KYPRIANOS DATABASE OF ANCIENT RITUAL TEXTS search icon
MANUSCRIPTS
TEXTS
ARCHIVES
HELP


KYPRIANOS M4008

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

SB I 1576
Cairo JdE 7025

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

Magical (applied)

Contents:

1. Column 1: Incipit of Psalm LXX 90 for protection against evil forces

See all texts in this manuscript.

Language(s):

Greek

Script(s):

Greek

Dialect:
Language/dialect notes:

Sanzo 2014: p. 118.

Date: question mark icon Dates are CE unless preceded by a minus sign <->, in which case they are BCE. 501 – 700
Date notes:

VI-VII CE (Sanzo 2014: p. 118); 284-640 CE (TM 9/10/2025)

Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:

Published.

Image:

Form:

Bracelet

Material:

Metal (iron)

Dimensions (cm): Height: 2 Width: 7.1 Depth:
Dimensions (notes):

Diameter bracelet: 7,1 cm; diameter of each of the 4 orb-medallions: 2 cm; height of relief: 0,7 cm (Strzygowski 1904: p. 331)

Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Complete, but the reliefs are rusted.

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

3-4 letters written between each orb-medallion (Maspero 2018: p. 252).

Hand:

Findspot:

Memphis, Saqqara (?)

(TM places ID: 1344)
Place of purchase: (TM places ID: )
Writingspot:

Memphis, Saqqara (?)

(TM places ID: 1344)
Present Location:

Cairo, Egyptian Museum

Collection History:

No acquisition information.

Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 73
Collection website: https://egyptianmuseumcairo.eg/

Notes/Discussion:

Pictures on the 4 medallions according to Maspero 1908: p. 252:
1. A winged angel, standing facing forward / a rider (according to Strzygowski 1904)
2. A kneeling (?) figure in front of a kind of vase with diagonal stripes crossing each other.
3. A similar figure, in front of a kind of stele that is impossible to identify.
4. The last scene has completely disappeared due to metal wear.

Bibiliography
Editions:

Strzygowski, Josef (ed.) Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire, nos. 7001-7394 et 8742-9200. Koptische Kunst, Vienne: Imprimerie Adolf Hozhausen, 1904, pp. 331-332, no. 7025, fig. 403.


Translations:
General:

Kraus, Thomas J. “Fragmente eines Amulett-Armbands im British Museum (London) mit Septuaginta Psalm 90 und der Huldigung der Magier.” Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 48/49 (2005/2006): 123, no. 17.

La’da, C. A. and A. Papathomas. “A Greek Papyrus Amulet from the Duke Collection with Biblical Excerpts.” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 41 (2004): 109, no. 22.

Maspero, M. Jean. “Bracelets-amulettes d’époque byzantine.” Annales du service des antiquités de l’Égypte 9 (1908): 252, no. IV.

Preisigke, Friedrich. Sammelbuch Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten, vol. 1. Tübingen: Karl J. Trübner, 1915, no. 1576, p. 136.

Sanzo, Joseph E. Scriptual Incipts on Amulets from Late Antique Egypt. Text, Typology and Theory. Mohr Siebeck: Tübingen, 2014, p. 118, no. 41.

van Haelst, J. Catalogue des papyrus littéraires juifs et chrétiens. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1976, 81, no. 188. (labels the object falsely as “M. Strzygowski, Koptische Kunst, no. 7022, p. 331”)

Vikan, Gary. “Two Byzantine Amuletic Armbands and the Group to which they Belong.” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery 49/50 (1991/1992): 40 n. 11, no. 10.


Trismegistos ID:

93802

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” 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

188

Bruyn-Dijkstra: question mark icon de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)" TheDefix: question mark icon Thesaurus Defixionum To Zodion:
Edit History:

SG (10/09/2025); MPS (9/10/2025); MPS (10/10/2025)


How to cite:
[Editor names]. "KYP M4008," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, Korshi Dosoo, Markéta Preininger, & Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin (principal editors), www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m4008. Accessed on 26/07/2026
For the "editor names", see the abbreviated names in the field "Edit History", and to resolve the abbreviations, see the help page.

Found a mistake? Let us know!