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 →
Fragment of a written undertaking from Oxyrhynchus in which someone promises, by a higher order issued under the reigning emperors, to tend and water without interruption a persea tree recently planted beside their houses so that it would take root and flourish. It probably dates to AD 321-324.
The persea (Mimusops) was a tree sacred in Egypt; planting it by official order may relate to imperial celebrations. The beginning and end of the document are lost, so the undertaker and the authority are unknown.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Undertaking to Tend a Persea Tree). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
τῶν δεσποτῶν ἡμῶν ἀνικήτων βασιλέων πᾶσαν ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ ὑπηρεσίαν καὶ τοὺς συνήθεις ποτισμοὺς ἀδιαλείπτως ἐπάναγκες ποιήσασθαι τῆς ἐκ μείζονος προστάξεως νεωστὶ κατατεθείσης περσίας πρὸς τοῖς ἡμετέροις οἴκοις ἐπὶ τοῦ […] […] πρὸς τὸ ζωογονεῖν καὶ εὐθαλεῖν, ἔτι[…]
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