| Artefact ID | 1066 |
| TM ID | TM 64434 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 12 (Ismant al-Ḫarāb) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Subliterary |
| Language | Greek |
| Archive/Dossier | Archive |
| Description | P.Kellis II Gr. 91: A prayer featuring Manichaean terminology, preserved on a papyrus bifolium (42 x 57 mm) reconstructed from three fragments. Ed.pr. argue that it is unlikely to have been part of a larger codex. The text is divided into two parts. It begins in the first-person singular, with the speaker addressing a divinity to which is appended a series of epithets, including ‘father of the intellectual man’ (π(ατέ)ρα τοῦ νοεροῦ ἀν(θρώπ)ου), ‘mother of life’ (μητέρα τῆς ζωῆς), ‘splendour of the enlighteners’ (φέγγος τῶν φωστήρῶν). The second part requests that the divinity make the speakers (now in the plural) worthy to be ‘your faithful’, before explicating them with another set of epithets, such as ‘those who are justified in you’ (τῶν ἔν σοι δικαιουμένω(ν)) and ‘those who are perfected in you’ (τῶν ἔν σοι τελειουμένων). It ends with an appeal for deliverance. The vocabulary has strong Manichaean affinities. However, the various epithets here seemingly addressed to a single figure usually designate different divinities in the Manichaean ‘system’. Ed.pr. suggested that the prayer constituted a piece of popular piety. It has also been suggested that the various, partly contradictory, epithets may be intended to emphasise the unity of the divine substance despite its appearance in different divinities. |
| Selection criteria | Literary genre (Non-canonical), Subliterary genre (Liturgical), Nomina sacra |
| Date from | 301 |
| Date to | 400 |
| Dating criteria | Find context |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | North Building, room 1, level 4 |
| Accession number | Kellis, excavations Dakleh Oasis Project 1986-, inv. A/3/19 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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