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Letter from Sarapion at Caesarea to his mother Demetrous TM 31909Kaisareia

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 written at Caesarea by Sarapion to his mother Demetrous, sent with Heliodoros as he was about to leave for Cappadocia. He complains that she has not answered his many letters, hopes to visit soon with his patron's permission, and sends greetings to his sister Taesis, brother Zoilas and friends.

In English machine translation

[recto] Sarapion […] to my lady mother […] Demetrous, many greetings. I am writing to you through our Heliodoros from Caesarea, as I am about to set out for Cappadocia in good health, praying that I may find you sound and healthy, and I make obeisance for you before the gods with whom I am staying as a guest. I have already written to you many times about your well-being, and you have not seen fit to write to me. Even if by word of mouth, send me word whether you are well or how you are, so that I may be free of worry; but until now I am neglectful (?) of your affairs, not having received a letter from you. Perhaps I shall ask my patron and come to you quickly, so that I may greet you after a long time. You can learn about me from our people, that is, from Neilos and from Eudaimon and from those who have come to you. Greet warmly my lady sister Taesis and my brother Zoilas and all the friends, with whom I pray for your health for many years. [verso] Sarapion to his mother […] Demetrous.

The record gives Caesarea as the place of writing; the letter was presumably sent to Egypt. The phrase rendered 'I am neglectful of your affairs' is grammatically awkward in the Greek and probably means he remains uneasy about her.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Sarapion an seine Mutter). 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.lips.1.110

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

[r] Σαραπίων … τῇ κυρίᾳ μου μητρὶ […]…[…] Δημητροῦδι πολλὰ χαίρειν. γράφω σοι διὰ Ἡλιοδώρου τοῦ ἡμετέρου ἀπὸ Καισαρείας μέλλων ἐξιέναι ἐπὶ τὴν Καπαδοκίαν ἐρρωμένος, εὐχόμενος ὅπως ὁλοκληροῦσάν σε καὶ ὑγιαίνουσαν ἀπολάβω καὶ τὸ προσκύνημά σοι ποιῶ παρὰ τοῖς ἐπιξενοῦμαι θεοῖς. ἤδη …