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Introduction

Medical recipe (Ο.Βodl. II 2188) written on the back of an ostrakon . The ingredients (calamine, opium, tragacanth, aloe) point to an eye-salve. The heading of the recipe occupied ll. 2-4, where the terms λευκώματα and σταφυλώματα (see Medicalia Online s.v. σταφύλωμα ) can be restored. The front preserves traces of a documentary text, likely an household account or a cooking recipe.

(This papyrus has been digitally edited by Isabella Bonati, with former contributions by Giulia Saccani, 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 editions (ed.pr. = C. Préaux, O.Bodl. II 2188v; ed.alt. = C. Préaux, CE 31, 1956, pp. 146-8). 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).)

Notes

• 2.

  Poss. a collyrion (πρὸς) βλέφαρα, for rough eyelids? Cf. GMP II 5 .2.14-5.

• 3.

  Leukoma is an eye disease consisting of opaque white spots on the cornea, cf. PSI X1180 b.2.1-4. Collyria against leukomata are cited in P.Strasb. inv. G 90 .10. Defects of the eye were very common among the country people of ancient Egypt, and could have been cured (e.g. ἵνα θεραπευθῇ τὸ λευκωμάτιον, in P.Oxy. XXXI 2601 v.1).

• 4.

  The staphyloma , an abnormal protrusion through a weak point in the eyeball, is described in P.Strasb. inv. G 90 .10 and in P.Strasb. inv. G 849 (medical catechism on ophthalmology).

• 5.

  For ‘calamine finely crumbled’, zinc oxide, see I. Andorlini, πολλὰ ἰατρῶν ἐστι συγγράμματα. Scritti sui papiri e la medicina antica , ed. N. Reggiani, Florence 2017, 40-4.

• 6.

  Latex of the opium poppy is frequently encountered in medicaments of the ancient Mediterranean, prized for its analgesic properties. For its importance in kollyria , see the comment of Scrib.Larg. Comp . 22 ( opium ... in omni collyrio verum adicere oportet ); for a more discursive account, see J. Scarborough, The Opium Poppy in Hellenistic and Roman Medicine , in Drugs and Narcotics in History , eds. R. Porter, M. Teich, Cambridge 1995, 4-23. For opium in the papyri, cf. SB XXIV 15917 .1.3.

• 7.

  For Tragacanthae gummi , cf. Dsc. MM III 20.2 and SB XXIV 15917 .1.4.

• 9.

  Bitter aloes ( Aloe vera L.) is a plant of Liliaceae . The perfumed wood of aloes yields a volatile oil and decays into a resin used in making incense and applied as a topical substance in skin care products. The dried plant juice of various species of aloes was recommended by ancient pharmacologists for its astringent properties – it is rich in tannin, and therefore good for staunching wounds. For aloe cf. Préaux 1956 , 147; PSI X 1180 f.6; GMP I 11 a.13 (note).