DCLP Transcription [xml]
Introduction
Fragment of medical content. (P. Golenischeff). The papyrus (22 x 32 cm), assigned by its first editor (Bäckström) to the 3rd cent. AD, contains the end of a book roll. The back is blank. The recto preserves four relatively narrow columns of a treatise in the erotapokrisis format, of which the third and fourth survive to their full height. Some additional material was inserted later on into the blank space of the papyrus by two more hands. Bäckström describes column v as added by the second hand at the very end of the roll, while column vi - consisting of medical recipes - was inserted in the blank spaces below columns iv and v by a third hand. In the text written by the first hand we find an inconsistency. The first part (ll. i 21 - ii 24) deals with therapeutic recommendations and ends with a reference to proceed to the subject of chronic diseases, but then the following text (ll. ii 25 - iv 15) contains a gynaecological section introduced by a question-heading (ll. ii 25-6) and dealing with certain anatomical features of the uterus. According to D. Leith the latter section may be in fact a later accretion unrelated to the main text, so that the former section constitutes the end of a book on acute diseases, while the latter was drawn from a different source and inserted, for whatever reason, immediately after this book, at the end of the roll. The script as represented in the fourth column is a regular, serifed, formal, rounded capital adhering to strict bilinearity, with only phi extending above and below the line. According to Bäckström, the fifth column is palaeographically interesting, since its archaizing script seems to imitate the first hand of the roll.
(This papyrus has been digitally edited by Federica Nicolardi (with contributions by Nicola Reggiani) as part of the Project "DIGMEDTEXT - Online Humanities Scholarship: A Digital Medical Library based on Ancient Texts" (ERC-AdG-2013, Grant Agreement no. 339828) funded by the European Research Council at the University of Parma (Principal Investigator: Prof. Isabella Andorlini). The digital edition is mostly based on the previous editions (ed.pr. = Bäckström 1906; corr. D. Leith, GMP II 15))
21 ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣μ̣αι(*)
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣χαλα
[στικὰ δ]εδοκί-
[μασται] ἐπι-
25[θέματα (?) ̣ ̣]νπο
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ὑ̣πάρ-
[χοντο]ς̣ τ̣ο̣ῦ̣
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ε̣ἰ̣ δ̣η̣
[ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣πρ]ὸ̣σλα-
[βε (?) τὰ]ς [σι]κύ̣ας(*)
5[προσ(?)]φέρειν,
[κα]θ̣α̣ροῦ δὲ
[γενν]ωμ̣ένου̣
[ῥοῦ] φλεβοτο-
[μητέον] ἐντὸς
10[τῆς πρ]ώτης
[διατριτ]ο̣υ̣ ν̣ ̣[ -ca.?- ](*)
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ποι ̣[ -ca.?- ]
[ὥσπερ] ἐ̣[σ]ημε̣[ι-]
[ώ]σαμεν, βησόμε-
15[θα] ἐπὶ τὰ τ(ῶν) χρ̣ο̣-
[νίω]ν παθῶν
[ἄλλα] γέ̣νη̣ ἃ̣
[ἀπ]ὸ τῶν ὀ̣ξέ̣-
ω̣ν̣ παθῶν
20ἐπ̣[ὶ] τὰ χρόνι-
α ἴ[ασι]ν. βησόμε̣-
θα [ἐ]πὶ τὰ τ̣ῶ̣ν̣
χρονίων π̣[α-]
θῶν λγ´.
