This is an article
from Biblica Magazine, Vol. 69, No. 2, 1988. In this article, the manuscript
p46, one of the Chester Beatty Papyri, was examined and redated. This
is an important NT manuscript, containing most of Romans, most of 1 Thess, all
of 1 Cor, 2 Cor, Gal, Eph, Phil, Col, and Hebrews (with lacunae). The article
was written by Young Kyu Kim and is reproduced in its entirety below, with footnotes
and diagrams. I believe that not many Christians are aware of the redating.
Palaeographical Dating
of p46 to the Later First Century
During the last two years,
I have attempted to marshal new palaeographical evidence for evaluating P.Beatty
II + P. Mich. 222 (p46). I was encouraged to do this, above all,
by the publication of two papyri, P. Oxy. XLI 2987 (AD 78/9) and P. Mich. Inv.
6789(1). As is well known, the first editor of p46
F.G. Kenyon abandoned his former dating perhaps owing to statements by U. Wilcken(2)
and then assigned the papyrus to a date not later than the first half of the
third century(3). This dating(4)
has since been accepted without reference to dated parallel papyri from the
third or second centuries. After carefully examining the plates of p46,
I have been able to isolate the decisive criteria for establishing the date
of the papyrus.
Firstly, I examined the
ligature forms of p46, which until now have not received due notice(5).
This sort of calligraphic hand with its striking effort to keep the upper line(6)
(fol 8r 9 and fol 24v 9) is unknown to me after the first
century at least in consistent usage and is found mostly in the later(7)
Ptolemaic period. Another calligraphic feature, which belongs to an added hand,
seems to determine the papyrus' terminus ad quem. This style (fol 28v
11) appears from the second century BC to the early second century AD(8);
within the first century a similar form of writing is found in P. med. I 7 (AD
13/4); P. Oxy. II 326 (AD 45); P. Lond. II 1166 (AD 42); P. Ups. Frid 1 (AD
48); BGU I 350 (AD 98-117) etc. Secondly, all literary papyri similar to p46
in its exact style (Fig. 1)(9)
have been assigned to an early date, e.g:
P. Oxy. XV 1790 -- the
middle or rather the latter half of the first century BC (B.P. Grenfell and
A.S. Hunt), the reign of Augustus (W. Schubart)(10)
P. Mil. Vogl. Inv. 1181
int. -- I AD (Cl. Gallazzi)(11)
P. Oxy. XXII 2337 -- terminus
post AD 65
P. Mich. Inv. 6789 -- the
latter part of the first century or the second century AD (T. Renner)
P. Alex. Inv. 443 -- the
second half of the first century (G. Cavallo and T. Luzzatto)(12)
P. Med. Inv. 70.01 verso
-- AD 55 (O. Montevecchi)(13)
P. Oxy. LIII 3695(14)
-- the first century (E. Lobel), the later first century (M.W. Haslam)
P. Ryl. III 550 -- early
in the second century (C.H. Roberts).
Moreover, p46
may be compared with other similar literary hands, which further disclose the
particular style of p46:
P. Mon. Gr. Inv. 216 --
the second half of the first century BC (G. Cavallo, C.H. Roberts, E.G. Turner,
P. Fabrini and F. Maltomini)
P. Berol 6926 + P. Gen.
Inv. 100 -- terminus ad AD 100/1, before the middle of the first century, or
probably the last Ptolemaic period (U. Wilcken)(15),
the reign of Augustus (W. Schubart)(16), the second
half of the first century (C.H. Roberts)
P. Gr. Berol. 19c -- the
last decade of the first century (W. Schubart)(17)
P. Oxy. I 8 -- AD 50-150
(B.P. Grenfell)(18)
P. Gr. Berol. 29b -- the
first half of the second century (W. Schubart)(19),
AD 50-150 (B.P. Grenfell)
P. Hamb. III 193 - I AD
(B. Kramer and D. Hagedorn)(20)
P. Oxy. LIII 3721 -- the
second half of the second century (M. W. Haslam).(21)
In these papyri we perceive
a somewhat independent and widespread style in which the knobbed alpha,
and sometimes the same movement of strokes as in P. Oxy. XV 1790, is consistently
found. For an understanding of the style I may also suggest a comparison between
BGU I 37 (AD 50) and P. Giss. I 69 (AD 118/9), for p46 makes it clear
that a book hand is to a certain degree correlative with its running hand. But
p46 belongs to the earlier type of these styles(22).
The following reasons support this judgement:
1) P46 presents
a distinctly early appearance in the form of finials at the feet of letters,
which is represented by the examples dated from the last quarter of the third
century BC to the third quarter of the first century AD; comparable are P. Cair.
65445, the latter datable hand (?) and P. Med. Inv. 70.01 verso.
2) It exhibits the earlier
forms in a few letters, especially the beta and the upsilon; comparable
are P. Cair. 65445, the latter datable hand (?) and P. Mon. Gr. Inv. 216.
