Oxyrhynchus: the Roman town

Oxyrhynchus (el-Bahnasa, Per-Medjed)-: the Roman town

(28°32' N 30°40'E)

Capital of the 19th Upper Egyptian nome. The main deities were Seth and Taoris. Nothing remains from the Egyptian town, while the late Roman town was in the 19th century still well preserved. The site is well-known for its many (mainly Greek) papyri.

Roman wall painting	Greek papyri	a plan	Arabic manuscripts

objects of daily life	fragments of architecture	pottery

the theatre

Excavations:

around 1896/7 - 190? - B. P. Grenfeld and A. S. Hunt 'excavated' at the site mainly to find papyri, architectural remains were ignored
1910 - Societa italiana per la ricerca dei papiri greci e latini in Egitto
1922 - Petrie, mainly concentrating on the theatre and the cemetery
between 1928 and 1932 - Breccia excavated several private houses, two seasons at the site
1982 and later Egyptian Antiquities Service
1985 - 87 Kuwaiti team concentrating on the mediaeval town
1992 and later: Catalan mission