Antinoupolis at the British Museum
Project leader
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Partners
- André J. Veldmeijer, Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo
- Rosario Pintaudi, Istituto Papirologico "G. Vitelli" Florence
- Frances Pritchard, The Whitworth Art Gallery, The University of Manchester
- Jennifer Cromwell, Macquarie University
- Egypt Exploration Society, London
- Griffith Institute, University of Oxford
Share this project
Antinoupolis is a Roman city founded by the emperor Hadrian in Middle Egypt in AD 130. The city flourished as a regional capital into Late Antiquity (AD 250-800). Objects from the site vividly illustrate the daily lives of its inhabitants.
In 1913/1914, John de Monins Johnson excavated the site on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Society. While literature and documents surviving on papyrus (ancient paper) have been published, other object-types from the site have not. This project seeks to make these objects and excavation documentation available.
About the project
The project will make available Johnson’s unpublished 1913/1914 excavation documentation.
It will also catalogue British Museum objects from the excavation and them available through publications and online resources.
A Roman city in Egypt
Antinoupolis was founded in AD 130 by the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
It was located on the east bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt where his favourite, Antinoös, is said to have drowned.
Project team
Staff from a number of British Museum curatorial and research departments are contributing to this project.
Publications
Cromwell, J. 2012. A Coptic letter from Antinoopolis in The British Museum. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 183: 222–26.
Grossmann, P., and E. R. O’Connell. 2009. Antinoupolis Oktobre 2009: Vorläufiger Bericht über die Arbeiten in der Nordnekropole. Aegyptus 90: 277–98.
O’Connell, E. R. In preparation. John de Monins Johnson’s 1913/14 Egypt Exploration Fund expedition to Antinoupolis (Antinoë), In Antinoupolis II: Scavi e material III, ed. R. Pintaudi. Firenze: Istituto papirologico “G. Vitelli.”
O’Connell, E. R. (ed.). In preparation. Catalogue of British Museum objects from the Egypt Exploration Fund’s 1913/14 excavation at Antinoupolis (Antinoë), with contributions by A. J. Dowler, Frances Pritchard, St John Simpson, Ross I. Thomas and André J. Veldmeijer. In Antinoupolis II: Scavi e material III, ed. R. Pintaudi. Firenze: Istituto papirologico “G. Vitelli.”