A Late Antique Private Letter Mentioning Textiles and a Halter

Abstract

This hitherto unpublished small-sized papyrus preserves a fragment of a late antique private letter falling into the large category of request letters. Its author asks the recipient to send him several objects. The text mentions the very rarely attested word φορβειά (halter) as well as an ὀθόνιον and a φακιάλι(ο)ν. Judging by the fact that the papyrus was incorporated in the collection of Vienna in 1886, we can consider the Hermopolite nome as the place of its provenance. The handwriting points to the late sixth or maybe the early seventh century.