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A short private letter on an ostracon from Askalaphonas to his brother Alexas at Mons Claudianus, telling him to collect a razor, a scalpel and another item from the courier Vespasianus and to confirm receipt. It closes with greetings to and from several companions.
The word transcribed as aeioutorein seems to render Latin adiutorium, possibly a surgical or barber's instrument here; its exact meaning is uncertain. A tabellarius was a letter-carrier or courier.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Lettre d’Askalaphônas). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
Ἀσκαλαφωνᾶς Ἀλεξᾶτι τῷ ἀδελφῷ χαίρειν· δέξαι παρὰ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ τοῦ ταβελλαρίου ἀειουτώρειν καὶ ξυράφιον ἓν καὶ σμιλίον ἓν καὶ ἐὰν λάβῃς ἀντίγραψόν μοι· ἄσπασε Σιγίλην καὶ Ὀρνίθιον· ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Σαβῖνος καὶ Βαρνες καὶ Οὐενουστιανός· ἐάν τι χρείαν ἔχῃς γράψον μοι· ἔρρωσο.
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