| Manuscript: | M126 |
| Sigla: | PCM 1 4 |
Text no. 
Position of the text within the manuscript. | 3 |
| Coptic Scriptorium: | |
| Date: | 401 – 600 |
| Text position: | p. 4 l. 1-p. 6 l. 2 |
| Type of text: | Love spell (magical, formulary) |
| Original title: | |
| Original title (translated): | |
| Conventional title: | Love spell |
| Language: | Egyptian (Coptic) |
| Dialect: | Sahidic with Fayumic features |
| Script: | Coptic |
| Image: |
| Text: | Translation: |
| p. 4 p. 5 p. 6 |
[p. 4 l. 1] The arrow goes around the sun, the water-wheel [2] goes around the moon. The Pleiades are in the [3] midst of the fire. The fire consumes [4] the three deities, a fire is being kindled [5] under the bones of Apis and Isis and [6] Osiris. The arrow will not stop going around [7] the sun, the water-wheel will not stop going around [8] the moon, the Pleiades will not cease to be in the midst [9] of the fire. The fire will not [10] stop consuming the three deities, [11] they will not stop kindling fire under the bones [12] of Apis, Isis, and Osiris. [13] Abrasax will not cease to be in the midst of [14] the fire, driving it on, calling [15] out, “I am not going to come out from [16] the midst of this fire, driving on NN, child of NN, until [she (?) goes (?)] [p. 5 l .1] to NN, child of NN! I restrain the [2] power of Seth until he does my desire! [3] Seth, Iō Seth, Iō Pakerbeth, [4] Iō Phenix, Iō Paphulax, [5] Baōtōr! Bull-faced Petbe, [6] he who uproots the foundations of the earth, [7] move yourself, awaken yourself [8] against NN, the daughter of NN, carry her to [9] NN, child of NN, for if you move yourself, [10] the foundations of the earth will shake; if you [11] move yourself [12] the firmaments of the heaven and [13] the thrones and those who sit upon them [11] will be shaken [14] and they will all worship prostrate themselves before me, all of them, and hurry [15] down, one after another, and [16] they will call out in a great voice, [p. 6 l. 1] “Seize NN, child of NN, bring her to [2] NN, child of NN, by ⟨the⟩ power of Iao Sabaoth!” ⟨Add the⟩ usual. |
| Tableau: | |
| Tracing by: |
| Apparatus: | p. 4 1. ⲕ̣ⲱⲧⲉ : [ⲕ]ⲱⲧⲉ Pernigotti 1979 | ϫⲁⲗⲟⲟⲩ i.e. Sahidic ⲧ-ϣⲁⲗⲟⲟⲩ (note article ⲧ written twice) p. 5 1. ⲕⲁⲧ̣ⲓⲭⲉ i.e. Greek κατέχειν : ⲕⲁ[ⲧ]ⲓⲭⲉ Pernigotti 1979 | ⲇͅⲇͅ i.e. Sahidic ⲛ̅ⲇͅⲇͅ : ⲇͅⲇͅ l. ⲇ(ⲉⲓⲛⲁ) ⲇ(ⲉⲓⲛⲁ) i.e. Greek δεῖνα δεῖνα p. 6 1. ϩⲁⲣⲡⲁⲥⲥⲉ i.e. Greek ἁρπάζειν | ⲇͅⲇͅ l. ⲇ(ⲉⲓⲛⲁ) ⲇ(ⲉⲓⲛⲁ) i.e. Greek δεῖνα δεῖνα |
| Notes: | p. 4 1. ⲧⲥⲟⲧⲉ Here we follow the translation “the arrow” (Crum CD 361b) proposed by Pernigotti 1979 p. 36, 1993, p. 112-113 although it is also possible to translate “the fire” (Crum CD 360a s.v. ⲥⲁⲧⲉ); Pernigotti 1979 understands it as the constellation of the same name (apparently Sagitta, Greek Οἰστός, although Pernigotti refers to τόξον “the bow”). For a parallel, cf. Berlin P. 5565 (M 122, T179) ll. 7-8. p. 5 3-5. ⲍⲏⲑ ⲓⲱ ⲥⲏⲑ is a variant of the Ērbeth-logos, a sequence whose opening part, “Iō Seth”, can perhaps be translated “Hail Seth!” (Dosoo 2021c: 209). The formula is associated with the god Seth-Typhon in the older Graeco-Egyptian corpus, and typically occurs in curses and love spells, where it is a compulsive formula intended to force the target or invoked beings to obey; cf. PCM I 14 (KYP T617) l. 5; Martín Hernández 2019. The initial writing of Seth with a ⲍ rather than a ⲥ (i.e., Zēth) is unlikely to be significant, since Coptic does not distinguish between voiced and unvoiced consonants. p. 6 2. ϩⲛ ϭⲟⲙ : The phrase “by the power of…” recurs in many Coptic magical texts; compare for example PCM I 25 p. 15 l. 12, p. 16 l. 2 (KYP T243), p. 18 l. 6 (KYP T1138). This construction (e.g., ẖn tꜣ gm) does not seem to appear in older Egyptian texts, but rather to derive from the Greek ἐν δυνάμει + genitive, first clearly attested in Hellenistic Jewish texts (e.g., Testament of Levi 16.3 “by the power of the Most High” (ἐν δυνάμει ὑψίστου); Charles 1908: 59.3) and to become common in early Christian writings, in particular the Pauline letters (Romans 15.13, 19; I Corinthians 2.5; II Corinthians 6.7). The phrase does not occur in the Graeco-Egyptian magical corpus, rather appearing with the names of Jewish-Christian deities as an addition to Coptic narrative charms from around the fourth century (e.g., Mich.Ms. 136 p. 6 l. 5 (Zellmann-Rohrer/Love 2022; KYP M128), suggesting that it derives from a Christian context. Cf. the comments of Zellmann-Rohrer and Love (2022: 61–62, 237–238) who prefer to see an origin among Graeco-Egyptian magical texts. |
| Bibliography: | Altenmüller, Hartwick. “Götterbedrohung.” In Lexikon der Ägyptologie 2, edited by Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto, and Wolfhart Westendorf, 664–669. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1977. |
| Editor: | Text from Pernigotti, transcribed with provisional translation by KD (27/1/2020); text checked with photograph of the original, slight changes to translation and apparatus by EL (16/6/2020) (17/6/2020); edits KD (29/7/2020); checked based on photograph from Pernigotti 1993 (team and Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin 16/12/2020) ; updated to PCM version by SG + KD (22/7/2026); JS (9/1/2023) |
How to cite:
[Editor names]. "KYP T341: Love spell," 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/text/kyp-t-341. Accessed on 01/08/2026For the "editor names", see the abbreviated names in the field "Editor", and to resolve the abbreviations, see the help page.