The Petra Papyri

Book excerpt: What is called the Petra archive or Petra papyri is a group of ca. 140 carbonized papyrus rolls found in 1993 in a room adjacent to the main Byzantine church of Petra. The documents date from the 6th century. They are private papers of a well-to-do local family, mainly financial documents concerning marriage, inheritance, sales, loans and disputes, but also documents connected with taxation. The documents are written in Greek. The Petra Papyri are one of the most important finds of ancient documentary texts ever made outside of Egypt.