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


KYPRIANOS M438

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

PGM Christian 15b
P. Edward Collection, University College (number unknown)

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

Magical (applied ?)
Contents:

Original use:

Protocol (?)

Re-use:

1. Ro ll. 1-10: Prayer for protection against headless dog for a woman.
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. 501 – 700
Date notes:

If the manuscript is written on a late Byzantine protocol, it likely dates to the sixth century or later (Zellmann-Rohrer 2020: p. 65), and there are few Greek magical texts from Egypt after the seventh century. 401-600 according to TM (26/2/2019) and Meyer & Smith (1999: p. 48).
Archive/collection: question mark icon Larger collection to which manuscript belongs.
Archive name:
State of edition:

Published.
Image:

Form:

Sheet
Material:

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

No dimensions given in available sources.
Folding pattern:
State of preservation:

Complete (?)
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, 10 lines. Perhaps written on the back of a protocol (Zellmann-Rohrer 2020: 64-65).
Hand:

Findspot:

Egypt (?)

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

Egypt (?)

(TM places ID: 49)
Present Location:

London, University College, Petrie Museum
Collection History:

Likely belonged to the private collection of Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (1831-1892), assembled with the help of William Flinders Petrie. Published after Edward’s death, likely while James Quibell helped Petrie sort through her collection. It has subsequently been lost; Trismegistos (29/9/2021) lists it as being held in the Petrie Museum, but it cannot be found among the catalogued objects (Zellmann-Rohrer 2020: p. 64).
Trismegistos collection: question mark icon Page on the database Trismegistos collections for the institution which currently houses the manuscript. 201
Collection website:

Notes/Discussion:

ACM suggests comparison to Psalm 22.20. Found with a few leaves of trefoil (clover) wrapped wthin the papyrus (Quibell 1893).

Bibiliography
Editions:

Leclercq, Henri. “Amulettes.” In Dictionnaire de l’Archeologie chrétienne et de Liturgie. Vol. 1.2., edited by Fernand Cabrol and Henri Leclercq, Paris: Librairie Letouzey & Ané, 1907, col. 1840.

Preisendanz, Karl, and Henrichs, Albert. Papyri Graecae Magicae: Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri. Vol. 2. Stuttgart: Teubner, 1974, p. 224, Christliches no. 15a.

Quibell, James E. The Academy. A Weekly Review 43 (1893): p. 550, no. 1128.

Wessely, Carl. “Les plus anciens monuments du christianisme II.” Patrologia orientalis 18.3 (1924): p. 407-408.

★ Zellmann-Rohrer, Michael. “Lawsuits with Headless Foes: A Greek Incantation Motif”, Archiv für Religionsgeschichte 21-22.1 (2020): 51-83.
Translations:

Frankfurter, David. “The Threat of Headless Beings: Constructing the Demonic in Christian Egypt,” in Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: ‘Small Gods’ at the Margins of Christendom, edited by Michael Ostling. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, p. 57-78.

Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 48, no. 24.
General:

Trismegistos ID:

64884

 PAThs:
PGM: question mark icon Papyri Gracae Magicae

Christian 15b

 SM: question mark icon Supplementum Magicum GEMF: question mark icon Greek and Egyptian Magical Formularies (forthcoming) ACM: question mark icon Ancient Christian Magic

24
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

767

 Bruyn-Dijkstra: question mark icon de Bruyn and Dijkstra, “Greek Amulets and Formularies (Checklist)"

33

 TheDefix: question mark icon Thesaurus Defixionum To Zodion:
Edit History:

MPS (26/2/2019); MPS (16/9/2020); KD (29/9/2021); JS (03/11/21)

How to cite:
Korshi Dosoo & Markéta Preininger (principal editors). "KYP M438," Kyprianos Database of Ancient Ritual Texts and Objects, www.coptic-magic.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/index.php/manuscript/kyp-m438. Accessed on 28/10/2025

Found a mistake? Let us know!