Artefact ID | 1121 |
TM ID | TM 32905 |
Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 28 (al-Bahnasā) | Class | Textual |
Material | Papyrus |
Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
Text content | Documentary |
Language | Greek |
Description | P.Hamb. 4 267; P.Ross. Georg. 3 6: Business letter. Letter in two halves (reunited in P.Hamb. IV 267) still lacking upper and bottom parts. The body is dealing with business matters and mentions the shipment of money in some vessels along with the letter thanks to Timotheos and Theon, "sailors of the church" (nautai ekklesias). Other sailors of the church in 4th c. papyri in P.Oxy. XXXIV 2729 and P.Münch. III 99. The handwriting is an upright cursive running along the fibres. On the back: instruction for the delivery (semasia) of the letter to Ptolemaios from Hermeios. |
Selection criteria | Mention of Christian cult officials/institutions |
Date from | 336 |
Date to | 348 |
Dating criteria | Palaeography; monetary content and comparison with P.Oxy. XXXIV 2729. |
Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
Archaeological context | P.Ross. Georg. 3 6: Part of the private collection of Grigol Zereteli, which derived from three sources: Egyptologist Boris A. Turaev’s purchases in Cairo in 1909 (Turaev was married to Zereteli’s sister Elena); ancient historian Mikhail I. Rostovtzeff’s purchases in Egypt in 1907; and Egyptologist Vladimir Golenishchev, who gifted part of his collection to Zereteli and Turaev before selling it to the Pushkin Museum in 1909–1912 (see Chepel 2018). |
Accession number | Hamburg, Bibliothek gr. 159 + Tbilisi, Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, No. 243 |