| Artefact ID | 220 |
| TM ID | TM 16855 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 55 (Qarāra) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek |
| Archive/Dossier | Archive |
| Description | P.Lond. VI 1917: Letter to Apa Paieous. The letter is addressed by Horion to the head of the Melitian community in Hathor, Apa Paieous, to ask for prayers and forgiveness. Horion seems to have fallen in some disgrace after a "diabolical transgression" and there was an agreement as to his being handed over to Apa Sourous as a punitive measure. He is appealing to Apa Paieous for the benefit of his prayers and for the circulation of the prayers throughout the monastery (κατὰ μονὴν), in the immediate neighbourhood and "upper regions", probably in the Thebaid. The editor notes that this letter is of rather unusual interest, not so much for its subject-matter, as for its spelling and extraordinary style of verbosity and emptiness, not common even in texts of the Byzantine period.
Hand: semi-cursive, letter hand with many detached letters; Nomina sacra written in full (against the standard contraction), with two short supralinear strokes in most cases. Great width of single-column format, about 46 cm (see Bagnall 2018: 97). Recto written along the fibres, verso blank. |
| Selection criteria | Mention of Christian cult officials/institutions, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Nomina sacra |
| Date from | 330 |
| Date to | 340 |
| Dating criteria | Range of Apa Paieous archive |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | Purchased with a lot comprising Papyri 2486-2542 from Maurice Nahman (b. 1868, d. 1948) in September 1922 (left half) and 1923 (right half). |
| Accession number | London, British Library Pap 2489 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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