OPES – Oslo Papyri Electronic System

Background and Physical Properties

Material:

Papyrus

Connections:

–

Size:

8.1 x 9.1 cm (W x H)

Lines:

7

Publication side:

Recto (Verso: blank)

Palaeographic description:

Three cursive hands from the Roman period. The text is written along the fibers.

State of preservation:

A rectangular fragment of light brown papyrus. The top margin (1.5 cm) is intact. The left and right edges are irregularly torn just outside the line beginnings and ends, preserving the text in its entirety, apart from a couple of compromised initial letters on ll. 3 and 4. Most of the bottom margin is broken off, except for an irregularly shaped area (c. 2.5 x 1 cm) on the right side. Left-over-right kollesis apparent 2-2.5 cm from the left edge. The pattern of damage suggests vertical fold lines 2.8 and 4.8 cm from the left edge, and horizontal fold lines 4 and 6.5 cm from the top edge. The verso shows some dark discoloration on the bottom part, seen on the recto as a slight darkening of the papyrus.

Content

Date:

Shortly after or on 19 August 115 CE

Origin:

Karanis, meris of Herakleides, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt

Language:

Greek

Genre:

Documentary

Author:

Anchorimphis, son of Iemouthês

Title / Type of text:

Certificate of work on the embankments / Penthemeros certificate

Content:

The document certifies that Anchorimphis, son of Iemouthês son of Petheus, and of Soêris, completed his five-day corvée (15 – 19 August 115 CE) on the embankments of the canal of Patsontis near Karanis.

Subjects:

Certificate Penthemeros Corvee Embankment Dike

Named people:

Anchorimphis Iemouthes Soeris Petheus Kraton

Named places:

Karanis Patsontis

English translation:

(Hand 1) In the 18th year of Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Optimus Augustus Germanicus Dacicus. Has performed the five-day embankment corvée in the said 18th year, (from the) 22nd (to the) 26th of (the month of) Kaisareios (i.e. 15 – 19 August), in the Patsontis desert (canal), on behalf of Karanis. (Hand 2) Anchorimphis, son of Iemouthês son of Petheus, and of Soêris (Hand 3) I, Kraton, have signed.

Provenance:

Probably Kom Aushim (ancient Karanis), Egypt

Acquisition:

Purchased by Samson Eitrem in Egypt

Acquisition year:

1920

Editions

• Eliassen, M. de Kat, Symbolae Osloenses 40, 1965, pp. 44-45
  SB: VIII 9924a

Further Literature

Catalogues

DDbDP / TM 14302 / HGV

Translations

• Hengstl, J. (Ed.). (1978). Griechische Papyri aus Ägypten als Zeugnisse des öffentlichen und privaten Lebens [= C.Pap.Hengstl]. Heimeran Verlag. Text, translation and commentary on pp. 38-39.

Discussions

• Sijpesteijn, P. J. (1964). Penthemeros-Certificates in Graeco-Roman Egypt [= Pap.Lugd.Bat. XII]. Brill. Suggests καὶ Ἀπίδος (l. Ἀπιάδος) l. 5 [= BL VIII 161]; see p. 56 no. 96.
• Mueller, K. (2003). Mastering Matrices and Clusters. Locating Graeco-Roman Settlements in the Meris of Herakleides (Fayum/Egypt) by Monte-Carlo-Simulation. Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete, 49(2), 218–254. https://doi.org/10.1515/apf.2003.49.2.218. Statistical simulation of settlement proximity and approximate location in the meris of Herakleides on the basis of settlement names appearing together in the papyri (Petsontis and Karanis in SB VIII 9924a); see p. 253.
• Hagedorn, D. (2012). Bemerkungen zu Urkunden. Zeitschrift Für Papyrologie Und Epigraphik, 183, 185–190. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23849884. Emendations:
  • l. 4: κώμης Καρανίδ(ος) → κβ κϛ Καισαρείο(υ) (independently of Claytor 2013)
  • l. 5 : Πατσώ(ντεως) καὶ Ἀπιδ( ) → Πατσώ(ντεως) Καρανίδ(ος)
  • l. 6 : Πετεῶ(τος) → Πεθέω(ς)
• Claytor, W.G. (2013). Penthemeros Certificates from the Granary C123, Karanis. Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 50, 49–75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24520084.
  • l. 4: κώμης Καρανίδ(ος) → κβ κϛ Καισαρείο(υ) (independently of Hagedorn 2012)
  • Notes the short-lived variation in the order of the days and the month (l. 4), also seen in SB VIII 9231(inv.2912).4 and in BASP 50 59.4. All three papyri are from the same year.