KYP M128

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KYPRIANOS M128

Sigla:

Michigan Ms. 136
Mich. 136

Category: Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical.	Magical (formulary) Medical (recipes)
Contents:	1. p. 2 ll. 1-9 (ll. 1-9): Instructions for creation oil for anointing and a metal leaf – purpose unclear, presence of chi-rho (in Coptic) 2. p. 2 ll. 10-17 (ll. 10-17): Against gout (in Greek) 3. p. 2 l. 17-p. 3 l. 15 (ll. 17-34): Invocation of Isis for removing inflammation from a womb (in Greek, Worrell combines with last) 4. p. 3 ll. 15-19 (ll. 34-38): Prescription for a spleen (title in Greek, instructions and ingredients in Coptic) 5. p. 3 ll. 19-21 (ll. 38-40): Prescription for eyelids (in Coptic) 6. p. 4 ll. 1-9 (ll. 41-49): Prescription against chills (in Greek), citation of Iliad 3.33-35, and invocation of Gabriel 7. p. 4 ll. 10-12 (ll. 50-52): Invocation of Gabriel for healing, interpreted by Zellmann-Rohrer and Love as belonging to the preceding recipe (although it begins on a new line, and there is a mid-dot at the end of the previous; involves tying knots) (in Greek) 8. p. 4 ll. 13-15 (ll. 53-55): Prescription for a child’s toothache (in Coptic) 9. p. 4 ll. 16-19: (ll. 56-59): Prescription for swelling (in Coptic) 10. p. 5 l. 1-p. 6 l. 5 (ll. 6–84): Voice of Amun historiola-based charm to aid childbirth (in Coptic) 11. p. 6 l. 6-p. 7 l. 11 (l. 85-110): Cow of Amun historiola-based charm to aid milk production and suckling (in Coptic) 12. p. 7 ll. 11-15 (ll. 110-114): Charm to restrain blood (in Greek) 13. p. 7 l. 16-p. 8 l. 4 (ll. 115-123): Invocation of the sun and angels for favour (in Coptic) 14. p. 8 ll. 5-13 (ll. 124-132): Instructions for an amulet against stomach and head ache (in Greek) 15. p. 9 ll. 1-7-p. 10 ll. 7-11 (ll. 133-149 +156-160): Instructions for an amulet against dysuria, stela, characters and vowel formations (in Greek) 16. p. 10 ll. 1-6 (ll. 150-155): Prescription against sand in the urine (in Coptic) 17. p. 10 ll. 12-16 (ll. 161-165): For a woman whose womb hurts (in Coptic) 18. p. 10 ll. 16-19 (ll. 165-168): Against chronic uterine disorder (in Coptic) 19. p. 11 ll. 1-8 (ll. 169-175): For those sick in mind/afflicted by demons charactēres in stela, Christogram on top, characters (in Coptic) 20. p. 11 ll. 9-15 (ll. 176-182): To remove jatfe (vermin) from the house (in Coptic) 21. p. 12 ll. 1-4 (ll. 183-186): Against a skin disease (paishe) that sheds a crust (in Coptic) 22. p. 12 ll. 4-11 (ll. 186-193): Against skin sores on the face (in Coptic) 23. p. 12 ll. 12-13 (ll. 194-195): For someone with a disorder of the testicles ? (in Coptic) 24. p. 12 ll. 16-18 (ll. 195-198): For an eye disorder (rheum) (in Coptic) 25. p. 12 ll. 16-18 (ll. 198-200): For sores on the anus (in Coptic) 26. p. 12 ll. 18-20 (ll. 200-202): Against toothache (in Coptic) 27. p. 13 ll. 1-3 (ll. 203-205): Against earache (in Coptic) 28. p. 13 ll. 3-5 (ll. 205-207): Against constipation (in Coptic) 29. p. 13 ll. 5-8 (ll. 207-210): For a child crying (in Coptic) 30. p. 13 ll. 8-10 (ll. 210-212): Against something (vermin ?) in the house (in Coptic) 31. p. 13 ll. 10-18 (ll. 212-220): Recipe for preparation of a poultice (for wounds ?) (in Coptic) 32. p. 14 ll. 1-20 (ll. 221-240): For hip pain/disorder (in Coptic)
	See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):	Egyptian (Coptic) Greek
Script(s):	Coptic Greek
Dialect:	Sahidic
Language/dialect notes:	Worrell (1935: p. 17) suggests that the original from which this text was translated was in Greek, and that the text contains Old Coptic words. In reality, no such translation is clearly evident – it is equally likely that the Greek and Coptic texts were brought together from different sources (KD, 1/4/2019; EL 7/5/2020), and no Old Coptic is present (EL)
Date: Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE.	301 – 400
Date notes:	Zellmann-Rohrer & Love (2022); c.351 CE (Kahle 1954: p. 254); 501-600 CE (Worrell 1935: p. 17)
Archive/collection: Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:	Published; re-edition forthcoming by Zellmann-Rohrer & Love.
Image:

Form:	Codex
Material:	Parchment (vellum)

Dimensions (cm):

Height: 12.4

Width: 10.5

Depth:

Dimensions (notes):	Zellmann-Rohrer & Love (from autopsy, see fc.); 4 1/8″ x 4 7/8″ (Worrell 1935: p. 17).
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:	Complete, only cover and first page is missing.
Pages/Columns: Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.	16
Pages/Columns (notes):	8 leaves = 16 pages, of which the sheet constituting the cover and first page is missing: p. 2, 19 lines; p. 3, 21 lines; p. 4, 19 lines; p. 5, 20 lines; p. 6, 20 lines; p. 7, 20 lines; p. 8, 13 lines; p. 9, 17 lines; p. 10, 19 lines; p. 11, 15 lines; p. 11, 20 lines; p. 12, 20 lines; p. 13, 18 lines; p. 14, 20 lines (Zellmann-Rohrer & Love 2022)
Hand:	Hand 1 (§§1-14 + 15-16 ?); Hand 2 (§§17-30); Hand 3 (§§31-32)

Findspot:	Krokodilopolis (Medinet el-Fayum), Egypt (?) (TM places ID: 327)
Place of purchase:	Krokodilopolis (Medinet el-Fayum), Egypt (TM places ID: 327)
Writingspot:	Krokodilopolis (Medinet el-Fayuwm), Egypt (?) (TM places ID: 327)
Present Location:	Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library
Collection History:	Bought by Dr. David Askren in Medinat al-Fayyum between 1921 and 1927 (Worrell 1935: p. 1)
Trismegistos collection: Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript.	12
Collection website:

Notes/Discussion:

Bibiliography

Editions:	Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael and Love, Edward O. D. Traditions in Transmission: The Medical and Magical Texts of a Fourth-Century Greek and Coptic Codex (Michigan Ms. 136) in Context. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2022. Worrell, William H. “Coptic Magical and Medical Texts.” Orientalia, NOVA SERIES 4 (1935): 17–37.
Translations:	Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 83-90, no. 43. Pernigotti, Sergio. “La magia copta: I testi.” In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt, edited by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, II.18.5, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1995, p. 3715-3717, no. 21. Pernigotti, Sergio. Testi della magia copta. Imola: La Mandragora, 2000, no. 4.
General:	Love, Edward O.D. “Bilingualism and Mono-/Bigraphia at the Nexus of Magical Traditions: From Egyptian-Greek to Coptic-Arabic Magical Texts”, in Christians and Muslims in Early Islamic Egypt, edited by Lajos Berkes. Ann Arbor: American Society of Papyrologists, 2002, p. 181. van der Vliet, Jacques. “Varia magica coptica.” Aegyptus 71 1/2 (1991): 217–242. Kahle, Paul E. Bala’izah. Coptic Texts from Deir el-Bala’izah in Upper Egypt, vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press, 1954, p. 254.

Trismegistos ID:

92874

PAThs:

PGM: Papyri Gracae Magicae		SM: Supplementum Magicum	GEMF: Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming)	ACM: Ancient Christian Magic	43
Bélanger Sarrazin: Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes”	164	AKZ: Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte	CBd: Campbell-Bonner Magical Gems Database	Mert.-Pack: Mertens-Pack online database
Van H: van Haelst, Catalogue des papyrus littéraires		Bruyn-Dijkstra: de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)"	TheDefix: Thesaurus Defixionum	To Zodion:

Edit History:

MPS (13/9/2018) (merged with content previously created by KD); EL (20/9/2018); KD (1/4/2019); KD (14/20/2019); KD (17/2/2020); EL (1/9/2020); KD (17/10/2020); KD (21/3/2022); KD (6/4/2022)

How to cite:

Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M128," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m128. Accessed on 28/10/2025

How to cite:

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