Serious and sensational in Sicily. Syracuse museum sells pieces of its collection to keep from closing

The serious affair of the “Corrado Basile” Papyrus Museum in Syracuse has something sensational. In fact, the museum, which is facing a serious crisis due to the fact that the region has decided to halve the economic contributions necessary to sustain the institute, has decided to self-finance itself by putting up for sale some pieces of its collection. These are, in particular, twenty fragments of Greek and Demotic papyri.

The announcement issued by the Syracuse museum states that the pieces are “established provenance, purchased about ten years ago and unpublished.” The museum is one of the most important national garrisons for the study of papyri: founded in 1987 by Corrado Basile and Anna Di Natale, the Papyrus Museum is, due to the richness and variety of its collection, also a point of reference for scholars. The news was greeted with astonishment and there are fears that it could set an insidious precedent.

Serious and sensational in Sicily. Syracuse museum sells pieces of its collection to keep from closing

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