POxy 1464 (or P. Oxy. XII 1464) is a document that was found at the city of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. This document was given to a Roman citizen to certify performance of a pagan sacrifice, hence demonstrating loyalty to the authorities of the Roman Empire. Such a document is called a libellus (plural libelli), and this was one of four libelli found at Oxyrhynchus.
The manuscript declares the date — the first year of the emperor Decius, whose full name was Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius. We know the first year of his reign was 250 AD. The day and month are also given as the third of Epeiph or Epip in the Coptic calendar. So this libellus was issued on 27 June 250 AD.
1 | [τοῖς] ἐπὶ τῶν θυσιῶν αἱρεθεῖσι τῆς | For those who partook of the sacrifices from the |
2 | [Ὀ]ξυρυγχε̣ιτῶν πόλεως | city of Oxyrhynchus |
3 | ∥ὰ Αὐρηλίου Γαιῶνος Ἀμμωνίου | These are Aurelius Gaionus Ammonius |
4 | [μη]τρὸς Ταεῦτος. ἀεὶ μὲν θύειν καὶ | [and the] mother of Taeutus. Indeed always making sacrifice and |
5 | [σπέ]νδειν καὶ σέ̣β̣ειν θεοῖς εἰθισμένος | libation and worship to the gods being accustomed |
6 | [κατ]ὰ τὰ κελευσθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς θείας κρίσεως | according to those justly urged by the aunt |
7 | [καὶ] νῦν ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν θύων καὶ σπέν- | and now in front of you all making sacrifice and libation |
8 | [δω]ν καὶ γευ[σ]άμενος τῶν ἱερείων ἅμα | and having tasted the holy meat portions at the same time |
9 | [Τ̣α̣]ῶτ̣ι̣ γυναικὶ [κ]αὶ Ἀμμωνίῳ καὶ Ἀμμω- | for a woman and for Ammonius and Ammoeanus |
10 | ∍α̣ν̣ῷ̣ υἱοῖς καὶ Θ̣έκ̣λ̣ᾳ θυγατρὶ δι' ἐμοῦ κ̣[α]ὶ | son and Thekla daughter by me and |
11 | [ἀξι]ῶ ὑποσημειώσασθαί μοι. (ἔτους) 1 | I think are worthy to be recorded by me. During the first year of |
12 | [Αὐ]τοκράτορος Κ[α]ί̣[σαρο]ς Γαίου Μεσσίου | Autokrator Caesar Gaius Messius |
13 | [Κυί]ντου Τ[ρ]αιανοῦ Δεκίου Εὐσεβοῦς | Quintus Traianus Decius Eusebius |
14 | [Εὐ]τυχοῦς Σεβαστοῦ Ἐπεὶφ 3. Αὐρή[λιος] | Eutychus Sebastian, Epeiph 3. Aurelius |
15 | [Γαι]ὼν ἐπιδέδωκα. Αὐρήλ(ιος) Σαραπίων | Gaionus I have vouched for. Aurelius Sarapion, |
16 | [ὁ κ(αὶ)] Χαιρήμων ἔγρ[αψα] ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μ̣ὴ̣ [εἰδό]- | he and Chairemon, I wrote above him, my letters |
17 | [τος] γράμματα. | being known. |
v | ||
10 lines | ||
?? | Βησᾶς, Ψεναμοῦνις [1] | Besas, Psenamounis |
Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, known as Trajan Decius or simply Decius, was Roman emperor from 249 to 251.
The Oxyrhynchus Gospels are two fragmentary manuscripts discovered among the rich finds of discarded papyri at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. They throw light on early non-canonical Gospel traditions.
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.
POxy 2990 is one of four examples of libelli found at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 658 is one of four examples of libelli found at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. The last lines of the manuscript declare the date — the first year of the emperor Decius, whose full name was Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius.
POxy 3929 is one of four examples of libelli found at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. It is a certificate of sacrifice, serving as proof that the recipient satisfied the pagan commissioners during the Decian persecution of Christians. It was issued in the year 250.
A libellus in the Roman Empire was any brief document written on individual pages, particularly official documents issued by governmental authorities.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 3035 is a warrant for the arrest of a Christian, issued by the authorities of the Roman Empire. This is one of the earliest uses of the word Christian attested on papyrus.
Papyrus 113, designated by 𝔓113, is a fragment of an early copy of a section of the New Testament in Greek. It comes from a papyrus manuscript of the Epistle to the Romans. The surviving text features parts of Romans 2:12-13 on one side of the fragment and parts of 2:29 on the other.
The Decian persecution of Christians occurred in 250 AD under the Roman Emperor Decius. He had issued an edict ordering everyone in the Empire to perform a sacrifice to the Roman gods and the well-being of the emperor. The sacrifices had to be performed in the presence of a Roman magistrate, and be confirmed by a signed and witnessed certificate from the magistrate. Although the text of the edict has been lost, many examples of the certificates have survived.
Papyrus 125, designated by 𝔓125, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the First Epistle of Peter. Using the study of comparative writing styles (palaeography), the manuscripts has been dated by the INTF to the 3rd or 4th century.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 35 is a proclamation and list of emperors by an unknown author. It is written in the Greek language. The papyrus was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus, and is dated to the year 223. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 216 is a rhetorical exercise by an unknown author, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a roll. It is dated to the first century BC or first century AD. Currently it is housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (35) of the Yale University.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 252 is a fragment of a notice of removal, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to the year 19-20. Current location of fragment is unknown.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 253 is a fragment of a notice of removal, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to 25 July - 23 August 19. Currently it is housed in the Universitätsbibliothek Graz in Graz.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 255 is a fragment of a census return, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to the 28 September – 27 October 48. Currently it is housed in the Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 262 is a fragment of a Notice of Death, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to 21 February 61. Currently it is housed in the Columbia University in New York City.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 275 is a fragment of a Contract of Apprenticeship, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to 18 September 66. Currently it is housed in the British Library in London.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 282 is a fragment of a Complaint against a Wife, in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript, written on papyrus in the form of a sheet, is dated between 26 January 29 – 22 May 37. It is housed in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of the Yale University in New Haven.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 581 is a papyrus fragment written in Ancient Greek, apparently recording the sale of a slave girl. Dating from 29 August 99 AD, P. Oxy. 581 was discovered, alongside hundreds of other papyri, by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt while excavating an ancient landfill at Oxyrhynchus in modern Egypt. The document's contents were published by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1898, which also secured its donation to University College, Dundee, later the University of Dundee, in 1903 – where it still resides. Measuring 6.3 x 14.7 cm and consisting of 17 lines of text, the artifact represents the conclusion of a longer record, although the beginning of the papyrus was lost before it was found. P. Oxy. 581 has received a modest amount of scholarly attention, most recently and completely in a 2009 translation by classicist Amin Benaissa of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.