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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 36870

Letter of recommendation for the deacon Sansneus from Heron to Sarapion TM 36870ThebaisIV - V (?)

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 recommendation from the presbyter Heron to the presbyter Sarapion, written at the request of the presbyters of the village of Aphrodite. It asks that Sansneus, ordained long before by the late bishop Phoibadios and vouched for as blameless, be received as a deacon until he can return to his own village. It comes from the Thebaid, probably 4th-5th century AD.

In English machine translation

[recto] To my beloved and most God-fearing brother and fellow minister Sarapion, presbyter, Heron, presbyter, greetings in the Lord. Having come to the village of Aphrodite, I was asked by the presbyters there to write to your holiness concerning a certain Sansneus, who was ordained long ago by Phoibadios the bishop, of blessed memory, […] the […] your piety […] of his village. Since, then, testimony is given by his village and by the clergy themselves that he leads a blameless life, deign to order that he be received as a deacon until, with God's help, he is able to return to his own village. I and those with me greet you and the brothers with you in the Lord. I pray for your health in the Lord, beloved and most longed-for father. [verso] To my beloved and most God-fearing brother and fellow […] Sarapion […].

The catalogue describes the writer as a bishop, though in the text both he and the addressee are styled presbyters (the abbreviation may be resolved differently). Phoibadios may be an earlier bishop of the region; the passage explaining why Sansneus left his village is lost.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Schreiben eines Bischofs an einen Amtsbruder). 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.giss.1.55

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · IV - V (?) · Thebais

[r] τῷ ἀγαπητῷ καὶ θεοσεβεστάτῳ ἀδελφῷ καὶ συλλιτουργῷ Σαραπίωνι πρεσβυτέρῳ Ἥρων πρεσβύτερος ἐν κυρίῳ χαίρειν. γενόμενος εἰς Ἀφροδίτην τὴν κώμην ἠξιώθην παρὰ τῶν ἐκεῖσε πρεσβυτέρων γράψαι πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἁγιότητα περὶ Σανσνεῦτός τινος πρὸ πολλοῦ χειροτονηθέντος παρὰ τοῦ τῆς μακαρίας…