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Papyrus 121

Record Id:

040-002104501

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

032-002104451

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000173.0x00031d

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Papyrus 121

Title:

Magical Handbook (P.Lond. I 121 = PGM VII, TM 60204, LDAB 1321, MP³0552 + 1868 + 6006 = Van Haelst 1077)

Scope & Content:

Papyrus 121 (1) – Papyrus 121 (2), Col. 4. lines 1-33: Homer Oracle (Homeromanteion, MP³552).

Papyrus 121 (2), Col. 4, lines 34-39: Two spells to keep insects out of the house, arranged in two columns at the sides of the title of the Homeromanteion;

lines 40-52: List of days and parts of days for divination, arranged in three sub-columns.

Col. 5. lines 1-19: Democritus' "table gimmicks" (paignia), with title and short recipes.

Col. 5 lines 20-24: Favour and victory charm.

Col. 5 lines 25-26 Binding love spell.

Col. 5 lines 27-39: Various medical prescriptions.

Col. 6 lines 1-9: Various medical prescriptions.

Col. 6 lines 10-12 Amulet for success (Stele of Aphrodite).

Col. 6 lines 13-18: Amulet against fever.

Col. 6 line 19 – Col. 7 line 25: Spells for the request for a dream oracle from Besa.

Col. 7 lines 26-Col. 8, line 12: "For Ascent of the womb" with date calculations.

Col. 8 lines 13-28: Orbit of the Moon, followed by a spell.

Col. 9 lines 1-11: Charm which acts in the same hour.

Col. 9 lines 12-19: Two spells against dangers.

Col. 9 line 20-Col. 10, line 13: Charms for direct vision.

Col. 10 lines 14-24: Divination by means of a boy.

Col. 10 lines 25-35: Request for a dream oracle.

Col. 11 lines 1-4: Charms against wild animals.

Col. 11 lines 5-15: Charms to induce insomnia.

Col. 11 lines 16-20: A good cup spell.

Col. 11 lines 21-24: Victory charm for the races.

Col. 11 lines 25-26: Coercive spells for restraining.

Col. 11 lines 27-35: An excellent spell for silencing others.

Col. 11 lines 36-37: Love spell.

Col. 12 lines 1-4: If you wish to appear to someone at night…

Col. 12 lines 5-10: Spell for causing talk while asleep.

Col. 12 lines 11-16: A restraining spell.

Col. 12 lines 17-22: To win at dice.

Col. 12 line 23-Col. 13 line 15: A restraining rite for anything.

Col. 13 lines 19-34: Excellent love charms.

Col. 13 lines 35-Col. 14 line 6: Another love spell.

Col. 14 lines 6-20: Amulet.

Col. 14 lines 21- Col. 15, line 7: Meeting with your own daimon.

Col. 15 lines 7-18: Victory charm.

Col. 15 line 19 – end: Lamp divination.

Papyrus 121 (3) Col. 16 lines 1-19: Continuation of the lamp divination.

Col. 16 lines 20-31: Charm against demons and apparitions.

Col. 17: Invocation.

Verso

Papyrus 121 (1), C(3): Fragments with remains of lines written upside down. Two columns in a different hand: C(2) is a spell and request for a dream oracle; C(1) is a favour and victory charm.

Papyrus 121 (2):

Col. 18 lines 1-27: Fetching charm for an unmanageable woman; in the left-hand margin, four lines in a faded ink.

Col. 18 lines 27-35: From the Diadem of Moses.

Col. 19 lines 1-15: Lizard charm.

Col. 19 lines 16-24: Cup spell.

Col. 19 lines 25-33: Spell to induce insomnia by means of a bat.

Col. 19 lines 34-36: Love spell.

Col. 20 lines 1-22: Spell for obtaining dream revelations, with hymn to Hermes (MP³1868).

Col. 20 lines 23-39: Bear charm.

Col. 21 lines 1-24: Request for a dream oracle.

Col. 21 lines 25-37: Charm for a direct vision of Apollo.

Col. 22 lines 1-16: Request for a dream oracle.

Col. 22 line 17 – Col. 23 line 16: Prayer to the goddess Mene.

Col. 23 line 17- Col. 24 line 27: Pythagoras' request for a dream oracle and Democritus' dream divination.

Col. 24 line 28 – Col. 25 line 4: Shadow on the sun charm.

Col. 25 line 5- Col. 26 line 24: Lunar spell of Claudianus.

Col. 26 lines 25-30: Hermes' wondrous victory charm.

Col. 26 line 31- Col. 27 line 13: Another tablet charm to subject someone.

Col. 27 lines 14-end: A charm to restrain anger and a charm to subject someone and a good potion.

B: Love spell for attraction in a different hand.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Greek Manuscripts
Papyri Collections

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002104451
040-002104501

Is part of:

Papyrus 1-3136 : Papyri

Papyrus 121 : Magical Handbook (P.Lond. I 121 = PGM VII, TM 60204, LDAB 1321, MP3 0552 + 1868 + 6006 = Van Haelst 1077)

Hierarchy:

032-002104451[0039]/040-002104501

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Papyrus 1-3136

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

Fragments of various sizes from an opistographic papyrus roll, which was folded from right to left; damaged at the beginning, preserving 19 columns of varying width on the recto and 13 on the verso, 3 of which added by a second hand at the sides of the main text.

