Introduction
Somethings never change, no matter how far into the past you look. Children (even adult children) need to be bailed out by their parents, and in turn, parents will send the needed support along with some "advice." This familiar (pun intended) drama is how I interpret P. Lille 17 (also catalogued as P.Sob.3.100).
This papyrus, dating to 246-222 BCE, was preserved as cartonnage, and as such, is rather fragmented. The name of the sender (presumably the recipients' father) is lost. The middle lines of the letter are too fragmentary for me to venture a translation. I originally translated the text found in the Logos module of the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, but in the course of my research, I found an more recent edition of the text with a different reading of the final lines. In my translation, I have retained elements of both translations.
Translation
... to Aristarchos my son and Mikkala my daughter, greetings. While Philon is carrying a letter concerning the bits of corn, I have removed for you eight artabas, which he leaves behind to Gorginios for my daughter; for Philon sails back to Alexandria. Since you would like to work well, give him a token of your ... [4 fragmentary lines]; and the bits of corn are for one manger ... for you to have (?) dispatch to him a certain ..., so that the corn which is near you might be salvaged.
To Aristarchos
Textual Comments
An artaba was an Egyptian unit of measure for corn and wheat (akin to a bushel).
Gorginios is a male name yet is referred to as "my daughter." The greek word for daughter can also mean a maidservant or slave.
συνβολον appears in this text instead of the standardized spelling of συμβολον. The confusion of n/m sounds is common, and is a routine issue for the Hebrew/Aramaic transliterations in the Septuagint.
Additional Resources
One of my favourite things about my excursion into papyrology is the discovery of really neat online tools and resources. Trismegistos allows for searches of people's names that occur in the papyri and will generate a list of the texts that attest to the name in your search. Currently Trismegistos has close to 20,000 inscriptions and papyri in their database, so it is an incredibly useful and powerful resource.