3) It has not been influenced
by the blob-ornamental style, which is found in e.g. P. Oxy. XLI 2987 (AD 78/9),
or the decorated style finishing with an obliquely rake-formed serif(23).
Among papyri of the same type as p46, P. Hamb. III 193 may be considered
a good example of influence by this decorated style. The same applies to P.
Gr. Berol. 19c, but P. Hamb. II 193 makes an earlier impression. We are virtually
able to determine the precise period of this ornamental style. In particular,
P. Oxy. XLI 2987(24) is comparable with P. Oxy.
XXVI 2450 and XXX 2256, which also may be readily compared with P. Hercul. 994,
1676; P. Oxy. VIII 1083, XVII 2453; P. Oxy. Hel. 6. In this connection, P. Oxy.
VIII 1082 agrees with P. Brem. 6 (in the early reign of Hadrian) in groups of
narrow letters (e, q, o, s), in the first vertical movement of the alpha
and the delta, and in the upsilon. The decorated style may, therefore,
be assigned at least up to the Trajan-Hadrian period. This also seems to have
been the view of A.S. Hunt(25). The decorative
form, however, continues even afterwards to have influence on another style,
e.g. P. Turner 1, P. Oxy. XLII 3010, XXXIV 2689, and the probably very late
P. Oxy. XLII 3030. Here I may suggest that P. Ryl. III 550 belongs to the more
or less earlier type than P. Oxy. XIII 1622 (terminus ante AD 148, probably
Trajan-Hadrian period).
4) When p87
is compared to the second hand of P. Oxy. V 841 (terminus post the reign of
Titus; the first hand is not able to be assigned to a date after the earlier
decades of the second century AD), one may say that p46 gives a very
early impression of style. Consequently, it may be said, if so useful, that
p46 is, in agreement with A.S. Hunt and probably E.G. Turner(26),
an upright informal uncial of an early type.
For an adequate paleographical
evaluation of p46, I have given special consideration to papyri:
P. Med. Inv. 73.06 (AD 2); P. Lond. 136 verso(27);
P. Ryl. II 131 (AD 31); P. Lond. 177 (AD 40/1); P. Oxy. II 318 (AD 59); P. Oxy.
II 320 (AD 59); P. Heid. Inv. G. 1017 (the reign of Nero); PSI XIII 1319, the
second hand (AD 76); P. Lond. 2078 (in the reign of emperor Domitian, possibly
AD 87)(28); PUG II 62, the second hand (AD 98).
These I have compared to dated do*****ents in literary-type hands: P. Princ. III
147 (AD 87/8); P. Lond. II 141 (AD 88); P. Oxy. XLII 3051 (AD 89); P. Ryl. II
107 (AD 90); P. Oxy. II 270 (AD 94); P. Fayum 110 (AD 94); P. Oxy. II 211 (from
the reigns of Vespatian, Domitian, and Trajan)(29).
As a result, a group of forms (alpha, beta, epsilon, mu, rho, upsilon, omega)
in p46 is distinguished from the dominant group of forms [same letters,
different style](30) since the reign of emperor
Domitian. This strongly suggests that p46 was written some time before
the reign of the emperor Domitian. Thirdly, p46 reserves the eg-
form instead of the ek- form before compounds with b, d, and l:
| egbasin Heb 13,7; 1 Cor 10,13
| egdikoV Rom 13,4
|
| eglekton Rom 16,13
| (eklektwn, Rom 8,33)
|
| egluw Heb 12,3,5
| eglelhsqe Heb 12,5
|
| eglogh Rom 9,11; 11,5,7,26.
|
|
At the end of the nineteenth
century it was generally thought that the regular eg- form before g,
b, d, l, m, n in Attic inscriptions was regularly changed since the first
century BC into the ek- form(31). The research
of W. Cronert, E. Mayser, and F.T. Gignac, however, has disclosed that their
alternative or exceptional usage is found in papyri after the first century
BC. This was ascertained through the following examples, which have exact parallels
in p46:
| egbasiV P. Fayum 91,11 (AD 99)(32)
| /ekbasiV P. Ryl. II 122,5 (AD 127); 157,9,11
(AD 135)
|
| egdikoV P. Merton 104,11 (Ia AD)(33)
P. Oxy. II 261, 14 (AD 55)(34); XXXVI 2757,
ii, 3 (AD 69/71) PSI 791,1 (VI AD)
| /ekdikoV P. Oxy. II 237, vii. 39 (AD
186); P. Strassb. 196, 3 (II AD); PSI 1411,19 (II AD)
|
| eglanqanw P. Iatr. (?) once(35)
| /eklanqanw P. Lond. Lit.6 +P. Ryl. II
540 + P. Lib. Congr. 408B (terminus ad the reign of Domitian) once
|
| eglektoV P. Fayum 102,3 (AD 105?)(36)
| /eklektoV P. Oxy. XXXI 2603,31 (IV AD)
|
| eglogh P. Teb. I, 5, 116 (118 BC)(37);
P. Oxy. XLI 1979, 13 (3 BC); P. Hercul. Philodemi
| /eklogh P. Ryl. III 598, (92/1 or 58
BC); P. Hercul. 1007 (terminus ad AD 79)(39);
P. Ryl.II 157,5 (AD 135)
|
| peri poihmatwn BETA (terminus ad AD
79) three times(38); P. Oxy. Hels. 31,23
(AD 86); P. Soterichos 4,21,23 (AD 87); PSI 770,16 (AD 187)
|
|
| egluein P. Teb. III i, 798,7 (II BC)(40);
I 49,6 (113 BC)(41); I 54,16 (86 BC)(42);
