Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 219 (P. Oxy. 219 or P. Oxy. II 219) is a

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...

for a pet by an unknown author, written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. It was discovered in

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus (; grc-gre, Ὀξύρρυγχος, Oxýrrhynchos, sharp-nosed; ancient Egyptian ''Pr-Medjed''; cop, or , ''Pemdje''; ar, البهنسا, ''Al-Bahnasa'') is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo ...

. The manuscript was written on

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

in the form of a roll. It is dated to the first century AD. Currently it is housed in the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...

(36) of the

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

.P. Oxy. 219
at the Oxyrhynchus Online

Description

The document was written by an unknown copyist. It contains the end of a lament mourning the loss of a favorite

fighting cock A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

. The measurements of the fragment are 122 by 184 mm. The text is written in a rough and rather difficult

cursive Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...

hand. The

iota adscript The iota subscript is a diacritic mark in the Greek alphabet shaped like a small vertical stroke or miniature iota placed below the letter. It can occur with the vowel letters eta , omega , and alpha . It represents the former presence of an ...

is frequently added where not required. It was discovered by Grenfell and

Hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, et ...

in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1899.

Text

...I am at a loss where to go. My ship is shattered. I weep for the loss of my sweet bird. Come, let me take the chick he nurtures (?), he, my warrior, my beauty, my Greek cock. For his sake was I called great in my life, and deemed happy, comrades, in my breeding cares. I am distraught, for my cock has failed me; he fell in love with Thacathalpas (?) and deserted me. But I shall find rest, having set a stone upon my heart; so fare ye well, my friends.

References

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 '' ...

1st-century manuscripts {{OxyrhynchusGR-stub

Description

Text

See also

References