Editing Elephantine papyri and ostraca (section)

===Major discoveries===
The major Elephantine collections consist of discoveries from the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century, and these collections are now in museums in Berlin, Brooklyn, Cairo, London, Munich, and Paris.{{sfn|Porten|1996|pp=7–11}} The largest collection is in the [[Berlin State Museums]] with texts in each of the languages.{{sfn|Porten|1996|pp=7–11}}
* 1875–76: The British Museum acquired two Aramaic and one Coptic ostraca from the Rev. Greville John Chester. The two Aramaic ostraca are now known as [[Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum|CIS]] II 138 (also known as NSI 74, [[Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften|KAI]] 271 and British Museum E14219)<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1875-0517-44 British Museum E14219]: "...two nine line Aramaic inscriptions on different sides..."</ref> and CIS II 139 (British Museum E14420)<ref name=":0">[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1876-0615-60 British Museum E14420]: "...Pottery ostracon with painted Aramaic inscription in four lines..."</ref>
* 1890s: From Luxor via the dealer Abd el-Megid was purchased a bilingual family archive which included three Greek legal texts and a demotic matrimonial document
* 1893: American collector [[Charles Edwin Wilbour]] acquired a number of papyri, including 12 Aramaic documents from the Anani archive. Wilbour's family passed the documents to the [[Brooklyn Museum]] a few decades after his death, and they were published in 1953. It was at this time that scholars concluded that "Wilbour had acquired the first Elephantine papyri".
* 1898–99: [[Richard August Reitzenstein]] and [[Wilhelm Spiegelberg]] acquired the first identifiable Aramaic papyrus from Elephantine in 1898–99. He donated it to what is now the [[National Academic Library (Strasbourg)|National and University Library]] in [[Strasbourg]].
* 1899: The [[:de:Papyrussammlung und Papyrusmuseum Wien|Papyrussammlung und Papyrusmuseum]] of Vienna acquired four demotic documents, probably via [[:de:Jakob Krall|Jakob Krall]]
* 1901: [[Archibald Henry Sayce]] acquired a fragmented Aramaic papyrus and three Aramaic ostraca, which he donated to the [[Bodleian Library]] in Oxford 
* 1901–02: large collection of Greek and demotic papyri, including an IOU of a blacksmith from Syene, were acquired by [[Théodore Reinach]]; this collection is now in the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]].
* Early 1900s: Over a number of years, [[Mary Cecil, 2nd Baroness Amherst of Hackney|Baroness Mary Cecil]] and [[Robert Mond]] acquired from dealers in Aswan a total of 11 Aramaic papyri from the Mibtahiah archive. These were donated to the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo, which retained nine; one was subsequently acquired by the Bodleian. Their high profile publication in 1906 by Sayce and Cowley catalyzed expeditions for more Aramaic papyri. They were originally thought to have been found in Aswan rather than on the Elephantine island.
* 1904: The first (brief) excavation on the Elephantine mound took place, after Sayce encouraged [[Gaston Maspero]] to excavate to search there for more Aramaic texts. No Aramaic texts were found, but a number of Greek and demotic fragments were. 
* Early 1906 until 1908: the German expedition was assigned to excavate the Western side of the mound; following [[Otto Rubensohn]] having been told by local Egyptians that it was the find spot of the recently discovered Aramaic papyri. The expedition worked for three seasons, two under the direction of Rubensohn and the third under Friedrich Zucker.  The daily logs reported the discovery of papyri and ostraca, but made no record of their find-spots; the report was published by [[:de:Hans Wolfgang Müller|Hans Wolfgang Müller]] in 1980–82. The Aramaic, and some Greek, papyri were well published, but most of the demotic, hieratic, and Coptic texts were not. The Demotic and Greek papyri were found early on. The first Aramaic papyri were discovered on New Years day, 1907 in the rubble of a room at the northern edge of the mound, 0.5m beneath the surface; this was found to be part of an "Aramaic quarter”, a housing complex which yielded numerous Aramaic papyri. The three most significant of these Aramaic documents were published in 1907 by [[Eduard Sachau]]. Many of these discoveries are now in the [[Berlin State Museums]]; however, between 1907–12 ten Greek and demotic pieces, and many further Aramaic papyri, were transferred to the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo.
* Late 1906 until 1911: following the German successes, the French were assigned to excavate the eastern side of the mound. There were four campaigns, the first two under [[Charles Clermont-Ganneau]], the third under [[Joseph Étienne Gautier]], and the fourth under [[Jean Clédat]]. Daily records were kept; these were deposited in the [[Académie de Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres]] in the [[Institut de France]] in Paris and some parts have been published. The excavations discovered hundreds of Aramaic, demotic, Greek, Coptic and Arabic ostraca; these are now held at the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris. It also discovered five Greek papyri, and a hieratic papyrus now at the [[Louvre]]. 
* 1907: The Byzantine "Patermouthis archive" of approximately 30 documents was acquired in two halves: Robert de Rustafjaell acquired half in Luxor for the [[British Museum]] in 1907, and [[:de:Friedrich Zucker|Friedrich Zucker]] acquired half in Cairo for the [[Bavarian State Library]] in Munich in 1908. Coptic papyri acquired by Rustafjaell at the same time are now in the [[British Library]].
* 1910–11: A batch of Arabic papyri were acquired by the [[:de: Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg|State Library of Hamburg]]
* 1926: Bernard P. Grenfell and Francis W. Kelsey acquired seventy-seven Greek papyri, including one from Elephantine, for the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
* 1945: Sami Gabri discovered the [[Hermopolis Aramaic papyri]] in Tuna el-Gebel (Hermopolis West): eight Aramaic letters which were deposited in the Department of Archaeology of the University of Cairo.