4care-artefacts – 4care

4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID	1532
TM ID	TM 64280
Findspot (DEChriM ID)	- ()
Class	Textual
Material	Papyrus
Writing medium	Sheet/roll
Text content	Subliterary
Language	Greek
Description	P. Bon. 1 9; van Haelst 893: Amulet to Mary The recto of this possible amulet (5 x 5.6 cm) still contains 8 lines written in red ink, missing its top part. Oftne considered blank, the verso features, however, a simple cross, drawn in black ink. The recto offers the conclusion of a prayer, mentioning the Virgin Mary, “saint Longinus, the centurion”, the holy Trinity and ending with a triple “amen”. Since the centurion Longinus, honored by Christians in the East, is often confused with or identified as the soldier Longinus, patron saint against eye illnesses, the fragment may have served as an amulet against eyesores.
Selection criteria	Mention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Christian onomastics
Date from	200
Date to	499
Dating criteria	Palaeography; the ed.pr. assumes 4th–5th c., Vogliano 1948 3rd–4th c. Due to the formula θεοτόκος καὶ ἀειπάρθενος used to describe the Virgin Mary in lines 2–3, Halkin 1954 points out a potential dating after the Council of Ephesus in 431.
Absolute/relative date	Relative date
Archaeological context	Unknown; the Bologna collection was purchased in Florence in fall 1930 by the Sopraintendenza Bibliografica della Toscana and arrived in Bologna in November 1930, where the papyrus was put under glass.
Accession number	Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria P. 5 c

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference edition
• Montevecchi, Orsolina. 1953. Papyri Bononienses. Vol. 1. Milano: Vita e Pensiero. 31-32, No. 9.

Editio princeps
• Vogliano, Achille. 1948. “Papiri Bolognesi. – Communicazione.” Annali della Facoltà di Filosofiae Lettere dell’Università Statale di Milano (Acme) 1. 195-231: 229, No. 4.

Additional bibliography
• de Bruyn, Theodore S., and Jitse H.F. Dijkstra. 2011. “Greek Amulets and Formularies from Egypt Containing Christian Elements: A Checklist of Papyri, Parchments, Ostraka, and Tablets.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists (BASP) 48: 163-216. No. 104, 198-199.
• de Bruyn, Theodore S. 2012. "Greek Amulets from Egypt Invoking Mary as Expressions of 'Lived Religion’." Journal of the Canadian Society of Coptic Studies 3-4. 55-69: 63, No. 4.
• Halkin, François. 1954. “Bulletin des Publications Hagiographiques.” Analecta Bollandiana (Anal. Bolland.) 72. 257-325: 307.
• Rowlandson, Jane. 1998. Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt. A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 71-72, No. 49.
• van Haelst, Joseph. 1976. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. 293-294, No. 893.

Authors

Victoria G. D. Landau, Victor Ghica, 2022, 2023

Suggested citation

Victoria G. D. Landau, Victor Ghica, 2022, 2023, "Artefact ID 1532", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1532

Json data

External links

TM 64280 / LDAB 5500 DCLP (PN) Kyprianos M1054 AMS Historica (AlmaDL Bologna)

Gallery