It is well known that the earliest extant manuscripts of the New Testament (NT) were written on papyrus and that virtually all were found in Egypt. That the NT papyrus manuscripts were part of and participants in this vibrant social environment is perhaps in no way so poignantly confirmed as by the fact that the vast majority of the NT papyri appear to have been discovered in the rubbish heaps of Egypt, one of the great levelers in society short of death itself. The evidence sampled in this chapter documents both the vibrant, every-day quality and the prompt transfer of letters throughout the Greco-Roman world. The various textual complexions represented by the earliest NT papyri, virtually all of which were found in Egypt, did not have to originate there, but could easily, in a matter of a few weeks, have moved anywhere in the Mediterranean area.Keywords: Egypt; Greco-Roman world; letters; Mediterranean area; New Testament (NT) papyrus manuscripts; textual complexions
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