One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 121970
Letter of a ship captain (?) about empty jars and animals TM 121970From: unknownIII CE
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 3 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
Fragment of a 3rd-century AD letter, apparently from a ship captain named Theon to Aurelius Eon…, reporting that he handed over 400 empty jars and 100 others and released the boat at the third hour because of a problem with some animals. A certain Akylas is mentioned as not having given something concerning the animals.
In English machine translation
[recto]
[…]
[…]
I have handed over light (?) empty jars, 400 in number, and 100 heatable (?) ones. I released the boat today at the 3rd hour on account of the matter of the animals. Akylas, if not only (?) … of the animals, has not given.
They also did the rest […]
[…]
[…]
[verso]
[…] Deliver to Aurelius Eon… son of Alexander (?), from Theon […]
The meaning of thermeusima (jars for heating, or for warm liquids?) is uncertain, and the sentence about Akylas is garbled. The identification of the writer as a ship captain is a conjecture.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Fragmentary Letter of a Ship Captain (?)). 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.nyu.2.21
[r] [… ? lines lost …] [… 1 line lost …] παραδέδωκα κοῦφα κενοκεράμια ἀριθμῷ υ, θερμεύσιμα ρ. ἀπέλυσα δὲ τὸ πλοῖον σήμερον γ ὥρᾳ διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν κτηνῶν. Ἀκύλα δʼ εἰ μὴ μόνον τῶν κτηνῶν οὐ δέδωκεν. ἐποίησαν καὶ τὴν λοιπ[…] […]πα[…] [… ? lines lost …] [v] […]ἀπόδος Αὐρηλίῳ Ἐωνι……