Ptolemaic Papyrus about a Grain Loan from Gebelein

Culture: Egyptian

Period: Ptolemaic period, 100 B.C.

Material: Papyrus

Dimensions: 20 cm x 9 cm (papyrus); 25.1 cm x 15 cm (frame)

Price: Sold

Ref: 1450

Provenance: From a German private collection, acquired in the 1980s. With a copy of the seminar series 1996-1997 at the Sorbonne in Paris, which mentions the lecture about the papyrus held by Hélène Cadell.

Condition: Framed, papyrus with small missing parts as seen on the photo.

Description: Beautifully preserved, one-sided inscribed papyrus dating to the Ptolemaic period. 22 preserved lines (above around eight lines are missing) mention a grain loan of a man named Peteharsemtheus. The loan is certified by Hermias, assistant to Paniskos, in Gebelein. Hermias and Paniskos were officials in the local Grapheion. They are known from numerous other papyri, especially from the so-called Horus archive. This ancient family archive of the mercenary Horus, son of Nechoutes, consists of over 50 documents, which were acquired by the English private collection of Lord Elkan Nathan Adler in 1924. These are mainly loans, sales contracts and other legal texts. The present papyrus indicate clear connections to the Horus archive and could have originally been a part of it. On 14 May 1997 the papyrus was subject of a lecture at the Institute of Papyrology at Sorbonne in Paris, held by Hélène Cadell. Framed behind two plexiglasses.