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Bernard Pyne Grenfell

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Bernard Pyne Grenfell
FBA
Born(1869-12-16)16 December 1869
Birmingham, UK
Died18 May 1926(1926-05-18) (aged 56)
Oxford, UK
Academic background
Alma materThe Queen's College, Oxford
Academic work
DisciplineEgyptology
InstitutionsOxford University
Notable works
The Oxyrynchus Papyri

Bernard Pyne Grenfell FBA (16 December 1869 – 18 May 1926) was an English scientist and egyptologist. Excavations he did with Arthur Surridge Hunt uncovered manuscripts including the oldest Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

Life

Grenfell was the son of John Granville Grenfell FGS and Alice Grenfell. He was born in Birmingham and brought up and educated at Clifton College in Bristol, where his father taught. He obtained a scholarship in 1888 and enrolled at The Queen's College, Oxford.[1]

With his friend and colleague, Arthur Surridge Hunt, he took part in the archaeological dig of Oxyrhynchus and discovered many ancient manuscripts known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, including some of the oldest known copies of the New Testament and the Septuagint. Other notable finds are extensive, including previously unknown works by known classical authors. The majority of the find consists of thousands of documentary texts. Parabiblical material, such as copies of the "Logia (words) of Jesus" were also found.

In 1895, Grenfell and Hunt were the first archaeologists to explore the site of Karanis (present Kom Aushim) in Fayum.

His mother, Alice Grenfell, lived with him after his father died in 1897. She took a great interest in Egyptian scarab-shaped artefacts and taught herself to read hieroglyphics. She published her own papers and a catalogue of the scarab collection belonging to The Queen's College.[1]

In 1908, he became professor of papyrology at Oxford University and was part of the editing team of The Oxyrynchus Papyri and other similar works. However he was ill for four years and during that time the professorship lapsed. Grenfell was cared for by his mother and he had recovered by 1913.[1] In 1920 he travelled to Egypt for the last time in his life and bought P.Ryl. III 457 (𝔓52), the earliest surviving witness of the Greek New Testament.

He died on 18 May 1926, and was buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford.[2]

Publications

  • Grenfell, Bernard Pyne; Hunt, Arthur Surridge (1897). Sayings of Our Lord from an Early Greek Papyrus. Egypt Exploration Fund.
  • Grenfell, Bernard Pyne; Hunt, Arthur Surridge; Hogarth, David George (1900). Fayûm Towns and Their Papyri. London.
  • Grenfell, Bernard Pyne; Hunt, Arthur Surridge, eds. (1909). Hellenica Oxyrhynchia cum Theopompi et Cratippi Fragmentis. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bell, H. (23 September 2004). Grenfell, Bernard Pyne (1869–1926), papyrologist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 18 January 2018, See link
  2. ↑ Bell H I, 'Bernard Pyne Grenfell'. Archived 26 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine In JRH Weaver (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography 1922 - 1930. Oxford University Press
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