Letter to a Father
Letter of Dioxenus to his father Sarapion, asking him to return home in order to attend to the fixing of boundaries of a piece of land.
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 28619
Letter from Dioxenos to his father Sarapion about the fixing of boundaries of a property TM 28619WadfaSecond or third century
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 →
A private letter from Dioxenos to his father Sarapion, reporting that he overheard a friend of the family say that a property connected with Sarapion's mother-in-law was about to have its boundaries fixed, and urging him to come back quickly. It closes with greetings to members of the household and dates from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, from Philoteris in the Fayum.
In English machine translation
Dioxenos to Sarapion his father, greetings. While I was walking about with my father (?), I heard a friend of my father talking about you, saying: "Send to your mother-in-law about the property, since it is about to have its boundaries fixed." So come up quickly, because it is urgent. I greet Thermouthas and Isidoros and his sister Helene and Tepsois and her child, may the evil eye spare it, and all those in the house. Farewell. Pauni 30.
[verso]
From Dioxenos. Deliver to Sarapion.
The phrase "with my father" in the opening is puzzling beside "to his father" Sarapion, and the term "father" may be used loosely for an older relative or patron. "Unharmed by the evil eye" (abaskantos) is a common protective epithet for children.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter to a Father). 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.fay.126
[r] Διόξενος Σαραπίωνι τῷ πατρὶ χαίρειν. περιπατοῦντός μου σὺν τῷ πατρὶ ἤκουσα φίλου τοῦ πατρός μου λαλοῦντος περὶ σοῦ ὅτι πέμψον ἐπὶ τὴν πενθεράν σου χάριν τοῦ κτήματος ἐπεὶ μέλλει ὁρίζεσθαι. ἄνελθε οὖν ταχέως ὅτι ἐπείγει. ἀσπάζομαι Θερμουθᾶν καὶ Ἰσίδωρον καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ Ἑ…