Renowned Papyrologist Sofía Torallas Tovar Appointed to the School of Historical Studies
Sofía Torallas Tovar, a world-renowned scholar of Greek and Coptic papyrology, has joined the Institute for Advanced Study as long-term Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Historical Studies, effective July 1, 2024. Torallas Tovar comes to the Institute from the University of Chicago, where she served as Professor of Classics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) since 2018.
A prolific scholar of the ancient Mediterranean, Torallas Tovar's work encompasses a diverse array of topics, spanning Greek and Coptic magical texts, funerary practices and culture, patristic literature, the Coptic Bible, and Philo and Alexandrian Judaism. She has made significant contributions to understanding of multiculturalism, multilingualism, monasticism, and magical practices in the ancient world, and has conducted innovative work on the materiality of written texts and scribal practices, employing the latest scientific methods to gain new insights into ancient documents.
Notably, she has led an impactful, multi-volume collaborative project on the Montserrat papyri, which involved publishing many of the documents for the first time. Alongside her scholarship, Torallas Tovar is renowned for her service to the academic community, most recently in her capacity as Managing Editor of the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, a position she has held since 2023.
Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies and an expert in Hellenistic history, praised Torallas Tovar as “one of the leading figures of papyrological research worldwide.” He noted that her expertise is crucial for forming new perspectives on “ancient society, law, and culture, but also into the ancient mind,” since texts written on papyrus leaves, encompassing everything from simple sale receipts to complex petitions and correspondence, serve as an essential resource for understanding antiquity.
“With her publication of unknown texts, both in Greek and Coptic, Sofía Torallas Tovar continually contributes to the study of the multicultural environment of Greek, Roman, and Christian Egypt,” he continued. “Her presence at IAS not only underlines the Institute’s commitment to the promotion of ancient studies but also broadens the research scope of the School of Historical Studies through building bridges between disciplines, such as Classics, the history of religion, Near Eastern Studies, and the history of Christianity.”
Reflecting on the significance of her appointment, Torallas Tovar expressed her delight at joining the Institute for Advanced Study: “It is a joy, but a daunting one, to join a community with such a distinguished tradition in the field of Classical studies,” she remarked. “Add to that the privilege of participating in the storied intellectual life of the Institute, and I can only feel both humility and gratitude. I look forward to this opportunity to explore and to defend the possibilities for humanistic study, in consort with this community so dedicated to the life of ideas.”
Torallas Tovar has been the recipient of numerous honors, including, most recently, the 2023 Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit from the Society of Classical Studies. She was presented with the award alongside her co-editor and fellow School of Historical Studies scholar Christopher Faraone (Member, 2008; 2021), for The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies: Libraries, Books, and Individual Recipes (2022), a volume described by the Society as “a monumental scholarly achievement.” With her receipt of this award, Torallas Tovar follows in storied IAS footsteps: Heinrich von Staden, Professor Emeritus in the School of Historical Studies, received the same prize for his 1989 title Herophilus: The Art of Medicine in Early Alexandria, and Benjamin Dean Meritt, Professor (1935–89) in the School, was presented with the award in 1954 for his volume The Athenian Tribute Lists, written alongside Malcolm Francis McGregor (Member, 1937–38; 1948) and Henry T. Wade-Gery (a frequent Member).
Torallas Tovar was awarded her B.A.-M.A. in Classical Philology, with a major in Greek, and her Ph.D. in Classics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1991 and 1995 respectively. Following this, she has held appointments at many prestigious academic institutions, including postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute of Classical Studies, London (1998–2000), CSIC – Instituto de Filología, Madrid (2000–05), and Universidad Complutense de Madrid (2005–06). She has also served as Visiting scholar (2008–09) and Visiting Professor (2013–14) in the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago; and as an Associate Professor of Classics and NELC at the same institution (2014–18). Since 2002, she has been the curator of the Roca-Puig Papyrological Collection at the Abbey of Montserrat, Barcelona. She also currently serves as a Lecturer with the rank of Professor in the Department of Religion at Princeton University.
In addition to The Greco-Egyptian Magical Formularies, Torallas Tovar is the author, most recently, of Magic and Religion in the Ancient Mediterranean World (2024), with Radcliffe G. Edmonds and Carolina López-Ruiz; Curses in Context, IV: Curse Tablets in the Wider Realms of Execrations, Commerce, Law and Technology (2022), with Christopher Faraone; and The Materiality of Greek and Roman Curse Tablets: Technological Advances (2022), with Raquel Martín Hernández.
Her current research projects include the study of a papyrus containing fourth century A.D. theologian Athanasius’s letter to the monk Dracontius; the critical edition of the Coptic versions of the Gospel of Mark, with Anne Boud’hors; and “Transmission of Magical Knowledge,” a further volume dedicated to the publication of Greco-Egyptian magical papyri, with Christopher Faraone.
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