P.Berol. inv. 9875 col. v coronis

Detail of P.Berol. inv. 9875 col. v (late fourth or early third century BCE), showing the coronis at the beginning of the "sphragis" in the Persae of Timotheus of Miletus.

Detail map of Giza Governorate, Egypt Overview map of Giza Governorate, Egypt

A: Giza Governorate, Egypt

A Papyrus Fragment of Timotheus, Probably the Earliest Surviving Papyrus of a Greek Text

Circa 350 BCE

A papyrus fragment of The Persae by the Greek musician and dithyrambic poet, Timotheus (Timotheos) of Miletus, discovered in Abusir, Egypt, is probably the earliest surviving papyrus of a Greek text found in Egypt. It is preserved in the Staatliches Museum, Berlin (P. Berol. 9875).

The text was first edited and published by Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Möllendorff as Timotheos, Die Perser, aus einem Papyrus von Abusir im Aufrage der deutschen Orientgesellschaft (1903).

Morison, Politics and Script. . . . Barker ed. (1972) 11, pl. 8 describes the Greek writing on the papyrus as "Formal book-script; square; monoline; unserifed."

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