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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1305
TM ID-
Findspot (DEChriM ID)11   (ʿAyn al-Ǧadīda)
ClassTextual
MaterialCeramic
Writing mediumOstracon
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageCoptic
Description

O.Gedida 1: Letter concerning a pakton.

Complete ostracon although faded in places. Letter sent by apa Alexandros the foreman (kephalaiotes) to unknown person (name in lacuna) mentioning the sending away of Pesente and the renting of a pakton which apa Kire asks for. Initial and final crosses.

Ed. note (l. 6n.) that "apa Kire" could also be read Apakire but Kire's appearance in the same context as apa Alexandros may indicate that he too represented an ecclesiastical institution. Possibly apa Kire was a monastic superior and the letter concerned rent on monastic property.

An Alexandros appears in O.Kellis 121, one line after the mention of "Psais, monk".

Selection criteriaChristian symbols/gestures/isopsephy, Coptic language
Date from375
Date to425
Dating criteria

Palaeography, archaeologic context and parallel texts found in El-Qasr (O.al-Qasr 1 and O.al-Qasr 4) dated late 4th or early 5th c. according to Bagnall and Dzierzbicka 2018: 511.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Area B, room B4, DSU4 (surface)

Accession number

Excavations 2006-2008, inv. 4

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Bagnall, Roger and Dzierzbicka, Dorota. 2018. "Ostraka and Graffiti." In Amheida IV. ‘Ain el-Gedida. 2006-2008 Excavations of a Late Antique Site in Egypt's Western Desert, N. Aravecchia. New York, 507-542 (no. 1, p. 511-514).

Authors
Valérie Schram, Victor Ghica, 2021, 2023
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, Victor Ghica, 2021, 2023, "Artefact ID 1305", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1305
External links
Gallery