POxy Oxyrhynchus Online

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Oxyrhynchus City

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Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyiannis visits the Oxyrhynchus collection

The Foreign Minister of Greece, Ms. Dora Bakoyiannis visited the Papyrology Rooms in the Sackler Library on Tuesday, 6th of November 2007, accompanied by a delegation of Greek officials and diplomats. Ms. Bakoyiannis was invited by Dr. Dirk Obbink, director of the project, on the occasion of her trip to Oxford to give a talk for the European Studies Centre at St. Anthony’s College. Dr. Obbink together with the curator of the collection Dr. D. Colomo and researchers Dr. M. Konstantinidou and Dr. B. Weaver offered the delegation a tour of the premises where the collection is stored and papyrological research is undertaken and exhibited some of the most exciting specimens of papyri published so far.

Ms. Bakoyiannis, who has also served as a Minister of Culture, showed a very strong interest in the papyri as means of preserving the Greek cultural heritage, particularly in those preserving texts so far unknown to us. As she was shown a cartonnage from the head of a mummy, she was fascinated by the history of the collection’s discovery and the original use that the ancients found for used papyrus. The results of the new method of applying multi-spectral imaging in order to decipher unreadable manuscripts also captured her attention.