P. Hercul. 182 (terminus ad AD 79)(43); P.
Oxy. Hels. 45,14 (I AD); P. Teb. III/1 798,7 (IIa AD); P. Amh. 80,9 (AD
232/3)
| /ekluein P. Oxy. XXVII 2457,2 (I/IIa
AD)
|
On the basis of these examples,
we should regard the regular usage of the eg- form as a clearly original
feature of the Pauline epistles. It also seems most likely that the regular
usage of the eg- form gradually disappeared probably after the early
second century AD. There is truly a good corrected example in P. Oxy. XLIV 3152,ii,
13; Fr. 4,8. It is because of this change, I think, that all biblical MSS (with
the exception of egluou in p13 and p46, of course) show
only the ek- form at least in the Pauline epistles(44).
Nevertheless, three early biblical texts (P. Fouad 266(45);
the Minor Prophets of Wadi Murabba'at(46); 4Q LXX
Leva(47)) preserve the eg- form.
Finally, some previous palaeographers(48) may sometimes
have been influenced in their dating p46 by the omission of iota
acscriptum, usage of nomina sacra, and perhaps the Greek transliteration
of a Latin name SilbanoV. Now, however, these features turn out to have no bearing
on my giving an early date to p46. Two biblical papyri (P. Oxy. L
3522 and the Minor Prophets of Wadi Murabba'at) have provided biblical texts(49)
of the first century AD omitting iota adscript. And the early usage of
nomina sacra has been attested by a non-biblical papyrus fragment (PSI 1200
addendum (50)), which was perhaps written about
the same time as p46. Finally, as early as 1892 Th. Eckinger cited
examples of SilbanoV four times in an inscription of ca. AD 4/5 (but SilouanoV
three times from the first century), and O. Cair. J.E. 38622 (I/II AD) illustrates
the name SilbanoV together with P. Oxy. II 335 (AD 85) and an exceptional calligraphical
form of abbreviation [for] -umen(51).
| Hermann-Reinst. 7/424
| Young Kyu KIM
|
D-3400 Göttingen
Footnotes:
1
See T. RENNER, "Four Michigan Papyri of Classical Greek Authors", Zeitschrift
fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik [ZPE] 29 (1978) 16-21.
2
The dating of U. Wilcken was assigned on the basis of one leaf (fol 86r)
as follows: "Ja, die Unzialschrift konnte ich mir schon in II. Jahrh. vorstellen,
doch weist die kursive Zeile mit der Stichenzalung vielleicht doch schon auf
das III. Jahrh. hin, aber mit einem alteren Eindruck als Taf. I" (Archiv
fur Papyrusforschung 11 [1935] 113). It is thus apparent that he also thought
that the stichometrical notes are more or less contemporary with the main hand.
Cf K. OHLY, Stichometrische Untersuchungen (Leipzig 1928) 86ff.; T. C.
SKEAT, "The Length of the Standard Papyrus Roll and the Cost-advantage of the
Codex", ZPE 45 (1982) 174.
3
Cf. F. G. KENYON, "A Third Century Papyrus COdex of the Epistles of St. Paul,
edited by Henry A. Sanders. University of Michigan Studies, Humanistic Series,
Vol. XXVIII Ann Arbor, 1936", American Journal of Philology 57 (1936)
93; IDEM, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Fasc. III Suppl. Pauline
Epistles (London 1936) Text XV and Plates preface.
4
The newer criterion for estimating age was, according to F. G. Kenyon, that
calligraphically the finest is also the earliest. Though the letters of P46
are rather early in style, he said its type had lost a little of the simplicity
of the best hands of the Roman period. Consequently, the terminus ad quem of
P46 was confirmed, as usual, by the cursive stichometric subscriptions.
Cf. The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Fasc. I, General Introduction
(London 1933) 13-14; Fasc. III, Pauline Epistles and Revelation (London 1934)
IX; "A Third Century Papyrus Codex", 93.
