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KYPRIANOS M35

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

British Library MS Or 4926 (3)
P. Lond. Copt. 527
formerly erroneously British Library MS Or 4920 (3)

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

Magical (formulary)
Contents:

Original use:

1. Ro: Arabic text

Re-use:

Healing formulae
2. Vo ll. x+1-3: Unclear (healing ?)
3. Vo ll. x+4-8: Unclear (healing ?)
4. Vo ll. x+9-12: For preventing and inducing sleep (?)
5. Vo ll. x+13-15: To make wife love a husband (reconciliation)
6. Vo ll. x+16-20: For a man whose belly is bleeding
7. Vo ll. x+21-25: For something malign
See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

Egyptian (Coptic)
Arabic
Script(s):

Coptic
Dialect:

Fayumic
Language/dialect notes:

See related texts for further notes; cf. Bélanger Sarrazin (2017: p. 398).
Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 901 – 1200
Date notes:

501-800 according to TM 19/9/2018), but the verso contains Arabic, so it is more likely to date to the late 7th century at the earliest, and being written on paper it is likely later than the 9th century (KD 15/5/2019)
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:

Published. New edition desirable.
Image:

Form:

Sheet
Material:

Paper
Dimensions (cm): Height: 17.8 Width: 13.9 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

Maximum dimensions (EL from autopsy on 20/12/2019); 7 x 5.5 inches (Crum 1905: p. 255)
Folding pattern:

Very hard to discern any (very wrinkled), perhaps page of a loose leaf folio and therefore not folded? (EL from autopsy on 20/12/2019)
State of preservation:

Fragment, complete in width (Crum 1905: p. 255), broken at the top and bottom, holes of damage throughout from being eaten (EL from autopsy on 20/12/2019). Recto text makes is clear that the sheet originally inscribed in Arabic was cut to size (left-hand margin of Arabic text not preserved) for its magical reuse (EL from autopsy on 20/12/2019)
Pages/Columns: question mark icon Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices.

1
Pages/Columns (notes):

1 column recto, 25 surviving lines divided into 6 sections with 5 register lines.
Hand:

Sloping, ligatureless hand of Zoega’s 9th class (Crum 1905: p.421)

Findspot:

Arsinoites (Fayum), Egypt

(TM places ID: 332)
Place of purchase:

Arsinoites (Fayum), Egypt

(TM places ID: 332)
Writingspot:

Arsinoites (Fayum), Egypt (?)

(TM places ID: 332)
Present Location:

London, British Library
Collection History:

Acquired by the British Library in 1895 (British Library Catalogue; EL 17/12/2019)
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 192
Collection website:

Notes/Discussion:

Recipes separated by dividing lines.

4920 (3) and 4926 (3) are catalogued together with Or 4916-4928 (4924 and 4925 being Arabic) (EL from British Library catalogue on 17/12/2019)

The British Library order system includes this under item Or. 4920(9)
Frame “GSA1”, which houses 4920 (11), 4921 (2), 4920 (9), 4927 (8), 4926 (3), 4926 (2), & 4927 (1) (EL 17/12/2019)

Bibiliography
Editions:

Crum, Walter E. Catalogue of the Coptic Manuscripts in the British Museum. London: British Museum, 1905, p. 255-256, no. 527.
Translations:
General:

Trismegistos ID:

86154

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) ACM: question mark icon Ancient Christian Magic
Bélanger Sarrazin: question mark icon Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes”

203

 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:
Edit History:

EL (19/9/2018); EL (4/12/2019); EL (20/12/2019); MPS (25/2/2019); KD (15/5/2019); Team (6/7/2020); EL (2/9/2020); MPS (12/1/2022)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M35," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m35. Accessed on 07/12/2025

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