Pap. Berlin P. 23000

Collection	Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, SPK (P)
Inventory Number	Pap. Berlin P. 23000
Publication Number	TAD A.3.10
Comments on Inventory	Found in West Berlin Collection between 1960-1988.
Publication Permission Status	no permission for publication necessary
Publication Status	published

Ancient Provenance Site	Elephantine (Ꜣbw; Yb; YbꜢ; YbꜤ; Ἐλεφαντίνη, יב , ⲉⲓⲏⲃ) [Trismegistos] Certainty:
Ancient Provenance District	Upper Egypt, 1st nome (Ombites) [Trismegistos]
Type of Discovery	archaeological excavation Certainty:
Finder (= First Purchaser)	Zucker, Friedrich (excavation director) Certainty:
District of Find / Purchase in Egypt	Upper Egypt, 1st nome (Ombites) [Trismegistos]
Type of Acquisition for the Intitution	partage
Transferor (Seller, Previous Owner)	Rubensohn, Otto / Zucker, Friedrich (excavation directors) Certainty:

Object Type	papyrus
Size (Height \| Width \| Thickness)	91 mm \| 326 mm \| mm
Range of Preservation	incomplete
State of Preservation	The lines are almost completely preserved; in a few places there are lacunae of up to a few centimeters in size.
Comments on Object	The piece originaly was a letter, folded seven times horizontally and one time vertically. According to Porten a second letter was vertically added to the page.

Localization of Text on Object	recto/verso
Script-Fiber-Relation (for Payri)	parallel and perpendicular
Inks and Pigments	carbon ink monochrome black
Range of Preservation (Text)	incomplete
State of Preservation (Text)	slight gaps through broken fragments, which complement each other in content
Script, Primary	Aramaic, Imperial
Language, Primary	Aramaic, Imperial
Comments on Handwriting	irregular cursive writing
Comments on Text Layout	7 lines on the recto start a letter, which is ended with a short line on the verso, other than the address line on the verso
	recto	verso
Quantity of Lines	7	1
Height of Line / Letter

Modern Title	Private Letter
Ancient Author of Text	Spentadata bar Fravartipata
Text Types	documentary \| letter \| horizontal format
Summary of Content	Letter from a Spentadata (personal name) to Hori and Petemachis, with instructions concerning the common operation of a ship.
Location of Composition	Elephantine Upper Egypt, 1st nome Egypt (Certainty: )
Comments on Text	known as the "Schiffspapyrus" / "boat papyrus" due to the Persian meaning of the personal names.

Transcription

Translation

Pictures

1	אל אחי חורי ופטמחו אחוכמ ספנתדת שלמ אחי אלהיא כלא ישאלו בכל עדנ וכעת
2	איתי לי אלפ חדה בידכמ ביני ובינ מריה חזו חלקא זילי זי יאמר לכמ ארמנתידת
3	למטענ בה וזי צבי יעבד לה אפ חלקי באגר אלפא זכ זילנהבו על ידה איתי כספ
4	ש 3 + 3 + 2 יהבת ל למנתנ בעבור למובל לביתי ואיתי כספ כרש 1 זי אנה יהבת
5	לכ למזבנה עבור ליתמא כל כספ כרש 1 ש 3 + 3 + 2 הנ זבנתונ המו עבור ויבלתונ
6	על בתינ טב והנ לא כספא הבו ליד ארמנתידת הו יהיתה עלינ והנ עבורא זכ
7	קימ בידכמ הודעו לארמתידת עלוהי והבוהי לה ויזבנהי פטמחו י

vso1	עמכ באלפא אל ירחק מנכמ עד ימטא עלי

vso2	אל אחי חורי בר כמנ ופטמחו אחוכמ ספנתדת ברפרורתפת

1	To my brothers Ḥori and Petemachis, your brother Spentadata. May all the gods seek after the welfare of my brothers at all times. And now,
2	I have in your possession a boat (held) by me and by its master. Regard my share what Armantidata will tell you
3	to load on it and (regard) what he wants to do to it (OR: and what is desirous, let him do to it). Moreover, give to him my share of the rent of [that] boat [of ours]. There is silver
4	8 sh(ekels). I gave (it) to [...] to give (in exchange) for grain to bring to my house. And there is silver 1 karsh which I gave
5	to you to buy grain for Jathma. Total silver: 1 karsh, 8 sh(ekels). If you bought (with) them grain and brought (it)
6	to our houses, good. And if not, give the silver to Ar[manti]data. H[e will b]ring (it) to us. And if [that] gra[in]
7	is in your possession, [in]form Armatidata about it [and g]ive it to him [that he may s]ell it. Let Petemachis [...]

vso1	with you on [the] boat. Let him not be far from you until he comes [to] me.
vso2	To my brothers Ḥori son of Kamen and Petemachis, your brother Spentadata son of Fravartipata.

P_23000_R

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_V

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_R_003

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_V_003

CC-BY-NC-SA

Places (read out from edition)

ID	gender	en normiert	original	Language	Functions	in Texts
11185		Armantidata (700000)	ארמנתידת

RulerID	Regnal Year	MonthID	Day Date of the Text	Gregorian Date	dating_comment
				-424 BCE -375 BCE	palaeography;

P_23000_R

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_V

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_R_003

CC-BY-NC-SA

P_23000_V_003

CC-BY-NC-SA

Degen, R., Ein neuer aramaeischer Papyrus aus Elephantine: P. Berol. 23000 (1972). (9-22)
Naveh, Joseph & Shaked, Shaul, A recently published Aramaic Papyrus (1971). (379-382)
Porten, Bezalel & Yardeni, Ada, Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt, 1: Letters. Appendix: Aramaic Letters from the Bible. (A3.10)
Porten, Bezalel, The Aramaic Boat Papyrus (P. Ber. 23000) (1988). (76-81)
Porten, Bezalel, The Elephantine Papyri in English: Three Millennia of Cross-Cultural Continuity and Change (1996). (B12)
Shunnar, Zuhair, Ein neuer aramäischer Papyrus aus Elephantine (1970). (111-119)
Shunnar, Zuhair, Zu einer "revidierten" Lesung des aramäischen Papyrus (1973). (277-289)

DatasetID	700000
last Change	29.07.2022
Author	Lisa Cleath, Verena Lepper
Dataset License	Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA)
Data set citation	Data set 700000 (= Pap. Berlin P. 23000), ERC-Project ELEPHANTINE: Lisa Cleath, Verena Lepper.