Official correspondence about slaves who left the quarry at Kephalai TM 8220Mummy A 11245 (244) BC

Fragment of a chain of official letters about slaves who had left work at a stone quarry at Kephalai. Antiochos forwards to Dorion a copy of a letter from Ainesidemos and orders the runaways to be tracked down and sent back under guard; the end of a covering letter and the start of Ainesidemos' letter, naming men from the Aphroditopolite and Herakleopolite nomes, also survive. Dated to year 3, Thoth, about 245 or 244 BC, from mummy cartonnage found at Hibeh.

In English machine translation

The verb anachorein ('withdraw') is the usual term for workers abandoning their work or place, often described as a strike or flight. The word translated 'slaves' is literally 'bodies' (somata), a common term for slaves or bound labourers.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Correspondence concerning a Strike). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.