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4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1240
TM IDTM 97520
Findspot (DEChriM ID)66   (Tall al-Ḥirr)
ClassTextual
MaterialCeramic
Writing mediumOstracon
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Description

O.Tell el-Herr 4: Content unclear

Ostracon with 3 lines of text, the first one showing the Christian cryptogram ΧΜΓ with supralinear stroke; and the third one mentioning the Latin name Quintus for a man who was possibly a primicerius or superior (Greek reading prim/). The whole meaning of the text remains unclear.

Selection criteriaChristian symbols/gestures/isopsephy
Date from350
Date to399
Dating criteria

Dated to 4th in ed. pr. (palaeography and onomastics). Note that archaeological finds suggest that the site had very little military activity after 360; however it seems highly unlikely that the cryptogram ΧΜΓ would be used before 350 – the earliest securely dated attestation in Egypt being in P.Kell. IV 86 [VS].

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Found in 1988 in "casernements est (niveau 149)".

Accession number

Tell el-Herr, without excavation no.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Wagner, Guy. 2000. Le camp romain du Bas-Empire à Tell el-Herr, ed. D. Valbelle, J.-Y. Carrez-Maratray. Paris, 146-151 (esp. p. 148, no. 4 with fig. 104). 

Additional bibliography

• Verreth, Herbert. 2006. The Northern Sinai from the 7th century BC till the 7th century AD. A Guide to the Sources. 2 vol. Leuven (esp. vol. 1, p. 774, no. 4).

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 1240", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1240
External links
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