The Griffith Library's specialized collections
are an integral part of Sackler Library, which embraces the wider
discipline of Old World archaeology and ancient history; and maintains historical
continuity by acquiring publications in the fields of Papyrology, the
Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine East and Graeco-Roman Egypt.
The Griffith Library contains 30,000 titles
dedicated to Egyptology, Coptic and Ancient Near Eastern Studies. The nucleus
of the Egyptology Collection, described in the 1995 edition of Who was Who
in Egyptology as "the finest one in existence", was formed by
Francis Llewellyn Griffith and bequeathed to the University of Oxford in 1938.
Since that date, Griffith's endowment has been used to keep this collection
up-to- date and to expand into Ancient Near
Eastern Studies.
The Griffith Library was further enhanced in
1944 with the acquisition of the library of Walter Ewing Crum, one of the
foremost Coptologists
of his time. It forms the core of an expanding collection that focuses on the
language, literature and material culture of the Copts.
The Ancient Near Eastern Collection has been
developed and expanded principally from the bequests of Griffith and his
contemporary, Professor Archibald Henry Sayce (1845- 1933), and includes
material donated by Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner (1879-1963). It focuses on the
archaeology of the Middle East and cuneiform languages.
Today, the Griffith
Library, along with its North American counterpart, the Wilbour Library of Egyptology in the Brooklyn Museum
of Art, continues to be one of the finest research collections for the study of
pre-Islamic Egypt.
The Griffith Collections exist to support the work
of the scholars of the University of Oxford and their students. Researchers from outside the University
community are also welcome. One may
apply to the Librarian in advance for reader's privileges at the Library
itself, or inquiries and reference requests may be made via email or regular
post. Direct all communications
regarding the Library and its collections to:
Diane Bergman
Assistant (Griffith) Librarian
Sackler Library
Oxford OX1 2PH
United Kingdom
+44 (01865) 2-78089 (Telephone)
+44 (01865) 2-78098 (Fax)
Diane.Bergman@SacLibean.museum