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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 30347

Letter from Heron to Ptollarion asking for wool, geese and wood TM 30347Arsinoites (?)1. Hälfte III

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 Heron to Ptollarion reproaching him for his slackness and asking him to send wool, geese and wood, the wood to be obtained from a certain Amatis. It dates to the first half of the 3rd century AD and probably comes from the Arsinoite nome.

In English machine translation

[recto] Heron to his dearest Ptollarion, greetings. Your lack of zeal I have not learned only now, but already from the time when you told me you were sending the wood. But even now try, sir, to send me the wool (?) and the geese. Compel Amatis to send the wood too. If you do not find six of those fleeces, show me (?) better ones. I send my greetings to your wife, may the evil eye spare her. Farewell. [verso] † To Ptollarion †

"Abaskantos" ("unharmed by the evil eye") is a conventional protective epithet in greetings. The word written "eridia" is taken as a form of "eria" (wool), and "deixai moi" is grammatically odd, so "show me" is uncertain.

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’Heron à Ptollarion). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.

DDbDP-text Full record →

p.ifao.2.17

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · 1. Hälfte III · Arsinoites (?)

[r] Ἥρων Πτολλαρίωνι τῷ φιλτάτῳ χαίρειν. τὸ ἀσπούδαστόν σου οὐ νῦν ἔμαθον ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τότε ἀφʼ οὗ μοι ἔλεγες πέμπειν τὰ ξύλα. ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν πειράθητι, κύριε, διαπέμψασθαί μοι τὰ ἐριδια καὶ τοὺς χήνας. ἀνάγκασον Ἀμᾶτιν πέμψαι καὶ τὰ ξύλα. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ εὕρῃς ἓξ ἐκείνων τῶν ἐρίων, δείξα…