![PTOLOMAIC PAPYRUS. Document in Greek, including a petition to Patroclus, a Ptolomaic administrative official in Bousiris in Middle Egypt, [late 3rd Century BCE], ON PAPYRUS, three fragments, approximately 158 x 60mm, 212 x 92mm and 160 x 96mm, framed and glazed.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2002/CKS/2002_CKS_06605_0014_000(045058).jpg?w=1)
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PTOLOMAIC PAPYRUS. Document in Greek, including a petition to Patroclus, a Ptolomaic administrative official in Bousiris in Middle Egypt, [late 3rd Century BCE], ON PAPYRUS, three fragments, approximately 158 x 60mm, 212 x 92mm and 160 x 96mm, framed and glazed.
The fragmentary nature of the papyri indicates that they have been retrieved from mummy cartonnage. Two of the three have been identified as a petition (enteuxis), nominally addressed to the 'Basilei Ptolemaioi' (Ptolemaic king and queen), requesting that it be forwarded to Patroclus. The largest number of surviving petitions in this form have been dated to the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 222 to 205 BC E).
The first two fragments have 27 lines of a comparatively formal epigraphic hand, with the majority of the letters drawn separately, while the third is a more fluent cursive hand on 22 lines. These differences in the script indicate that the third fragment forms part of a separate document.
The fragmentary nature of the papyri indicates that they have been retrieved from mummy cartonnage. Two of the three have been identified as a petition (enteuxis), nominally addressed to the 'Basilei Ptolemaioi' (Ptolemaic king and queen), requesting that it be forwarded to Patroclus. The largest number of surviving petitions in this form have been dated to the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 222 to 205 BC E).
The first two fragments have 27 lines of a comparatively formal epigraphic hand, with the majority of the letters drawn separately, while the third is a more fluent cursive hand on 22 lines. These differences in the script indicate that the third fragment forms part of a separate document.
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