Private Letter
Letter to Bacchias, mainly concerned with the repayment of a quantity of wheat
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 31557
Letter to Bakchios asking him to pay wheat to Koutites TM 31557Karanis (Arsinoites)IIIrd 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 Karanis in the 3rd century AD to a man named Bakchios, whom the writer calls brother. The writer asks him to pay Koutites 4 artabas 4 measures of wheat out of a deposit held from the price of olives, less a jar already taken, because the writer had received the grain from Koutites and is about to travel.
In English machine translation
[…] to Bakchios
his brother, greeting.
Hasten, my lord brother, on receiving my letter, to give to Koutites our brother, out of what you hold on deposit from the price of the olives, 4 artabas 4 measures of wheat. Deduct 1 jar which you say that he took, and I shall be grateful. So do not neglect to give them to him, since I received them from him. For since I am going abroad, if he wishes […] to deduct the 2 artabas on account of the things you know about, I shall be grateful to you too. And the same number of artabas […] your […] in Alexandria […] so do not […] him […] since I used […] I had need.
I greet the little daughter of your brother. I pray for your health.
'Brother' may be a term of affection rather than kinship. The 'measures' (metra) are a subdivision of the artaba whose exact size 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 Letter to a Brother). 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.mich.15.755
[…] Βακχίῳ τῷ ἀδελφῷ χαίρειν. ἐπισπούδασον, κύριέ μου ἀδελφέ, λαβών μου τὰ γράμματα δοῦναι Κουτίτῃ ἀδελφῷ ἡμῶν ὧν ἔχεις ἐν παραθέσει ἀπὸ τιμῆς ἐλαιῶν σίτου ἀρτάβας τέσσαρες μέτρα τέσσαρα. κούφισον κεράμιον ἓν ὃ λέγεις ὅτι ἦρε καὶ χάριν ἔχω. μὴ οὖν ἀμελήσῃς δοῦναι αὐτὰ αὐτῷ ἐπεὶ γ…