A New Demotic–Hieratic Horoscopic Ostracon from the EAO/SCA 1993/94 Archaeological Campaign at Athribis (O. Athribis no. 271)

Abstract

This paper presents the edition and analysis of O. Athribis no. 271, which was found among a large group of ostraca written mostly in Demotic, alongside some hieratic, Coptic, and Greek, during the 1993/94 excavation season of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization/Supreme Council of Antiquities at the site of Athribis in Upper Egypt. O. Athribis no. 271 was found on 1 February 1994 in square e:-8, level 1, located to the north of the ascending path of the temple of Ptolemy XII, and is now kept in the museum storeroom of Sheikh Hamad (Sohag). The text on the ostracon is a Demotic–hieratic horoscope that can be identified as part of a large horoscopic corpus from Athribis dating to the reign of Augustus. Its structure is unusual within this corpus, and therefore constitutes a valuable addition to it.

Keywords

Demotic ostracon horoscope Athribis zodiac astrology

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