5
H. A. Sanders, who first saw the 30 most important leaves, claimed very mistakenly
that there are no ligatures and made no paleographical mention of the added
hands. F. G. Kenyon indicated only that the corrections in a second hand are
occasional and too small to assist the dating. G. Zuntz carefully distinguished
the different hands and noticed that the same hand added the page numbers and
wrote the number of stichoi under most of the epistles. Recently, J. R. Royse
has again classified the corrections in P46. Cf. H.A. SANDERS, A
Third-Century Papyrus Codex of the Epistles of Paul (Ann Arbor 1935) 12-13;
F. G. KENYON, The Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: Fasc. III Suppl. Pauline
Epistles (London 1936) XV; G. ZUNTZ, The Text of the Epistles (The Schweich
Lectures of the British Academy 1946; London 1953) 252-254; J. R. ROYSE, Scribal
Habits in Early Greek New Testament Papyri (Diss., Graduate Theological
Union 1981) 627-640.
6
Cf. P. Ryl. III 531. This convention to keep to the upper line may be of ancient
age like dots dividing into words (from Ugaritic scripts until the paleo-Hebrew
of Qumran) or the colophon-form containing the stichometric note in ancient
literary texts, e.g., J. A. BLACK, "Babylonian Ballads: A New Genre", Studies
in Literature from the Ancient Near East (ed. J. M. SASSON) (New Haven 1984)
Figure 1 Reverse, BM 47507; cf. also V. GARDTHAUSEN, "Die alexandrinische Bibliothek,
ihr Vorbild, Katalog und Betrieb", Zeitschrift des Deutschen Vereins fur
Buchwesen und Schrifttum 4-6 (1922) 85. In any event, Ptolemaic writing
is clearly distinguished in the three following ways from Roman writing: (1)
the effort to keep the line, (2) the informality of letters, (3) the directions
of strokes. Especially in the Roman period there are a few ways of keeping the
line, e.g., to keep only the upper line, to combine the horizontal strokes of
e, h, q, s, t with wide spread in time, to keep the lower line (cf. P. Oxy XLVII
3332, P. Tebt. Tait 46. W. SHUBART, Griechische Palaographie [Handbuch
der Altertumwissenschaft, I, iv/1; Munchen 1925] Abb. 99), and to keep the upper
and lower lines. The ligature ways of vertical calligraphy in p46
are a decidedly early type, as is also the main hand.
7
This agrees with comments by Revel Coles to me, but the ligature ways would
seem to have originated from the second century BC.
8
This form is found exceptionally in P. Amh. I 92 (AD 162-3), 11, 14, 22, but
the vertical stroke of the kappa indicates clearly its own time. Conversely,
a great chronological difference is visible in two added hands (fol 37v
and fol 56v). Such a chronological difference is not a rare phenomenon,
for a later Ptolemaic papyrus (P. Oxy. XIX 2214), to which additions were made
by a hand of the later second century AD, was long treasured, probably together
with P. Oxy. XIX 2212, 2213 (cf. E. G. TURNER, "Roman Oxyrhynchus", JEA
38 [1952) 93). In the case of p46, hands of the correctoi ndo not
all belong only to the later centuries. Of course, the stichometric notes and
paginations are no doubt additions from a so-called "Bibl. Majuscule hand" (for
this terminology I am indebted to the editors of the journal Biblica,
cf. E. G. TURNER, Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World [Princeton 1971]
introduction 25; concerning its early type, cf. P. Hercul. 1457 -- D. BASSI,
Papyri Ercolanesi Tomo 1 [Milano 1914] 7 plates) in G. Cavallo's system
of classification (see Fig. 2). But the hand prefixed
TA to 1. 7 of fol 54v appaers from SCHUBART, Griechische Palaographie,
Abb. 26 l. 10 through P. Oxy. III 473 probably up to the third century AD, e.g.,
P. Oxy. XLII 3075 (AD 225), but the slight looping, sloped toward the left,
makes an earlier impression. The hands added MEN on 1. 16 of fol 53v
and GENH on 1.13 of fol 55v should not be dated late in the third
century, as C.H. Roberts thought (ZUNTZ, The Text of the Epistles, 254),
but should be long-dated e.g., from SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie,
Abb. 31 (AD 83) to P. Amh. I 72 (AD 246). Particularly the hand of fol 53v
may be assigned to [a] somewhat earlier date by virtue of the flatly elongated
movements.
9
Generally speaking, most letters (B D E H Q K M N P U Y w) are made of three
separate strokes. The upsilon has two forms, as also in P. Heid. 2 (130
BC, cf. R. SEIDER, Palaographie der grieschischen Papyri, I, Abb. 15)
and PSI IV 320 (AD 18, cf. R. PINTAUDI, "Papyri greci e latini a Firenze, Secoli
III a.C. -- VIII d.C.", Papyrologica Florentina XII [Firenze 1983] tav.
XI); its decoration is formed by the hyphenated foot or, more often, by the
finial stretched out toward the left like the vertical stroke of other letters.
