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Papyrological conventions used in Duke Databank texts

α(βγ) Modern expansion of an abbreviation
[αβγ] Text lost, restored by the editor
[........] Up to 8 characters lost, cannot be restored
[ - ca.4 - ] Approximate number of characters lost, cannot be restored
[ - ca.9 - ] More than 8 characters lost, cannot be restored; note: DDbDP practice assumes that assertion of losses greater than 8 characters is imprecise, whether the editor writes [..........] or [- ca.10 - ]
[ - ca.? - ] Unknown number of characters lost, cannot be restored
<αβγ> Characters erroneously omitted by the scribe, added by modern editor
\αβγ/ Text added above the line in antiquity
/αβγ\ Text added below the line in antiquity
{αβγ} Superfluous letters removed by the editor
α̣β̣γ̣ Underdotted by editor to indicate characters ambiguous outside of context, characters damaged, illegible or otherwise uncertain
αβγ Characters seen by a previous editor now lost, or attested in an ancient duplicate
〚αβγ〛 Characters deleted in antiquity
vac. Space left empty
- ca.? - Traces Illegible / vestiges
…….. Up to 8 characters illegible
- ca.9 - More than 8 characters illegible; note: DDbDP practice assumes that assertion of illegible characters of length greater than 8 is imprecise.
- ca.? - Unknown number of characters illegible
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- Break in papyrus/ostracon/tablet, resulting in unknown number of lost lines