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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID110
TM IDTM 85723
Findspot (DEChriM ID)12   (Ismant al-Ḫarāb)
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageCoptic
Archive/DossierDossier
Description

P.KellisCopt. I 22 [P.Kellis V 22]

Fragmentary personal letter from Makarios to his siblings Psempnouthes, Kyria and Maria, acknowledging the receipt of a cushion and oil, although other promised commodities ordered did not reach him. Makarios goes on to admonish other persons for their lack of sending promised goods. He also mentions some moral precepts of the community ("we are not retaliating against anyone … for what they do against us") and, more importantly, a book (perhaps liturgical; Dubois 2010: 209) that was stolen. In a difficult situation and far from Kellis, Makarios mentions that his arrival to Egypt (i.e., the Nile Valley) was delayed. While the whole letter suggests a difficult context, possibly outright persecution, it describes in unambiguous terms Makarios' son as persecuted (efxNoudiwgmos; l. 73).

85 lines in Coptic (L) on both sides, Greek address on verso, and Greek formulae.

Selection criteriaMention of Christian individuals/communities, Coptic language
Date from350
Date to360
Dating criteria

Archaeological context, dossier connection (Makarios family letters)

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

House 3, room 6, deposit 4 south-east corner

Accession number

P.KellisCopt. I 22

Inv.-Nr. P85C

current location unknown, probably excavation or SCA store rooms

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps

• Gardner, Iain, Anthony Alcock, and Wolf-Peter Funk. 1999. Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis I P. Kell. V (P. Kell. Copt. 10–52; O. Kell. Copt. 1–2), Dakhleh Oasis Project: Monograph 9. Oxford: Oxbow Books. 174-181 & pl. 15 (and page opposite).

Additional bibliography

• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri, Studia Antiqua Australiensia 1. Turnhout: Brepols.

• Dubois, Jean-Daniel. 2010. "Vivre dans la communauté manichéenne de Kellis: une lettre de Makarios, le papyrus Kell. Copt. 22." In Pensée grecque et sagesse d'Orient. Hommage à Michel Tardieu, edited by M.A. Amir-Moezzi, J.-D. Dubois, C. Jullien and F. Jullien, Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Sciences Religieuses 142. Turnhout: Brepols. 203-210.

• Shisha-Halevy, Ariel. 2002. "An Emerging New Dialect of Coptic." Orientalia NS 71: 304 (grammatical observations).

Authors
Matthias Müller, Victor Ghica, 2020, 2023
Suggested citation
Matthias Müller, Victor Ghica, 2020, 2023, "Artefact ID 110", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/110
External links
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