Material: Papyrus
Date: 4th century
Dimensions: 12.3 x 19.7 cm
Findspot: Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
Current Location: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Firenze, Italy, PSI I 29 (PGM XXXV)
The practitioner who wrote created this artefact wrote down the extensive text not only with tiny letters but also with hardly any space between the lines. As a result, the inscrirption looks like a fabric. It consists of a lengthy invocation as well as magic signs and drawings of three faces, likely portraits of the owner of the artefact, a man named Paulos Iulianos. The magic signs are separated by horizontal lines from the text above and the text and drawings below them.
There is no image of this fascinating papyrus available for free but a high resolution photo is provided in the database of the university where the artefact is kept: https://psi-online.it/documents/psi;1;29
The text reads:
I call upon you, who is seated over the Abyss: Buthath.
I also call upon the one who is seated in the first heaven: Marmar.
I call upon you, who is seated in the second heaven: Raphaêl.
I call upon you, who is seated in the third heaven: Souriêl.
I call upon you, who is seated in the fourth heaven: Iphiaph.
I call upon you, who is seated in the fifth heaven: Pitiêl.
I call upon you, who is seated in the sixth heaven: Mouriatha.
I call upon you, who is seated over the snow: Telzê.
I call upon you, Edanôth, the one over the sea,
I call upon you, Saesechel, the one over the serpents,
I call upon you, Tabiym, the one over the rivers,
I call upon you, Bimadam,
I call upon you, Chadraoun, who is seated in the midst of Chadrallos, in the middle of the two Cherubin and Seraphin praising you, the lord of the entire army under the sky:
That you obey my power entirely, each one of you listening to me completely, and that you stay with me and give me favour and power and victory and strength over everyone, small and great men, and gladiators, and soldiers, and non-soldiers, and women, and maidens, and children, and everyone, quickly, quickly, by the power (dynamis) of laô and the strength (ischus) of Sabaôth and the robe of Elôhim and by the sovereignty (kratos) of Adônai and the crown (stephanos) of Adônai!
Grant for myself favour and victory in front of everyone, as you have grante good gifts to Albanathanalba and Akramachamari, and because of this I summon you and I invoke you, in order that you grant to me favour and victory and power (dynamis) and influence (pneuma), on behalf of me, of the third-band-wearing master, quickly, quickly, because I invoke you, laô, Sabaôth, Aô, Sabaôth, Ô, Sabaôth, Sabaôth, A, abaôth, baôth, aôth, ôth, th!
(magic signs, symbols, drawings, name of the owner of the amulet: Paulos Iulianos)
Beyond the influences of opponents, towards the influences of dignity [and] exaltation!
I call upon, I summon, I invoke you, that you obey all of my orders impeccably, on behalf of me, of the third-band-wearing master, Sabath! I invoke you by the god of Sarachaêl, of Biliam, and by the one who created heaven and earth and everything on it […] and […]
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