Papyrological Report Structure and Word Limit Guide

Reserve 100-200 words for your brief introduction and conclusion.

Note that the Category and subcategory designations below are meant only to give you an
idea of how to structure your interpretation around the options. They do not map onto the
categories and subcategories given.

Basic Structure:

Introduction

Chosen Papyrus/Papyri Option 1:

Description

Category X, subcategory 2

Interpretation

Category Z, subcategory 1

Interpretation

Conclusion
Suggested Word Limits for Each Option and Section:

Because you have a limited amount of words for this assignment, you need to be
very careful about making sure that the elements of the assignment worth the
most are awarded a significant number of words.

If you have chosen options a) PGM VII, b) PDM/PGM XIV, or c) PGM V, use the following
suggested word limits for that part of the essay.

Description (c. 200-300 wds)

Category Z, subcategory 1: Interpretation (c. 750–800 words; i.e. 2-3 points)
Category X, subcategory 2: Interpretation (c. 750–800 words; i.e. 2-3 points)

If you have chosen option d) The Kellis Magical Archive: P.Kell. I.87, I. 88, VI.56, use the
following suggested word limits for that part of the essay.

Description (c. 300, that is c. 100 words for each papyrus)

Category Y, subcategory 1: P.Kell A: (c. 500, i.e. 2 points)
Category Z, subcategory 1: P.Kell B & C (c. 1000, i.e. 500 per papyrus)

If you have chosen options e) P.Giss.Lit. 5.4 & Suppl.Mag. 1.10 OR f) Suppl.Mag. 2.59 &
PGM XXI, use the following suggested word limits for that part of the essay.

Description (c. 200 wds, that is c. 100 words for each papyrus)
Category Z, subcategory 1: Interpretation (c. 800 words; i.e. 2-3 points)
Category X, subcategory 2: Interpretation (c. 800 words; i.e. 2-3 points)

Word counts above do not include footnotes (which will not count unless they are lengthy
and discursive.)

To give you an idea of a very brief description for a short papyrus, see the following
example:

P.Oslo 1.5 = ACM 26 (from Tutorial 7)

Papyrus sheet, 10 (H) x 16 (B) cm, preserving a Christian amulet from Egypt dated
palaeographically to IV-V centuries AD. Two vertical and two horizontal fold lines, damage
from which interrupts the eleven-line column in only a few places. Upper (c. 1 cm exempting
the chi-mu-gamma) and left (c. 0.5 cm) margins survive, giving a written surface of 9 (H) x
15.5 (B) cm; text written up to the right and lower edges in a larger literary hand (letter
height c. 4 mm) with Christian symbols 1 and charakteres (l. 11). [Words: 90]

1 Chi-mu-gamma, l. 2; alpha-omega l. 11; and ichthus with supralineation l. 11.