Introduction
Medical recipes (P.Oxy. LXXIV 4978). The fragment (7 x 7.5 cm) preserves a single column, copied with the fibres, of which only the lower margin is completely lost. The back is blank. The papyrus has been cut to size, and the original edges survive at top and right, and presumably also at the left in its lower portion, though it is badly damaged. The hand is medium-sized, upright, informal, rounded and assignable to the 2nd ex . or 3rd cent. AD. The text preserves three complete medical recipes of varied application, each beginning on a new line in ekthesis . Measures are abbreviated and numerical quantities overlined. There is a single instance of itacism (l. 5).
(This papyrus has been digitally edited by Margherita Centenari as part of the Project "DIGMEDTEXT - Online Humanities Scholarship: A Digital Medical Library based on Ancient Texts" (ERC-AdG-2013, Grant Agreement no. 339828) funded by the European Research Council at the University of Parma (Principal Investigator: Prof. Isabella Andorlini). The digital edition is mostly based on the previous edition (D. Leith, P.Oxy. LXXIV 4978). Revised by Nicola Reggiani in the framework of the PRIN 2017 Project "Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Fayum (4th BC – 7th AD): Texts, Contexts, Readers" funded by the Italian Ministry of Research (P.I. Prof. Lucio Del Corso, University of Cassino; Local Research Unit at the University of Parma, coordinator: Prof. Nicola Reggiani).)
DCLP transcription: 119323 [xml]
[νο]ς̣ σπέρμα καὶ μυ-
[ῶν] ἀφόδευμα ἴσα
[μείξ]ας μετὰ μύρου
5[ἐπί]χρειε(*) τὸ μέτωπον.
[ἐμε]τ̣ικόν· σίλφιον ὕ-
[δατ]ι̣ ζέσας πότισον.
καθαρτικόν· ἅλατος
κύ(αθον) α, μέλιτος κύ(αθον) α,
10ὄξους κύ(αθον) α, ὕδατος
κυ(άθους) ζ ὁμοῦ μείξας
κί̣ρνα κα̣τ̣ὰ κύαθον καὶ
πίε νήσ̣τ̣ης.
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Editorial History; All History; (detailed)
© Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri.
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Notes
- 1.
The integration [ὑπ]ν̣ωτικόν (Andorlini, see P.Oxy. VIII 1088 .66) would be very tempting, especially in view of the inclusion of poppy seed in the recipe, but the extant traces and the available space seem to guarantee [ἀρ]α̣ιωτικόν. The application of this recipe to the forehead, and its use of poppy seed, might suggest that its purpose was to relieve some sort of perceived blockage or congestion in the head, perhaps associated with pain.
- 2-3.
The 'dispersing' (διαφορητική) property of mouse droppings (see Orib. Coll. XIV 62.1) was considered active in the relief of certain kinds of pain in the head (see Gal. Comp.med.loc. XII 548-9 K.), and it may be related to the rarefying action referred to in the recipe title.
- 4.
Perfumed oil in this recipe would presumably counteract the unwelcome odour of the mouse droppings, but such unguents were commonly used as mixing agents for the preparation of ointments and plasters. When applied to the head in the form of an ointment, as here, perfumed oils were widely considered effective for headaches (see e.g. Dsc. MM I 43.4).
- 5.
For [διά]χρειε, much rarer than [ἐπί]χριε, see Orib. Syn. VIII 17.6.
- 8-13.
We may note that the four ingredients found here are also those used in the preparation of oxymel as described at Dsc. MM V 14. This is clearly a purgative of the most basic kind.
- 12.
The verb κιρνάω in medical literature is used of mixing or tempering liquids (e.g. Dsc. III 22.4; Orib. Coll. V 30.36, 38). The sense required here is of dividing or portioning out the liquid in certain amounts ("by the kyathos ") once it has been mixed, but no parallels for such a usage of κιρνάω survive.