Fragments of papyri

The following fragments of Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic, Coptic and Greek papyri were collected by Churchill Babington (1821-89), Fellow of St John's College and Disney Professor of Archaeology. They were included in an album of manuscript fragments presented to the Library in 1889 by Babington's widow. This was given the class-mark Aa.5.1 and was catalogued by M. R. James in his A descriptive catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of St John's College Cambridge (Cambridge, 1913) as no. 267. The papyrus fragments have since been removed from the album and are now stored separately.

The following descriptions are based upon information provided by Dr Sarah Clackson, who examined the fragments in 2000 and compiled a list with the help of Dr Stephen Quirke, Petrie Museum Curator. Additional information on the Hieratic and Hieroglyphic fragments was provided in 2002 by Holger Kockelmann, Ägyptologisches Seminar der Universität Bonn.


Bab. Arden 1-101

These fragments were originally collected by Joseph Arden (1799-1879) who visited Egypt in 1846-7. Arden purchased at Thebes the Hyperides papyrus later published by Babington.

Bab. Arden 1-28
28 numbered fragments mounted on card, 310 x 245mm. At the top of the card is written 'Fragments of Papyri from the age of the Ptolemies downwards. From Egyptian Thebes given by J. Arden Esq. Febry 1854.' At the bottom is written 'These papyri are almost the only legible remains of two fictitious rolls composed of papyrus pith, stuck over with scraps of papyri by the Arabs.'

1-5
Fragments of Hyperides. 1: 13 lines; 2: 6 lines; 3: 5 lines; 4: 2 lines; 5: 6 lines? Next to them is written '1-5. Fragments of Hyperides: being portions of the same roll whose facsimile was published by Mr. Harris and Mr. Arden.' Also 'Date of MS supposed to be about 150 B.C.' See also 45-50.

These fragments were exhibited at the Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, 21-24 July 1998, as part of an exhibition entitled 'Spreading the word: an exhibition in honour of The Oxyrhynchus Papyri 1898-1998'. See the catalogue no. 9: 'The fragments came from the large papyrus roll of Hyperides, Against DemosthenesFor Lycophron and For Euxenippus, which was acquired in two parts by Joseph Arden and A.C. Harris in Luxor in 1847 and 1848. Each part was edited with Babington's help; both were acquired by the British Museum, and have now together made their way to the new British Library.'

These fragments have been edited as follows:
Friedrich Blass (ed.), Hyperidis orationes quattuor cum ceterarum fragmentis (Leipzig: Teubner, 1869). 1 (Bb. I) p.22; 2 (Bb. II) p.16; 3 (Bb. III) p.16; 4 (Bb. IV) p.19; 5 (Bb.V) p.10.
Friedrich Blass (ed.), Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis. 3rd ed. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1894). 1 (Bb. I) pp.23-4 (Bb. Ia) p.26; 2 (Bb. II) p.19; 3 (Bb. III) p.18; 4 (Bb. IV) p.21; 5 (Bb. V) p.13.
Christian Jensen (ed.), Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1963). 1 (Bab. I) p.24 (Bab. Ia) p.28; 2 (Bab. II) p.19; 3 (Bab. III) p.19; 4 (Bab. IV) p.21; 5 (Bab. V) p.13.

See also:
Teresa Morgan, 'Some lost fragments of Hyperides', Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 123 (1998), 75-7.
Rudolf Kassel, 'Babingtons Hypereidesfragmente (Bb. I-VI)', Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 125 (1999), 75-6.

6-11
Greek. 6: 11 lines; 7: 2 lines; 8: 3 lines; 9: 1 line; 10: 4 lines; 11: 6 lines. Non-literary. Below them is written '9-11 parts of one papyrus from the same roll.'

12
Greek/Coptic? 2 lines. Non-literary. Below is written '21 & 12 (same papyrus)'.

13
Coptic. 2 lines on each side, one of which is reproduced in facsimile. 2 lines of a letter mentioning 'Sourous'; 2 lines of address: 'Give it to Pe[-... from? Kon]stantine [...'. Belongs with15.

