Abstract
1. Christian literature (continued)
1.2. The Apostolic Fathers
The works of the Apostolic Fathers, which immediately follow the writings of the Apostles, are relatively poorly represented in the papyri. In particular, there is no Greek witness to Clement of Rome, the first of the Apostolic Fathers, and a discreet presence of the Didachê (or Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles, a collection of moral precepts dating from around 100).
1.3. Post-apostolic patristic literature
This represents only 15 % of Christian books on papyrus : papyrological data give the impression of a tradition that is both random and very incomplete. The case of the Egyptian Church Fathers is quite eloquent in this respect : without Toura's exceptional find in 1941, Origen and Didymus, theologians and exegetes who taught in Alexandria, would be poorly represented in papyri.
1.4. Hagiographic literature
Here again, there are few Greek witnesses, which is surprising at first sight given the popular success of hagiographic literature. In reality, however, it was mainly in Coptic that this novelistic literature was disseminated and expressed, while Greek was restricted to scriptural fundamentals.
1.5. Liturgical texts
This was the only category to rival biblical texts in the 7thcentury : while the practical and functional dimension explains the success and spread of liturgical texts, we mustn't forget that, over the centuries, the number of papyri from religious establishments increased, which also had a strong influence on their appearance.
1.6. Conclusions
Biblical texts are by far the most numerous, followed in the 7th century by liturgical texts, which is not surprising since these are the pragmatic counterpart of the biblical texts on which Christianity is based. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that the most popular books, the Psalms and John, were both adapted in verse from the Homeric tradition in Egypt in the5th century : Christian literature and classical literature cannot be considered independently of each other.
