| Manuscript: | M284 |
| Sigla: | PCM 1 17 |
Text no. 
Position of the text within the manuscript. | 2 |
| Coptic Scriptorium: | |
| Date: | 701 – 800 |
| Text position: | Vo ll. 1-18, Ro ll. 1-3 |
| Type of text: | Magical (formulary, erotic) |
| Original title: | ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩⲙⲏ ⲛ̇ⲥⲓ̅ⲙⲉ ⲟⲩⲇ̣ⲏⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ ⲉϥⲛ̇ϣ̅ⲧ ⲕⲁⲗⲱⲥ |
| Original title (translated): | For a woman’s love: A tyrant, which is very strong. |
| Conventional title: | Love spell |
| Language: | Egyptian (Coptic) |
| Dialect: | Sahidic (non-standard) |
| Script: | Coptic |
| Image: | https://findit.library.yale.edu/catalog/digcoll:2759562 |
| Text: | Translation: |
| Verso 1. // ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩⲙⲏ ⲛ̇ⲥⲓ̅ⲙⲉ ⲟⲩⲇ̣ⲏⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ ⲉϥⲛ̇ϣ̅ⲧ ⲕⲁⲗⲱⲥ · Recto 1. / ⲙ̇ⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲥⲁϣⲉ ⲛ̇ⲥⲁ ⲟⲩⲕⲁ̣ⲧⲟⲥ ⲛ̇ⲑⲉ ⲛ̣ⲟⲩϩⲟ́ϥ ⲉⲥⲁϣⲉ ⲛ̅[ . . . ] |
[Verso, l. 1] For a woman’s love: A tyrant, which is very strong. [2] You should write these onto a leaf of tin. Offering: three (?) ⟨measures of⟩ bitumen, [3] foam of the mouth of a horse which is all black, and a bat. You should [4] bury it at the door of the woman. You will see its power quickly. [5] Eribetiod . thfpharoretha . loapoae (kharaktēres: complex ΒΧ✴︎Δ complex ☒) [Tableau 1] [8] I adjure you (pl.) by your all your holy names and your offerings [9] and your phylacteries and your thrones which you sit [10] upon, and by your garments which cover you and by your [11] stelae, which are perfect, [and by your] places in which you dwell; [12] I adjure you (pl.) by all of these, concerning a love of the heart, and grief [13] and madness of the heart in the heart of NN, daughter of NN, quickly! I adjure you [14] by your great power, Beelzebub, the king of demons, [15] … the salvation … wisdom (?). I adjure you (pl.) [16] by all of these! Do not let her eat or … [17] or sit, until she becomes like [black] dogs … [18] which are mad for their children, and like a drop [recto l. 1] of water clinging to a jar, like a snake clinging to… [2] soul of NN, until she comes quickly to NN, son of NN … [3] … |
| Tracing by: | Korshi Dosoo |
| Apparatus: | Verso 1. ⲙⲏ i.e. Sahidic ⲙⲉ | ⲥⲓ̅ⲙⲉ i.e. Sahidic ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ | ⲇ̣ⲏⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ i.e. Greek τύραννος | ⲛ̇ϣ̅ⲧ i.e. Sahidic ⲛⲁϣⲧ+ | ⲕⲁⲗⲱ͞ⲥ i.e Greek καλῶς Recto 1. ⲕⲁ̣ⲧⲟⲥ i.e. Greek κάδος | Emmel suggests reading ⲉⲛ̅ⲥⲁⲧⲉ at the end of the line | ⲛ̣ⲟⲩϩⲟ́ϥ ⲉⲥⲁϣⲉ ⲛ̅- “snake desperate [for] the soul of NN” Emmel |
| Notes: | Recto 1. ⲇ̣ⲏⲣⲁⲛⲟⲥ: “Tyrant” here seems to refer to a type of love spell, but this usage does not seem to be otherwise attested in published Greek or Coptic magical manuscripts. |
| Bibliography: | Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, Appendix 2, p. 346-351, Appendix 3, p. 351-353, and p. 158-159. |
| Editor: | EL’s transcript and translation (5/2/19); part-edition by KD (21/42020); KD (4/9/2020); KD (21/9/2020); edited by team from photographs (24/2/2021) |