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KYPRIANOS M183

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

PGM LXI
PDM lxi
BM EA 10588

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

Magical (formulary)
Contents:

1. Ro col. 1. ll. x+1-x+17 (PDM lxi. 1-17): Unclear
2. Ro col. 2 ll. x+1-x+14 (PDM lxi. 18-31): Divination text (?)
3. Ro col. 3 ll. 1-12 (PDM lxi. 30-41): Unclear
4. Ro col. 4 ll. 1-7 (PDM lxi. 42-48): For malady of the head (healing)
5. Ro col. 4 ll. 8-16 (PDM lxi. 49-57): Healing (?)
6. Ro col. 4 ll. 17-20 (PDM lxi. 58-62/PGM LXI. xi, x): For an erection (healing)
7. Ro col. 5 ll. 1-17 (PDM lxi. 63-78): Divine audience of Horus-Thoth (dream oracle, divination)
8. Ro col. 6 ll. 1-16 (PDM lxi. 79-94): A way to find a thief
9. Ro col. 7 ll. 1-5 (PDM lxi. 95-99): Formula to give praise in Kushite (love, favour)
10. Ro col. 7 ll. 6-11 (PDM lxi. 100-105): The Red Cloth of Nephthys: Love spell
11. Ro col. 7 ll. 12-16 (PDM lxi. 106-111): To make a donkey not move (curse)
12. Ro col. 8 ll. 1-16 (PDM lxi. 112-127): Prescription to make a woman love you
13. Vo col. 1 l. 1 – col. 2 l. 12 (PDM xiv. 128-158): Love spell
14. Vo col. 3 ll. 1-19, col. 4 ll.1-19 (PDM lxi. 159-196/PGM LXI. 1-38): Praiseworthy philtre (love spell)
15. Vo col. 5 2 ll. 1-21 (PDM lxi. 197-216/PGM LXI. 39-71): Separation spell
See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

Egyptian (Demotic)
Greek
Script(s):

Demotic
Greek
Dialect:
Language/dialect notes:
Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 151 – 250
Date notes:

(GEMF 11/7/2019). Late 3rd century according to Quack 2017: p. 54.
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:

Published. Republication in progress by Chicago Project and Quack.
Image: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10588-2

Form:

Roll
Material:

Papyrus
Dimensions (cm): Height: 28 Width: 112 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

Frames: no.1: 56 (W) x 27.5 (H); no. 2: 56 (W) x 28 (H)
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Six large fragments survive; it is unclear how much is lost.
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

14
Pages/Columns (notes):

8 columns recto (→), 6 columns verso (↓); verso columns 1-2 (i and ii in Bell, Nock and Thompson) are at 180 degrees to recto.
Hand:

Findspot:

Egypt

(TM places ID: 49)
Place of purchase: (TM places ID: )
Writingspot:

Egypt

(TM places ID: 49)
Present Location:

London, British Museum
Collection History:

Unknown; possessed by the British Museum since at least 1927 (Dosoo 2016).
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 193
Collection website: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10588-1

Notes/Discussion:

Bibiliography
Editions:

Bell, Harold Idris, Arthur Darby Nock, and Herbert Thompson. Magical Texts from a Bilingual Papyrus in the British Museum. Oxford: University Press, 1931.

Preisendanz, Karl, and Albert Henrichs. Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1973–1974, vol. 2, pp. 189-192, no. LXI.

Lieven, Alexandra von. “Osiris, der Dekan Ḫꜣ.w und der Tod. Zur Deutung des Spruches zum Finden eines Diebes in pBM 10588”, Enchoria 27 (2001): 82-87.
Translations:

Betz, Hans D. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation. Including the Demotic Spells. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986, p. 286-292, no. 61.
General:

Bonner, Campbell. “Review of Magical Texts from a Bilingual Papyrus in the British Museum by H. I. Bell; A. D. Nock; Herbert Thompson.” Classical Philology 29.2 (1934): 155-157.

Dosoo, Korshi. “A History of the Theban Magical Library.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 53 (2016): p. 268.

Quack, Joachim F. “How the Coptic Script Came About,” in Greek Influence on Egyptian-Coptic: Contact-Induced Change in an Ancient African Language, edited by Peter Dils, Eitan Grossman, Tonio Sebastian Richter and Wolfgang Schenkel (Hamburg, 2017), p. 54-55.

Ritner, Robert K. “Gleanings from Magical Texts,” Enchoria 14 (1986): p. 95-100.

Trismegistos ID:

55956

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae

61

 SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) 18 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
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: 7
Edit History:

EL (9-15/1/2020); EL (28/7/2020); KD (28/9/2020); KD (19/2/2024)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M183," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m183. Accessed on 10/12/2025

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