A little-known Egyptian papyrus housed in the British Museum is drawing new attention after researchers claimed it may back up Biblical accounts describing giants.
The document, known as Papyrus Anastasi I, dates back roughly 3,300 years and has been part of the British Museum’s collection since the 19th century. Interest in the text was recently revived by the Associates for Biblical Research, a Pennsylvania-based religious organization that studies historical materials connected to the Bible.
The papyrus is believed to be a letter written by an Egyptian scribe in the 13th century BC. It describes encounters with a group known as the Shosu, nomadic people who lived in parts of the Levant and the Negev. According to the text, some of these individuals measured “four cubits or five cubits, from head to foot,” a height that translates to nearly eight feet tall.
The passage states: “The narrow defile is infested with Shosu concealed beneath the bushes; some of them are of four cubits or of five cubits, from head to foot, fierce of face, their heart is not mild, and they hearken not to coaxing.”
Researchers pointing to the document say the description echoes passages in the Old Testament. Genesis 6 refers to the Nephilim, described as powerful beings and “men of renown,” whose actions were linked to widespread corruption before the biblical flood. Another reference appears in Numbers 13:33, which recounts Israelite scouts encountering giants and feeling “as grasshoppers” in comparison.
The renewed claims were first highlighted in a recent report by the Daily Mail, which noted the papyrus had long been catalogued but largely overlooked outside academic circles.
Despite the renewed attention, historians are cautious. Scholars say that there is no physical or archaeological evidence confirming the existence of giants as described in biblical texts. Most mainstream researchers see the accounts as symbolic, exaggerated, or rooted in myth rather than literal history.
The document, known as Papyrus Anastasi I, dates back roughly 3,300 years and has been part of the British Museum’s collection since the 19th century. Interest in the text was recently revived by the Associates for Biblical Research, a Pennsylvania-based religious organization that studies historical materials connected to the Bible.
The papyrus is believed to be a letter written by an Egyptian scribe in the 13th century BC. It describes encounters with a group known as the Shosu, nomadic people who lived in parts of the Levant and the Negev. According to the text, some of these individuals measured “four cubits or five cubits, from head to foot,” a height that translates to nearly eight feet tall.
The passage states: “The narrow defile is infested with Shosu concealed beneath the bushes; some of them are of four cubits or of five cubits, from head to foot, fierce of face, their heart is not mild, and they hearken not to coaxing.”
Researchers pointing to the document say the description echoes passages in the Old Testament. Genesis 6 refers to the Nephilim, described as powerful beings and “men of renown,” whose actions were linked to widespread corruption before the biblical flood. Another reference appears in Numbers 13:33, which recounts Israelite scouts encountering giants and feeling “as grasshoppers” in comparison.
The renewed claims were first highlighted in a recent report by the Daily Mail, which noted the papyrus had long been catalogued but largely overlooked outside academic circles.
Despite the renewed attention, historians are cautious. Scholars say that there is no physical or archaeological evidence confirming the existence of giants as described in biblical texts. Most mainstream researchers see the accounts as symbolic, exaggerated, or rooted in myth rather than literal history.
