| Artefact ID | 665 |
| TM ID | TM 87478 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 58 (Dayr al-ʿIẓām) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Coptic |
| Archive/Dossier | Archive |
| Description | P.Ryl.Copt. 313 Letter in Coptic (S), addressed to a "dear brother" whose prayers and help are asked. Along with this letter and mentioned within it, another one – "fastened up" with the customary ribbon and sealed – had been dispatched, which the sender had received from the bishop. The author further mentions a woman suffering from an internal malady. |
| Selection criteria | Mention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Nomina sacra, Coptic language |
| Date from | 375 |
| Date to | 400 |
| Dating criteria | Palaeography, possibel archive connection |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | According to Constantine Zuckerman's reconstruction, the Apa-John-letters were presumably found in September 1897, during the excavations of Farag Ismael and Yassa Tadros on the mountain of Siout (Lykopolis), in the ruins of the Dayr al-ʿIẓām, the presumed site of the monastery of John of Lycopolis. (Note, however, that the German team prefers the Asyūṭ tombs II–IV to have been John's abode, as was definitely later venerated there; see Kahl 2014; 2015; Eichner 2020: 5–10; the Dayr is ca. 300m away as the crow flies on the desert plateau from the group of tombs, see Eichner 2020: 11-38.) However, they never reached the museum in Gizeh – like the other objects unearthed during these excavations – and must have ended on the market, where they were bought soon after the excavations (Zuckerman 1995: 191-192; Van Minnen 1994: 80-82, Gonis 2008: 69-72). Although not proven, this attractive hypothesis is generally accepted by scholars (see discussion in Van der Vliet 2015: 166-167 and Fournet 2020: 13 note 39, and some reservations in Choat 2017: 37-40). |
| Accession number | Manchester, John Rylands Library, Coptic P 313 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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