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One text, 2 sources · Trismegistos-Text 933

Royal oath of a ship captain of Apollonios not to carry dutiable goods TM 933Alexandria (?)17. Mai - 9. Juni 250 v.Chr.

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 royal oath, written out twice, sworn by Metchopsis son of Pherenouthis of Bubastis, captain of a Kasiotic-type ship belonging to Apollonios the finance minister. He swears not to load or allow others to load dutiable goods on the ship and not to bypass the customs guard-posts. It dates to spring 250 BC, probably at Alexandria.

In English machine translation

[recto] In the reign of Ptolemy son of Ptolemy Soter, year 35, when Ptolemy son of Andromachos was priest of Alexander and the Sibling Gods, and Bilistiche daughter of Philon was canephore of Arsinoe Philadelphos, in the month Dystros. Metchopsis son of Pherenouthis, from Bubastis, captain of the Kasiotic ship of Apollonios the dioiketes, swears by King Ptolemy, son of King Ptolemy and Berenike the Saviour Gods, and by Arsinoe Philadelphos, the Sibling Gods, and by the Saviour Gods their parents, that he will load nothing into the Kasiotic ship that is subject to customs duty under any pretext, nor allow anyone else to load anything, nor evade the guard-posts. If I keep my oath may it be well with me, if I break it, the opposite. In the reign of Ptolemy son of Ptolemy Soter, year 35, when Ptolemy son of Andromachos was priest of Alexander and the Sibling Gods, and Bilistiche daughter of Philon was canephore of Arsinoe Philadelphos, in the month Dystros. Metchopsis son of Pherenouthis, from Bubastis, captain of the Kasiotic ship of Apollonios the dioiketes, swears by King Ptolemy, son of King Ptolemy and Berenike the Saviour Gods, and by Arsinoe Philadelphos, the Sibling Gods, and by the Saviour Gods their parents, that he will load nothing into the Kasiotic ship that is subject to customs duty under any pretext, nor allow anyone else to load anything, nor evade the guard-posts. If I keep my oath may it be well with me, if I break it, the opposite. [verso] Of Metchopsis.

The 'Kasiotic' ship is a vessel type apparently named after Mount Kasios on the Egyptian-Syrian coast. The text is part of the Zenon archive, and the two copies largely restore each other.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Royal oath). 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.cair.zen.2.59289

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · 17. Mai - 9. Juni 250 v.Chr. · Alexandria (?)

[r] βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Πτολεμαίου Σωτῆρος ἔτους λε, ἐφʼ ἱερέως Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Ἀνδρομάχου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ θεῶν Ἀδελφῶν, κανηφόρου Ἀρσινόης Φιλαδέλφου Βιλιστίχης τῆς Φίλωνος, μηνὸς Δύστρου. ὀμνύει βασιλέα Πτολεμαῖον τὸν ἐκ βασιλέως Πτολεμαίου καὶ Βερενίκης Σωτήρων καὶ Ἀρσιν…