| Artefact ID | 1365 |
| TM ID | TM 23522 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 72 (Ǧazīrat Aswān) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek |
| Description | Pap.Eleph.Eng. D18; M.Chr. 361; P.Oxy. IV, p. 202: Manumission Complete sheet of papyrus of large format (H. 24.5 x W. 53 cm) conserving a legal act of manumission written in Elephantine: Aur. Terouterou, acting through her husband, Aur. Dorotheos, as guardian, emancipates her inherited share of the slave family, Aur. Sarapammon, Tkales, and her daughter Aur. Lousias, not in return for any monetary compensation, but simply as an act of piety in exchange for their affectionate service. She modifies the pagan emancipation formulary from "Zeus, Earth, and Helios" to "earth and sky" (ὑπὸ Γῆν καὶ Οὐρανὸν) and invokes the "all-merciful God" (κατʼ εὐσεβίαν τ[ο]ῦ πανελεήμονος Θεοῦ), an epithet that becomes well known in later Christian epistolary documents. She forestalls any possible challenge on the part of her heirs to her "act of piety," though imposing no penalty for attempted violation.
In its content and its display of mixed religious references, this document is to be compared to P.Kellis I 48 (ID450), dated to the same year, 355.
Recto: the writing runs along the fibres. Verso is blank. |
| Selection criteria | Christian terms/formulas/concepts |
| Date from | 355 |
| Date to | 355 |
| Dating criteria | Dated in the [post-]consulate of Constantius VII Caesar III, Tybi 17 of the 13th indiction = January 12, 355 (see Bagnall and Worp 1978 = BL IX 123). |
| Absolute/relative date | Absolute date |
| Archaeological context | Acquired in Egypt by Sir Archibald Edmondstone, Bart., in 1819. |
| Accession number | Paris, anonymous private collection since 1973 (previously Private collection Edmondstone). |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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