did you know???

[Ben C. Smith]

Small question on Papyrus Fouad 266, Column 65 Ben.

I've been staring at that scrap for a while now and it occurs to me to ask 1: are there any other scraps associated with this fragment that have the letter eta visible?

Yes, plenty. Here is a half random sampling (random in the sense that I did not aim at any particular part of the manuscript, but not random insofar as I made sure all the fragments I selected had at least an ēta or two):

For Lane.png (863.12 KiB) Viewed 3232 times

The fragment in question is there, too, on the bottom left, for comparison. Actually, as I do more comparisons, I am thinking that it might have to be an ēta, on its own merits (no context required), if it is not just a smudge. The other letters I had in mind (such as nu and upsilon) would not explain that hard angle from vertical to horizontal.

and 2: right after what looks like it might be an eta is what looks like a C. Were the letters being used uncial?

These are definitely uncial (majuscule) letters. Minuscules were not invented until the Middle Ages.

Was sigma being rendered with a C?

Yes. We call it the lunate sigma. It was the standard sigma in antiquity. It is what we find in nearly all the Greek manuscripts relevant to our field of inquiry.

[Jax]

Ok good! This all adds up and I concur that the first visible letter in the name sure looks like it is indeed an eta based on the eta written in the other fragments.

I will add that Iesous does indeed look like the name being used.

Thanks for the clarifications.

Lane

[Ben C. Smith]

Ok good! This all adds up and I concur that the first visible letter in the name sure looks like it is indeed an eta based on the eta written in the other fragments.

I will add that Iesous does indeed look like the name being used.

Thanks for the clarifications.

No problem, and before I saw this message I was actually working on another few comparisons. The examples of ēta in this manuscript do not always have that little hook at the top of the righthand vertical, but there are plenty of them which do:

More for Lane.png (65.8 KiB) Viewed 3222 times

Sometimes the hook is straight across; sometimes it hooks downward; sometimes it is more like a crossbar atop the vertical; sometimes it is more like a flattened blob. Anyway, since I was already wrapping up this PNG file, I thought I would go ahead and upload it.

[Jax]

Ok good! This all adds up and I concur that the first visible letter in the name sure looks like it is indeed an eta based on the eta written in the other fragments.

I will add that Iesous does indeed look like the name being used.

Thanks for the clarifications.

No problem, and before I saw this message I was actually working on another few comparisons. The examples of ēta in this manuscript do not always have that little hook at the top of the righthand vertical, but there are plenty of them which do:


More for Lane.png


Sometimes the hook is straight across; sometimes it hooks downward; sometimes it is more like a crossbar atop the vertical; sometimes it is more like a flattened blob. Anyway, since I was already wrapping up this PNG file, I thought I would go ahead and upload it.

Nice.