Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 219 (P. Oxy. 219 or P. Oxy. II 219) is a

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

for a pet by an unknown author, written in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

. It was discovered in

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...

. The manuscript was written on

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

in the form of a roll. It is dated to the first century AD. Currently it is housed in the

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts and ...

(36) of the

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

.P. Oxy. 219
at the Oxyrhynchus Online

Description

The document was written by an unknown copyist. It contains the end of a lament mourning the loss of a favorite

fighting cock Cockfighting is a blood sport involving domesticated roosters as the combatants. The first documented use of the word gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or entertainment, was recorded in 1634, after the term ...

. The measurements of the fragment are 122 by 184 mm. The text is written in a rough and rather difficult

cursive Cursive (also known as joined-up writing) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and m ...

hand. The

iota adscript Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician alphabet, Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin alphabet, Latin I and J, the Cyrillic � ...

is frequently added where not required. It was discovered by Grenfell and

Hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1899.

Text

...I am at a loss where to go. My ship is shattered. I weep for the loss of my sweet bird. Come, let me take the chick he nurtures (?), he, my warrior, my beauty, my Greek cock. For his sake was I called great in my life, and deemed happy, comrades, in my breeding cares. I am distraught, for my cock has failed me; he fell in love with Thacathalpas (?) and deserted me. But I shall find rest, having set a stone upon my heart; so fare ye well, my friends.

References

219 __NOTOC__ Year 219 ( CCXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Antonius and Sacerdos (or, less frequently, year 972 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomina ...

1st-century manuscripts {{OxyrhynchusGR-stub

Description

Text

See also

References