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4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID22
TM IDTM 92874
Findspot (DEChriM ID)33   (Madīnat al-Fayyūm)
ClassTextual
MaterialParchment
Writing mediumCodex
Text contentSubliterary
LanguageGreek, Coptic
Description

Michigan Ms. 136; Mich. 136

Miniature parchment codex containing magical and medical texts (with some references to Christian figures) in Coptic (Sahidic dialect) and Greek. Originally 8 leaves, the first of which is now missing. Acc. to Worrell, the original text must have been Greek, and some of the Greek text remains in this document untranslated. Acc. to Kyprianos (see link), the translation seems less evident.

Selection criteriaCoptic language
Date from300
Date to399
Dating criteria

Dated by Kahle (1954: 237 and 254 note 5) to the 4th century on linguistic grounds.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

None: Supposedly purchased in Madīnat al-Fayyūm by Dr. Askren; original provenance unknown.

Accession number

Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library Ms. Copt. 136

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Forthcoming new edition

• Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael,  Edward O.D. Love, Traditions in Transmission: The medical and magical texts of a fourth-century Greek and Coptic codex (Michigan Ms. 136) in context (announced in KYPRIANOS M128, see link)

Editio princeps

• Worrell, William Hoyt. 1935. "Coptic Magical and Medical Texts." Orientalia 4: 1-37 [esp. 17-37].

Additional bibliography

• Kahle, Paul Eric. 1954. Bala'izah. Coptic Texts from Deir El-Bala'izah in Upper Egypt I, 254-255. London: Oxford University Press.

• Meyer, Marvin W. and Richard Smith. 1994. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, 83-90. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco.

• Pernigotti, Sergio. 1995. "La magia copta: i testi." In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.18.5, edited by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 3685-3730 [esp. 3715-3717]. Berlin & New York: DeGruyter.

Authors
Mary Jane Cuyler, Victor Ghica, 2020
Suggested citation
Mary Jane Cuyler, Victor Ghica, 2020, "Artefact ID 22", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/22
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