ABSTRACT
Greek letters on papyrus have been well studied,1 and remain a focus of research.2 Egyptian letters are the subject of several treatments,3 and there is now a major new study of Demotic letters.4 Coptic letters have not fared quite so well. ere is only one major study, that of Biedenkopf-Ziehner;5 apart from that there are scattered, if perceptive,
1 G. Tibiletti, Le lettere private nei papiri greci del III e IV secolo d.C. Tra paganesimo e cristianesimo (Milan 1979); M. Naldini, Il cristianesimo in Egitto. Lettere private nei papiri dei secoli II-IV. Nuova edizione ampliata e aggiornata (Florence 1998); G. Ghedini, Lettere cristiane dai papiri greci del III e del IV secolo (Milan 1923); F.X.J. Exler, e form of the ancient Greek letter: A study in Greek epistolography (Washington, DC 1923); A. Deissmann, Light om the ancient East: e New Testament illustrated by recently discovered texts of the Graeco-Roman world, 4th edn, trans. L.R.M. Strachan (Grand Rapids, MI 1927); J.L. White, e form and function of the body of the Greek letter: A study of the letter-body in the non-literary papyri and in Paul the apostle (Missoula, MT 1972); E. Wipszycka, ‘Remarques sur les lettres privées chrétiennes des IIe-IVe siècles (à propos d’un livre de M. Naldini)’, JJP 18 (1974) 203-21; H. Koskenniemi, Studien zur Idee und Phraseologie des griechishen Briefes bis 400 n. Chr. (Helsinki 1956).