The oblique strokes of a D L M w have small heads rounded toward the left. F
and often R are angle-formed, as one sees sometimes, though rarely, in early
inscriptions and papyri, e.g., Herculaneum papyri, P. Oxy. XXI 2295; XXX 2528
etc. The beta and the epsilon are early forms. For the beta,
cf. P. Merton 29 (154 or 143 BC); P. Lond. II 354 (7/4 BC); PSI IV 320 (AD 18);
P. Teb. 568r, the second hand (AD 20/1); P. Oxy. II 282 (AD 30-35);
P. Oxy II 246 (AD 66) etc. For the epsilon, cf. P. Ryl. II 131 (AD 31);
P. Lond. 177 (AD 40/1); P. Oxy. XXIV 2387; P. Lond. 136 verso; P. Ryl. III 486
etc. It may be suggested that the tendency to be down-curved in the third stroke
of the epsilon is, alongside of beginning with a space slightly left
blank, a notable mark of early Roman hands (cf. P. Berol. 16895 + 21284; PSI
X 1176; P. Lond. Lit. 6 + P. Ryl. III 540 + P. Libr. Congr. 4082 B; P. Ryl.
III 486; P. Oxy. II 225; P. Oxy. II 216; P. Oxy. XXI 2299; P. IFAO Inv. 23,
the second hand; P. Fayum 6; P. Oxy. XII 2225; P. Oxy. II 282; P. Amst. I, 1
etc.). For the general stroke of most of the letters p46 is apparently
well comparable to two literary-type hands: P. Fayum 6; P. Oxy. II 246 the first
hand (AD 66).
10
SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie, 116. But to this dating there
is some room for doubt, for the coronis form comes near to the form of the second
century (see Fig. 3).
11
CL. GALLAZZI, "Glossario a Homerus, Odyssea I 46-53", ZPE 45 (1982) 41.
This school hand may be compared barely only with P. Oxy. XXXI 2555 among the
examples of Cl. Gallazzi, or rather with PSI IV 320 and P. Oxy. XXXIX 2879.
These corrections were owing entirely to the careful observations of the editors.
12
About the papyri (P. Alex. Inv. 443 and P. Mon. Gr. Inv. 216), see A. CARLINI,
Papyri Letterari Greci (Bibliotheca degli Studi Classici e Orientali
13; Pisa 1978) 113-118, 237-266, reprinted in the Papyri der Bayerischen
Staatsbibliothek Munchen (Stuttgart 1986) II, 40-59.
13
O. MONTEVECCHI, "Nerone a sua polis e ai 6475", Aegyptus 50 (1970), 5-33;
IDEM, La Papyirologia (Torino 1973) tav. 42; O. MONTEVECCHI and G. GERACI,
"Do*****enta papyracea inedita ad Neronis atque Othonis principatus pertinentia
in Papyris Mediolanensibus reperta", Akten des XIII int. Papyrologenkongresses
(Munchner Beitråge zur Papyrusforschung 66; Munchen 1974) 293-307. This
is a rare example in which the archaic form [of] M is grouped with the young
form [of] A (a new development in the Ptolemaic form, e.g., P. Petrie , 19,
225 BC). The scribe may be someone like an elder. Though notarial in style the
hands of P. Oxy. II 318 and 320, both of which belong to the latest material
within the archive of Tryphon (AD 11-61), may represent an already prevalent
style, together with P. Heid. Inv. G. 1207 (AD 61/2) etc. P. Fayum 110, whose
sender (Gemellis) was sixty-one years old at the time, represents the hand of
the later first century (the first hand stands in close proximity to the second
hand).
14
The coronis form (see Fig. 3), asteriscus form (especially
fig. 21), and corrected hand belong, comparable with the textual hand, to an
early date.
15
U. WILCKEN, "Ein Neuer Griechischer Roman", Hermes 28 (1893) 161-193.
Of greater interest are . Two features, the fluent movements
of every vertical stroke and the succeeding horizontal line of P K Q E T present
an independent style.
16
SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie, 112.
17
SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie, 118.
18
About the dating of P. Oxy. I 8 and P. Gr. Berol. 29b, cf. B. P. GRENFELL, The
Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XIII (London 1919) 180.
19
SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie, 124.
20
B. KRAMER and D. HAGEDORN, Griechische Papyri der Staats-und Universitåtsbibliothek
Hamburg (Papryrologische Texte und Abhandlungen 31; Bonn 1984) 12-14.
