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4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID586
TM IDTM 86452
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageCoptic
Description

P.Mich.Copt. 4

Letter to a distinguished person addressed as 'Your Paternity', undoubtedly a Christian dignitary, in Coptic (S with F/A features) apparently asking him to return some items that he has left in storage.

Recto: the text runs across the fibres in a horizontal format (transvera charta); Staurogram before first line and at the end; perhaps another cross at the top of the letter.

Verso: traces of two staurograms in the middle of the sheet, across the fibres. Between them, maybe two other signs [VS].

Selection criteriaMention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian symbols/gestures/isopsephy, Coptic language
Date from375
Date to425
Dating criteria

Palaeography

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context-
Accession number

Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library P. 6866 [P.Mich. inv. 6866]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Worrell, William Hoyt in: Worrell, William Hoyt. 1942. Coptic Texts in the University of Michigan Collection, University of Michigan Studies. Humanistic Series 46. Ann Arbor-London, 179-180.

Additional bibliography

• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in fourth-century Papyri. Turnhout.

Authors
Matthias Müller, Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Matthias Müller, Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 586", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/586
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