4care-artefacts – 4care

4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID	1540
TM ID	TM 21346
Findspot (DEChriM ID)	76 (Kūm al-Ḫarāba al-Kabīr Ğirza)
Class	Textual
Material	Papyrus
Writing medium	Sheet/roll
Text content	Documentary
Language	Greek
Archive/Dossier	Archive
Description	P. Mich. 3 216; SB 3 7248: Letter from Paniskos to his wife and daughter Two fragments (9.5 x 3.5 cm) of a letter from Paniskos to his wife Ploutogenia, asking her once again to join him or to at least answer his letters. He further asks her to bring him his armour, and sends greetings to his daughter, mother-in-law and further loved ones. At the start, he prays παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ for the health of his wife and daughter. Choat 2006 outlines how the use of this formula over multiple of Paniskos’ letters must not necessarily indicate his adherence to Christianity; he prays παρὰ τοῖς θεοῖς πᾶσι in P. Mich. 3 214. 28 lines of the letter remain on the recto, the break between the two fragments contained ~1-2 lines. A postscript appears after line 26; the papyrus is broken off at the bottom. The verso features the address.
Selection criteria	Christian terms/formulas/concepts
Date from	250
Date to	350
Dating criteria	Archival context. Dated Pauni 22nd in line 32. The reference edition places the letter chronologically after P. Mich. 3 214 and 215, dating it to 296 CE; see Schwartz 1968 and Thomas 1976 for more on the dating. Rowlandson 1998 dates it to 16.06.297 (?).
Absolute/relative date	Relative date
Archaeological context	Found in Ğirza (modern Philadelphia in the Fayyūm). Purchased by University of Michigan in 1923. Part of the family archive of Paniskos with Ploutogenia, his wife, and Aion, his brother, as well as of Ploutogenia with her mother Heliodora (P. Mich. 3 214-221). Paniskos wrote his letters from Koptos.
Accession number	Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library P. 1365

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reference edition
• Winter, John Garrett. 1936. Michigan Papyri, Vol. III. Papyri in the University of Michigan Collection. Miscellaneous Papyri, edited by John Garrett Winter. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 281-284, No. 216.

Editio princeps
• Winter, John Garrett. 1927. “The Family Letters of Paniskos.” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (JEA) 13. 59-74: 63-66, No. 2.

Additional bibliography
• Bilabel, Friedrich. 1927. Sammelband Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten. Dritter Band. Zweite Hälfte. Urkunden Nr. 6001 bis 7269. Berlin/Leipzig: De Gruyter. 257: No. 7248.
• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri. Studia Antiqua Australiensia 1. Turnhout: Brepols. 109-112.
• Heilporn, Paul. 2012. “Des nouvelles de Paniskos.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists (BASP) 49. 119-138: 138, No. 4. [On the postscriptum]
• Naldini, Mario. 1968. Il Cristianesimo in Egitto. Lettere private nei papiri dei secoli II-IV. Firenze: Le Monnier. 110-114, No. 14.
• Rowlandson, Jane. 1998. Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt. A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 149, No. 112.
• Schwartz, Jacques. 1968. “Autour du dossier de Paniskos (P. Mich. 214-221).” Aegyptus 48: 110–115.
• Thomas, John David. 1976. “The Date of the Revolt of L. Domitius Domitianus.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE) 22. 253–279: 266-267.
• Zilliacus, Henrik. 1943. Zur Sprache griechischer Familienbriefe des III. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. (P. Michigan 214-221). Societas Scientiarum Fennica. Commentationes Humanarum litterarum 13(3). Helsinki: Helsingfors. 15-17, No. 2.

Authors

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023

Suggested citation

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1540", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1540

Json data

External links

TM 21346 DDbDP (PN) University of Michigan (APIS UM) HGV PapPal

Gallery