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Letter from Isidora to her brother Asklepiades about coverlets and crop sales TM 18657Busiris (Herakleopolites)31. Okt. 28 v.Chr.

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 →

A private business letter from Isidora to her brother Asklepiades about textiles (coloured coverlets) she received, the affairs of their brother Paniskos, the sale of lentils and olyra, and receipt of 2,800 silver drachmas. It was written in the reign of Augustus near Busiris in the Herakleopolite nome, and bears a note of receipt on Hathyr 9.

In English machine translation

[recto] Received Year 3, Hathyr 9, through Ptollion. … Isidora to Asklepiades her brother, greeting and constant good health. […] you had written […] I have received […] sandyx-red (scarlet) coverlets […] 10, air-coloured (sky-blue) 3, fig-coloured (?) coverlets 2. Concerning Paniskos our brother, Noumenios has sent Philon his brother to him in great haste regarding the administration (dioikesis). So you and Haramotes, act manfully and bring in the price of lentils and olyra. And for the rest, take care of yourself so that you stay healthy. Farewell. Year 3, Hathyr 3. If anything comes up I will let you know, if it seems good to bring (it) until […] I will write. I have received through the agent 2,800 drachmas of silver, and Ptollion is bringing you a statement (?) […]. So if you send money, […] the twentieth tax. [verso] To Asklepiades. [fragment] […]

Isidora's family business correspondence is a well-known early Roman archive; the colour terms for the coverlets (sandykinos, aeroeides, and the obscure sykanionia) have no exact English equivalents. Olyra is a kind of emmer wheat; 'the twentieth' refers to a 5% tax.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Brief der Isidora an Asklepiades). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.

DDbDP-text Full record →

bgu.4.1207

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · 31. Okt. 28 v.Chr. · Busiris (Herakleopolites)

[r] ἔλαβον ἔτους γ Ἁθὺρ θ διὰ Πτολλίωνος …… Ἰσιδώρα Ἀσκληπιάδηι τῶι ἀδελφῶι χαίρειν καὶ ὑγιαίνειν διὰ παντός.[…]κ[…]μη… ἐγεγράφεις κεκόμισμαι[…]περιστρώματα σανδύκινα […]…ωνια ι ἀεροειδῆ γ περιστρώματα συκανιωνια β. περὶ δὲ Πανίσκου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ πέπομφε Νουμήνιος Φίλωνα τὸν ἀδελφὸ…