Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 91 (P. Oxy. 91) is a receipt for wages for

wet nursing A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, or if she is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cu ...

, 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 ...

. 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 in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 13 October 187. Currently it is housed in the library of the

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

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.P. Oxy. 91
at the Oxyrhynchus Online

Description

The document was addressed to Tanenteris, daughter of Thonis. It was written by Chosion, son of Sarapion. It is a receipt of 400

drachma The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fr ...

e, paid through the bank at the

Serapeum A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria. There were s ...

. The measurements of the fragment are 205 by 87 mm. 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, e ...

in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898. The fragment was examined by

Campbell Cowan Edgar Campbell Cowan Edgar (26 December 1870–10 May 1938) was a Scottish Egyptologist, classical archaeologist and papyrologist. He is especially noted for his work with A. S. Hunt on translating the Zenon Papyri. Between 1925 and 1927 he served as t ...

(1932), M. M. Masciadri (1984), and Jane Rowlandson (1998).Jane Rowlandson, ''Women and society in Greek and Roman Egypt: a sourcebook'', Cambridge University Press (1998), p. 214.

Text

Grenfell and Hunt's translation of this document runs as follows:

Chosion, son of Sarapion, son of Harpocration, his mother being Sarapias, of Oxyrhynchus, to Tanenteris, daughter of Thonis, son of Thonis, her mother being Zoilous, of the same city, with her guardian Demetrius, son of Horion and Arsinoe, of the same city, greeting. I acknowledge the receipt from you through Heliodorus and his associate overseers of the bank at the Serapeum near the city of Oxyrhynchus, for which Epimachus made the promise of payment, of four hundred drachmae in imperial coin for wages, oil, clothes and all other expenses during the two years in which my slave Sarapias nursed your daughter Helena, known as her father's child; who when you took her back had been weaned and had received every attention; and I acknowledge that I neither have nor shall have any complaint or charge to make against you either in connexion with this transaction or any other matter whatever up to the present time. This receipt is valid.

References

External links

P.Oxy.1.91 = HGV P.Oxy. 1 91 = Trismegistos 20750
{{Oxyrhynchus Papyri 091 2nd-century manuscripts Wet nursing

Description

Text

See also

References

External links