Fragmentary letter mentioning the quintana and Hikane TM 89216This document was discovered in a Roman dump at Berenike.A.D. 50 - 75

Fragmentary letter on an ostracon found in a Roman rubbish dump at Berenike on the Red Sea coast. The writer mentions sending the quintana, a woman named Hikane who has passed by, his travelling, and assures the recipient that he is not negligent.

In English machine translation

The quintana (Latin loanword) probably refers to a market or supply area of a Roman camp, or to a consignment connected with it; its exact sense here is uncertain. The spellings reflect common phonetic errors (e.g. apostilai, poreuomai, oides).

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