Papyrology is the study of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., as preserved in manuscripts written on papyrus, the most common form of writing material in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Papyrology includes both the translation and interpretation of ancient documents in a variety of languages and the care and preservation of rare papyrus originals.

Papyrology as a systematic discipline dates from the 1890s, when large caches of well-preserved papyri were discovered by archaeologists in several locations in Egypt, such as Crocodilopolis (Arsinoe) and Oxyrhynchus. Leading centres of papyrology include Oxford University, Heidelberg University, Columbia University, the University of Michigan, the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, and the University of California, Berkeley. Founders of papyrology were the Viennese orientalist Joseph von Karabacek (Arabic papyrology), Wilhelm Schubart (Greek papyrology), the Austrian antiquarian Theodor Graf who acquired more than 100,000 Greek, Arabic, Coptic and Persian papyri in Egypt, which were bought by the Austrian Archduke Rainer, G. F. Tsereteli who published papyri of Russian and Georgian collections, Frederic George Kenyon,Ulrich Wilcken, Bernard Pyne Grenfell, Arthur Surridge Hunt  and other distinguished scientists.

Naphtali Lewis (14 December 1911 – 11 September 2005) was an American papyrologist who published extensively on subjects ranging from the ancient papyrus industry to government in Roman Egypt. He also wrote several social histories of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt to make his research more accessible to non-specialists.

Lewis did his undergraduate work at City College of New York (AB, 1930) and earned an MA at Columbia (1932) before pursuing further postgraduate studies in Europe. He received a certificate at the University of Strasbourg (1933) and a doctorate in Paris (1934). From 1947 until 1976 Lewis taught at Brooklyn College (whence he retired as Distinguished Professor) and was also involved in the City University's Graduate School. He served as president of the American Society of Papyrologists (1965–1969) and as president of the Association Internationale de Papyrologues (1974–1983).