Sigla: Modern names for the manuscript, including inventory and publication numbers. | P. Mich. inv. 4278a |
Category: Classification of the contents, e.g. magical (formulary or applied), alchemical, liturgical, documentary or medical. | Magical (?) |
Contents: | 1. Ro ll. 1-3: Arabic text. |
Language(s): | Arabic |
Script(s): | Coptic |
Dialect: | |
Language/dialect notes: | |
Date: Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. | 901 – 1923 |
Date notes: | Collection website lists date as 9th to tenth century CE (9/10/2023). Since it is paper, a tenth century date at the earliest is most likely. If it is a modern forgery, the latest possible date of production is 1923, the date of the second sake to Askren (KD 9/10/2023). |
Archive/collection: Larger collection to which manuscript belongs. | |
Archive name: | |
State of edition: | Unpublished |
Image: | https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-APIS-X-4378%5D4278AR.TIF |
Form: | Sheet |
Material: | Paper |
Dimensions (cm): | Height: 18.5 | Width: 13.5 | Depth: |
Dimensions (notes): | Dimensions from collection website (9/10/2023). |
Folding pattern: | Approximately 10 horizontal, 2 vertical creases. |
State of preservation: | Complete (?), some damage to sides and creases. |
Pages/Columns: Total surviving columns in the manuscript for rolls, sheets and rotuli; total number of pages for codices. | 1 |
Pages/Columns (notes): | 1 column recto, 13 surviving lines and drawing of two figures. |
Hand: |
Findspot: | Egypt (TM places ID: 49) |
Place of purchase: | (TM places ID: ) |
Writingspot: | Egypt (TM places ID: 49) |
Present Location: | Ann Arbor, Michigan University, Library |
Collection History: | Website notes that it was purchased by Dr. Askren, part of lot II (9/10/2023). It is unclear if this refers to the sale of 1922 or 1923, as there is no record of this sheet in the report of either sale. |
Trismegistos collection: Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. | 12 |
Collection website: | https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-APIS-X-4378%5D4278AR.TIF |
Notes/Discussion: | The style of the drawings of this manuscript, and the style and content of the Coptic text, are very unusual, and clearly divergent from other known manuscripts; it is possible that this is a much later production (i.e., later than the 12th century CE), perhaps being a modern forgery (KD 9/10/2023); cf. the statement on the collection website. It is possible that a genuine original document (which may have included the original three lines of Arabic) was later modified into a Coptic magical text. |
Bibiliography |
Editions: | |
Translations: | |
General: | “Report on Papyri (Dr. Askren): July, August, September 1922”, online at https://apps.lib.umich.edu/papyrus-collection/report-papyri-dr-askren-july-august-september-1922 |
Trismegistos ID: | PAThs: |
PGM: Papyri Gracae Magicae | SM: Supplementum Magicum | GEMF: Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) | ACM: Ancient Christian Magic | ||||
Bélanger Sarrazin: Bélanger-Sarrazin. “Catalogue des textes magiques coptes” | 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: | KD (10/8/2022) |