DCLP Transcription [xml]
Introduction
Medical recipe or list of ingredients. Fragment (6 x 8.8 cm) of a papyrus sheet consisting of two smaller scraps broken at the top and right sides. The recto contains only 4 lines of writing (verso is blank). The bottom margin survives to a height of 2.5 cm. The brevity and the lacunosity of this fragment make the positive determination of its meaning extremely difficult: the four ingredients listed (mastic, honey, spikenard, hyssop) may belong to the final section of a recipe, whose heading has been unfortunately lost. Given the well-known therapeutic effects of these substances against stomach and intestinal disorders (Dsc. 1.70.3 [1, 67.10 W], 3.25 [2.35.10-36.13 W]; Gal. Simpl.medicament.temp. 8.13.1 [12, 84.16 K]), we can suppose that the treatment may be focused on these parts of the body. The text is copied in a semi-uncial hand assignable to the 5th cent. AD.