KYP T-875

KYPRIANOS DATABASE OF ANCIENT RITUAL TEXTS

KYPRIANOS T875

Manuscript:	M9
Sigla:	P. Mich. Inv. 593
Text no. Position of the text within the manuscript.	14
Coptic Scriptorium:
Date:	401 – 700

Text position:	p.7 ll. 7-10
Type of text:	Healing from ‘worm’ (magical, formulary)

Original title:	ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩⲁ ⲉⲟⲩⲛ ⲟⲩⲃⲉⲛⲧ̅ ⲛ̅ϩⲏⲧϥ̅
Original title (translated):	For one who has a worm in him
Conventional title:	For one who has a worm in him

Language:	Egyptian (Coptic)
Dialect:	Sahidic (non-standard)
Script:	Coptic
Image:	https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/image-idx?id=S-APIS-X-2601%5D593_1R.TIF

Text:	Translation:
p. 7 (→) 7. [preceding text] ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲟⲩⲁ 8. ⲉⲟⲩⲛ ⲟⲩⲃⲉⲛⲧ̅ ⲛ̅ϩⲏⲧϥ̅ ⲧⲁⲩⲟⲥ 9. ⲉϫⲛ̅ ⲟⲩϩⲁⲕⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲥⲧⲟⲓ̈ ⲛ̅ⲅ̅ⲁⲁϥ 10. ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲕⲗⲟⲙ̅ ⲉϫⲱϥ̅ · [following text]	[7] For one [8] who has a worm in him. Recite it [9] over some spearmint and make it into [10] a crown for his head.

Tableau:
Tracing by:

Apparatus:

8. ⲛ̅ϩⲏⲧϥ̅ ϥ̅ corrected from ⲕ by erasing and overwriting
9. ⲟⲩϩⲁⲕⲓⲛ i.e. Sahidic ⲟⲩ-ϩⲁϭⲓⲛ

Notes:

Parallel text: P. Mich. inv. 594 ro ll. 13-14 (KYP M15; KYP T917)

7. For worms as agents of disease in Coptic magical texts, see Dosoo 2022, 525-527.
9. ϩⲁⲕⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲥⲧⲟⲓ̈ cf. Crum CD 744b, who notes it translates ἡδύοσμον, green mint (= spearmint).
9-10. ⲛ̅ⲅ̅ⲛ͞ⲅⲁⲁϥ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲕⲗⲟⲙ̅ ⲉϫⲱϥ̅ For the use of crowns, cf. P. Macq. I 1 (KYP M167; KYP T634) p. 11 ll. 20-21: ⲧⲓ ⲟⲩⲕⲗⲟⲙ · ⲙⲱⲣⲥⲏⲛⲏ · ⲉϫⲱ·ⲥ · ⲧⲓ ⲕⲉⲩⲁ ⲉϫⲱⲕ · (”Put a crown ⟨of⟩ myrtle upon it. Put another one on you”); PCM I 12 (KYP M283; T359) p. 1 ll. 1–3: ⲉⲕⲫⲟⲣⲓ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲕⲗⲟⲙ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲉⲣⲧ (“while (you are) wearing a crown of roses”). C.Pharm.Copt. 32 (KYP M941; KYP T1992) l. 330: ⲕⲗⲟⲙ ⲛ̅ϣⲉⲗⲗⲉⲧ (“a bridal crown”). Cf. Preininger 2026, 46-47.

Bibliography:

Dosoo, Korshi. “Suffering Doe and Sleeping Serpent: Animals in Christian Magical Texts from Late Roman and Early Islamic Egypt”, in Korshi Dosoo and Jean-Charles Coulon (eds.), Magikon Zōon: Animal et magie dans l’Antiquité et au Moyen Âge | Animal and Magic from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Paris-Orléans: Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes, 2022, 495-544.

Meyer, Marvin W., and Richard Smith. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton (New Jersey): Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 304–310, no. 133.

Preininger, M. The Magical Body: Embodiment in Coptic Magical Papyri. Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 202. Leiden: Brill, 2026.

Mirecki, Paul. “The Coptic Wizard’s Hoard.” The Harvard Theological Review vol. 87 no. 4 (1994): 435–460.

Worrell, W. H. “A Coptic Wizard’s Hoard.” The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 46 no. 4 (1930): 239–262.

Editor:

EL’s transcript from Worrell (29/1/20); preliminary translation by KD (31/1/2020); KD, MPS, RBS (23/7/2026)

How to cite:

[Editor names]. "KYP T875: For one who has a worm in him," 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-875. Accessed on 11/10/2026
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