Naphtali Lewis

Naphtali Lewis (14 December 1911 – 11 September 2005) was an American papyrologist who published extensively on subjects ranging from the ancient papyrus industry to government in Roman Egypt. He also wrote several social histories of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt to make his research more accessible to non-specialists.

Career

Lewis did his undergraduate studies in classical languages and French at City College of New York (AB,magna cum laude 1930) and earned an MA at Columbia (1932). He generally found the lectures rather mechanical but his curiosity in what was to become the object of a lifelong research interest was stirred where he did course work in his final year, when he read, together with Meyer Reinhold and Moses Finkelstein, the Zenon papyri under the direction of William Linn Westermann. He then pursued further postgraduate studies in Europe with a fellowship from the American Field Service. After receiving a certificate at the University of Strasbourg (1933), he went to Paris where he pursued his studies on papyrology under Paul Collart, and more generally, trained as an historian under Gustave Glotz. His first work, a doctoral thesis in French, was L'industrie du papyrus dans l'Égypte gréco-romaine (Paris,1934), a study of the papyrus plant and how it was manufactured and used for writing. He published an English version of his thesis much later in 1974 under the title Papyrus in Classical Antiquity. He spoke French fluently but with a Bronx accent. From 1947 until 1976 Lewis taught at Brooklyn College (whence he retired as Distinguished Professor) and was also involved in the City University's Graduate School. He served as president of the American Society of Papyrologists (1965–1969) and as president of the Association Internationale de Papyrologues (1974–1983).

Selected works

• Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt : Case Studies in the Social History of the Hellenistic World, Oxford University Press (1986), ISBN 0-19-814867-4
• The Interpretation of Dreams & Portents in Antiquity, Bolchazy-Carducci (c1996), ISBN 0-86516-256-5
• Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule, Oxford University Press (1983), ISBN 0-19-814848-8
• Papyrus in Classical Antiquity, Clarendon Press (1974), ISBN 0-19-814803-8
• Roman Civilization: Selected Readings: The Republic and the Augustan Age (Volume 1), Columbia University Press (1955), ISBN 0-23-107131-0

Full Bibliography

• Ralph Keen, "Naphtali Lewis: Bibliography," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 15 (1978) 2–8.[1]

References

• Roger S. Bagnall, 'Naphtali Lewis (1911-2005),' The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, Vol. 43, 2006 pp.5-8.
• Roger S. Bagnall, 'In memoriam Naphtali LEWIS,1911-2005' AIP 4 August 2007
• J. David Thomas, 'Naphtali Lewis: 1911 - 2005,' in Aegyptus,vol. 86 (2006), Vita e Pensiero – Pubblicazioni dell’Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore pp. 217-221