Ergaleion - Papyrological lexicography of material life
Conceived as part of the Ifao program " Realia d'Égypte de l'époque ptolémaïque aux débuts de l'Islam : mots et mobiliers " (dir. P. Ballet, M. Mossakowska, V. Schram), Ergaleion - Outil de lexicographie papyrologique de la vie matérielle is a multilingual database designed to study the lexicon relating to material life in Egypt from the Persian to the early Arab periods, based on papyrological sources.
One of the main aims of the database is to provide easy access, in the form of an evolving lexicon, to the results of lexicographic work recorded in the " Chronique de lexicographie papyrologique de la vie matérielle " (ed. J.-L. Fournet & S. Russo) published in the Comunicazioni dell'Istituto Papirologico " G. Vitelli ", Ergaleion has also been designed as a tool to facilitate lexicographical research around the vocabulary of realia (artifacts, materials, crafts, products, structures, landscapes, plants or animals) by defining the contexts of attestation of words, by highlighting the evolution of terminology over time, and by comparing the designations of the same reality in the different languages used in Egypt (Greek, Demotic, Aramaic, Coptic) using various visualization tools (chronological friezes and maps). Last but not least, it provides a privileged medium for systematizing the dialogue between philology and archaeology, since it enables us to connect words to the realities they are likely to designate, and to verify the presence of these realities in ancient Egypt through the census of archaeological remains.
As part of the " Realia d'Égypte " program (2022-2027), three areas have been identified as priorities for the database:
- Vessels (particularly cooking equipment, containers linked to agricultural practices, perfume vases, receptacles for precious objects), lighting ;
- Textile production ;
- Plant resources ;
However, Ergaleion is open to a wider range of lexicons relating to all aspects of material life, depending on the interests of associated contributors.
