| Manuscript: | M9 |
| Sigla: | P. Mich. Inv. 593 |
Text no. 
Position of the text within the manuscript. | 27 |
| Coptic Scriptorium: | |
| Date: | 401 – 700 |
| Text position: | p. 9 ll. 11-15 |
| Type of text: | Protection of ships (magical, formulary) |
| Original title: | ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲡⲛⲟⲩϩ̅ⲙ̅ ⲛ̅ϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ϩ̅ⲛ̅ ⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ ⲏ︦ ϩ̣̅ⲙ̣̅ ⲡⲉⲗⲁⲕⲟⲥ |
| Original title (translated): | For the safety of ships at sea or on the open sea |
| Conventional title: | For the safety of ships at sea |
| 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. 9 (↓) 11. ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲡⲛⲟⲩϩ̅ⲙ̅ ⲛ̅ϩⲉⲛⲉϫⲏⲩ ϩ̅ⲛ̅ |
[11] For the safety of ships at [12] sea or on the open sea [13] and everything. Write it on [14] new papyrus and bind it [15] to the tip of the mast. |
| Tableau: | |
| Tracing by: |
| Apparatus: | 12. ⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ i.e. Greek θάλασσα | ⲏ i.e. Greek ἤ | ⲡⲉⲗⲁⲕⲟⲥ i.e. Greek πέλαγος |
| Notes: | Parallel text: P. Mich. inv. 594 vo l. 7-9 (KYP M15; KYP T929) 12. ⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ ⲏ︦ ϩ̣̅ⲙ̣̅ ⲡⲉⲗⲁⲕⲟⲥ θάλασσα and πέλαγος both can be translated into English as “sea”, but when used together, πέλαγος means the “deep” or “open sea”, out of sight of land (cf. BDAG, CDO, LSJ s.v.), in contrast to θάλασσα, which would refer to areas of the sea in sight of land. The preservation of this sense in Coptic can be seen in Shenoute’s I Have Been Considering in which he criticises men who ⲥⲉⲛⲁⲣ ⲑⲉ ⲛⲟⲩϫⲟⲓ ⲉϥⲟ ⲛϭⲱⲧϩ ϭⲱⲧϩ ⲉⲛⲅⲛⲁϣⲛϩⲉⲧ ⲡⲉϥⲥϭⲏⲣ ⲁⲛ ϫⲓⲛ ⲡⲓⲕⲣⲟ ⲉⲡⲉⲓⲕⲣⲟ ⲛⲧⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ ϫⲉ ⲛⲛⲁϫⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉ ⲡⲉⲥⲡⲉⲗⲁⲅⲟⲥ (“will be like a ship full of holes; you would not trust it to sail from this side of the sea to the other, to say nothing of the open sea”; Amélineau 1911, 8.11-13). This usage is slightly distinct from the phrase ⲡⲡⲉⲗⲁⲅⲟⲥ ⲛⲧⲉⲑⲁⲗⲁⲥⲥⲁ (“the depths of the sea”), found in Matthew 18.6, in turn from the Greek πέλαγος τῆς θαλάσσης. |
| Bibliography: |
Amélineau, Émile. Œuvres de Schenoudi: Texte copte et traduction française, vol. 1, Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1911. |
| 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 T887: For the safety of ships at sea," 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-887. Accessed on 11/10/2026For the "editor names", see the abbreviated names in the field "Editor", and to resolve the abbreviations, see the help page.