Artefact ID | 555 |
TM ID | TM 64534 |
Findspot (DEChriM ID) | 28 (al-Bahnasā) | Class | Textual |
Material | Papyrus |
Writing medium | Sheet/roll |
Text content | Subliterary |
Language | Greek |
Description | Suppl.Mag. I 22; Mertens-Pack 06028.000; P.Amst. I 26; SB X 10762: Amulet The fragment (5.7 x 9.7 cm in ed. pr.; 9.8 x 5.9 in ref. ed.) preserves 5 lines on the recto, and the verso is left blank. The edges are neatly cut. It was previously believed to be a palimpsest (see ed. pr.), but more recent studies suggest that the traces of ink resulted from a folding of the fragment, and not from the intentional effacing and reuse of another text. The text is an amulet containing an incantation to heal and protect Eremega, the child of Anilla. The incantation specifies protection from diseases, headaches and two types of fever. The text clearly belongs to a Christian context, and contains an invocation of Christ as well as three diagrams (crosses with alpha-omega on the sides) resembling staurograms with open rhos in the first line of the fragment. On the phaenomenon of "open-rho" staurograms, see Frantz 1929: 10-26. The name of the child, Έρεμέγα "Eremega", is peculiar, and is not attested in papyrological onomastica. The ref. ed. suggests a misspelling of Ίερεμίαο or Έρμείαο. A post-concordance BL entry has been made; see BL IX: 269. There are 4 horizontal folding lines visible on the fragment, as well as several vertical indications, and the fragment appears to have been folded and/or rolled. Above the recto (where the text is written along the fibres) there is a kollesis to a sheet (approx. 1 cm tall) with vertical fibres. The ref. ed. notes that there are traces of a protokollon on the back of the lower sheet. |
Selection criteria | Christian terms/formulas/concepts, Christian symbols/gestures/isopsephy |
Date from | 300 |
Date to | 499 |
Dating criteria | Palaeography |
Absolute/relative date | Relative date |
Archaeological context | The provenance is probably Oxyrhynchus. |
Accession number | Vienna, Nationalbibliothek G 17983 |