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A short letter on an ostracon from Mons Claudianus in which Silvanus tells his brother Silvanus that he has reached the station of Xeron Pelagos, where he found the centurion Crispus and a certain Kelas. He mentions moving the stone piece called the Louter and asks his brother to keep a register of the workmen until he returns.
The Louter ('basin') appears to be the name of a large quarried stone object being brought down from the quarry; Xeron Pelagos was a station on the desert road. 'Brother' may be a form of address between colleagues rather than literal kinship.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter from Silvanus to Silvanus). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
[ctr] Σιλβανὸς Σιλβανῶι τῶι ἀδελφῶι χαίρειν. γείνωσκε, ἄδελφε, παραγεγονέναι ἡμᾶς εἰς Ξηρὸν Πέλαγος καὶ εὗρον Κρίσπον τὸν ἑκατοντάρχην καὶ ἐνῆν ἔτι Κελᾶς λέγων ὅτι κατασπῶμεν τὸν Λουτῆρα. [ms] λοιπὸν οὖν, ἄδελφε, καταγραφὴν γράψεις τῶν ἐργατῶν ἕως ἔλθω. ἐρρῶσθαι. Χοιὰκ κθ.
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