| Artefact ID | 456 |
| TM ID | TM 33321 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 12 (Ismant al-Ḫarāb) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek, Syriac |
| Archive/Dossier | Dossier |
| Description | P.Kellis I 67: Letter to Theognostos Someone whose name is lost writes to his "beloved son" Theognostos, sending "greetings in God" and inviting him to take heed about his sobriety. The main text of the letter is lost before the final salutations. A second hand wrote a postscript asking Theognostos to send a "nicely executed ten-page notebook" for his brother Ision, "for he has become a user of Greek and a Syriac reader". On the back of the letter, the address, in Syriac, has the name read 'Lysimachos' (replacing the previous readings 'Pekysis' and 'Loui Shai'). I. Gardner recognizes here the Apa Lysimachos who appears as "a central but enigmatic figure in the 'Makarios family letters' from House Three at Kellis" (published as P.Kellis V, see e.g. P.Kellis V 19), perhaps "a member of the Manichaean elect with a position of authority for the Kellis group of believers" who was in the Nile Valley, maybe Antinoopolis (Gardner 2007: 224). As for Ision, he suggests that he would have become a reader of Syriac texts in Manichaean church and that his activities as "reader" might imply translating Mani's scriptures, originally written in Syriac. The Syriac-Coptic glossaries (T.KellisSyr.Copt. 1 and T.KellisSyr.Copt. 2) found at Ismant el-Kharab evidence a continuing awareness of the Syriac origins of the community's literature (Gardner 2007: 227). |
| Selection criteria | Mention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Christian onomastics |
| Date from | 350 |
| Date to | 375 |
| Dating criteria | Dossier connection (Makarios family letters) |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | House 3, room 10, level 3 |
| Accession number | Kellis, excavations Dakleh Oasis Project 1986-, inv. P. 17.D+N+EE (previously referred to as P.Kellis 63). |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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