Digitised Content:

http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Papyrus_121 (digital images currently unavailable)

Thumbnail:

Languages:

Greek, Ancient

Scripts:

Greek

Start Date:

0300

End Date:

0399

Date Range:

4th century

Era:

Access:

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Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Papyrus.

Dimensions: Roll: 340 x 2330 mm. Housed in three glass frames named Papyrus 121 (1), Papyrus 121 (2) and Papyrus 121 (3), measuring 390 x 635 mm, 475 x 1760 mm and 390 x 430 mm respectively.

Script: Accurate and regular semi-cursive, with some ligatures and abbreviations, quickly executed by an experienced scribe, who made use of various lectional signs, interpunction, decoration. Marks of elision are generally employed. Written along the fibres in columns of 38-40 lines. 2 hands.

Custodial History:

Origin: Egypt. Thebes?

Provenance; Egypt. Thebes? Purchased with Papyri 122-125 from Bywater, Tanqueray and Company on 12 May 1888. The papyri had been brought from Egypt by Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (b. 1857, d. 1934).

Former Internal References:

P.Lond. I 121
PGM VII

Publications:

Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1888-1893 (London: British Museum 1894), p. 390.

Greek Papyri in the British Museum I (London: British Museum 1893), pp. 83-115, no. 121.

Wessely, Neue griechische Zauberpapyri. Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften (Wien: F. Tempsky 1893) pp. 16-55.

K. Preisendanz, ‘Die griechischen Zanberpapyri’, Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 8 (1924), pp. 104-131 (pp. 17-118).

S. Eitrem, ‘Pap. Brit. Mus. CXXI, Verso Col. I’, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 11 (1925), pp. 80-83.

Papyri Graecae Magicae II (Leipzig - Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1931, 1974), pp. 1-45, no. VII.

H. D. Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, including the Demotic Spells (Chigaco-London: Chigaco University Press 1986), pp. 112-145 no. PGM VII.

F. Maltomini, ‘P.Lond. 121 (= PGM VII), 1-221: Homeromanteion’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 106 (1995), pp. 107-122.

H. D. Betz, ‘Jewish Magic in the Greek Magical Papyri’, in P. Schäfer, H.G. Kippenberg (edd.), Envisioning Magic. A Princeton Seminar and Symposium (Leiden-New York: Brill 1997), pp. 45-64.

G. B. D'Alessio, ‘Danni materiali e ricostruzione di rotoli papiracei: Le Elleniche di Ossirinco ("POxy" 842) e altri esempi’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 134 (2001), pp. 23-41 (p. 38).

C. A. Faraone, ‘New Light on Ancient Greek Exorcisms of the Wandering Womb’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 144 (2003), pp. 189-197 (p. 190).

R. S. Bagnall, The Early Christian Books in Egypt (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2009), p. 84, Table 4.5.

R. Phillips, In pursuit of Invisibility: Ritual Texts from Late Roman Egypt. American Studies in Papyrology 47 (Durham, N.C.: American Society of Papyrologists 2009), pp. 110-115.

R. Martín Hernández, 'Reading Magical Drawings in the Greek Magical Papyri', in Actes du 26e Congrès international de papyrologie: Genève, 16-21 août 2010 (Genève: Librairie Droz S.A. 2012), pp. 491-498 (pp. 493-494).

R. Martín Hernández, ‘Two More Verses for the Homeromanteion (PGM VII)’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 190 (2014), pp. 97-98.

A. Nodar, S. Torallas Tovar, ‘Palaeography of Magical Papyri: an Attempt?’, in E. Suárez, M. Blanco, E. Chronopoulou (edd.), Los papiros mágicos griegos: entre lo sublime y lo cotidiano (Madrid: Dykinson 2015), pp. 59-66 (pp. 60-61).

R. Martín Hernández, ‘Coherent Division of a Magical Handbook. Using Lectional Signs in P.Lond. I 121 (PGM VII)’, in Segno e testo 13 (2015), pp. 147-164.

S. Magali de Haro (ed.), Écrire la magie dans l'antiquité: actes du colloque international (Liège, 13-15 octobre 2011). Textes rassemblés et édités par Magali De Haro Sanchez. Papyrologica Leodiensia 5 (Liège, Belgique: Presses Universitaires de Liège 2015).

R. Martín Hernández, ‘Sobre la ordenación de las prescripciones mágicas en las primeras columnas del P.Lond. I 121 = PGM VII’, in M. Jesús Albarrán Martínez, R. Martín Hernández, I. Pajón Leyra (edd.), Estudios papirológicos. Textos literarios y documentales del siglo IV a.C. al IV d.C. (Madrid: Fundación Pastor de Estudios Clásicos 2017), pp. 117-134.

Exhibitions:

Greek Manuscripts, (online), 18 September 2016-

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)