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KYPRIANOS M159

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

P. Holm & PGM Va
P. Holm Royal Dep. 45

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

Magical (formulary)
Alchemical (recipes)
Contents:

1. Loose leaf, Ro ll. 1-3 (PGM Va): Invocation for sustasis

Alchemical Codex:

2. p. 1, ll. 1-12: Manufacture of Silver
3. p. 1, ll. 12-20: Another (purification)
4. p. 1, ll. 21-27: Another (creation of silver)
5. p. 1, ll. 28-35: Purification of tin (creation of silver)
6. p. 1, ll. 36-39: Diplosis of Silver
7. p. 1, ll. 39-43: Another (diplosis of silver)
8. p. 2, ll. 44-63: Another (diplosis and triplosis of silver)
9. p.2, ll. 64-77: Manufacture of silver
10. p. 2-3, ll. 78-83: Whitening (cleaning) of pearls
11. p. 3, ll. 11-17: Another (cleaning of pearls);
12. p. 3, ll. 18-28: Another (cleaning of papyri)
13. p. 3, ll. 29-35: Another (cleaning of pearls)
14. p. 3, ll. 36-43: Tinctured carnelian
15. p. 4, ll. 1-4: Tinctured lapis lazuli
16. p. 4, ll. 5-11: Purification of crystal
17. p. 4, ll. 11-26: Tinctured emerald
18. p. 4, ll. 27-42: Manufacture of pearl
19. p. 5, ll. 1-9: Production of ruby
20. p. 5, ll. 10-18: Preparation of a green stone
21. p. 5, ll. 19-21: Another (creation of emerald)
22. p. 5, ll. 21-25: Creation of pearl
23. p. 5, ll. 26-29: Creation of pearl
24. p. 5, ll. 29-35: Corriding of stones
25. p. 5, ll. 36-39: Whitening (cleaning) a pearl
26. p. 5, ll. 40-43: Corrosion of sunstone
27. p. 5, ll. 43-46: Making a stone porous (opening up)
28. p. 6, ll. 1-4: Strengthening of crystal
29. p. 6, ll. 5-14: Corrosion of stones
30. p. 6, ll. 15-29: Creation of emerald
31. p. 6, ll. 30-35: Boiling of stones (production of ruby)
32. p. 6, ll. 36-38: Creation of emerald
33. p. 6-7, ll. 39-1: Preservation of Crystal
34. p. 7, ll. 2-4: Creation of emerald
35. p. 7, ll. 5-29: Another (creation of emerald)
36. p. 7, ll. 29-32: Softening of crystal
37. p. 7, ll. 33-43: Softening of emerald
38. p. 8, ll. 1-9: General preliminary corrosion
39. p. 8, ll. 10-15: Creation of beryl
40. p. 8, ll. 16-19: Special corrosion of crystal
41. p. 8, ll. 20-24: Preliminary dipping (corrosion?)
42. p. 8, ll. 25-28: Creation of emerald
43. p. 8, ll. 29-39: Another (creation of emeralds)
44. p. 8, ll. 40-44: Creation of amethyst
45. p. 9, ll. 1-3: Creation of chrysolite
46. p. 9, ll. 4-6: Creation of lychnis
47. p. 9, ll. 7-10: Creation of Beryl
48. p. 9, ll. 10-13: Another (creation of beryl)
49. p. 9, ll. 14-16: Creation of jasper
50. p. 9, ll. 16-20: Creation of sunstone
51. p. 9, ll. 21-26: Corrosion of crystal
52. p. 9, ll. 27-29: Creation of sunstone
53. p. 9, ll. 30-35: Corrosion of and opening up (creating pores in) stones
54. p. 9, ll. 36-42: Another (corrosion of stones)
55. p. 9-10, ll. 43-1: Corrosion of crystal
56. p. 10, ll. 2-4: Whitening of crystal
57. p. 10, ll. 5-7: Softening of crystal
58. p. 10, ll. 7-10: Creation of sunstone
59. p. 10, ll. 11-15: Substitute for castor oil
60. p. 10, ll. 16-23: Cleaning of a pear
61. p. 10, ll. 24-30: Another (cleaning of a pearl)
62. p. 10, ll. 31-40: Creation of sunstone
63 p. 10-11, ll. 41-5: Creation of beryl
64. p. 11, ll. 5-11: Creation of chrysoprase
65. p. 11, ll. 11-14: Creation of Chrysolite
66. p. 11, ll. 15-22: Corrosion of stone
67. p. 11, ll. 22-26: Another (corrosion of stones)
68. p. 11, ll. 27-31: Corrosion of crystal
69. p. 11, ll. 32-35: Corrosion of all kinds of stones
70. p. 11, ll. 36-39: Kinds of stones to colour (reference for stones, and instructions to corrode)
71. p. 11, ll. 39-45: Creation of emerald
72. p. 12, ll. 1-6: Another (creation of emerald)
73. p. 12, ll. 6-9: Another (creation of emerald)
74. p. 12, ll. 10-21: Preparation of verdigris for emerald
75. p. 12, ll. 22-27: Creation of beryl
76. p. 12, ll. 28-40: Creation of emerald
77. p. 12, ll. 41-43: Another (creation of emerald)
78. p. 12, ll. 44-46: Another (creation of emerald)
79. p. 13, ll. 1-4: Creation of beryl (#63)
80. p. 13, ll. 15-20: Creation of chrysoprase (#64)
81. p. 13, ll. 21-24: Creation of Chrysolite (#65)
82. p. 13, ll. 22-29: Corrosion of stone (#66)
83. p. 13, ll. 30-40: Another (creation of emerald)
