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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1731
TM IDTM 32947
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Description

SB 14 11881: Letter from Allous to her “mother” Faustina 
This originally 31-line letter (26 x 6.5 cm) has experienced damage: a large round hole in the middle of the letter has caused lines 13–16 to be lost. Greeting the recipient with ἐν κ(υρί)ῳ χαίρειν (line 3), Allous relays her struggle taking care of her brother’s orphaned children (τῶν ὀρφανῶν παίδων τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου, line 18–19). She asks Faustina to send her σίππια (“tow”, line 24–25) to work with and sell. Well-wishes are sent from her and the children, and Kyriake τὴ[ν] μητέρα (line 30–31) is greeted. The ed.pr. assumes Faustina is an older female member of the Christian community, not Allous’ biological mother. The verso is blank. Nomina sacra: κω

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts, Nomina sacra
Date from300
Date to399
Dating criteria

Palaeography

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Unknown provenance; purchased by Bernard P. Grenfell and Francis W. Kelsey in Egypt in March/April 1920

Accession number

Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library P. 430

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Janssens, Marc. 1977. “Two Christian Private Letters from the Michigan Collection.” Chronique d’Egypte (CdE) 52. 112-118: 112-116, No. 1.

Additional bibliography
• Bagnall, Roger S. and Raffaella Cribiore. 2006. Women's Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300 BC–AD 800. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 357.
• Bagnall, Roger S. and Raffaella Cribiore. 2008. Women's Letters from Ancient Egypt, 300 BC–AD 800. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. B6.6, No. 250. [https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb90014.0001.001]
• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri. Studia Antiqua Australiensia 1. Turnhout: Brepols. 168. [listed]
• Rupprecht, Hans-Albert and Joachim Hengstl. 1983. Sammelband Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten. Vierzehnter Band. Zweites Heft. (Nr. 11595–11937). (SB 14). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 311, No. 11881.
• Winter, John Garrett. 1933. Life and Letters in the Papyri. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 145.

Authors
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023
Suggested citation
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1731", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1731
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