Was Coptic a Part of Papyrology? Crum, Bell, and ‘Worrell’s Complaint’ in 1936

Abstract

This article examines an exchange of letters between Walter Ewing Crum, William Hoyt Worrell, and Harold Idris Bell in 1936, on the question of whether Coptic was part of Papyrology. Both the questions of Crum and Worrell on the issue, and Bell’s defence of the focus of Papyrology on Greek texts, are instructive for the history of the discipline. This exchange took place in the context of the lead-up to the 5th International Congress of Papyrology in Oxford in 1937, which provides the opportunity for a survey of the early history of these meetings, and of contemporary perspectives on the development of the discipline of Papyrology and its relationship to Coptic Studies.