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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID479
TM IDTM 61951
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumCodex
Text contentLiterary
LanguageGreek, Coptic
Description

P.Beatty VI 7 + PSI XII 1273 + P.Merton I 2; Aland AT129.

A large collection of papyrus fragments from a single quire codex. The text preserved is a Greek edition of OT Isaias 8-60 (passim), with annotations in Coptic that are the earliest testimony of this new writing.

Coptic dialect used for these annotations, which is a form of ancient Fayyumic, seems to point to the Fayyum (Fournet 2019: 8).

The fragments comprise 33 folios with 1 column of text per page, and with approx. 25-26 lines of text per column (highest page number: 54).

Selection criteriaLiterary genre (Biblical), Coptic language
Date from250
Date to325
Dating criteria

Palaeography. The ed. pr. dated the fragments to 3rd c. The most recent date, given by J.-L. Fournet, places the fragment in the mid 3rd/early 4th c. (Fournet 2016/2017: 236 and Fournet 2019: 7).

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Unknown provenance. The Coptic dialect points to Fayyum, while TM 61951 mentions Aphroditopolis/Aṭfih (Schmidt), Upper Egypt/Panopolis (Sanders), Arsinoe (Kilpatrick) as possible provenances.

Accession number

Dublin, Chester Beatty Library P.Bibl. 7 + Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, inv. 19657. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps:

∙ Kenyon, Frederic G. 1958. Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri VI: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ecclesiasticus. Papyrus no. 7.

Additional bibliography:

∙ Aland, Kurt. 1976. Repertorium der griechischen christlichen Papyri: 1. Biblische Papyri: Altes Testament, Neues Testament, Varia, Apokryphen. Altes Testament 129.

∙ Bell, Harold Idris and Colin Henderson Roberts. 1916. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the Collection of Wilfred Merton. "P.Merton I 2"

∙ Cavallo, G. 1998. Scrivere libri e documenti nel mondo antico, Mostra di papiri Firenze 1998, tav. 29;

∙ ———. 2005.  Segno e Testo 3 (2005), pl. 18

∙ ———. 2008.  La scrittura greca e latina dei papiri, 2008, p. 119 [94]

∙ Fournet, Jean-Luc. 2016/2017. "Culture écrite de l'Antiquité tardive et papyrologie byzantine". Annuaire du Collège de France 117. 236.

∙ Fournet, Jean-Luc. 2019. The Rise of Coptic, Egyptian versus Greek in Late Antquity. Princeton.

∙ Naldini, Mario. 1965. "". Documenti dell'Antichità cristiana. Description no. 8 and plate no. 8.

∙ Rahlfs, Alfred and Detlef Fraenkel. 2004 (1914). Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments. 95-97, 108, 120-121, descr. no. 965.

∙ Seider, R. 1970. Paläographie der griechischen Papyri 2. Stuttgard. Plate no. XXVII.52.

∙ Turner, Eric G. 1977. The Typology of the Early Codex. Pennsylvania. 182.

∙ Vaccari, Alberto. 1951. Papiri greci e latini XII. Fasc. I, ed. M. Norsa; fasc. II, ed. V. Bartoletti. Papyrus no. 1273.

∙ van Haelst, Joseph. 1976. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris. Description no. 293.

Authors
Sofia Heim, 2021
Suggested citation
Sofia Heim, 2021, "Artefact ID 479", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/479
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