o.claud.2.288
[… ? lines lost …] κ…[…] χαίρειν […] κατὰ τὸ ἦθός …α… […] πέμψον ἡμῖν σκληρουργὸν ποιῆσαι ἡμῖν τὸν μύλον, ἐπὶ ἠφανίσθη καὶ οὐ δυνάμεθα ἀλήθιν, ἵνα δυνηθῶμεν τῇ σῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ ἄρτους φαγεῖν. ἔρρωσο, κύριε.
One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 29704
Request to a superior for a stoneworker to repair a broken mill TM 29704Mons ClaudianusMitte II
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 fragmentary ostracon letter, probably addressed to a centurion, asking him to send a hard-stone worker to repair a mill that has broken down, so that the writers can grind grain and eat bread. It comes from the Roman quarry site of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert, mid-2nd century AD.
In English machine translation
[…]
[…]
greeting […]
in accordance with your character […] send us a stonemason (?) to fix our mill for us,
since it has been ruined and we cannot grind, so that thanks to your kindness we may be able to eat bread.
Farewell,
lord.
The Greek sklerourgos denotes a worker in hard stone, here someone able to repair a millstone. The identification of the addressee as a centurion is tentative, since the opening 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 Supplique au centurion (?)). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.