14
Coptic. 1 line on each side, one of which is reproduced in facsimile. Documentary: mentions 'Agrip[pianos?]'.

Beneath 13 and 14 is written 'Papyri opisthographi: the facsimile represents the writing at the back: none of the other fragments have any writing on the other side.'

15
Coptic. 2 lines. Belongs with 13.

16
Coptic. 6 lines. Documentary. Mounted upside down.

17
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

18
Coptic. 1 line. Legal text? '] with all wisdom, with [...'.

19
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

20 Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

21
Coptic. 3 lines? Belongs with 12?

22
Coptic. 3 lines. Documentary. Line 2: 'great necessity (anagkê).'

23
Coptic. 3 lines. Documentary.

24
Coptic. 2 lines? Documentary.

25
Greek/Coptic? 1 character.

26
Coptic. 5 lines. Fragmentary beginning of letter or other document: 'Before all els[e / ] truly that I [... / ] ... in this land (chôra) ...'.

27
Greek? 2 lines. Mounted upside down?

28
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary. '[ho]ly ... Whereas ...'.

Bab. Arden 29-57
29 fragments mounted on card, 280 x 260mm. In the centre is written 'Papyri from Egyptian Thebes found in 1847 by J. Arden Esq.' 101 was originally also mounted on this card but has since been removed and mounted in glass.

29, 30
Coptic. 29: 1 line; 30: 6 lines. 29 is labelled 'a' and 30 'b'. Beside them is written 'a reverse of top of b: the other sides of both are N.B. blank. No papyri have any writing on the back except those specified.' Belong with 36?

31, 32
Coptic? 31: 2 lines; 32: 1 line. Legal fragment: 'witness (martyr[os/-ei])'; also mentions 'Apa Di-...', 'the region of Ps-...'.

33
Greek/Coptic? 2 lines. Documentary.

34
Coptic? 2 lines.

35
Coptic. 4 lines? Documentary: '] ... of the holy [...'. Mounted upside down.

36
Coptic. 7 lines. Documentary: '... he manages (oikonomei) ...'. Belongs with 29 and 30?

37
Coptic. 3 lines. Documentary.

38
Greek/Coptic? 2 lines. Documentary.

39
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

40
Coptic. 4 lines. Legal? Mentions 'security' ([ô]rj?), and the name 'Humai'.

41
Coptic. 2 lines. Legal. Mentions 'trustworthy' ([a]xiopistos).

42
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

43
Coptic. 1 line. Documentary.

44
Greek? 3 lines.

45-50
Fragments of Hyperides. 45: 1 line; 46: 1 line; 47: 1 line; 48: 1 character?; 49: 4 lines; 50: 1 character? Below them is written 'Hyperides'. See also 1-5.

These small fragments have been edited as follows:
Friedrich Blass (ed.), Hyperidis orationes quattuor cum ceterarum fragmentis (Leipzig: Teubner, 1869). 45 (Bb. VIa) p.19; 46 (Bb. VIc) p.19; 49 (Bb.VIb) p.19.
Friedrich Blass (ed.), Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis. 3rd ed. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1894). 45 (Bb. VIa) p.24; 46 (Bb. VIc) p.24; 47 (Bb.VId) p.24; 49 (Bb. VIb) p.24.
Christian Jensen (ed.), Hyperidis orationes sex cum ceterarum fragmentis (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1963). 45 (Bab. VIa) p.24; 46 (Bab. VIc) p.24; 47 (Bab.VId) p.24; 49 (Bab. VIb) p.24.

See also:
Rudolf Kassel, 'Babingtons Hypereidesfragmente (Bb. I-VI)', Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 125 (1999), 75-6.

51
Greek/Coptic? 4 lines. Account? One column has '8, 8, 8, 7'?

52
Hieratic. 1 line. Book of the Dead. Ptolemaic period. Above is written 'marked on back.'

53
Hieratic. 3 lines. Book of the Dead. Ptolemaic period.

54
Hieratic. 1 line. Book of the Dead. Ptolemaic period.

55
Hieratic. 2 lines. Book of the Dead. Ptolemaic period.

56
Hieratic. 3 lines? Book of the Dead. Ptolemaic period. Beside is written 'The letters on this fragment are initials. Some blank papyrus has been cut off.'

