| Description | P.Lond.Lit. 207, P.Lond.Lit. 255, Aland AT 51, van Haelst 109, Rahlfs 2019: Psalms and Isocrates, Ad Demonicum
This papyrus sheet (25.7 x 24.5 cm), broken off on both the left and right side, features Psalms 11:7–14:4 on the recto (P.Lond.Lit. 207), written in two columns, with 37 lines each. The verso (P.Lond.Lit. 255) contains a very free version of Isocrates, Ad Demonicum 26–28, in two incomplete columns. The text contains multiple mistakes, which the ed.pr. assumes may have possibly arisen due to having been dictated or written from memory. The verso is a later addition (having originally been empty), leaving open the question of the papyrus’ original shape: a sheet/roll or potentially the leaf of a papyrus codex. Carlig 2019 notes that a complete scroll of all Psalms would have measured 30 m, a complete version of Ad Demonicum 13–14 columns over 2 m.
The scribe of the recto made a number of writing mistakes, followed by a number of (incorrect) corrections by another hand at a later point. Apostrophes are used to separate double letters. An interesting feature of the text are a series of dots above the lines on both sides of the papyrus, marking syllables. This has been seen as an indication of it being a school text, used for reading lessons, or a musical notation (see Jourdan-Hemmerdinger 1979).
Nomina sacra: κύριος, θέος, ἄνθρωπος. Barker 2007a & b discuss the fact that κύριος is consistently abbreviated, while θέος is not (the only exception being a θν added by the second hand in Col. I, line 35). Barker considers the origin of this choice to be the Hebrew contraction tradition (tetragrammaton). ἄνθρωπος is written both as a nomen sacrum and uncontracted, possibly also due to corrections. |
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