OPES – Oslo Papyri Electronic System

Background and Physical Properties

Material:

Papyrus

Connections:

–

Size:

4.9 x 9.4 cm.

Lines:

9

Publication side:

Verso, the Recto has only two ink stains

Palaeographic description:

The text has been written in black ink against the fibres. The recto side, which is courser in texture and darker in colour, preserves nothing but two ink stains. For all its clumsiness, the hand that has penned the note betrays a certain familiarity with scribal practice. The letter forms, of medium (towards small) module, predominantly rounded and formed neatly at a good pace, exhibit a certain, though not perfectly accomplished, degree of stability. Perhaps written by an apprentice with a scriptorium.

State of preservation:

A fragment of medium brown papyrus. The sheet has been irregularly torn at the left- and right-hand side, while the upper and parts of the lower margin have been preserved (1.3 and 2 cm. respectively). Five horizontal folding lines indicate that the letter had been folded before dispatch.

Content

Date:

41-68 A.D. (Reign of Claudius or Nero)

Origin:

Unknown place, province of Egypt

Language:

Greek

Genre:

Documentary

Author:

–

Title / Type of text:

Private letter

Content:

Letter addressed by a son to his father (no names mentioned), probably conveying a request for an artaba of wheat and the sum of one drachma or a notification of the dispatch or receipt thereof.

Subjects:

Letter Money Wheat

Named people:

Didymos? Didyme? Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Augustus Germanicus, emperor

Named places:

–

English translation:

X] to the father, many [greetings and wishes for] continued health; send me (/ I have sent you/ I have received from you) [the] artaba of wheat and [...] drachma. Give my regards to [...], my mother, Didy[mos/ me, my brother/ sister ?] and everyone in the house. [Keep in good health! ?] (Year) x of Tiberius/ Nero] Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator, Pharmou[thi x].

Provenance:

Unknown place, province of Egypt

Acquisition:

Acquired by S. Eitrem, through Maurice Nahman, in Egypt March 1936

Acquisition year:

1936

Editions

• Maravela-Solbakk, A., ZPE 149, 2004, 186-188, picture: p. 187
  SB: 28 17264

Further Literature

Catalogues

TM 139798