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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 33570

Letter from the village community of Nesoi to father Paulos TM 33570Neson Kome (Herakleopolites)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 letter from the village community of Nesoi in the Herakleopolite nome to a 'father' Paulos, probably a monastic leader, begging him not to lodge an official complaint, which would bring ruin on the whole village. They ask him instead to come to them and promise to do whatever he orders, even to kill the offenders themselves. AD 4th century.

In English machine translation

To my lord, most honoured father Paulos, the community of the people from the village of Nesoi. We beg you, lord father, do not wish to petition, for God's sake and for the sake of the whole village, so that these men may not ruin us all; but deign therefore to come to us, and whatever you want, give the order and it is done. And if you wish to kill them, we will do it ourselves, since these men are ruining the whole village. But we beg you, the whole community of the village, do not set anything in motion. Come to meet us and we will do what you want. I pray for your health for many years.

Paulos is addressed as 'father', and the text belongs to the Nepheros archive of a Melitian monastic community. The offer to kill the culprits may be rhetorical exaggeration.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Dorfgemeinde von Nesoi an Paulos). 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.neph.19

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

τῷ κυρίῳ μου τιμιωτάτῳ πατρὶ Παύλῳ τὸ κοινὸν τῶν ἀπὸ κώμης Νήσων. παρακαλοῦμέν σε, δέσποτα πάτερ, μὴ θελήσῃς ἐντυχεῖν διὰ τὸν θεὸν καὶ διὰ ὅλην τὴν κώμην, ἵνα μὴ οὗτοι ἡμᾶς πάντας ἐρημώσωσιν, ἀλλὰ καταξίωσον οὖν ἐλθεῖν πρὸς ἡμᾶς καὶ εἴ τι θέλεις κέλευσον καὶ γίγνεται. καὶ ἐὰν θελ…