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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 33737

Letter of condolence from Julius to his father Demetrios on his mother's death TM 33737OxyrhynchosAnfang 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 of condolence from Julius to his father Demetrios and sister Apollonia on the death of his mother Sarapias, consoling them with Christian sentiment that death awaits all. It comes from Oxyrhynchus, early 4th century AD.

In English machine translation

[recto] To my lords, my father Demetrios and my sister Apollonia, Julius, greetings. Having found someone coming to you, I hastened first to greet you through this letter of mine, and then also to console you. For when I heard about my mother Sarapias, I was very grieved. The Lord God is able to grant us wholeness for the future. So do not grieve. For these things are human, and this lies in store for all of us. My colleague came and told me that you […] the dalmatic and [… lines lost …] [verso] Deliver to Demetrios, his father, from Julius […]

The phrase 'the Lord God' suggests the writer was a Christian. A dalmatic (delmatikion) was a long-sleeved tunic.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter of Condolence). 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.oxy.55.3819

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

[r] κυρίοις μου πατρὶ Δημητρίῳ καὶ Ἀπολλωνίᾳ ἀδελφῇ Ἰούλιος χαίρειν. τυχὼν τοῦ γεινομένου πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔσπευσα πρῶτον μὲν προσαγορεῦσαι ὑμᾶς διὰ τούτων μου τῶν γραμμάτων, ἔπειτα καὶ παραμυθήσασθαι ὑμᾶς. ὡς γὰρ ἤκουσα περὶ τῆς μητρός μου Σαραπιάδος, πάνυ ἐλυπήθην. δυνατεῖ οὖν ὁ κύριο…