Papyri from the Rise of Christianity in Egypt (PCE) aims, in the first instance, to collect all the papyri (including ostraca, parchment, and tablets) which document the rise of Christianity in Egypt down to the victory of Constantine over Licinius in 324. This will be the first such collection since the two volumes of Les plus anciens monuments du christianisme écrits sur papyrus were published by Wessely in 1906 and 1924 (=Patrologia Orientalis IV, 2).

The project explicitly includes all papyrological material bearing on the question, that is, 'literary texts' as well as documents. The papyri are not collected simply for their own sake; that is, PCE is not only a repertorium of Christian papyri. Rather, the papyri form the focus for a detailed study of the papyrological evidence for the spread of Christianity in Egypt.

Since the project no longer defines itself as a 'Corpus' of Christian papyri, it is less beholden to the strictness of definition which would attend such a claim. In the present context, a 'Christian papyrus' is any text on papyrus which assists in documenting the rise of Christianity in Egypt. This may include texts which mention Christians but were not written by them, as well as texts such as certain Decian libelli, none of which, we would argue, are written for Christians. The inclusion of a text in the Conspectus does not guarantee that we hold it to have been written by, for, or of a Christian: Section X ('Texts With Biblical Echoes For Magical Or Other Such Use') includes texts where there is no real way to divine the beliefs of either writer or user: yet the use of Christian theological and scribal elements demands discussion of how this occurred, and its implications. Similarly, in the discussion of Septuagint and other Old Testament material in Greek, it makes no sense to excise any text because it has a chance of having been written for Jewish use.

As a matter of course we treat all papyri which have at any time been considered as possibly Christian. In most such cases we reproduce the text as the basis for discussion. Where we reject the suggestion that the text sheds light on Christianity, it seems misleading to give such texts PCE numbers. They are noted in the conspectus, but by letters (a, b, c, etc) under appropriate headings.

From an historical point of view, the chronological cut-off is not arbitrary: the unification of the Empire for the first time under a Christian ruler is a defining moment in the relationship between Christianity (broadly defined) and the secular Roman world. We focus here on the relationship between Christianity and a Roman world which did not always tolerate it, rather than one in which protection for the tradition was enshrined in law. Regardless of what actual changes took place on the ground (and there may well have been few or none in many places), the PCE volume has to stop somewhere: we would argue that 324 forms a more meaningful historical cut-off than any other date in the fourth century. In strictly palaeographical terms, 324 (or any other precise date) is impossible to uphold as a cut-off: no such precision in dating is possible, nor is the field even adequately charted. Through the synchronic perspective adopted here, the project hopes to make a contribution to sharpening dating techniques, particularly with regard to literary papyri In the end, however, any chronological cut off is surely palaeographically arbitrary: if this be the case, a significant historical point makes as good a cut-off as any.

From a pragmatic point of view, we can only commit ourselves to one text volume (with a volume of supporting material) at this stage. Treating the rest of the fourth century, for which there are more Christian papyri than for the first three centuries, must be left to the future. In this publication, a detailed catalogue of all Christian texts down to the end of the fourth century will safeguard users against the cut-off point of the volume as a whole.

In terms of arrangement, the texts will be grouped according to genre, starting with civil documents, and proceeding through letters and sub-literary types to patristic and biblical books. A synthetic presentation of all relevant textual data in one volume will allow for a more detailed appreciation of the papyrological evidence for the rise of Christianity in Egypt than had previously been possible. In many cases, literary texts will be reproduced only in excerpt, concentrating on points where the particular papyrus documents a phase in the history of culture.

The project is based at Macquarie University (Sydney) within the Ancient History Documentary Research Centre. The editorial team comprises D.C. Barker, M. Choat, B.F. Harris, E.A Judge, and A.M. Nobbs. S.R. Pickering's advice will continue to be sought throughout. Cambridge University Press has contracted to publish PCE. Production Assistance at Macquarie is provided by Ms E.A. Lewis.

Information about recent and forthcoming publications in the field or any other advice would be greatly welcomed.