One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 37873

Letter asking for the lease of a whole house and payment of Kalends dues TM 37873OxyrhynchosVI - VII

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 business letter from Oxyrhynchus of the 6th or 7th century AD. The writer asks the addressees to arrange a lease of a whole house in his name, since he cannot take only lord John's share, and to remind the steward of small payments due to him at the Kalends; he also promises to send leeks by boat.

In English machine translation

[recto] From […] […] of your brotherliness […] […] lord (?) thus other […] […]. Your greatness therefore will kindly write […] […] about his health […] […] of the house I learned, and for this I gave thanks […] the other things. Therefore I urge you to make the lease in my name, but of the whole house, for I cannot take the part of lord John without having the other part. Having been greeted with obeisance by me, please greet the most pious steward and remind his God-belovedness about my few kalends-dues, concerning which he also promised me face to face, having told your admired splendour that he has these firmly fixed to be given to me through you. I wrote for this reason, that having incurred expenses here I am dreaming of these. And while I am here, I make obeisance to your footsteps many times. As for the leeks, if I find a boat I am sending them according to your order. † [verso] …

"Kalandika" were customary gifts or payments made at the Kalends of January. "Kephalota" are headed leeks, a common commodity in such letters.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Business Letter). 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.oxy.16.1875

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · VI - VII · Oxyrhynchos

[r] παρὰ […] […]ην τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀδελφότητος[…] […]… κύριος οὕτω ἑτερ[…] […]τα. χαρίζεται οὖν τὸ ὑμέτερον μέγεθος γράφειν[…] […] περὶ τῆς ὑγίειας αὐτοῦ […] τ[…]…… τοῦ οἴκου ἔγνων καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ εὐχαρίστησα[…] τὰ ἄλλα. διὸ παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς ποιῆσαι τὴν μίσθωσιν ὀνόματί μου, ὅλου μέντοι …