Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt:Exhibition (2026, 2027), John Rylands Library & Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

Lives and Literacy in Ancient Egypt is a major international research exhibition that explores how writing shaped daily life, belief, administration, and cultural memory in ancient Egypt. Drawing on papyri, manuscripts, and artefacts from the John Rylands Library and partner collections, the exhibition presents new research on scribal education, book production, ritual practice, and the circulation of texts across Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultural contexts.The project brings together specialists in papyrology, Egyptology, literary studies, manuscript conservation, and digital humanities to reinterpret key objects, including Hieratic and Demotic funerary manuscripts, temple accounts, Greek petitions, magical texts, early Christian codices, and objects relating to teaching and writing. Conservation and scientific analysis form an integral part of the research programme, with new findings incorporated into public interpretation.As co-curator, my role includes developing the scholarly framework of the exhibition, selecting and interpreting objects, leading manuscript-based research, coordinating conservation and digital reunification initiatives, and producing catalogue essays and educational content. The exhibition is expected to reach a wide public audience and contributes significantly to current research on literacy, manuscript culture, and lived experience in antiquity