4care-artefacts – 4care

4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID	1638
TM ID	TM 33344
Findspot (DEChriM ID)	28 (al-Bahnasā)
Class	Textual
Material	Papyrus
Writing medium	Sheet/roll
Text content	Documentary
Language	Greek
Description	P.Oxy. VI 939, P.Oxy. 6 939, Chrest. Wilck. 128: Letter from Demetrios to Flavianos This letter (25.3 x 17.6 cm) from a servant to the master of the house relays news of the sickness his lady has been enduring. He had previously already written a more urgent letter, but her condition has now improved and she awaits her husband’s return. The first 17 lines are missing their beginnings, but the content is not significantly impacted by this. The way Demetrios thanks [τοῦ δεσπό]του θεοῦ (line 4) for having heard their prayers has been considered reminiscent of Titus 2:11, as well as when he stresses the mercy of god (line 7), which may recall Hebrews 8:12. Demetrios’ son Athanasios is mentioned in line 22. The valediction “master of the universe”, διὰ παντὸς τῷ τῶν ὅλων δεσπότῃ (line 28/29-30), is usually not encountered in papyri but in Christian literary texts. A Ploutarchos and a Euphrosynos are mentioned.
Selection criteria	Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Christian onomastics
Date from	300
Date to	399
Dating criteria	Palaeography; Blumell/Wayment 2018 notes similarities to PSI IV 311 (~330 CE).
Absolute/relative date	Relative date
Archaeological context	Found in al-Bahnasā (Oxyrhynchos) during the excavations of Bernard Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt between 1896 and 1907.
Accession number	Cambridge, University Library Add. Ms. 5887

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Grenfell, Berhard P. and Arthur S. Hunt. 1908. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. VI (P. Oxy. VI). London: Egypt Exploration Fund. 307-309, No. 939.

Additional bibliography
• Blumell, Lincoln H. and Thomas A. Wayment. 2015. Christian Oxyrhynchus: Texts, Documents and Sources. Waco TX: Baylor University Press. 550-555, No. 147.
• Choat, Malcolm. 2006. Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri. Studia Antiqua Australiensia 1. Turnhout: Brepols. 166.
• Döllstädt, Walter. 1934. Griechische Papyrusprivatbriefe in gebildeter Sprache aus den ersten vier Jahrhunderten nach Christus. [Diss. Jena]. Borna-Leipzig: Noske. 58-59, No. 5.
• Ghedini, Giuseppe. 1923. Lettere Cristiane dai Papiri Greci del III e IV Secolo. Milano: Presso l'amministrazione di Aegyptus e la società editrice Vita e Pensiero. 229-234, No. 35.
• Hunt, Arthur S. and Campbell C. Edgar. 1932/1952. Select Papyri. In Five Volumes. I. Non-Literary Papyri. Private Affairs. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 384-387, No. 163.
• Mitteis, Ludwig and Ulrich Wilcken. 1912. Grundzüge und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde. Erster Band: Historischer Teil. Zweite Hälfte: Chrestomathie. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung. 155-156, No. 128.
• Naldini, Mario. 1968. Il Cristianesimo in Egitto. Lettere private nei papiri dei secoli II-IV. Firenze: Le Monnier. 256-259, No. 61.
• Schubart, Wilhelm. 1912. Ein Jahrtausend am Nil. Briefe aus dem Altertum verdeutscht und erklärt. Mit 7 Lichtdrucktafel und 57 Textabbildungen. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung. 105-106, No. 89.
• Winter, John Garrett. 1933. Life and Letters in the Papyri. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 93-94.

Authors

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023

Suggested citation

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1638", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1638

Json data

External links

TM 33344 DDbDP (PN) HGV

Gallery