Oxyrhynchus

Definition: In the ancient world, Oxyrhynchus was one of the Hellenistic and Roman era regional capital cities of Egypt (capital of the 19th nome), 250 miles from Alexandria, on the edge of the desert and to the west of the Nile on a channel of the river known as Joseph's Canal. This location meant it didn't experience the annual Nile floods, but relied on water from the canal, instead.

The city of Oxyrhynchus is Greek for sharp-nose, referring to a sacred Egyptian fish found in the Nile River on which Oxyrhynchus is located. The Egyptian dynastic era name for Oxrhynchus is Per-medjed.

Oxyrhynchus is sometimes referred to as "waste paper city" because the town's dumps in the adjacent desert were filled with discarded ancient Egyptian paper (papyrus), mostly used for bureaucratic purposes, that had been preserved against rot by the surface, arid climate. One discovery was an ancient basket in which papyrus had been thrown away, showing the rubbish heaps had been used that way since ancient times.

Some Oxyrhynchus References

For a thorough, basic article on Oxyrrhynchus, see E. G. Turner's:
"Oxyrhynchus and Its Papyri"
E. G. Turner
Greece & Rome
Vol. 21, No. 63 (Oct., 1952), pp. 127-137
or "Roman Oxyrhynchus"
E. G. Turner
The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Vol. 38, (Dec., 1952), pp. 78-93

For Oxyrrhynchus documents, see: POxy Oxyrhynchus Online.

Pronunciation: \ˌäk-si-ˈriŋ-kəs\

Also Known As: Behnesa

Alternate Spellings: Oxyrrhynchus