15 - Assorted Conversational Fragments(P.Berol. INV. 21860): New Edition

Summary

A small papyrus fragment (25.5 × 10.5 cm) dated to the fourth century (M–P3 3004.02, LDAB 8897) contains a severely mutilated colloquium or a bilingual glossary that includes phrases from a colloquium. This mixture of colloquium and glossary material is unusual but not unique, for P.Lond. II.481 (for which see 4.3 below) has a similar mixture with less colloquium material. P.Berol. inv. 21860 has been previously edited by Maehler (2001) and Kramer (2001a: no. 9), both of whom provide detailed discussion justifying their supplements; such discussion is therefore largely omitted here. This re-edition is based on examination of the original papyrus as well as on photographs, and in the course of studying the original I learned from the Berlin papyrus conservator Myriam Krutzsch that a small fragment attached to the main piece of papyrus by a previous conservator is misplaced. As it was not possible for me to determine exactly where the fragment ought to go, I have been obliged simply to remove from the text the letters it contains, which previous editors had read in line 5 of the recto and 31 of the verso.

The layout is original, but word divisions within lines, accents, breathings, and punctuation are editorial. Supplements and corrections are due to Kramer (2001a) unless otherwise noted.