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| Jean Bingen | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jean Bingen |
| Birth date | 1920 |
| Death date | 2012 |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Fields | Papyrology, Epigraphy, Archaeology, Philology |
| Workplaces | Université Libre de Bruxelles, Royal Museums of Art and History |
| Alma mater | Université Libre de Bruxelles |
Jean Bingen was a Belgian papyrologist, epigrapher, and Hellenist noted for his work on Byzantine Egypt, Greek papyri, and epigraphic corpora. He made significant contributions to the study of Alexandria, Oxyrhynchus, Fayyum, Byzantine Empire, and Hellenistic period inscriptions and documentary texts. Bingen's scholarship intersected with institutions such as the Académie royale de Belgique and the École française d'Athènes, and informed archaeological practices in Egypt and Greece.
Born in Belgium between the World Wars, Bingen studied classical languages and history at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where he trained in Ancient Greek, Latin, and papyrology under scholars linked to the traditions of the École pratique des hautes études and the British School at Rome. His formative education exposed him to the corpora of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, the collections of the British Museum, and the holdings of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels. He participated in fieldwork influenced by methodological advances from the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale and correspondence networks including the Société internationale de papyrologie.
Bingen held academic posts at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and curated collections for the Royal Museums of Art and History. He collaborated with teams from the Institut français d'archéologie orientale in Cairo and with projects associated with the American Academy in Rome and the British School at Athens. His teaching and supervision connected students to seminars modeled on practices from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and exchanges with the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and the University of Paris (Sorbonne). Bingen also served on committees of the Académie royale de Belgique and contributed to editorial boards of journals connected to the International Association of Papyrologists.
Bingen specialized in documentary papyrology, literary papyri, and Greek and Latin epigraphy from Egypt spanning the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. He published editions and commentaries that engaged with primary materials from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, the Papyrus Collection of the British Library, and the holdings of the Göttingen State and University Library. His analyses employed comparative approaches referencing the legal documents of Roman Egypt, the administrative seals of Alexandria, and ostraca from Fayyum and Karanis. Bingen's work clarified chronology in prosopographical problems related to figures attested in hermeneutics of inscriptions, and he influenced reconstructions used by scholars studying the Council of Chalcedon period and ecclesiastical notices preserved in documentary texts. He fostered interdisciplinary links between papyrology, archaeology at sites like Antinoopolis and Sais (Egypt), and philological studies associated with editions from the Teubner series and the Loeb Classical Library.
Bingen authored critical editions and monographs appearing in venues alongside scholars connected to the Oxyrhynchus Papyri project, the Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte, and the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists. His publications engaged with corpora such as the Grenfell and Hunt editions, and he contributed catalogues utilized by the British Museum, the Musée royal d'Afrique centrale, and the Université Libre de Bruxelles papyrus collections. Major works addressed documentary practices in Byzantine Egypt, prosopography of provincial elites in the Roman Empire, and epigraphic methodology paralleling studies by the Collège de France and the Ecole française d'Athènes.
Bingen received recognition from national and international bodies including membership in the Académie royale de Belgique and fellowships associated with the École française d'Orient and the British Academy. His contributions were acknowledged by prizes and honors tied to Belgian cultural institutions and by citations in compendia produced by the International Association of Papyrologists and the European Research Council-supported initiatives on ancient documentary corpora.
Bingen's legacy is preserved through the students he trained at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the catalogues he prepared for the Royal Museums of Art and History, and the editions that remain standard in studies of Hellenistic Egypt and Byzantine documentary culture. His correspondence with curators at the British Library, archaeologists at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, and editors at the Teubner and Loeb series forms part of archival materials consulted by contemporary papyrologists. Collections he worked on continue to figure in exhibitions at institutions such as the British Museum, the Louvre, and the Royal Museums of Art and History.
Category:Belgian papyrologists Category:20th-century Belgian historians