P.Mich.inv. 4162 / Recto

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Record Details

Inventory Number

P.Mich.inv. 4162

Processing Number

4694

Section/Side

b; Recto + Verso

Image Side

Recto

Background and Physical Properties

Publ./Side

recto - verso

Material

Pap

Size

4.9 x 6.1 cm

Items

1

Lines

Recto: 5

Verso: 6

Mounted

No

Negative

No

Conservation Status

Medium brown, coarse and thick papyrus, which originally was probably a codex leaf (less likely a single papyrus piece). That this is a papyrus codex is supported also by the fact the text on both sides comes from book 24 of the Iliad. The papyrus is damaged on all edges except from the bottom where there is margin on both sides of c. 2.5 cm.

Palaeographic Description

The text is written in black ink on both sides. On the basis of the surviving text on each side, we can calculate the height of the columns and can estimate the size of the original page. The column on the verso contained almost certainly 43 verses, since the last line on the recto is v. 685 and the last line on the verso is v. 728. Of these lines only the last 6 are preserved. They measure c. 3.5 cm in height. Since the surviving lower margin is c. 2.5 cm, we can project that the column was c. 25 cm and the papyrus leaf about 30 cm high. Although cannot calculate the width of the page, the height alone seems to conform to the size of other known codices, see E.G. Turner, The Typology of the Early Codex (Philadelphia 1977) 14-22 (on the grounds of height alone the codex cannot be attributed to a particular group listed in Turner). The handwriting consists of large, upright letters, which exhibit some differences on each side. Alpha survives only once on the recto, where its left side is formed with a clear round circle. On the back, however, where it survives seven times, the left side is always formed with a small closed loop. The ligatures of lambda and epsilon in melei on the front and vv. 723 and 725 on the back are not quite similar. Omega, which appears only once on the front, there exhibits a connecting stroke with the following letter (nu), while on the back in a total of three similar instances there is no such feature. However, since all the other letters and ligatures present more or less the same formation on both sides, we are reluctant to suggest the existence of two different hands. The same-or perhaps second-hand may have added the accents and punctuation (found on both sides of the papyrus and used correctly), because they appear to be written with a similar ink and pen. There are also apostrophes and a diaeresis.

The hand can be compared with G.Cavallo-H. Maehler, Greek Bookhands of the Early Byzantine Period A.D. 300-800, London 1987. 21b (V/VI A.D.); Seider II, no 62, a literary text (V A.D.); and Seider I, nos. 50 and 51, two documents (middle of V A.D.). A few unintelligible marks appear at the end of some lines on the front: v. 682, a slightly oblique stroke that begins just below nu; v. 683, a suprascript mark followed by a dot, but we cannot read kappa, which would point to the first letter of the following word kakon of the received text. The mark looks rather like an anchor. What is preserved in v. 681 appears to be a curved stroke and does not resemble that in v. 682; thus, it could be the base of an epsilon (perhaps read ie rous?). Furthermore, there is a round mark in v. 685 joining a long oblique stroke, but once again it does not look like an epsilon (of the elusao that should follow). Similar marks occur in other texts, including school exercises, but it is difficult to explain their usage in our papyrus.

The text is preserved in Iliad 24.681-5 (recto) and 723-8 (verso). As the recto clearly indicates, only a part of each verse (about 3/5) was written down; the rest was omitted, sometimes, after the first or second letter of a word (see vv. 681 and 684). This unusual feature may have occurred also on the verso, but due to the fragmentary condition of the papyrus it cannot be confirmed. Under these circumstances it is hard to determine the character of this text and to give a reasonable explanation for the omission of the end part of the verses.

Status

Published

Library

Ann Arbor

Contents

Date

IVth/ Vth Century A.D.

Origin

Unknown

Provenance

Unknown

Acquisition

July 1925: Acquired by Dr. Askren and Prof. Boak

Language

Greek

Genre

Literary

Author

Homer

Type of Text/Title of Work

Homeric papyrus (Iliad 24.681-5, 723-8)

Content

It is attractive to imagine that this leaf contained incipits of verses and was a student exercise. Texts consists of half-lines of Homer have survived on two ostraca and one papyrus (see R. Cribiore, writing, nos. 193, 201 and 291; but the first two contain only scattered verses). However, neither the hand nr the length of the surviving text, would support such an assumption in this case, since student exercise (at least at the elementary level) tended to be shorter (on ostraca) and were written in much more cursive and crude hands. Furthermore, Iliad 24 is among the least represented books in the Papyrological evidence and may have not been part of the teaching canon in elementary education. If it is an exercise, it maybe the product of a more advanced student who perhaps read Iliad to its end; see eandem, Gymnastics of the mind. Greek Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Egypt (Princeton 2001) 140 and 194-5, and eand., “A Homeric writing Exercise and reading Homer in School, Tyche 9 (1994) 1-8.

However, the condition of the text may be the result of a scribal action. We can think of two possible scenarios. In the first, the scribe, having reached almost the end of Book 24 and of the codex (one more leaf would have been sufficient to contain the remaining verses), decided to cheat because this could not be noticed easily at the end of the manuscript. In the second scenario, the scribe relied on a codex (not a roll) in which the right half of the last page was not preserved in good condition and copied as much as he could see or imagine seeing (we owe this suggestion to our colleague I. Vassis). Commonly, codices are damaged either in the beginning or in the end at fore edge as a result of handling over time, see E.G. Turner, The Typology of the Early Codex (Philadelphia, PA 1977) 42 n. 7.

The small amount of text which survives presents the reading I]ppodamoio in verse 724, while part of the tradition reads androfonoio. The former reading is also found in papyri 13, 14 and 262 of West’s edition. For the preference of androfonoio by the editors, see M.L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad (München 2001) 281 at v. 724

Information on Publications

Publications

Series and Volume	Editor	Year	Pg/Nr	Photo	SB	Preferred Citation	Corrections
BASP 41	Traianos Gagos, Nikos Litinas, Nancy E. Priest	2004	46-50	Pl.5-6	Traianos Gagos, Nikos Litinas, Nancy E. Priest, BASP 41, 46-50, 2004, Pl.5-6

Information on Publications--Bibliography

Bibliography

G.Cavallo-H. Maehler, Greek Bookhands of the Early Byzantine Period A.D. 300-800, London 1987. 21b (V/VI A.D.); Seider I, nos. 50 and 51; Seider II, no 62(V A.D.); R. Cribiore, Gymnastics of the mind. Greek Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Egypt (Princeton 2001); E.G. Turner, The Typology of the Early Codex (Philadelphia, PA 1977); M.L. West, Studies in the Text and Transmission of the Iliad (München 2001).

Cataloging

Cataloger

MA

Year Begin

300

Year End

499

Technical Details

Collection

Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS UM)

Image Size

4843 x 3042

File Size

301 KB

Record

4694

Link to this Item

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/apis/x-4694/4162br.tif content_copy

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Homeric Papyri (128)

School Exercises (96)

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