4care-artefacts – 4care

4CARE-ARTEFACTS

ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS

Artefact ID	1644
TM ID	TM 33649
Findspot (DEChriM ID)	28 (al-Bahnasā)
Class	Textual
Material	Papyrus
Writing medium	Sheet/roll
Text content	Documentary
Language	Greek
Description	P.Oxy. XII 1494, P.Oxy. 12 1494: Letter from Boethus son of Achillion The beginning of the letter (14.4 x 9.7 cm) is broken off, the original length of which is unclear. Explaining that he must go to Iseion Panga, hoping to sell something, the writer includes οὕτως θεοῦ θέλοντος (line 3) and other Christian phrasing to ask for the recipients’ blessing of the journey. Boethus sends greetings to τοὺς γλυκυτάτους μου ἀδελφούς (line 9-10), Dionysodora and her slave Achillis, τὴν ἀδελφὴν μου Makaria and Romana. He ends by informing the recipient that he will buy olives and mentions the price per jar (3 talents). The verso contains the address and two lines written in a different hand, probably unrelated to the letter.
Selection criteria	Christian terms/formulas/concepts
Date from	300
Date to	325
Dating criteria	Palaeography; the ed.pr. remarks on the high price of olives, dating it to Diocletian’s reign or later. Dated 28 Thoth. The ed.pr. also considered this letter (alongside P.Oxy. XII 1492, 1493 and 1592) to be among the oldest Christian documents from Egypt.
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	Sydney, Macquarie University 614

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Editio princeps
• Grenfell, Bernard P. and Arthur S. Hunt. 1916. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Part XII (P. Oxy. XII). London: Egypt Exploration Fund. 251-252, No. 1494.

Additional bibliography
• 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. 145-149, No. 18.
• Kruit, Nico and Klaas Worp. 2000. “Geographical Jar Names: Towards a Multi-Disciplinary Approach.” Archiv für Papyrusforschung (AfP) 46. 65-146: 110n113. [Regarding l. 16]
• Tibiletti, Giuseppe. 1979. Le lettere private nei papiri greci del III e IV secolo d.C. Tra paganesimo e cristianesimo. Milano: Vita e Pensiero. 21.

Authors

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023

Suggested citation

Victoria G. D. Landau, 2023, "Artefact ID 1644", 4CARE database - Fourth-Century Christian Archaeological Record of Egypt, https://4care-skos.mf.no/artefacts/1644

Json data

External links

TM 33649 DDbDP (PN) HGV atla Digital Library

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