Roberta Mazza is an ancient historian and papyrologist, who has published academically on the history of Egypt under the Roman and Byzantine empires. From 2009 to 2022, she lectured at the University of Manchester, where she still holds a honorary research position after moving back to Italy as associate professor of papyrology at the Department of Cultural Heritage of Bologna University. Her research has been covered by the Guardian, the Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and the Times, and she has been interviewed by BBC Radio 4 on various topics.
Recently, Roberta found herself at the centre of an international scandal involving the theft of papyri from the University of Oxford. From England, the papyri landed in the possession of the Green family, funders of the Museum of the Bible of Washington D.C. Roberta's investigation brought to light disturbing connections between academia and the illicit trade in antiquities.
Her forthcoming book, Stolen Fragments: Black Markets, Bad Faith, and the Illicit Trade in Ancient Artefacts will be out on September 17th, 2024 from Stanford University Press.
Agent: Doug Young