Department of Ancient History

His fields of research are, broadly, Graeco-Roman Egypt and the interaction of Classical (Greek and Roman) and Egyptian cultures from Alexander the Great to the Arab conquest (332 BCE - 642 CE), and early Christianity, particularly from a papyrological perspective. He has particular focuses on rise of the Coptic language and script in the 3rd-5th centuries, especially early Coptic documents on papyrus, and the development of monasticism. Among his current research projects are.

• Language, Script, and Acculturation in Graeco-Roman Egypt: An umbrella research program, lead by Drs Malcolm Choat and Trevor Evans, uniting projects (including those listed here) focusing on cultural interaction of the classical and Egyptian worlds in the Graeco-Roman period.
• Religious authority and linguistic change in late antique Egypt: non-elite perspectives on the rise of monasticism in contemporary documents: ARC-funded project dealing with the rise of monasticism, seen from the point of view of the Christian Laity, and especially though contemporary documents on papyrus in Greek and Coptic.
• Communication Networks in Late Byzantine and Early Islamic monastic communities: a collaborative project with Dr Heike Behlmer (Macquarie University), analysing the letters on ostraca sent between monasteries in the Theban region, especially the monastery of Epiphanius, monastery of Severus (Sheikh Abd el-Qurna) and the Deir el-Bakhit and satellite monastic cells in tombs in the Dra' Abu el-Naga
• The Archive of Apa Johannes: A re-edition one of the most extensive bilingual (Greek and Coptic) monastic archives on papyrus in from fourth century CE Egypt.
• Papyri from the Rise of Christianity in Egypt: a project to analyse the papyrus texts documenting Christianity in Egypt before the victory of Constantine (324), a collaborative project within the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre, to be published by Cambridge University Press.
• P.Macquarie Copt.: An edition of the Coptic papyri in Macquarie University's Museum of Ancient Cultures, with Iain Gardner, Studies in Religion, University of Sydney.

Books: Authored

Belief and Cult in fourth-century Papyri (Brepols, Turnhout: 2006).

Book Chapters

‘Echo and Quotation of the New Testament in Papyrus Letters to the End of the Fourth Century’, New Testament Manuscripts and Their World, ed. T.J. Kraus and T. Nicklas (Brill, Leiden, 2006) 267-292. (by invitation)

‘The Unidentified Text in the Freer Minor Prophets Codex’, The Freer Biblical Manuscripts: Fresh Studies of the Greek Biblical Manuscripts Housed in the Freer Gallery, ed. L. Hurtado (Atlanta, Society for Biblical Literature Publications, 2006) 87-121 (by invitation)

‘Language and Culture in Late Antique Egypt’, Blackwell’s Companion to Late Antiquity, ed. P. Rousseau (Blackwells, Oxford, forthcoming 2007). (by invitation)

‘Early Coptic Epistolography’, The Multilingual Experience: Egypt from the Ptolemies to the ‘Abbasids, ed. A. Papaconstantinou (American University of Cairo Press, forthcoming 2007). (by invitation)

‘Monastic property ownership in the early period’, The Administration of Monastic Estates in Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt. In memory of Sarah Clackson, edd. A. Boudhors, J. Clackson & P. Sijpesteijn, forthcoming. (by invitation)

Articles

(with I. Gardner) ‘P. Lond. Copt. I 1123: Another Letter to Apa Johannes?’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 156 (2006) 157-164.

‘Thomas the “wanderer” in a Coptic List of the Apostles’, Orientalia 74 (2005) 83-85.

(with A.Nobbs) ‘Monotheistic Formulae of Belief in Second – Fourth century AD Greek Papyri’, Journal of Greco-Roman Judaism and Christianity 2(2001-2005) 36-51.

(with R.S. Bagnall & I Gardner), ‘O.Douch I 40’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 147 (2004) 205-207 .

(with I. Gardner), ‘O.Douch I 49’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 143 (2003) 143-146.

‘The Development and use of Terms for ‘monk’ in Late Antique Egypt’, Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 45(2002) 5-23.

‘Papnouthios in SB I 2266: New man or new patron?’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 133(2000) 157-162.

(with I. Gardner and A. Nobbs), ‘P.Harr. 107: Is this another Greek Manichaean letter’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 131 (2000) 118-124.

‘The Public and Private Worlds of Theophanes of Hermopolis Magna’, Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Manchester, forthcoming.

Papers in Published Conference Proceedings

‘Fourth Century Monasticism in the Papyri’, Akten des 23. Internationalen Papyrologenkongresses, Wien, 22.-28. Juli 2001, ed. B. Palme (Papyrologica Vindobonensia 1; Wien: ÖAW Verlag 2007), 95-101.

‘Philological and historical approaches to the search for the ‘third type’ of Egyptian monk’, Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies. Leiden, August 27 – September 2, 2000, edd. M. Immerzeel and J. van der Vliet (Louvain 2004) II, 856-865.

(with I. Gardner), ‘Towards a palaeography of fourth century documentary Coptic’, Coptic Studies on the Threshold of a New Millennium. Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Coptic Studies. Leiden, August 27 – September 2, 2000, edd. M. Immerzeel and J. van der Vliet (Louvain 2004) , I, 501-509.

‘The Archive of Apa Johannes: Notes on a proposed New edition’, Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrologists, Helsinki 2004 (Comm.Hum.Litt. Vol. 122, in press, forthcoming 2007), 175-183.

‘Epistolary Formulae in Early Coptic Letters’, Actes du huitième congrès international d'Études coptes, edd. N. Bosson and A. Boud’hors (Leuven: Peeters, 2007), 667-677.