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 letter from Kerdon to Horeis and Melanous about making a tunic promised for after a festival. He offers to buy purple dye or wool if they send word, and asks that a small tunic be given to a mender. It comes from Oxyrhynchus and dates to the 2nd or 3rd century AD.
The letter is addressed to two people but uses the singular 'you' throughout. The 'mender' (ēpētēs) was a repairer or patcher of garments; the end of the letter is lost.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter of Cerdon). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
Κέρδων Ὡρεῖτι καὶ Μελανοῦτι χαίρειν. μελησάτω σοι τὸ λοιπὸν περὶ τοῦ κιθῶνος ὃν μοι εἴρηκες μετὰ τὴν ἑορτην ποιήσω. ποίησον, μὴ ἀμελήσῃς. ἐὰν χρείαν μου σχῆς περὶ τοῦ πορφυρίου, πέμψον μοι τὴν φάσιν ἵνα ἀγοράσω. δὸς τὸ κιθώνιον τῷ ἠπητῇ καὶ ποιησάτω ὃ σοι εἴρηκα. ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχο…
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