o.did.436
[…]…[…] … […] ἑκατονταρχ γινώσκειν σε θέλομεν ὅτι παραγενόμενοι […]… εὕρομεν τὸν μαθητὴν … . βόμενον. κατέσχομεν οὖν αὐτὸν καὶ ἠ ρωτήσαμεν δι' ἣν αἰτίαν ἔσχασας; καὶ ἔφη ἡμῖν ὅτι κερβικάριον ἀπολέσας ἔσχασα.
One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 144997
Letter reporting the detention of an apprentice who lost a pillow TM 144997Didymoi
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 2 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
Fragmentary letter on an ostracon from the Roman fort of Didymoi in the Eastern Desert, apparently addressed to a centurion. The writers report that they found and detained an apprentice who explained that he had halted because he had lost a pillow.
In English machine translation
[…] […]
[…] […] centurion(?)
We want you to know that when we arrived […] we found the apprentice […] (?).
So we detained him and asked: "For what reason did you stop (?)" And he told us: "Because I lost a pillow, I stopped."
The verb rendered "stopped" (eschasas) is uncertain in meaning and may refer to halting or falling behind on the road. A kerbikarion is a pillow or cushion, here perhaps a pack saddle pad.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letters not Attached to a Group). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.