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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1688
TM IDTM 30254
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Description

P. Wash. Univ. 1 31: Letter 
This top right fragment (7.8 x 12.5 cm) of a papyrus sheet offers little information on the contents of the letter, with remnants of 10 lines. There is mention of an Alexandros’ birthday ([γεν]εθλείαν Ἀλεξάνδ[ρου]) in line 7–8. The reconstructed well-wishes τῷ [κυρίῳ θεῷ] (line 3–4) offer an indicator for a Christian milieu of the writer.

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts
Date from300
Date to399
Dating criteria

Dated to the 3rd c. by the ed.pr. (assuming the Alexandros in line 7 to possibly refer to the Emperor Severus Alexander, therefore 222–235 CE), Gonis 1997 places it in the 4th c.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

The papyrus collection at Washington University was sent there by William Matthew Flinders Petrie in the 1920s, in return for aiding his excavations at Oxyrhynchus.

Accession number

St Louis, Washington University 104

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Schuman, Verne Brinson. 1980. Washington Papyri I: Non-Literary Texts (Nos. 1-61). Chico, CA: Scholars Press. 45, No. 31.

Additional bibliography
• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri. Studia Antiqua Australiensia 1. Turnhout: Brepols. 168. [listed]
• Gonis, Nikolaos. 1997. “Remarks on Private Letters.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE) 119. 135-147: 140.
• Maresch, Klaus and Zola M. Packman. 1990. “Additions and Corrections to P.Wash.Univ. I.” In Papyri from the Washington University Collection, St. Louis, Missouri. Part II (P. Wash. Univ. II). Papyrologica Coloniensia XVIII. Opladen: Springer. 239-246: 243.

Authors
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023
Suggested citation
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1688", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1688
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