray in a holy place, and who had sent some kind of liturgical gift basket (the papyrus was only 2/3 intact so I missed the exciting details). We worked all day, stayed out for a good part of the night, and in general had a blast together. I got to see old friends from Yale who have been in Germany all year and met new friends who will meet up with me at conferences for years to come. The week was tiring, but I think everyone was just a little bit sad to leave.