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ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID1631
TM IDTM 33683
Findspot (DEChriM ID)28   (al-Bahnasā)
ClassTextual
MaterialPapyrus
Writing mediumSheet/roll
Text contentDocumentary
LanguageGreek
Description

P.Oxy. LXIII 4365, P.Oxy. 63 4365: Letter about the lending of Christian books 
In this very short letter (11.5 x 8 cm), presumably between two women, the writer greets τῇ κυρίᾳ μου φιλτάτῃ ἀδελφῇ in the Lord (ἐν κ(υρί)ῳ χαιρειν, line 2). The addressee is urged to lend the writer her copy of Ezra (Ἐσδραν, line 3), since she had previously herself lent the recipient “the little Genesis” (τὴν λεπτὴν Γένεσις, line 4-5). The letter ends with a greeting ἐν θ(ε)ῷ. No names are written, leading the ed.pr. to speculate a dating before 325 CE, when anonymity might have been preferable in the Christian community. The verso, a petition written first (~late 3rd c.), was cut to size and turned by 90 degrees for this letter. The subscription on the petition, of a Aurelia Soteira alias Hesychium, might match the handwriting of the letter. Nomina sacra: κω

Selection criteriaChristian terms/formulas/concepts, Nomina sacra
Date from300
Date to399
Dating criteria

Palaeography, context of the verso

Absolute/relative dateRelative date
Archaeological context

Found in al-Bahnasā (Oxyrhynchos) during the excavations of Bernard Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt between 1896 and 1907.

Accession number

Oxford, Sackler Library, Papyrology Rooms 69/56(b) Vo

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Rea, John R. 1996. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Part LXIII (P. Oxy. LXIII). London: Egypt Exploration Society. 44-45, No. 4365.

Additional bibliography
• Epp, Eldon Jay. 2004. "The Oxyrhynchus New Testament Papyri: ‘Not without Honor Except in Their Hometown’?" Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL) 123(1). 5-55: 21-34.
• Epp, Eldon Jay. 2005. "The Oxyrhynchus New Testament Papyri: ‘Not without Honor Except in Their Hometown’?" In Perspectives on New Testament Textual Criticism. Collected Essays, 1962–2004. Supplements to Novum Testamentum. Volume 116. Leiden/Boston: Brill. 743-801: 761-777.
• Franklin, Simon. 1998. “A Note on the Pseudepigraphal Allusion in Oxyrhynchus Papyrus No. 4365.” Vetus Testamentum 48: 95-96.

• Hagedorn, Dieter. 1997 “Die ‘Kleine Genesis’ in P.Oxy. LXIII 4365.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE) 116: 147-148.
• Hilhorst, A. 2000. “Erwähnt P.Oxy. LXIII 4365 das Jubiläenbuch?” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE) 130: 192.
• Kraus, Thomas J. 2001. "Bücherleihe im 4. Jh. n.Chr.: P. Oxy. LXIII 4365 - ein Brief auf Papyrus und die gegenseitige Leihe von apokryph gewordener Literatur." In Biblos: österreichische Zeitschrift für Buch- und Bibliothekswesen, Dokumentation, Bibliographie und Bibliophilie 50. Wien: Phoibos. 285-296.
• Kraus, Thomas J. 2007. "The Lending of Books in the Fourth Century C.E. P.Oxy. LXIII 4365—A Letter on Papyrus and the Reciprocal Lending of Literature Having Become Apocryphal." in Ad Fontes. Original Manuscripts and Their Significance for Studying Early Christianity—Selected Essays. Texts and Editions for New Testament Study. Volume 3. Leiden/Boston: Brill. 185-206.
• Luijendijk, AnneMarie. 2008. Greetings in the Lord. Early Christians and the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 70-74.
• Otranto, Rosa. 1997. “’Alia tempora, alii libri’. Notizie ed elenchi di libri cristiani su papiro.” Aegyptus 77. 101-124: 101, 106-108, No. 2.
• Otranto, Rosa. 2000. “’Alia tempora, alii libri’. Notizie ed elenchi di libri cristiani su papiro.” In Antiche liste di libri su papiro. 123-144: 128-129, No. 2.
• Rowlandson, Jane. 1998. Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt. A Sourcebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 78, No. 59.

Authors
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023
Suggested citation
Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1631", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1631
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