| Artefact ID | 488 |
| TM ID | TM 86424 |
| Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 58 (Dayr al-ʿIẓām) | Class | Textual |
| Material | Papyrus |
| Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
| Text content | Documentary |
| Language | Greek, Coptic |
| Archive/Dossier | Archive |
| Description | SB Kopt. IV 1695 [P.Lond.Copt. I 1123] Left part of a letter from Apa Papsêouei the An[chorite] to Apa Jo[hannes] in Coptic (S with large L influences) with Greek address; assignment of text to Apa Johannes archive uncertain but probable. |
| Selection criteria | Mention of Christian individuals/communities, Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Coptic language |
| Date from | 375 |
| Date to | 400 |
| Dating criteria | Similarity of handwriting to P.Lond.Copt. I 1102 and other letters from Apa Johannes archive; possible connection to the archive of Apa Johannes. |
| Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
| Archaeological context | According to Constantine Zuckerman's reconstruction, the Apa-John-letters were presumably found in September 1897, during the excavations of Farag Ismael and Yassa Tadros on the mountain of Siout (Lykopolis), in the ruins of the Dayr al-ʿIẓām, the presumed site of the monastery of John of Lycopolis. (Note, however, that the German team prefers the Asyūṭ tombs II–IV to have been John's abode, as was definitely later venerated there; see Kahl 2014; 2015; Eichner 2020: 5–10; the Dayr is ca. 300m away as the crow flies on the desert plateau from the group of tombs, see Eichner 2020: 11-38.) However, they never reached the museum in Gizeh – like the other objects unearthed during these excavations – and must have ended on the market, where they were bought soon after the excavations (Zuckerman 1995: 191-192; Van Minnen 1994: 80-82; Gonis 2008: 69-72). Although not proven, this attractive hypothesis is generally accepted by scholars (see discussion in Van der Vliet 2015: 166-167 and Fournet 2020: 13 note 39, and some reservations in Choat 2017: 37-40). |
| Accession number | London, British Library Or. 6094 |
ARTEFACT IDENTIFIERS
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