21
P. Parsons was kind enough to draw my attention to this papyrus. M. W. Haslam
has compared it with P. Oxy. XLIV 3156 an P. Oxy. XXVI 2450. With the exception
of the added hand, I would not agree with Haslam's dating. I see an early feature
in the epsilon (cf. PSI XI 1214; P. Oxy. LIII 3685) and the xi
(cf. P. Oxy. XXXVII 2632; P. Oxy. II 282, in comparison with the elegant form
X). MOre notice should be taken of the upsilon, which is formed with
a deep bow on the top of an upright stroke (cf. P. Oxy. XXI 2295; P. Oxy. XIX
2223, 2226; P. Gr. Vindob. 1999B; P. Oxy. II 318, 320 (AD 59)). I am personally
inclined to think a date up to the reign of the emperor Trajan to be probable
in the case of P. Oxy. XLIV 3156 (noticeable are the three movements of the
tau, the second and third movements of the mu, which are deeply
curved, an omicron that is a little too large, and the hyphenated decoration)
and P. Oxy. XXX 2526. The contrast between wide and narrow letters does not
prove much, for such a contrast can be seen as early as the fourth century BC,
cf. P. Gr. Berol. 2; P. Ibscher (G. MANTEUFFEL, "Papyri e Collectione Varsoviensi.
4. Legum Iudicialium Fragmentum"; Journal of Juristic Papyrology 2 [1948]
81-103, Tab. II); The Herculaneum Papyri (F. SBORDONE, Ricerche sui Papyri
Ercolanesi, II [Napoli 1976] tavv.); H. J. M. MILNE, "A New Fragment of
Theophrastus", The Classical Review 36 (1922) 66-67; C. H. ROBERTS, GLH
15b (AD 145-6); P. Hamb. III 198 (terminus ad AD 156).
22
A later development of this type among Biblical papyri is witnessed in, e.g.,
P. Köln IV 170 (p87); probably P. Ryl. 457 (p52,
a fairly exceptional style, but not entirely only calligraphic); P. Ryl. I 5
(p32); P. Oxy. IV 656 (Genesis); P. Oxy. L 3523 (p90);
P. Oxy. I, 2 (p1).
23
These finals appaer frequently in the so-called Roman Uncial of G. Cavallo.
On the Roman Uncial, see G. CAVALLO, "Osservazioni paleografiche sul canone
e la cronologia della cosiddetta 'onciale romana'", Annali della scuola normale
superiore di Pisa (Lettere, storia e filosofia), Ser. II, 36 (1967) 209-220
with 12 plates; P. J. PARSONS, "Cavallo, Ricerche sulla maiuscola biblica",
Gnomon 42 (1970) 375-380; TURNER, Greek Manuscripts, 38.
24
In connection with p46, the two forms of the upsilon, nu,
and mu, the vertical stroke of the nu and iota, and the
xi are of considerable interest.
25
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XV (London 1922) 191.
26
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, XV, 114; TURNER, Greek Manuscripts, introduction,
24.
27
H. J. M. Milne assigned the do*****ent on the recto to the reign of emperor Augustus
(Catalogue of Literary Papyri in the British Museum [London 1927] 21).
Truly this Homer papyrus has to do with its own time only through the form [of]
U. Without this form it must be ascribed to the third century AD as F. G. Kenyon
did (Classical Texts from Papyri in the British Museum [London 1891]
94). For p46 the oval epsilon is of greatest interest.
28
Cf. New Palaeographic Society, Series II (1913-30) 98.
29
In the original publication of this Menander papyrus, the editors demonstrated
that the papyrus was found together with a large number of do*****ents dated to
the reigns of Vespasian, Domitian, and Trajan, e.g., P. Oxy. I 45 (AD 95), 97
(AD 115-6), 174 (AD 88) and 373 (AD 79-80) (cf. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri,
Part II [London 1899] 11). About the other contemporary examples, cf. S. DARIS,
"Ricerche di Papirologia Do*****entaria", Aegyptus 63 (1983) 161, n. 115.
30
For the exact understanding of the spread of these rather rounded forms in time,
cf. P. Ryl. II 154 (AD 66); P. Fayum 110 (AD 94); P. Giss. Univ.-Bibl. Inv.
251 (AD 136); P. Wisconsin II 81 (AD 143); P. Oxy. III 473 (in the reign of
the emperor Antoninus Pius); P. Merton 71 (AD 160-3); BGU V 1 (about AD 170);
P. Mich. 532 (AD 181/2); P. Oxy. XLII 3076 (AD 225?); P. Oxy. XVII 2105 (AD
231-6); P. Oxy. XXXVIII 2854 (AD 248).
31
Cf. K. MEISTERHANS - E. SCHWYZER, Grammatik der Attischen Inschriften
(Berlin 1900) 106-109; L. THREATTE, The Grammar of Attic Inscriptions,
I (Berlin - New York 1980).
32
F. T. GIGNAC, A Grammar of the Greek Papyri of the Roman and Byzantine time
Period, I (Milan 1976) 175.
33
GIGNAC, A Grammar, 174.
34
GIGNAC, A Grammar, 174.
35
W. CRÖNERT, Memoria Graeca Herculanensis (Lipsiae 1903) 53.
36
GIGNAC, A Grammar, 175.
37
E. MAYSER - H. SCHMOLL, Grammatik der Griechischen Papryi aus der Ptolemåerzeit,
I/1 (Berlin 1970) 202.
