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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1621
TM IDTM 31917
Findspot (DEChriM ID)28   (al-Bahnasā)
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Description

P.Oxy. LV 3816, P.Oxy. 55 3816: Letter from Ptoleminos and Chairemon to Sinthonis 
In this letter (10 x 25 cm) to their ἀδελφή Sinthonis, Ptoleminos describes the illness of an Achilles, for which he has received treatment at the feet. Ptoleminos himself had been sick and at the brink of death, but has regained his health τῷ θεῷ (line 11, previously already in line 3), implying an epidemic of sorts. The letter is concluded with greetings to their brother Palex, their mother and the household. This Palex could potentially be Aurelius Palex son of Parammon, known from P.Oxy. XIV 1670 and 1716.

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts
Date from200
Date to399
Dating criteria

Palaeography; the ed.pr. mentions the possibility that the epidemic described could have been connected to the one under Maximinus Daia in 311/312.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Found in al-Bahnasā (Oxyrhynchos) during the excavations of Bernard Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt between 1896 and 1907.

Accession number

Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms P. Oxy. 3816

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Rea, John R. 1988. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. LV (P. Oxy. LV). Graeco-Roman Memoirs 75. London: Egypt Exploration Society. 212-214, No. 3816.

Authors
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023
Suggested citation
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1621", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1621
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