One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 32411

Letter from Sansnos to Aphrodisios about food for the children and livestock TM 32411unbekanntIV

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 letter of the 4th century AD from Sansnos to Aphrodisios, complaining that Aphrodisios promised but failed to send food to the children, and reporting on dealings with shepherds over sheep and goats. It ends with greetings to Haraklys and his family.

In English machine translation

To my beloved brother Aphrodisios, Sansnos, greetings in the Lord. When you went away from us to the children without food, you too, Aphrodisios, (said) that we would send them food, (yet) you sent them nothing. And you, Aphrodisios, agreed that we should take away (?) the sheep and the young goats in two parts (?). Now then you have sent nothing to the children. And again I wrote; once I sent to you. I inquired of the shepherds about the animals, and the shepherds said, they agreed, that those who have the sheep and the livestock should themselves pay in full. And I asked Sansnos the shepherd how we should act concerning the livestock, and Sansnos said that sheep and young goats were lost (?), and I gave them twenty thari (?). We are doing nothing. Send to me about your own affairs so that I may know. And we greet Haraklys and the brothers and the children of Haraklys. I pray for your health for many years.

The words 'διτομει' and 'θαρις' are obscure and their translation is a guess. The letter belongs to the papyri recovered from the cartonnage of the Nag Hammadi codices.

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 Sansnos to Aphrodisios). 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.nag.hamm.69

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

τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ Ἀφροδισίῳ Σανσνῶς ἐν Κυρίῳ χαίρειν. καθὼς ἐξῆλθες ἀφʼ ἡμῶν πρὸς τὰ παιδία χωρὶς τροφῆς καὶ σύ, Ἀφροδίσιε, ὅτι πέμψομεν αὐτοῖς τροφήν, οὐδὲν ἔπεμψας αὐτοῖς. καὶ σύ, Ἀφροδίσιε, ὡμολόγησας ὅτι ὑπάγωμεν διτομει τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τὰ αἰγίδια. νῦν οὖν οὐδὲν ἔπεμψας τοῖς π…