38
CRÖNERT, Memoria, 53.
39
CRÖNERT, Memoria, 53.
40
MAYSER - SCHMOLL, Grammatik, 202.
41
MAYSER - SCHMOLL, Grammatik, 202.
42
MAYSER - SCHMOLL, Grammatik, 202.
43
CRÖNERT, Memoria, 53.
44
At least within the Pauline epistles the eg- form is not visible in any of the
MSS, on which point F. G. Kenyon and A. Debrunner (F. BLASS - A. DEBRUNNER,
Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, Teil II: Anhang [Göttingen
1943] 5) were mistaken. The word egluou is retained once in p13 by
conservatism as it is in a few of the examples listed above. By the side of
it, in P. Oxy. IV 656 (Genesis), which was unearthed together with p13
and P. Oxy. IV 654 (The Gospel According to Thomas) and one of the libelli (AD
250) from the mound with the shêkh's tomb belonged to the third century
AD, wit hsome specimens of the second and fourth centuries (B. P. GRENFELL and
A. S. HUNT, "Graeco-Roman Branch", Egypt Exploration Fund. Archaeological
Report 1902-03, 6-8), appears the ek- form (eklu[eiV, Gen 27:40).
It is also noteworthy that bubloV is used in p46 together with bibloV
(Gal 3:10, cf. biblion Heb 9:19; 10:7, cf. MAYSER-SCHMOLL, Grammatik,
80; CRÖNERT, Memoria, 21-22; GIGNAC, A Grammar, 268). In orthography
there is generally a strong preponderance of agreement with D* F
G or B*. When p46 disagrees with B*, B*
agrees mainly with Dc E K L P or exceptionally with F G. There are
yet a number of notable spellings peculiar to p46, e.g., ef' elpixei
(1 Cor 9:10, cf. Rom 8:20 ef' elpidi -- for this spelling I am also indebted
to the editors).
45
Cf. F. DUNAND, Papyrus Grecs Bibliques (Papyrus F. Inv. 266) (Recherches
d'Archéologie, de Philologie et d'Histoire, XXVII; Le Caire 1966) 15. The
suggested dating of this papyrus is very questionable. P. Fouad Inv. 266, which
is comparable with Würzb. Sosylos-Papyrus (U. WILCKEN, "Ein Sosylos-Fragment
in der W&252;rzburger Papyrussammlung", Hermes 41 (1906) 104-105; for
the Photographs, see SEIDER, Palåographie II, Nr. 10 and ZPE
27 [1977] plate I), may be assigned from the later third century up to the middle
of the second century BC, for the short horizontal strike on the top of the
third vertical stroke in the nu does not stretch long and the upper stroke
of the oblique epsilon is short and not rounded. The eta, mu
and pi are also of interest. Moreover, a calligraphy (Fr. 6, cf. SCHUBART,
Griechische Palåographie, Abb. 7), probably P. Fouad Inv. 266 Addendum,
and the tetragrammaton script, which is comparable with the Nash Papyrus (cf.
S. A. COOK, "A Pre-Massoretic Biblical Papyrus", Proceedings of Society of
Biblical Archaeology 25 [1903] 57, plate I; W. F. ALBRIGHT, "A Biblical
Fragment from the Maccabaean Age: The Nash Papyrus", JBL 56 [1937] 146-172),
support such a date. Now I do not think of a date later than P. Mich. 6982 (see
ZPE 51 [1984] plate II), P. Sorbonne I, 5; P. Ryl. III 458; P. Teb. I
4 (= E. G. TURNER, Greek Manuscripts, N. 13, terminus ad 140 BC). In
any event, P. Fouad Inv. 266 should be assigned to an earlier date than P. Berol.
9767 (= P. Gr. Berol. 11a); P. Oxy. XXIV 2399; P. Ryl. IV 586 (99 BC). Compare
the epsilon and the xi. On the other letters, cf., I Cret. III,
iv 4 (246 BC). Of great interest is the text of P. Fouad Inv. 266 in Deut 32:43
which preserves in Christian MSS (cf. Heb 1:6) and stands against the MT (cf.
Z. ALY, Three Rolls of the Early Septuagint: Genesis and Deuteronomy
[Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen 27; Bonn 1980) plate 47].
46
Cf. D. BARTHÉLEMY, Les devanciers d'Aquila (VTS 10; Leiden 1963)
170-178; B. LIFSHITZ, "The Greek Do*****ents from the Cave of Horror", IEJ
12 (1962) 201-207. The first publisher assigned the texts to the middle of the
first century (D. BARTHÉLEMY, "Redécouverte d'un chaînon manquant
de l'histoire de la Septante", RB 60 [1953] 19, n.3; Les devanciers
d'Aquila, 168). C. H. Roberts, however, dated them more exactly between
50 BC and AD 50 in comparison with SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie,
Abb. 72 and Abb. 76 (P. KAHLE, "Der gegenwårtige Stand der Erforschung
der in Palåstina neu gefundenen hebråischen Handschriften", TLZ
79 [1954] 81). In any event, the second writing (Zech 8:19-9:4) may be regarded
as normal in the case of more or less early date. The hand may be so early as
that of P. IFAO I 72 (23 BC) and is comparable to P. Hercul. 1425. Generally
it makes an impression of strongly early first century AD on short leftward
pointing serifs and the mu, but the strongly downward pointed horizontal
stroke of the tau and the xi rejects it.
