Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 234 (P. Oxy. 234 or P. Oxy. II 234) is a fragment of a treatise on medical prescriptions by an unknown author, written in

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. 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 sheet. It is dated to the second or third century. Currently it is housed in the library of the

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.P. Oxy. 234
at the Oxyrhynchus Online

Description

The document was written by an unknown copyist. The

verso ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...

side contains the medical text. The measurements of the fragment are 306 by 87 mm. The text is written in a round upright medium-sized

uncial Uncial is a majuscule script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters were used to write Greek and Latin, as well as Gothic, and are the current style for ...

hand. The

recto ''Recto'' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In double-sided printing, each leaf h ...

side is written in an upright

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 and contains a memorandum concerning a lease. 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

Another:—Heat an equal quantity of beaver-musk and poppy-juice upon a potsherd, if possible one of Attic make, but failing that of...; soften by diluting with raisin wine, warm, and drop in.

Another:—Dilute some gum with balsam of lilies, and add honey and rose-extract. Twist some wool with the oil in it round a probe, warm, and drop in.

Another:—Pound some closed calices of pomegranates, drop on saffron-water, and when it becomes discoloured draw the liquor off. When required dilute as much as the bulk of a pea with raisin wine, warm, and drop in.

Clysters for the ear against earache:

Dilute frankincense with very sweet wine and syringe the ear; or use for this purpose the injections described above.

Another:—Rinse with warm onion-juice.

Another:—Syringe with gall of a bull or goat or sheep, or other similar kind of gall, warmed.

Another:—The sap of a pine tree, warmed, to be used in the same way.

References

234 __NOTOC__ Year 234 (Roman numerals, CCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pupienus and Sulla (or, less frequently, year 987 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

2nd-century manuscripts 3rd-century manuscripts {{OxyrhynchusGR-stub

Description

Text

See also

References