Tebtunis Papyri, 114 BCE

 

Tebtunis Papyri 2

Since 1998, 7,000 papyri have been found at Tebtunis, Egypt. One example from 114 BCE is a letter complaining about a violent attack in the temple of Isis-

To Menches…

While I was in the great temple of Isis here for devotional purposes on account of the sickness from which I am suffering…Horos son of Haruotes, a resident in the aforesaid temple of Isis, picked a quarrel with me, and beginning with abuse and unseemly behavior he at last fell upon me and gave me many blows with the staff which he was carrying. Therefore, since in consequence of the blows my life is in danger, I make this statement to you…so that if anything happens to me subsequently, he may not escape unpunished. Farewell.

Grenfell and Hunt found other papyri that contain medical prescriptions from the second millennium BCE, including instructions on how to treat a tooth that has fall out or a bite by a person.

Merola, Marco. “Letters to the Crocodile God.” Archaeology, Nov-Dec 2007.

See also-

The Center for the Tebtunis Papyri