Ancient and Medieval Greek Documents, Archives and Libraries

Research Unit at the University of Helsinki

Director: Professor Jaakko Frösén
tel. +358 9 191 22160
fax  +358 9 191 22161
frosen(at)helsinki.fi

The Unit consists of three projects:

1. Publication of Greek Papyri (PGP)
The purpose of the project is to save, conserve, publish as well as to interpret new texts from ancient manuscripts. The focus is on texts that have been considered too difficult and time consuming and that therefore have not received the attention they deserve. The difficulties have had to do with the state of preservation (the recycled waste papyri of mummy cartonnages and carbonised papyri) or with the contents of the texts. Conservation methods and methodological issues  are essential in bringingthis kind of material to scholarly attention.

2. The Finnish Jabal Harun Project (FJHP)
The focus of interest in this project is Mt. Aaron in Petra, Jordan. According to Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, Mt. Aaron is the burial place of the Prophet Aaron, Moses' brother. Most of the information comes from the Byzantine period, and the texts mention a monastery and a church on the mountain. The origins of the project can be found in the involvement of Finnish experts in the analysis of 6th-century carbonised Petra Papyri. One of them, with the earliest preserved date in the archive (15 June, 513), also mentions "the House of our Lord the Saint High-Priest Aaron" outside the city of Petra. While it is not possible to determine the exact date when the Christians abandoned the mountain, this must have happened no later than the mid-14th century when the Muslim shrine was constructed. Primarily, however, the Finnish Jabal Harun Project is interested in the extensive ruins of an architectural complex (ca. 3,000 m2) located some 70 metres below the site on a wide plateau. The project is designed to uncover, preserve and publish archaeological remains located on the mountain. The project aims at a full understanding of the ruins of the monastic complex, the topography of the mountain, the history of human settlement on the mountain and in its immediate surroundings as well as the relations to the city of Petra.

3. The Patriarchal Library of Alexandria (GOPAL)
The Library of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria is the remnant left of the Church Library, which originated with the foundation of the Church of Alexandria by Saint Mark. The ancient Church Library was famous for its collection of ancient manuscripts. The oldest identified remnant manuscripts bear the date of 952. The Library contains some 530 ancient Greek manuscripts, around 2,000 rare editions and more than 20,000 other editions. The Patriarchal Archives have been kept in the Library along with other unpublished unique sources of the history of the Church in Egypt. These immense treasures are housed in the buildings of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa in Alexandria. The manuscripts and rare editions need immediate attention and conservation. The most urgent measures for the repair and renovation of the buildings have been started already. They will be followed by a refurbishment of the interior and the installation of airconditioning and a computer system.

Centre of Excellence pages