What do we have?
Trismegistos is a conglomerate of databases, with Texts, Collections, Archives, People, Places, and Authors as main sections. We deal with texts from the ancient western world, dated between roughly 800 BC and AD 800. Our eventual goal is to provide information about all texts for which there is physical evidence dated to that period, but we have a long way to go still. This page wants to help you with what you can expect to find in the various sections in Trismegistos.
What are you looking for?
Think carefully what you want to look for in Trismegistos, and remember that the database has a history and is still growing. It once was limited to Egypt only, for some some sections that is still its current limitation. For others the ancient western world in general is covered, or at least that expansion is underway.
Information about Texts?
Are you looking for information about texts (inscriptions, manuscripts on papyrus or parchment - almost no coins) from the whole ancient western world, then go to Trismegistos Texts, but take into account the current coverage. It will vary according to the language and script used, and according to the writing surface. The result of searches there will be texts, each of which has a unique and stable id, e.g. www.trismegistos.org/text/1234. Use this to refer to the text or to link to your database. The TM-number [1234] is also used for internal linking, e.g. to places where the text was found, archives to which the texts belonged, collections where the texts is preserved, personal names and people attested in the texts, publications of the text etc.
The full text itself, with a translation?
Sorry, Trismegistos is a metadata database. This means that its focus is on providing information about texts, not the transliterated text itself. Often Trismegistos will have a link to a database where you can find the full text, and occasionally we will offer the full text through partner databases, e.g. papyri.info for Greek (and other) papyri.
Pictures?
Again sorry, Trismegistos is a metadata database. This means that its focus is on providing information about texts, not photographs. Often Trismegistos will have a link to a database where you can find a photograph, e.g. museum databases or papyri.info for Greek (and other) papyri.
Information about (Classical) Authors?
The database Authors with works of (classical) authors is a relatively recent addition to Trismegistos. It is being built up, and is far from containing all works of all authors. Also, remember that Trismegistos focuses on texts for which there is physical evidence before AD 800. Most mediaeval manuscripts of Greek and Latin authors are more recent, and will thus not necessarily be included in the Author database, and certainly not in the Text database!
Information about Places in the ancient world
Since Trismegistos is currently expanding its range to include texts from the whole ancient western world, the Places database is expanding also. If you search in the places database (GEO), you will find places. From there, there will of course be links to texts found in that location (the Texts database) or attestations of that place in ancient texts (GEOREF).
Information about People and Names in the ancient world
In Trismegistos, the information about People database is for the time being mainly limited to Egypt, although an expansion to Latin inscriptions is on its way. If you search in the names database (NAM), you will find names. From there, there will of course be links to attestations of that name in ancient texts (REF). It is also possible to search for individuals (PER). For the distinction between the onomastic database and the prosopographic database, click here.
Information about Archives
The section Archives is almost exclusively concerned with Egypt. It is a database of collections of texts in antiquity.
Information about Collections
The section Collections is a database of modern institutional and private collections of texts. If you want to see which museums, spread all over the world, hold ancient texts, you can search here. Again links to the texts themselves are provided. Although many texts are kept in collections, this information is often neglected somewhat by scholars. For the Egyptian material, we have quite good coverage, but for other regions much work remains to be done.
We hope you enjoy using Trismegistos and would be happy with your support, in whatever way.