BOULDER, COLORADO—Artnet News reports that the Euripides Papyrus, which was discovered in Egypt in 2022, has been translated by Yvona Trnka-Amrhein and John Gilbert of the University of Colorado Boulder. The papyrus was found in a clump in a corner of a pit grave at the necropolis of Philadelphia by archaeologist Basem Gehad of Egypt’s Ministry of State for Antiquities, and has been dated to the third century A.D. based upon its writing style and archaeological context. The translation has revealed some 100 previously unknown lines written by the Greek playwright Euripides in the fifth century B.C. The lines come from two lost plays: Ino, a revenge tragedy involving two wives of the Thessalian king Athamas; and Polyidos, a moralistic tragedy on the nature of power, money, and governance featuring King Minos. “Ino and Polyidos were known only by plot summaries and a handful of quotations before,” Trnka-Amrhein said. This text may have been used to teach new readers, since some of the words had been broken into their component syllables, the researchers explained. To read about a piece of papyrus that was originally part of a third-century b.c. bound document, go to "World's Oldest Book," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2023.
