| Artefact ID | 453 |
| TM ID | TM 33317 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 12 (Ismant al-Ḫarāb) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek |
| Description | P.Kellis I 63: Manichean letter. Letter sent by someone whose name is lost to Pausanias and Pisistratos, with greetings in God, apparently replying to their request for a letter of recommendation and confirming receipt of a few commodities. The editor notes the elegant phrasings which are quite uncommon in ordinary Greek private letters and quotes I. Gardner comments about this exceptional letter: "The Manichaean beliefs held by the letter's author, and presumably shared by Pausanias and Pisistratos, are made evident by the reference to 'our lord the Paraclete' (l. 27-28). Mani claimed to have been the recipient of direct revelation from his divine Twin-Spirit, which being was understood to have been the 'Paraclete' foretold by Jesus (Jn. 14:16); and with whom Mani became 'one body and one spirit' (Kephalaia 15.23-24). This reference here in 63, and two amongst the Coptic personal letters (P.Kellis.Copt. I 19, line 9, and P.KellisCopt. I 35, line 27), answers a long-running discussion among scholars as to whether the community directly identified their founder with the Paraclete (in catholic Christianity identified as the Holy Spirit), or otherwise in some sense held the divine and human apart. It would seem that, at this popular level at least, the identification became complete. Once the Manichaean authorship is noted various other distinctive features in the letter's terminology can also be understood with reference to the community's doctrine". The text was written parallel with the fibres on both sides of the sheet, with a postscript in the recto left margin, and address on the verso. |
| Selection criteria | Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Archaeological context associated with Christian markers |
| Date from | 300 |
| Date to | 349 |
| Dating criteria | Palaeography ("somewhere in the first part of the 4th c.") and prosopography: the Pausanias here is likely to be the same as the one in P.Kellis 4 (331, from House 2) and P.Kellis 38 (333, also from House 3). |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | House 3, room 6, level 4, South wall |
| Accession number | Kellis, excavations Dakleh Oasis Project 1986-, inv. P. 87 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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