84. p. 13, ll. 40-43: Another (creation of emerald)
85. p. 13, ll. 44-51: Dissolving of comarum (mordant)
86. p. 13, ll. 52-55: Another (description of capnelaion, a mordant)
87. p. 13, ll. 52-55: Another (description of capnelaion, a mordant)
88. p. 14 ll. 1-13: Another (using comarum to dissolve)
89. p. 14, ll. 14-29: Creation of emerald
90. p. 14, ll. 30-36: Preparation of dye for 3 colours
91. p. 15, ll. 1-15: Cleaning with soap weed (wool)
92. p. 15, ll. 6-10: Creation of purple dye
93. p. 15, ll. 11-14: Creation of mordant
94. p. 15, ll. 15-19: How to dissolve alkanet
95. p. 15, ll. 20-28: Another (how to dissolve alkanet for dye)
96. p. 15, ll. 28-31: Making purple brilliant
97. p. 15, ll. 32-41: Dissolving alkanet (creation of mordant for wool)
98. p. 16, ll. 1-7: Dissolving comarum (creation of purple dye)
99. p. 16, ll. 8-15: Mordanting for sardinian purple
100. p. 16, ll. 16-23: Mordanting for sicilian purple
101. p. 16, ll. 23-35: Mordanting and dyeing of genuine purple
102 p. 16, ll. 36-38: In another place it says
103. p. 16, ll. 39-43: Dyeing of purple
104. p. 16, l. 44 – p. 17, l. 4: Another (dyeing wool in purple)
105. p. 17, ll. 5-9: Another (dyeing of wool)
106. p. 17, ll. 10-17: Another (dyeing of wool)
107. p. 17, ll. 17-27: Another (dying of wool)
108. p. 17, ll. 27-43: Cold dyeing of purple
109. p. 18, ll. 1-8: Dyeing in good purple
110. p. 18, ll. 9-25: No title (dyeing of wool)
111. p. 18, ll. 26-34: Collection of woad (presumably for dyeing)
112. p. 18, l. 35-p. 19, l. 2: Dyeing in dark blue
113. p. 19, ll. 2-28: Cooking of charcoal woad (dyeing wool)
114. p. 19, l. 29 – p. 20 l. 7: Dyeing in rose colour
115. p. 20, ll. 7-20: Dyeing with archil
116. p. 20, ll. 21-35: Dyeing in phoenician colour with archil
117. p. 20, ll. 36-41: Dyeing in bright red purple
118. p. 21, ll. 1: The Book of Africanus: Preparation of Bright Red Purple
119. p. 21, ll. 2-6: Preparation of vinegar (oxeias?)
120. p. 21, ll. 6-9: Another (creation of bright red purple)
121. p. 21, ll.10-18: Another (dyeing wool purple)
122. p. 21, ll.18-23: Another (dyeing wool)
123. p. 21, ll. 23-40: Dyeing (wool) in various colours
124. p. 21, ll.40-45: Cold dyeing in dark yellow
125. p. 21, l. 46- p. 22 l. 1: Dyeing in scarlet
126. p. 22, ll. 2-5: To produce gold colour by gold dyeing
127. p. 22, ll. 6-9: To wash raw wool (mordanting)
128. p. 22, ll. 10-25: Examination of dyestuff
129. p. 22, ll. 26-30: Dyeing canusinian wool
130. p. 22, ll. 31-37: Dyeing of a colour
131. p. 22, ll. 38-40: Deying in purple
132. p. 22, ll. 41-43: Another (dyeing in purple)
133. p. 23, ll. 1-3: Another (dyeing in purple)
134. p. 23, ll. 4-6: Another (dyeing in purple)
135. p. 23, ll. 6-8: Another (dyeing in purple) (#130)
136. p. 23, ll. 8-10: Another (dyeing in purple)
137. p. 23, ll. 10-18: Another (dyeing in purple)
138. p. 23, ll.19-25: Another (cold-dyeing in purple)
139. p. 23, ll. 25-35: Dyeing in dark yellow woad
140. p. 23, ll. 35-40: Dissolving of archil (creation of dye?)
141. p. 24, ll. 1-10: Dissolving of alkanet (creation of dye)
142. p. 24, ll.11-14: Creation of genuine purples
143. p. 24, ll. 15-18: Another (dyeing of wool)
144. p. 24, ll. 19-27: From book 3 of Africanus (Instructions for mordanting)
145. p. 24, ll. 28-32: Dyeing of colours
146. p. 24, ll. 33-35: Dyeing of every colour except purple
147. p. 24, ll. 36-40: Mordanting for purple
148. p. 24, ll.41- p. 25, l. 4: Dyeing of colours
149. p. 25, ll. 4-8: Dissolving alkanet (creation of dye)
150. p. 25, ll. 9-10: Fixing alkanet dye (?)
151. p. 25, ll. 11-15: Fixing archil and alkanet dye
152. p. 25, ll. 15-18: Dissolving comarum (either dye/mordant)
153. p. 25, ll. 18-21: Another (dissolving comarum)
154. p. 25, ll. 21-29: Cleaning (wool) by means of soap weed
155. p. 25, ll. 30-36: Mordanting (wool)
156. p. 25, ll. 37- p. 26, l. 8: Boiling (mordanting wool)
157. p. 26, ll. 8-13: Preparation of tyrian purple
158. p. 26, ll. 13-19: Cold dyeing of purple
159. p. 26, ll. 19-22: Dyeing of galatian scarlet
160. p. 26, ll. 23-25: Dyeing of Tyrian or guaranteed superior purple
161. p. 26, ll. 26-28: Shading off of colours
162. p. 26, ll. 29-p. 27, l. 6: Dyeing of madder purple
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:

