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KYPRIANOS M151

Sigla: question mark icon Modern names for the manuscript, including inventory and publication numbers.

PGM V
P. Lond. 46
Anastasi 4 (1839)
London, British Library Pap 46

Category: question mark icon Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical.

Magical (formulary)
Contents:

1. pp. 1-2, ll. 40-52: The Oracle of Sarapis (divination)
2. p. 2, ll. 53-69: Formula for direct vision (divination)
3. pp. 2-3, ll. 76-95: Thief-catching procedure
4. pp. 3-5, ll. 96-172: The Stele of Ieu, invocation to subdue demons (protection/exorcism)
5. pp. 5-6, ll. 173-201: Invocation of Hermes to catch a thief
6. pp. 6-9, ll. 202-303: Ring of Hermes (to achieve knowledge of the thoughts of others)
7. pp. 9-11, ll. 304-369: Binding procedure (curse)
8. pp. 11-13, ll. 370-439: Dream oracle of Hermes (divination)
9. p. 13, ll. 440-458: Dream oracle of Sarapis (divination)
10. pp. 13-14, ll. 459-469: Invocation of Zeus-Sarapis
See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

Greek
Script(s):

Greek
Dialect:
Language/dialect notes:
Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 301 – 400
Date notes:

GEMF; Preisendanz (1928: p. 180); TM (14/7/2020)
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs. KYP A1
Archive name: Theban Magical Library
State of edition:

Published. New edition in progress by Korshi Dosoo as part of the GEMF project.
Image: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=papyrus_46_f001r#

Form:

Codex
Material:

Papyrus
Dimensions (cm): Height: 28.4 Width: 12.3 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

GEMF (forthcoming).
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Complete with some damage, broken in the middle. Two (probably blank) pages missing at the end.
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

16
Pages/Columns (notes):

Single-quire codex, 16 original pages, 489 lines. 14 pages written, 2 presumably blank pages lost at the end. Column width from GEMF (forthcoming).
Hand:

Uncial

Findspot:

Dios Polis, Thebes, Egypt (?)

(TM places ID: 576)
Place of purchase:

Dios Polis, Thebes, Egypt

(TM places ID: 576)
Writingspot:

Dios Polis, Thebes, Egypt (?)

(TM places ID: 576)
Present Location:

London, British Library
Collection History:

Purchased by the British Museum in 1839 as part of a a lot sold by Jean d’Anastasy, consul-general of Sweden and Norway. It is no. 46 in the catalogue of the sale (British Museum, Department of
Ancient Egypt and Sudan: AES Ar.246), and was ascribed “Thebes” as provenance (Dosoo 2016: p. 253, 256 et passim.
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 192
Collection website: http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Papyrus_46

Notes/Discussion:

Bibiliography
Editions:

Preisendanz, Karl. Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri. Vol 1. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1928, p. 180-199, no. 5.

Preisendanz, Karl. Papyri Graecae Magicae. Die griechischen Zauberpapyri. Vol. 2 Stuttgart: Teubner, 1931 (2nd ed), p. 249, Hymne 15.

Goodwin, Charles W. Fragment of a Graeco-Egyptian Work upon Magic: From a Papyrus in the British Museum. Cambridge: Antiquarian Society, 1852.

Philonenko, Marc. “Une prière magique au dieu créateur.” Comptes rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (1985): 433-452.

Wessely, Carl. “Griechische Zauberpapyrus von Paris und London.” Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 36 (1888): 127-139.
Translations:

Betz, Hans D. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Spells. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992, p. 101-110, no. 5.
General:

Dosoo, Korshi. “A History of the Theban Magical Library.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 53 (2016): 251-274.

Kenyon, Frederic G. Greek Papyri in the British Museum. Vol. 1. London: British Museum, 1893, p. 64-81, no. 46.

Trismegistos ID:

64368

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae

5

 SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) 58 ACM: question mark icon Ancient Christian Magic
Bélanger Sarrazin: question mark icon Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes” AKZ: question mark icon Ausgewählte koptische Zaubertexte CBd: question mark icon Campbell-Bonner Magical Gems Database Mert.-Pack: question mark icon Mertens-Pack online database

01866.000
Van H: question mark icon van Haelst, Catalogue des papyrus littéraires Bruyn-Dijkstra: question mark icon de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)" TheDefix: question mark icon Thesaurus Defixionum To Zodion:
Edit History:

MPS (26/11/2018); ST (14/7/2020); KD (15/7/2020); KD (11/9/2020)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M151," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m151. Accessed on 07/12/2025

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