Roman Funerary Relief from Nijmegen, showing a school scene. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The study of fragmented remains of manuscripts shows how an approach will always be in need of adjustment when we use it on new and different materials. Both my study and the studies that documentary papyrologists do, start with the material remains. However, in my study of the Syriac manuscripts, I have had access to whole codices, even some medieval bindings, to colophons and notes, to churches that still stand, and to monasteries that are still active.
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