The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-18
CHRlSI'S NEW SAYINGS.
STORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE
PAPrRUS AT oxYRYNCHUs.

-
Literature - Appearance OF the Papyrus-
Tho Remarkable Discoveries or Flinders
Petrie Generating tho Ancient Egyptians.
LONDON. July 8.-This years discoveries
among the buried cities and ruins Of Egypt and
Assyria promise to yield the world q fuller
knowledge Of the carly history of the race than
all the books and records previously within our
reach. In both great departments Of research
the earliest days Of mar and the history Of the
Christian cra-trcasures have been gained out.
ranking in interest and Importance almost all
previous discoveries. In nero quantity the
ancient records uncarthed amount to more than
the total OF all previous discoveries combined.
They range In age from nearly seventy-hve
centuries before the birth OF Christ down to the
third or fourth century OF the present era. The
study and translation OF this ma IS of material
will occupy from ten to fourteen years before 1t
can be fully deciphered by the few archeolo.
gists who arc competent for the difficult task.
Ihave described, by no means adequately, in
occasional cable dispatches during tho last few
weeks some Of the moro striking features of
these revelations Of the history Of q younger
civilization than ours. The great prize Of all in
the eyes of the religious world is. OF course, tho
Oldest written record ever found OF the sayings
of Christ.
This morning, at Oxford. I held in my hand a
small sheet. which at present ranks as the old
est extant specimen Of purely Christian litera.
ture. This was the papyrus page discovered
last January by Grenfell and Hunt Of Oxford.
1t is n fragment OF a collection OF the logia, or
sayings, OF Christ, the finding OF which 1 cabled
to The SUN some weeks ago. Before this letter
appears / hope to have cabled q translation of
this interesting document.
Ancient Oxford, with its youthful undergrad
uate population, young leaves upon q perenni.
ally budding old tree, must always form q quaint
contrast to the observer. Quainter still is the
contrast between the age Of the two young mon
saw this morning in Queens College and the
little yellow page Of papyrus they showed me,
for the combined ages Of these two young dig
gers Of antiques would certainly not add up to
sixty years.
Working on behalf OF the Egypt Exploration
Society, they went ont last year in quest of
something old that would be new. They made
their way to tho site Of an old city 100 miles
south Of Cairo. 1t lies right on the edge Of the
desert, with the river flowing on tho far side.
oxyrynchus has long been known as one Of the
chief centres Of early Christianity. but hitherto
has not been forced to give up any of its treas
ures to the archaeoloRist- The site of this an.
Gent city is some two and o half miles long by
half o mile broad, and four crumbling mosques
of considerable size point to Its past Importance.
To-day 1t is inhabited only by a poverty.stricken
collection Of villagers, numbering less than two
hundred.
The mounds in which the "prospectors 4" dug
lie in ranges, and are of various height and size,
some Of them rising to a height of thirty or forty
feet. In many parts Of Egypt the native knows
the value Of papyrus sheets, and when he comes
across them In digging up tho light soil he uses
for manure he carries them away and sells them
to the wandering hunter of such relics. At
Oxyrynchus, Grenfell and Hunt found people
who knew nothing Of such things. But they
soon learned. and after thirteen weeks digging
the whole village had grown prosperous on the
results Of their labors, and probably every man
has got a new wife," remarked Mr.. Grenfell.
The ordinary wages of q man were fifteen cents
q day, while boys earned four cents less. In ad.
dition to this they were encouraged by rewards
for all the papyrus sheets they brought In at the
end Of the day. The virgin soil Of Oxyrynchus
was very productive, and some Of the industri-
GUS made on occasion what they looked upon as
untold wealth-almost 90 a week.
Provisions were easily obtained once q fort
night from Cairo, and as for q dwelling. the
hunters built themselves an eight-roomed house
with a plank roof. The cost of the house ran
to something less than S5 o room, and when they
came away they converted the roof into packing
cases for their discoveries. In ali, they brought
back twelve largo packing cases, each contain
ing a couple of good-sized tin boxes OF papyri.
Many of these will probably never be thoroughly
examined, and those which seem Of the greatest
importance will provide work for their d~ecipher-
ers for the next ten years or more.
These papyri are strange looking refuse.
Some of them are in rolls perhaps fourteen
inches In length and a couple Of inches broad.
looking something like a huge old cigar, dry,
dusty, and weevil-eaten. crushed fiat by a heavy
weight. But those that have been dampened
and opened assume at once a most interest
ing appearance. Those which I saw this morn.
ing are all Of the first, second, and third centu.
ries. Brushed. cleaned. and pressed, they look
like pieces of fine yellow matting-not a bright
yellow, but a dark brownish hue. But what
strikes one most strongly Is the ink. There are
these leaves dug out of the soil where they have
been lying utterly unprotected for 800 years,
and yet, where the surface Of the papyrus Is un.
injured, the ink shows up as black as though II
had flowed from the pen only a week ago. The
writing. too. Is beautifully clear, especially In
the ecclesiastical manuscripts. which are the
work Of educated men. / also saw one OF
the pens with which this writing was done.
1t was simply six inches Of hollow cane sharp
ened to q point.
Tho page in which 30 much interest is now
being taken 10 a small sheet some five or si1
Inches long by three and a half or four inches
broad. 1t Ia written in clear Greek characters
OF a modified uncial description. This page IL
numbered ILL.," and is, of course. one of a book
which. perhaps. contained a largo collection Of
Christ's sayings. Although book form was moi
common till considerably later. the date of this
page is put down as being certainly as early Of
the very beginning Of the third century-abou
200 A. I. 1t may be a little older. 1t may be q
little younger, but 200 Is the probable date.
The sayings which are written ON its two sidei
are almost all contained, with slight variations
In the New Testament as we now have 1t. Blu
some few OF them arc quito new. BY the tim'
this Is read they will probably have appeared il
THE Sun. Still, 1t will DO interesting to heal
what the finders themselves think. In theil
opinion the collection of logia. of which this paG'
Is a fragment, is perfectly Independent Of thu
New Testament as We have 1t. Perhaps i SHOULD
rather have said that our New Testament 4
perfectly independent Of these logia. Some OK
perts who have seen the page think 1t may be
long 70 the book which was the foundation O