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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1566
TM IDTM 15619
Findspot (DEChriM ID)-   ()
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Archive/DossierArchive
Description

P. Charite 40: Letter to or from Charite (?) 
The papyrus sheet (10.5 x 6.2 cm) contains 14 lines of text, and has been attributed as belonging to the archive of Aurelia Charite, daughter of Amazonios. It is unclear whether this letter was written by Charite or addressed to her, or if the Χαριτη mentioned in line 2 can even be identified as the known Charite. Line 5 mentions the village Sinarchebis in the Hermopolites. The verso is blank save for some ink marks. Nobbs 2006 focuses on the term κοιμητήριον in line 10, and its evolution into the meaning of «burial chamber» in a Christian context, see P. Neph. 12 and 36. Further, Charite’s husband Adelphios has been theorized to have been Christian.

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts
Date from325
Date to350
Dating criteria

Find context; other papyri in the Archive of Aurelia Charite have absolute dates.

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Unclear provenance; part of the Archive of Aurelia Charite (TM ID 28), containing 42 papyri dating to the first half of the 4th c., housed in the Vienna papyrus collection and at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Accession number

Vienna, Nationalbibliothek G 36707

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Worp, Klaas A. 1980. Das Aurelia Charite Archiv (P.Charite). Zutphen: Terra. 101-102, No. 40. Plate XXXIII.

Additional bibliography
• Nobbs, Alanna. 2006. “The ‘Koimeterion’ of P. Charite 40 – Christian Burial Practices in a Papyrological Context.” In ΚΑΛΑΘΟΣ. Studies in Honour of Asher Ovadiah, edited by Sonia Mucznik. Assaph 2005–2006. Studies in Art History. Vols. 10-11. Section B. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, Department of Art History. 77-85.

Authors
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023
Suggested citation
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1566", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1566
External links
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