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KYPRIANOS T920

Manuscript: M15
Sigla:

P. Mich. Inv. 599 + 594 + 603 + 596 + 598 + 597 + 595
Text no. question mark icon Position of the text within the manuscript.17
Coptic Scriptorium:
Date: 501 – 700

Text position:

p. 3 (P. Mich. Inv. 594, ro) ll. 16-17
Type of text:

Healing from gout (magical, formulary)

Original title:

ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲡⲉⲧⲟ ⲙⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕⲣⲁⲙ ⲛ︦ⲁⲑⲣⲟⲛ
Original title (translated):

For the one who has gout in the joints
Conventional title: For the one who has gout in the joints

Language:

Egyptian (Coptic)
Dialect:

Sahidic (non-standard)
Script:

Coptic
Image: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-2616/599r.tif & http://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-2616/599v.tif

Text: Translation:

p. 3 (P. Mich. Inv. 594, ro)
→
16. [preceding text] ⲉⲧⲃⲉ ⲡⲉⲧⲟ ⲙⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕⲣⲁⲙ ⲛ︦ⲁⲑⲣⲟⲛ ⲧⲁⲩⲟⲥ ⲉϫⲛ̅
17. ⟦ⲟ⟧ⲟⲩⲥⲛ︦ⲟϥ ⲛ̅ϩⲉⲃⲱⲓ̈ ⲙⲛ̅ ⲟⲩⲏⲣⲡ ⲛ̅ⲅⲗⲁⲗⲟⲟⲩ [following text]

[16] For the one who has gout in the joints. Recite it over [17] some ibis blood and some wine, and rub them ⟨with the mixture⟩.

Tableau:
Tracing by:

Apparatus:

16. ⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕⲣⲁⲙ i.e. Greek ποδάγρα : ⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕⲣⲁ Worrell | ⲛⲁⲑⲣⲟⲛ i.e. Greek ἄρθρον : ⲛⲛⲁⲑⲣⲟⲛ Worrell
17. ⟦ⲟ⟧ deleted by inking over, or just thickly drawn letter replaced with following ⲟ?

Notes:

Parallel text: P. Mich. inv. 593, p. 7 ll. 14-17 (KYP M9, T878)

16. ποδάγρα “gout” is described as a disease of the joints by Greek medical writers, e.g., in Hippocrates, On Affections 31, Prophetic II, 8; Galen, Method of Medicine XI, 803K-804K; cf. Byl 1988. It appears as ⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕ̅ⲣ̅ in C.Pharm.Copt. 32 (KYP M941) l. 250. In Greek magical and pharmacological prescriptions, we find titles such as πρὸς ποδάγραν (“for gout”), in, for example, P. Mich. inv. 1455 (SB XIV 12141) ro ll. 3-4; P. Mich inv. 136 (MYP M128; KYP T1384) p. 2 l. 10. Perhaps here the Greek accusative was preserved in the Coptic text and we should read ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲧⲁⲕⲣⲁⲛ (with the final ⲙ miscopied from ⲛ).
17. ⲗⲁ̣ⲗⲟⲟⲩ “rub them” The verb ⲗⲁⲗⲉ is used in healing prescriptions for salves that must be smeared or rubbed on afflicted body parts (cf. Grons 2025: p. 84 n. 261), e.g. in C.Pharm.Copt. 25 (KYP M700) vo ll. 2, 5 (for wounds); C.Pharm.Copt. 28 (KYP M643) p. 241 ll. 20, 22, 30 (for itchy legs); C.Pharm.Copt. 29 (KYP M4032) p. 1 l. 6 (swelling); C.Pharm.Copt. 30 (KYP M4033) p. 214 l. 18, p. 215 l. 1 (sore breasts); C.Pharm.Copt. 32 (KYP M941) ll. 167 (eyes), 266 (skin condition), 274 (scar), 282 (trachoma, psoriasis, swelling).

Bibliography:

Byl, Simon. “Rheumatism and Gout in the Corpus Hippocraticum.” L’Antiquité Classique 57 (1988): 89-102.

Grons, Anne. Medizinische Rezepttexte in koptischer Sprache (C.Pharm.Copt.). Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025.

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.

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:

KD, MPS, RBS (23/7/2026)

How to cite:
[Editor names]. "KYP T920: For the one who has gout in the joints," 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-920. Accessed on 10/10/2026
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