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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 32408

Letter from Patese to Abaras about shearing wool and collecting money TM 32408unbekanntIV

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 Christian private letter of the 4th century AD from Patese to his 'brother' Abaras, asking him to shear five fleeces and keep the wool unsold, collect a goat and a sheep from the shepherd, and recover money owed for a donkey and other debts. Patese says he cannot come in person because of disturbances caused by recruits.

In English machine translation

To my lord brother Abaras, Patese, in the Lord, greetings. Before all else I greet you. Make sure to shear the five fleeces of wool and keep them with you until I reach you. Make sure not to sell any of them until I reach you, since I cannot come now because of the disturbance of the recruits. Make sure to take the little goat and the little sheep from the shepherd when you shear the others, and to take the money from Ioannes for the donkey which I sold to Pekysios, and to take the money from Paphob, that is from […], and take from […] the things of Makarios […]. I pray for your health for many years.

The letter comes from the cartonnage of the Nag Hammadi codex covers. 'Tirones' were army recruits, whose levy evidently caused unrest that made travel unsafe.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter from Patese to Abaras). 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.nag.hamm.66

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

τῷ κυρίῳ μου ἀδελφῷ Ἀβαρᾶτι Πατέσε ἐν Κυρίου χαίρειν προηγουμένως προσαγορεύω σε. σπούδασον κεῖραι τὰ πέντε ποκάρια ἐριδίων καὶ ἄφες παρὰ σοὶ ἕως ἂν καταλάβω σε. σπούδασον μὴ πωλῆσαι ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἕως ἂν καταλάβω σε, ἐπειδήπερ οὐ δύναμαι ἐλθεῖν νυνὶ διὰ τὴν ταραχὴν τῶν τειρώνων. σπού…