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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID982
TM IDTM 62312
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek
Description

P.Amh. 3b and c

Sheet of papyrus on the recto of which a private Christian letter (P.Amh. I 3a / SB VI 9557) sent from Rome to some Christian community in the Arsinoites nome mentioning the patriarch Maximus (264-282). Three columns of text but the content of the first one is almost completely lost.

At the top of col. II, in the upper margin, three lines of the first verse of the epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 1:1) were added in a different hand, a small uncial hand dated to the end of 3rd c. or more probably early 4th in ed. pr. (P.Amh. I 3b).

On the verso in a more cursive hand, the first five verses to Genesis (Gen. 1:1-5) in the LXX followed by the version of Aquila, written apparently about the time of Constantine (P.Amh. I 3c).

While P.Amh. I 3b (P12) is described as “occasional notes” by Alands (Text of the New Testament, 85), P.Amh. I 3c (Gen.) is categorized as a “possible amulet” in De Bruyn and Dijkstra 2011: no. 155.

Recto: text written along the fibres; Verso: across the fibres. Use of abbreviated nomina sacra in 3b and 3c.

Selection criteriaNomina sacra, Biblical quote or paraphrase
Date from264
Date to325
Dating criteria

Palaeography and historical content.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1912. Probably found in the Fayyum.

Accession number

New York, Pierpont Morgan Library S. L. 4687.1 Ro [2] & Vo; [Pierpont Morgan Library, Amherst Gr. 3 Ro [2] & Vo (previous)]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Grenfell, Bernard P. and Hunt, Arthur S. 1900. The Amherst papyri: being an account of the Greek papyri in the collection of Lord Amherst of Hackney. London, no. 3b-c.

Additional bibliography

• Clivaz, Claire. 2011. “The New Testament at the Time of the Egyptian Papyri: Reflection Based on P12, P75 and P126 (P.Amh. 3b, P.Bod. XIV-XV and PSI 1497).” In Reading New Testament Papyri in Context/Lire les Papyrus du Nouveau Testament dans leur contexte, ed. Claire Clivaz and Jean Zumstein. Leuven: Peeters, 15-55.

• Comfort, Philip W. and Barrett, D. P. 1999. The complete text of the earliest New Testament manuscripts. Grand Rapids, p. 72.

• De Bruyn, Theodore S. and Dijkstra, Jitse H.F. 2011. "Greek Amulets and Formularies from Egypt Containing Christian Elements: A Checklist of Papyri, Parchments, Ostraka, and Tablets. Avec résumé en anglais." Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrology 48, 163-216.

• Horsley. G. H. R. 1983. New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 3. Macquarie University §91 no. 12

• Jones, Brice. 2016. New Testament texts on Greek amulets. London - New York, p. 179-180 n. 363.5.

• Rahlfs, Alfred and Fraenkel, Detlef. 2004. Verzeichnis der griechischen Handschriften des Alten Testaments. Göttingen, 912 (p. 260-261) descr.

• Van Haelst, Joseph. 1976. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris, no. 3 descr. [P.Amh. I 3c].

• Van Haelst, Joseph. 1976. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris, no. 536 descr. [P.Amh. I 3b].

Authors
Valérie Schram, 2021
Suggested citation
Valérie Schram, 2021, "Artefact ID 982", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/982
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