Death Notice
Notification of the death of a taxpayer, addressed to the administration by a relative
One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 8800
Notice of death of Sarapion, son of Sarapas, to the royal scribe TM 8800Ptolemais Hormou, Herakleidou meris, Arsinoite nome, province of EgyptJanuary/February, 185 A.D.
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 notice of death addressed to Hermophilos, royal scribe of the Herakleides division of the Arsinoite nome, by a man reporting that his relative Sarapion, a poll-tax payer of Ptolemais Hormou, died in Mecheir of Commodus' 25th year, and asking that his name be entered among the deceased. The royal scribe's office adds an instruction to the village scribe to verify the death and act accordingly.
In English machine translation
To Hermophilos, royal scribe of the Arsinoite nome, Herakleides division,
from P[…], son of Peteeus, from the village of Ptolemais Hormou. My relative Sarapion, son of Sarapas, son of […], his mother being Thermouthis, who paid the poll tax in the aforesaid village of Ptolemais Hormou, died in the present month Mecheir of the current 25th year of Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Augustus Pius. Therefore I ask that his name be entered in the list of the deceased, as is done in similar cases.
To the village scribe of Ptolemais Hormou. If the aforementioned has truly died, carry out what follows, knowing that you will be held accountable if anything improper is done. I, Hermophilos, royal scribe, have signed through Horos, assistant.
Year 25 of Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus Caesar the lord, Mecheir […]
Such notices allowed the deceased to be removed from poll-tax (laographia) registers. The sender's name is lost apart from its first letter.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Death Notice). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
c.pap.gr.2.1.61
Ἑρμοφίλῳ βασιλικῷ γραμματεῖ Ἀρσινοίτου Ἡρακλείδου μερίδος παρὰ Π[…]τος Πετεεῦτος ἀπὸ κώμης Πτολεμαίδος Ὅρμου. ὁ συγγενής μου Σαραπίων Σαραπᾶ τοῦ […]…τος μητρὸς Θερμούθεως τελῶν τὴν λαογραφίαν ἐπὶ τῆς προκειμένης κώμης Πτολεμαίδος Ὅρμου ἐτελεύτησεν τῷ ὄντι μηνὶ Μεχεὶρ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτο…