| Archive name: | Oxyrhynchus Christian Amulet Dossier |
Trismegistos Archive ID: 
Page on the database Trismegistos Collections for the archive. |
|
| Date:
Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. |
301 – 400 |
| Provenance: | Oxyrhynchus (Bahanasa), Egypt |
| Trismegistos Place ID:
Page on the database Trismegistos Places for the place of provenance. |
|
| Manuscripts: | KYP M419 947 949 |
| Classification: | These manuscripts comprise a “dossier”, meaning they were produced by the same ancient copyist. All three manuscripts were found in situ by the Egypt Exploration Fund excavation of Oxyrhynchus, so they may also have been deposited in the same spot. |
| Description: | Three sheets containing applied amulets against fever for women. |
| Acquisition: | All three manuscripts were excavated in situ by the Egypt Exploration Fund, and subsequently donated to the Musées Royaux in Brussels (PGM Christian 5=M419) and the Oxford Sackler Library (P. Oxy. LXXXII 5306 + 5307=M947 +M949). |
| Dating: | All three manuscripts are palaeographically dated to the fourth century CE (Maltomini 2016: p. 76-77). |
| Language/dialect: | All three manuscripts are written in Greek. |
| Materiality/composition: | All three manuscripts are written on small papyrus sheets almost identical in width (7.6-8 cm), with slightly more variation in height (9-16.5 cm). All are folded to produce 5-6 vertical creases, with fewer folds producing horizontal creases (4-5). |
| Content: | All three manuscripts contain applied amulets offering healing/protection for three different women against fever. The powers invoked are largely Christian, including Jesus Christ, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, various angels, as well as figures from the Graeco-Egyptian magical tradition, such as Abrasax. All contain small diagrams at the bottom consisting in a cross surrounded by nomina sacra and alpha-omega. |
| Discussion: | |
| Bibliography: |
Maltomini, Franco. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Vol. 82. London: Egypt Exploration Society, 2016, p. 76-91, no. 5308. |
| Edit History: | KD (25/2/2021); KD (8/6/2022) |