25 τί ἐστιν τ̣[ρ]α̣-
π̣εῖσ[α;]
οἱ ἀρχαῖοι ὧν ἦ̣ -
̣σο ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ν
δ̣ιε̣ύ̣ς̣(*) κ̣αὶ̣ [Δ]η̣-
μήτρ[ι]ος ὁ Ἀ-
5παμεύς, ἱστό-
ρησαν χιτῶ-
νά τινα [ἔ]νδ[ον]
τῆς μήτρας
[εἶναι, ὅ]ς̣ περιέ-
10[χει ̣ ̣]νοσ ̣
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ν̣σ̣θεις
̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ν̣ει̣χ̣ο̣
- ca.9 -ρ
- ca.9 -ω
15 ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣κ̣α̣λ̣(*)
- ca.10 -
- ca.9 -α̣
- ca.10 -
[ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ἀ]πο̣λαμ-
20[βάν]ετα̣ι̣(*) περὶ
μήτ[ρας ̣ ̣]σ̣λα[ -ca.?- ]
̣ ̣σητα[ι] ἐπὶ
[ὑμ]έσι βορβυ-
ρίζων ἐν ταῖς
25πορείαις κλύ-
δωνα παρε-
λ̣ὼν(*) ῥήγνυ -
κ̣ισης̣(*), [ὁ δὲ χυ-]
μὸ[ς] γε[ι]ναμέ̣-
νηׁς̣ κεινή-
5σεως σφοδρ̣[ᾶς]
καὶ ῥαγεὶ̣ς ὑ-
γ̣ρασ̣ίας ἀπὸ̣
μ̣ήτρας ἀπο̣-
δ̣έ̣δ̣ωκε, τα̣ῖ̣ς
10δ̣ὲ ἐχούσαι̣ς̣
καὶ βάρος κα[ὶ]
δ̣υ̣σ̣π[ό]ν̣εια[ν]
κύ̣[στε]ι κα̣ταμη-
νίων ἐ̣μ̣πο-
15δι̣σμούς.
15 ((coronis))
Apparatus
^ i.21. or ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ [ἄ]λλαι, or ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣ [πο]λλαί
^ ii.4. or κυ̣ί̣ας
^ ii.11. [ἡμέρας ̣] δ̣υ̣ν̣ ̣[ -ca.?- ] prev. ed.
^ iii.1-3. or [καὶ μέλ]ι|[σ]σο[ς ὁ ̣ ̣ ̣ ̣]ν|διεύς
^ iii.15. or κ̣λ̣α̣
^ iii.19-20. or [ὑ]πο̣λαμ|[βάν]ετα̣ι̣, or [ἐ]πι̣λαμ|[βάν]ετα̣ι̣
^ iii.26-27. παρέ|χων H.Schöne in ed.pr.
^ iv.2. or ε̣ισης̣, or χ̣ισης̣, or υ̣ισης̣
Notes
- 11.
The term diatritos refers to the recurring third day of a disease (counting inclusively, i.e. the third, fifth, seventh, etc. days), considered as crucial for an assessment of the disease's progress, and is employed to provide a chronological framework for the regulation of regimen. The closest parallel can be found in PSI inv. 3783, ii 40-44: "What is the correct time for venesection? The increase of the whole affection, and the abatement of the paroxysm in its partial stage, before the first diatritos". Such a universal recommendation finds qualified support in specific cases dealt with by other authors that employ the system of the diatritos. Caelius Aurelianus is our best source for this, and throughout the Celeres Passiones and the Tardae Passiones venesection is regularly performed either before the diatritos or some time during it, depending on the patient's strength. Soranus too, e.g. at Gyn. III 11.1 (CMG IV, 100.10–1 Ilb.), makes similar recommendations for women suffering from uterine constriction ("If the pains are rather vehement, one should perform venesection before the diatritos or even during it ...").
- 15.
The expansion for τῶν is restored by Βäckström: the papyrus reads τχρ̣ο̣ without any particular indication for the abbreviation.
- 21-24.
This sentence has been interpreted by Bäckström and others as referring to a 33rd chapter or section of a work on chronic diseases, but, according to Leith, the plural article τά at line 22 demands that the number 33 be cardinal here, referring instead to an overall number of chronic diseases, i.e. ‘we shall pass to the 33 chronic diseases’. Considering the content of the papyrus, it is surprising to find this formulation at this point in the text. It would most naturally be read as signalling the conclusion of a book on acute diseases, and marking a transition to a subsequent book on chronic diseases (see Introduction).