Wikidata for Papyrologists: A reflection on data-modeling

The ambition of the International (Digital) Dura-Europos Archive project (IDEA) to bring together all the material excavated in Dura-Europos in Wikidata has offered the opportunity to explore the utility of that platform for digital papyrology. Papyrologists have developed many digital tools over the years but have largely neglected Wikidata. The process of creating a data-model for the Dura-Europos papyri and parchment has demonstrated the difficulties in representing papyrological categories in the ontologies of Wikidata, whilst also indicating the great potential for research if these issues can be overcome.