57
Arabic? 3 lines.

Bab. Arden 58-100
43 fragments mounted on card, 400 x 295mm. In the centre is written 'Papyri from Thebes Joseph Arden Esq. 1847.' Some fragments have been cut out at some time.

58
Coptic. 3 lines. Literary. Majuscule hand similar to 59. Labelled 'α'.

59
Coptic. 2 lines. Literary. Majuscule hand similar to 58. Labelled 'β'.

60
Coptic. 4 lines. Literary. Majuscule hand similar to 61. Part of a martyrdom. Mentions 'sacrifice' ([thu]siaze) in lines 2 and 4. Labelled 'ζ'.

61
Coptic. 4 lines. Literary. Majuscule hand similar to 60. Labelled 'ε'. Mounted upside down.

Beneath 60 and 61 is written 'ε - ζ. All these have writing on the back in the same hand: N.B. no others on this cardboard are opisthographi.'

62
Coptic. 2 lines. End of legal document. Mentions among signatories/witnesses 'Jeremias son of Ba-[...]'.

63-65
Coptic. 63: 2 lines; 64: 3 lines; 65: 4 lines. Legal. Mentions among signatories/witnesses '... son of late Andreas'.

66
Coptic. 3 lines. Documentary. Mentions 'Apa Biktô[r]' (twice?).

67
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

68
Coptic. 3 lines. Documentary. Concerns financial matter: '[enqu]ire after ... so[lidi]'.

69
Coptic. 3 lines. Legal? 'and deceit (apatê), and ...' (syna[rpagê 'robbery?').

70
Coptic. 1 line Documentary.

71
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary. Line 1 '... son of [...'.

72
Coptic. 2 lines. Documentary.

73
Coptic. 2 lines. Legal? Line 2: 'in the charge' (hn penk[lêma]?).

74-75
Coptic. 74: 5 lines; 75: 4 lines. Legal: 'and you are owner in ...' 74 line 4 has 'inheritance' (mnt lêronomia).

76-84
Greek (77 Hieratic?). 76: 4 lines; 77: 2 lines; 78: 3 lines; 79: 4 lines; 80: 2 lines; 81: 8 lines; 82: 9 lines; 83: 6 lines; 84: 2 lines. 76-82 are all labelled '2' and below is written 'Fragments (2) from the same roll.'

85-100
Hieratic. 85: 10 lines, with rubrics, framed by double black line. 85-90 and 96-100 bear portions of Book of the Dead spells 57, 60, 61 and 62. 89 belongs at the top left corner of 85 and includes evidence of the name of the owner of this papyrus which could probably be restored as Ps(mtk) 'Psametek'. Ptolemaic period. Many of these fragments are labelled '1' and below is written 'The fragments marked 1 from the same roll: mostly forming one piece.'

Bab. Arden 101
Mounted in glass. One side has 4 lines of Demotic and the other 3 lines of Greek. Documentary? Formerly referred to erroneously as Aramaic. Cited in B. Porten, Textbook of Aramaic documents from ancient Egypt vol. 4 (1999) p. ix.


In addition to the above are the following fragments, acquired by Babington from an unknown source.

Bab. 1-3
3 fragments mounted on paper, 325 x 200mm. Hieratic. 1: 15 lines?, some rubrication; 2: 4 lines and vignette?; 3: 1 line. Book of the Dead chapter 1. Ptolemaic period.

Bab. 4-8
5 fragments mounted on paper, 325 x 200mm. Hieroglyphic (4-7) and Hieratic (8). 4: 9 lines and vignette?; 5-7: frags of vignette; 8: 3 lines. The Hieratic fragment appears to belong with Bab. 1-3 and is part of Book of the Dead chapter 1. The Hieroglyphic fragments bear parts of Book of the Dead spell 100 and its vignette. Ptolemaic period.