11/2012 – 2017    
PhD studies in Papyrology and Ancient Medicine, Programme of History of Ancient Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

10/2011     
Master degree in Classics at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Parma (110/110 cum laude)

2010 – 2011     
Tutoring for the three-year degree of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Parma

07/2011     
Attendance in the advanced Greek course of Summer School in Classics at the University College of London (UCL)

10/2010 – 12/2010     
Internship at the library of the Classical and Medieval Philology department of the University of Parma

12/2009     
Bachelor degree in Classics at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Parma (110/110 cum laude)

The antinoopolis medical papyri: A case study in late antique medicinence of Greek Papyri

The main aim of this research project was to re-examine the Greek medical papyri from the Egyptian site of Antinoopolis dating between late 3rd up to 7th century AD.

Antinoopolis offers the potential for putting documents into an archaeological context, and this geographical and chronological consistency facilitates a close comparison between the data preserved in these sources. The interest in Antinoopolis, as far as the medical tradition is concerned, lies in the diverse healing practices attested by documentary, literary and archaeological evidence whose quantity and range is altogether exceptional among Egyptian villages.

The objective of Francesca Corazza´s research is both papyrological-philological and cultural-historical. She tried to present the manuscripts and discuss their peculiarities, characteristics and functions. She has sought to improve our understanding of these fragments through the identification of new portions of text and a better assessment of their formal arrangement, which resulted in the revised edition of a few outstanding papyri. They might include examples of traditional medical genres by authors now lost and also independent forms not attributable to a fixed model.

In addition to this, Francesca Corazza has tried to contribute to the evaluation of the general context of this Egyptian community, particularly as regards religious healing practices connected to the sanctuary of Collouthus, and to explore the historical and cultural circumstances in which these texts were used. She addressed the question of the interaction between Egyptian, Greek and Christian medical traditions using the magico-medical papyri as historical evidence. Further sources of information such as archaeological remains, objects found in excavations, and later textual evidences, have been used to better understand the socio-cultural environment. Taken as a whole, this material enables us to compose a useful, albeit incomplete picture of the magical medicine in Antinoopolis.

Francesca Corazza´s research finally investigates the development of the codex throughout late Antiquity, which can be observed in a number of respects. One of the most significant concerns how the texts were assembled and presented, namely the interplay between container and content. She considered miscellaneous books from a descriptive and cultural perspective and attempted to outline the usage and context of these texts by examining their physical characteristics. The absolute majority of the Antinoopolis medical texts have been copied in the codex format and point to a combination of materials; for this reason, they are excellent case studies when examining early Byzantine technical copies.

This dissertation project was successfully completed within the Research Group D-2 Mapping body and soul of the Excellence Cluster 264 Topoi.