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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 31669

Letter from Herodes to Aurelius Serenus asking for chickpeas and lentils TM 31669MemphisIII

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 Herodes son of Didymos to Aurelius Serenus, mentioning that certain names have not yet been registered with the administration and asking him to send some chickpeas and whole lentils for Harbekis. It dates to the 3rd century AD and is attributed to Memphis.

In English machine translation

[recto] [… lines lost …] [To Aurelius Serenus] […] Herodes son of Didymos, very many greetings. A small earthenware pot with ears(?) up to the 10th, the tenth. The names have not yet been registered in the administration (dioikesis). Do not neglect my request to send me a few chickpeas and whole lentils, for it is of some use to Harbekis. I greet your children, may the evil eye spare them, and your whole household. Farewell. [verso] To Aurelius Serenus

The opening of the letter is lost and the phrase about a small earthenware vessel 'up to the 10th' is obscure. 'Abaskanta' (literally 'unbewitched') is a conventional wish that the children be protected from the evil eye.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below. 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.leipz.2

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · III · Memphis

[r] [… ? lines lost …] Αὐρηλίῳ Σερήνῳ[…] Ἡρώδης Διδύμου πλεῖστα χαίρειν· χύτρινον ὠτάριον μέχρι ι, δεκάτης οὔπω τὰ ὀνόματα κατακεχώρισται εἰς διοικήσεως μὴ ἀμελήσῃς μου τῆς παρακλήσεως πέμψαι μοι μικρὸν πίσαριν καὶ ὁλόφακον συνφέρει γάρ τι Ἁρβήκι ἀσπάζομαι τὰ ἀβάσκαντά σου παιδία…