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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 31788

Letter from a son to his father Apollo warning of the steward Herakleios TM 31788Oxyrhynchosspätes III - frühes IV

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 fragmentary private letter from a son to his father Apollo, praying for his safe return and expressing worry over his absence. He warns that Herakleios, the current steward, is looking for his father and may have a claim against him, and mentions delivering 2 artabas of wheat to Gaeis. Written at Oxyrhynchus in the late 3rd or early 4th century AD.

In English machine translation

[recto] [...] [...] dearest father, and I pray to God that you are in full health and prospering and that I may receive you back in good health in your own home. For before this too I informed you, being grieved at your absence from among us, lest what I pray may not happen should befall you and we should not find your body. And [formerly] I often inform you, wishing [...]; seeing the unsettled state (of things) today I wanted to write to you. For now too I hear that Herakleios, the present steward (epitropos), is eagerly seeking you, and I suspect that he certainly has something against you again. [If] you owe him anything, [... and] this too I want you to know, that I brought to Gaeis 2 artabas of wheat and [...] [...] [verso] [To my lord] and beloved father Apollo [...]

The prayer 'to God' in the singular suggests a Christian writer. The term epitropos (steward or administrator) may denote an estate manager or an official.

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 Apollo from his Son). 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.oxy.14.1680

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · spätes III - frühes IV · Oxyrhynchos

[r] [… ? lines lost …] […]… …[…]γλυκύτατε πάτερ, καὶ εὔχομαι τῷ θεῷ ὁλοκληρεῖν σε καὶ εὐοδοῦσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνοντά σε ἀπολαβεῖν ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις. καὶ γὰρ πρὸ τούτου σοι ἐδήλωσα λυπούμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἐν ἡμῖν σου ἀπουσίᾳ, μήπως ὃ μὴ εἴη σοι γένοιτο καὶ μὴ εὕρωμέν σου τὸ σῶμα. καὶ πρότερον π…