| Artefact ID | 42 |
| TM ID | TM 107779 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 41 (Kūm Awšīm) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Codex |
| Text content | Literary |
| Language | Coptic |
| Description | Browne 1979: 2-8. Fragmentary leaf from a papyrus codex containing Job 30:21-25 (recto) and 30:26-30 (verso) in a northern variety of Coptic. The dialectal categorisation of the fragment has been the subject of several discussions. For R. Kasser, P.Mich. Inv. 5421 constitutes the unique witness of the "karanite" mesodialect K (Kasser and Satzinger 1982; Kasser 2006: 418), a dialectal group between dialects B (dominant) and V (Fayyumic without lambdacism) (Kasser and Satzinger 1982: 18-19), while W.-P. Funk sees in it essentially Bohairic with Mesokemic features (Funk 1980). P. Van Minnenʼs label "early Sahidic" is baseless (Van Minnen 1994: 72). |
| Selection criteria | Literary genre (Biblical), Coptic language |
| Date from | 300 |
| Date to | 450 |
| Dating criteria | Dated 4/5th c. in ed.pr.: "Both codex typology and individual letter forms place the text early", probably in the 4th c. The absence of dialectal standardisation supports a date in the 4th c. According to Van Minnen 1994, the archaeological context could even suggest a date in late 3rd c. |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | Karanis, Excavations, House B168 [28-B168L-B]. The fragment was discovered during the 1928/1929 excavation season at Karanis, in the structure B168, in association with documents dated in the 3rd or 4th c. (see for instance SB XIV 11458). According to the stratigraphic data, it should be from the end of the 3rd or the 4th c. (Fournet 2019: 7n8, after van Minnen 1994: 72). Nevertheless, whether it was found in a sealed context remains an open question (see discussion in Nongbri 2018). |
| Accession number | Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library P. 5421 [P.Mich. Inv. 5421] |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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