| Artefact ID | 218 |
| TM ID | TM 16853 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 55 (Qarāra) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek, Coptic |
| Archive/Dossier | Archive |
| Description | P.Lond. VI 1915; SB Kopt. III 1668: Request for help in the Melitian community. Herieous writes to the priest Paieous about the sufferings of a fellow member of the Melitian community (ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν), a wine seller named Pamonthes. The latter did not have the money to pay his taxes and borrowed a large sum of money. As he was unable to pay off his debts, his creditors forced him to sell all his property and seized his children. Herieous addresses this letter to the priest, asking him to help repay this man’s debts so that he can buy back his children. Same subject, style and hand as P.Lond. VI 1916.
Hand: neat, clear cursive, rather bilinear and very competent, but not at all stylish; diacritics: nomina sacra, apostrophes, diaeresis (Bagnall 2018: 96). Echoes of Scripture. Recto: text (Greek) written along the fibres. Verso: five mutilated lines of a postscript in Greek, along the fibres (turned 90°), and lower down two lines of problematic Coptic; address written the other way up. |
| Selection criteria | Mention of Christian cult officials/institutions, Mention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Nomina sacra, Biblical quote or paraphrase, Coptic language |
| Date from | 330 |
| Date to | 340 |
| Dating criteria | Range of the archive of Apa Paieous. |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | Purchased with a lot comprising Papyri 2543-2551 from Maurice Nahman (b. 1868, d. 1948) in September 1923 (British Library website). |
| Accession number | London, British Library, Pap 2544. |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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