Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 51 (P. Oxy. 51) is a report by a public physician, written in
Greek. 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 sheet. 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
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 document was written on 31 August 173. It is housed in the
Edinburgh University Library. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.
[P. Oxy. 51]
at the Oxyrhynchus Online
The report was addressed to Claudianus, the ''
strategus'' of the ''
nome.'' It describes the cause of death of a man named Hierax, who had been found hanged by a noose. The measurements of the fragment are 14 by 72 mm. The text was written in a very
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 ...
sloping hand.
See also
*
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, mo ...
*
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 50
*
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 52
References
{{P.Oxy.I.source
051
2nd-century manuscripts