Hermapollon to his mother Eus
Letter from Hermapollon to his mother Eus
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 31250
Letter from Hermapollon to his mother Eus TM 31250Provenance unknown3rd century A. D.
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 Hermapollon to his mother Eus, complaining that he has written many times asking her to come up and visit him, and asking her at least to write about her health if she cannot come. He closes with greetings to many relatives, including his brother Anoubion and his father Melas. It dates to the 3rd century AD; its provenance is unknown.
In English machine translation
To my lady mother Eus, Hermapollon, very many greetings.
Before all else I pray to the god concerning your well-being, that I may receive you back in good health. Once and twice and many times I have written to you through many people, so that you would come up to me and I might do obeisance to your fair face. If then you wish to come to me, […], come and find me at the time of the going up (?); but if not, write back to me about your well-being, so that I may be of good cheer here. You know, even if I do not write it, that I have no one except you, my sweetest mother. I greet warmly your sister Tinoution with her husband and children, and Sarapias with her husband and children, and […] with her husband and her father and children and […], and Anoubion my brother and Melas my father and the sons Ka[…] and D[…]kiphos.
I pray for your health.
"Going up" (anabasis) may refer to travel upriver or to the rising of the Nile; the damaged surrounding words leave the sense uncertain.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Hermapollon an seine Mutter Eus). 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.lund.2.4
κυρίᾳ μου μητρὶ Εὖτι Ἑρμαπόλλων πλεῖστα χαίρειν. πρὸ μὲν πάντων εὔχομαι τῷ θεῷ περὶ τῆς σῆς ὁλοκληρίας ὑγιαίνουσαν ἀπολαβεῖν. καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ δεύτερον καὶ πολλάκις ἔγραψά σοι διὰ πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα σε ἀναβῆναι πρὸς ἐμὲ καὶ προσκυνήσω σοι τὸ καλόν σου πρόσωπον. εἰ μὲν οὖν βούλῃ ἐλθ…