TM (17/9/2020); 4th to 5th century (Lagercrantz 1913: p. 52).
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs. KYP A1
Archive name: Theban Magical Library
State of edition:

Published.
Image: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/14299/view/1/3/

Form:

Codex
Material:

Papyrus
Dimensions (cm): Height: 29.7 Width: 16.9 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

(H) 29.6-29/7 cm, (W) 15.5-16.9 cm(Lagercrantz 1913: p. 51).
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Incomplete.
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

30
Pages/Columns (notes):

Codex of 30 pages, 1 column per page. 41-47 lines per page.
Hand:

Theban Alchemical Hand

Findspot:

Dios Polis, Thebes, Egypt

(TM places ID: 576)
Place of purchase: (TM places ID: )
Writingspot:

Dios Polis, Thebes, Egypt

(TM places ID: 576)
Present Location:

Stockholm, Royal Library, dep. 45
Collection History:

Donated to the donated to the Stockholm
Museum before the 27th of August 1832 by Jean d’Anastasy, the
Consul-General of Sweden and Norway in Egypt from 1828-1857, based on a letter of thanks preserved with the papyrus (Dosoo 2016: p. 252-253).
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 988
Collection website:

Notes/Discussion:

Bibiliography
Editions:

Halleux, Robert. Les alchimistes grecs. Papyrus de Leyde Papyrus de Stockholm Fragments de recettes. Vol. 1. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1981, p. 110-151.

Lagercrantz, Otto. Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis (P. Holm.): Recepte für Silber, Steine und Purpur. Uppsala – Lepzig: A.-B. Akademiska Bokhandeln – Otto Harrassowitz, 1913 (for PGM Va see p. 42).

Preisendanz, Karl, and Henrichs, Albert. Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri. Vol. 1. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1974, p. 198, 5a.
Translations:

Betz, Hans D. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Spells. Vol. 1. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 110, no. PGM 5 a
General:

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

Horak, Ulrike. Illuminierte Papyri, Pergamente und Papiere. Pegasus Oriens. Vol. 1. Wien: Holzhausen, 1992, p. 231, ViP 32.

Trismegistos ID:

64429

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae

5a

 SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) 59 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

01998.000
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 (17/9/2020); MPS (18/9/2020); KD (11/5/2022)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M159," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m159. Accessed on 10/12/2025

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