One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 10029
Letter from the priest Kaor to Abinnaeus asking pardon for a deserter TM 10029Hermopolis (Arsinoites)ca. 346
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 4 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
Letter from Kaor, priest (papas) of the village of Hermoupolis, to Flavius Abinnaeus, commander of the fort at Dionysias, asking him to pardon a soldier named Paul for desertion just this once. It dates to around AD 346 and belongs to the Abinnaeus archive from the Fayum.
In English machine translation
To my master and beloved brother Abinnaeus, praepositus, Kaor, papas of Hermoupolis, greetings.
I greet your children many times.
I want you to know, lord, about Paul the soldier, about his desertion: forgive him this one time, since I am too busy to come to you these days. And again, if he does not stop, he will come into your hands another time.
I pray for your health for many years, my lord brother.
Papas is a title for a Christian priest or cleric; this Hermoupolis is a village in the Fayum, not the city of Hermopolis Magna. The final clause is ambiguous Greek and may mean that if Paul offends again he will be left to Abinnaeus to deal with.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below. It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.abinn.32
τῷ δεσπότῃ μου καὶ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ Ἀβιννέῳ πραιποσίτῳ Κάορ πάπας Ἑρμοῦ πόλεως χαίρειν. ἀσπάζομαι τὰ παιδία σου πολλά. γινώσκειν σε θέλω, κύριε, περὶ Παύλου τοῦ στρατιώτου περὶ τῆς φυγῆς συνχώρησε αὐτῷ τοῦτο τὸ ἅπαξ ἐπειδὴ ἀσχολῶ ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ αὐταὶ ἡμέραι. καὶ πάλιν ἄν μὴ παύσετα…