DCLP

Introduction

Medical recipe written on the back of an opistograph ostrakon. The ingredients (kadmia l. 12, opion l. 13, tragakantha l. 14, aloe l. 16) point to an eye-salve. The heading of the recipe occupied ll. 9-11, where the terms λευκώματα and σταφυλώματα (see Medicalia Online s.v. σταφύλομα) can be restored. The front preserves traces of a documentary text, likely an household account or a cooking recipe.

(This papyrus has been digitally edited by Isabella Bonati, with former contributions by Giulia Saccani, 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. = C. Préaux, O.Bodl. II 2188v; ed.alt. = C. Préaux, CE 31, 1956, pp. 146-8).)

Apparatus

Notes

• .
• 2.

  Poss. a collyrion (πρὸς) βλέφαρα, for rough eyelids? Cf. P.Tebt. 2.273 (=GMP 2.5).ii.14-5.

• 3.

  Leukoma is an eye disease consisting of opaque white spots on the cornea, cf. PSI 10.1180.B.ii.1-4. Collyria against leukomata are cited in P.Strasb.inv.gr. 90.10. Defects of the eye were very common among the country people of ancient Egypt, and could have been cured (e.g. ἵνα θεραπευθῇ τὸ λευκωμάτιον, in P.Oxy. 31.2601, verso 1).

• 4.

  The staphyloma, an abnormal protrusion through a weak point in the eyeball, is described in P.Strasb.inv.gr. 90.10, and in P.Strasb.inv.gr. 849 (medical catechism on ophthalmology).

• 5.

  For ‘calamine finely crumbled’, zinc oxide, see Andorlini 1981.

• 6.

  Latex of the opium poppy is frequently encountered in medicaments of the ancient Mediterranean, prized for its analgesic properties. For its importance in kollyria, see the comment of Scrib.Larg. comp. 22 (opium ... in omni collyrio verum adicere oportet); for a more discursive account, see J. Scarborough, ‘The Opium Poppy in Hellenistic and Roman Medicine’, in Drugs and Narcotics in History (R. Porter – M. Teich, edd., Cambridge 1995) 4–23. For opium in papyri, cf. SB 24.15917.i.3.

• 7.

  For Tragacanthae gummi, cf. Dioscurides (Mat.med. 3.20.2 W), and SB 24.15917.i.4.

• .
• 9.

  Bitter aloes (Aloe vera L.) is a plant of Liliaceae. The perfumed wood of aloes yields a volatile oil and decays into a resin used in making incense and applied as a topical substance in skin care products. The dried plant juice of various species of aloes was recommended by ancient pharmacologists for its astringent properties –it is rich in tannin, and therefore good for staunching wounds. For aloe cf. Préaux 1956, 147, PSI 10.1180.F.6; GMP 1.11, A.13 (note).