47
P. W. SKEHAN, "The Qumran Manuscripts and Textual Criticism", Volume du Congrès
(VTS 4; Leiden 1957) 159, l. 19. That dating of the first century AD is entirely
improper. This hand can be approximately assigned to the first century BC in
comparison with TURNER, Greek Manuscripts, 45 (c. 160 BC), P. Oxy. VI
866 and P. Oxy. XXXIII 2654 two hands, which cannot be apparently later than
P. Oxy. II 356 (AD 27).
48
On factors influencing the dating of early Christian papyri, see F. G. KENYON,
The Palaeography of Greek Papryi (Oxford 1898) 93; B. P. GRENFELL and
A. S. HUNT, The Oxyrhrynchus Papyri, Part II (London 1899) 2-3; H. I.
BELL and T. C. SKEAT, Fragments of an Unknown Gospel and Other Early Christian
Papyri (London 1935) 2-3; F. G. KENYON, Books and Readers in Ancient
Greece and Rome (Oxford 1951) 97; J. MALLON, "Quel est le plus ancien Exemple
connu d'un Manuscrit Latin en forme de codex?", Emerita 17 (1949) 1-6;
C. H. ROBERTS, "Early Christianity in Egypt: Three Notes", JEA 40 (1954)
94; E. G. TURNER, The Typology of the Early Codex (London 1977) 2-4,
11; C. H. ROBERTS, Manuscript, Society and Belief in Early Christian Egypt
(Oxford 1979) 12, 26ff.; ZUNTZ, The Text of the Epistles, 260.
49
Here I follow a comment by Revel Coles.
50
A. CARLINI, "Amicus Plato...: A Proposito di PSI XI 1200, Gorg. 447B ss.", Miscellanea
Papyrologica (Papyrologica Florentina 7; Firenze 1980) 41-45. PSI XI 1200
is written by the less common hand in Egypt. As in the cases of P. Oxy. III
405 (Irenaeus, Contra Haereses iii 9); P. Herc. 1676; P. Herc. 21457
it may not be a so-called 'Nationaltype' (cf. SCHUBART, Griechische Palåographie,
112; E. G. TURNER, "Scribes and Scholars of Oxyrhynchus", Akten des VIII
internationalen Kongresses für Papyrologie Wien 1955 [Wien 1956] 144).
This type was also well witnessed in Egypt, for many useful books borrowed from
Athens were copied in the period of Ptolemaios Euergetes, and the emperor Domitian
had sent book-copyists to Alexander in order to make copies of the classical
texts for a burned-out library in Rome (T. KLEBERG, Buchhandel und Verlagswesen
in Buchsbeschreibung verglichen mit der des vorderen Orients [Halle 1949]
59-69). But PSI XI 1200 addendum seem to be a less unusual hand, which may be
compared with the hands of P. Fayum 6; P. Oxy. XXVIII 2502; PSI XI 1212; PSI
IX 1091; P. Hal. 4; possibly P. Lit. Lond. 27 (rightly see W. LAMEERE, Aperçus
de Paléographie Homérique [Paris- Bruxelles 1960] plates 3, 6);
P. Oxy. XXVIII 2495. It is also a very similar hand of p46, though
the latter may be slightly earlier than the former with the well rounded epsilon
and duplicate types of the upsilon. Palaeographically it would be possible
that PSI XI 1200 addendum is assigned more to the early second century AD, but
might be as old as the last decade of the first century AD. For it, compare
P. Oxy. II 211; SEIDER, Palåographie, II Nr. 29, 32; P. Köln
Inv. 7511 (ZPE 14, 1974, plate V); PSI XIII 1305; P. Giss. I, 19; P. Giss. I,
3; P. Oxy. XV 1807 + P. Köln IV 185; P. Köln 178; P. Köln Inv.
2281 (ZPE 7, 1971, plate XI); PSI XI 1217, 1220 (PINTAUDI, "Papyri", plate LXI);
P. Oxy. XVIII 2159-64, 78-9; III 473 (= TURNER, Greek Manuscripts, Nr.
69).
51
TH. ECKINGER, Die Orthographie lateinischer Wörter auf griechischen
Inscriften (Diss. Zürich 1892) 82-91. 52. C. GALLAZZI, "Supplica ad
Atena su un Ostrakon da Esna", ZPE 61 (1985) 101-109.
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