OPES – Oslo Papyri Electronic System

Background and Physical Properties

Material:

Papyrus

Connections:

–

Size:

8.8 x 24.4 cm.

Lines:

18

Publication side:

Recto, the Verso is blank

Palaeographic description:

–

State of preservation:

Medium brown papyrus. Top margin 2 cm., the left 1 cm., bottom 8 cm. Cut on the right side.

Content

Date:

April 7, 154 A.D.

Origin:

Possibly Alexandra, province of Egypt

Language:

Greek

Genre:

Documentary

Author:

–

Title / Type of text:

Purchase of a slave

Content:

Contract for the purchase of the 17-year old slave Harpokration by Ti. Cl. Herklanos from Titus Aelius Serenus.

Subjects:

Slave Slavery Purchase

Named people:

Tiberius Claudius Herculanus Titus Aelius Serenus, formerly agoranomos Harpokration, slave Heroides Serenus Sarapis

Named places:

Arsinoe (street) Arsinoe Nike (street)

English translation:

Tiberius Claudius Herc(u)lanus, about 61 years old, with honey-coloured skin, long face and straight nose, with a scar on his right eyebrow, from the street Arsinoe, has bought from Titus Aelius Serenus and whatever he might be called, a former agoranomos, about 34 years old, of medium height, with honey-coloured skin, long face, straight nose, without any particular identification marks, from the street Arsinoe Nike, the slave Harpokration, about 17 years old (...), with honeycoloured skin, long face snd straight nose, a scar on the right eyebrow, for the price of 2800 drachmas. The vendor guarantees for the slave the purchaser gets.Herodes (...)Serenus (...)Serapis (...)

Provenance:

Unknown place, province of Egypt

Acquisition:

Purchased by Eitrem in Egypt in 1910. The papyrus was formerly P.Eitrem 7 in his private collection.

Acquisition year:

–

Editions

• Eitrem S, JEA 17, 1931, 44-47, picture: Pl.VI
  SB: V 7555

Further Literature

Straus J, L'achat et la vente des esclaves dans l'Egypte romaine, München 2004, p.356. Straus, Jean A. L'achat et la vente des esclaves dans l'Egypte romaineStraus J, L'achat et la vente des escla