Naphtali Lewis was an American papyrologist who published extensively on subjects ranging from the ancient papyrus

Papyrus

Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....

 industry to government in Roman Egypt. He also wrote several social histories of Ptolemaic

Ptolemaic Egypt

Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter invaded Egypt and declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a powerful Hellenistic state, extending from southern Syria in the east, to...

 and Roman Egypt to make his research more accessible to non-specialists.

Career

Lewis did his undergraduate work at City College of New York

City College of New York

The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...

 (AB, 1930) and earned an MA at Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 (1932) before pursuing further postgraduate studies in Europe. He received a certificate at the University of Strasbourg

University of Strasbourg

The University of Strasbourg in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, is the largest university in France, with about 43,000 students and over 4,000 researchers....

 (1933) and a doctorate in Paris (1934). From 1947 until 1976 Lewis taught at Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 (whence he retired as Distinguished Professor) and was also involved in the City University's Graduate School. He served as president of the American Society of Papyrologists (1965–1969) and as president of the Association Internationale de Papyrologues (1974–1983).

See also

• Roger S. Bagnall, "Naphtali Lewis (1911–2005)," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 43 (2006) 5–8.http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=basp;cc=basp;view=image;rgn=main;node=0599796.0043.001%3A2;idno=0599796.0043.001;seq=7

Selected works

• Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt : Case Studies in the Social History of the Hellenistic World, Oxford University Press (1986), ISBN 0-19-814867-4
• The Interpretation of Dreams & Portents in Antiquity, Bolchazy-Carducci (c1996), ISBN 0-8651-6256-5
• Life in Egypt Under Roman Rule, Oxford University Press (1983), ISBN 0-19-814848-8
• Papyrus in Classical Antiquity, Clarendon Press (1974), ISBN 0-19-814803-8

Full Bibliography

• Ralph Keen, "Naphtali Lewis: Bibliography," Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 15 (1978) 2–8.http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=basp;cc=basp;view=image;rgn=main;node=0599796.0015.001%3A4;idno=0599796.0015.001;seq=8