Archaeologist
Bernard Grenfell
Papyrologist who uncovered the Oxyrhynchus papyri with Arthur Hunt
1869 – 1926
Lifespan.
Biography
A British scholar who, with his colleague Arthur Hunt, began digging the ancient rubbish mounds of Oxyrhynchus (el-Bahnasa) in 1897 for the Egypt Exploration Society. They recovered what became the world’s largest collection of papyri.
Key facts
Certainty: Established
Grenfell and Hunt began digging at Oxyrhynchus in January 1897; their excavations there continued until 1907.
- Egypt Exploration Society “The Oxyrhynchus Papyri — Egypt Exploration Society” ees.ac.uk
- Peter Parsons (2007) “City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish: Greek Lives in Roman Egypt” Weidenfeld & Nicolson