CIMRM Supplement - Leaf from papyrus codex with catechism. Hermopolis, Egypt.

There is a collection of papyri at Berlin, probably from the excavations of O. Rubensohn at Hermoupolis (modern al-Ashmunein) in 1906. Boxes of the finds have never been opened. William Brashear was able to identify this fragment as a portion of a codex, containing a question-and-answer dialogue relating to initiation into a cult. The presence of the rare word "leontion" (known from a Mithraic inscription) and references to the "Leo" grade of initiation led him to identify it as a manual for the prospective initiate.

7 x 9 cm in size. 4th century.

P.Berol. 21196 is a light brown papyrus fragment broken off on all four sides and showing occasional damage on the preserved portion. ... The writing in brownish ink is similar to the hand of P.Koln inv. 3323, reproduced in Dierk Wortmann, Bonner Jahrbucher 168 (1968) 89, 91. Another similar hand is that of Wilhelm Schubart, Papyri Graecae Berolinenses, Bonn: A. Marcus and E. Weber 1911 plate 43a. ... The identical writing on both sides of the papyrus along with the uniform style and subject matter involved clearly demonstrate that P.Berol. 21196 derives from a codex. However, the minuscule size of the extant fragment and lacunose state of the text unite to make any serious speculation about the codex's original format a rather hopeless undertaking. Too many imponderabilia are at play. Nonetheless, for the sake of fantasy ... Most of the proposed restorations result in lines of 46-51 letters ... the lines of Greek text would have measured approximately 16 cm. Adding a margin of 2 cm. to each side would result in a codex page 20 cm. wide. Presumably the height of the page would have been somewhat greater. According to the tables in Erich Turner, The Typology of the Codex, University of Pennsylvania 1977, such a page falls within the normal range for papyrus codices.1 While most of the language - above all, the "little lion": the "four tassels" and talk about gird(l)ing - was entirely non-plusing, such words as "night ... in a trench ... death ... linen ... pater" suggested that the text might belong in a context of mystery religions. The term bothros "trench" also triggered an association with Mithraism, and I wondered whether it might be a designation for the Mithraic temple. Since the ... mentioned no such usage and since Egypt is notoriously lacking in Mithraica, I pushed the idea aside and concentrated instead on searching for the Egyptian cult that might have been responsible for producing this text. In fact, much of the terminology could apply to practically any ancient mystery religion. Pater, for example, is a common title for many a cult leader, and linen apparel the garment of priests and initiates from time immemorial. However, there was that odd question: "(how) did you become a lion?" Translating this au pied de la lettre made little sense. To be sure it was possible to imagine a situation where such a question/riddle could conceivably be asked, but taken at face value the question was at best enigmatic, and at worst ludicrous. This too reminded me of Mithraism; I remembered one of the grades in the Mithraic hierarchy was called Leo. Since the only book on Mithraism at hand happened to be Merkelbach's, Mithras, I started browsing through it to see what I could learn about the Mithraic Leones. Then on p. 102, in a discussion about a Mithraic inscription published in 1978 by Umberto Ciotti,2 the word leontion leapt off the page at me. Ciotti's inscription happens to contain the same unusual word that is on P.Berol. 21196, thus providing the key for identifying this fragmentary text. I was able to consult the original publication of the inscription at the museum library, and suddenly the import of this unassuming little scrap of papyrus, and hence the urgency of publishing it immediately, dawned on me.3

Transcription

Brashear transcribes this as follows:⁴

Side with horizontal fibres	Side with vertical fibres
.........]υ̣οημις. ἐ̣ρ̣ε̣ῖ̣· π̣ο̣[ῦ .....ἐντ]αῦθ' ἀπορεῖ; λέγε· α[ +/- 7] ......]λέγε· νύξ. ἐρεῖ· ποῦ αν.[ +/- 5] ....].σε; λέγε· π̣άντ̣α̣ τι ὑπερ̣...[..] ..]κέκλησαι; λέγε· διὰ τὴν θερινὴν̣ ..].ι γενόμενος πυρώδεις ἔχει τὰς ..]α̣βες; λέγε· ἐν̣ βόθρῳ. ἐρεῖ· ποῦ σ̣ου ..]ά̣τῳ λεοντίῳ. ἐρεῖ· ζώσεις ὁ ου ]ν̣ θάνατον. ἐρεῖ· διὰ τί ζωσάμεν̣[ος] .τ]οῦτο τ̣έσσαρα κράσπετα ε.[...] ........] traces [	...................]..[ .........] ὀ̣ξύτατον καὶ το̣π[.]ρ[..............................] ..........]..σου πολύ̣ς. ἐρε̣ῖ̣·.[.......... +/- 27 ...........] ......θ[ερμοῦ καὶ ψυχρο̣ῦ. ἐρε̣ῖ̣· [..... +/- 27 ..........] [π]ορφύρᾳ λίνῳ. ἐρεῖ· διὰ τί; λέγε· [ +/- 20 ..........] π̣ορφύρα ἀκμή, τὸ δὲ λίνον απ[...... +/- 20 ..........] ἐσπαρ[ε]γανώθη̣; λ̣έγε· τὰ τοῦ σω[τῆρος ? +/- 11 ] ἐρεῖ· τίς ὁ πατήρ; λέγε· ὁ πάντα γε̣ν̣[νῶν .. +/- 13 ] ἐγένου λέων; λέγε· ταῖς τοῦ πατρ[ός .... +/- 14 ....] [..]λ̣έγε̣· ποτὸν καὶ τροφήν. ἐρε̣[ῖ· ..............]τ̣ηνη ἐν τῇ ἑπτα̣[
1. "... He will say: 'Where ...?' 2. '... he is/(you are?) there (then/thereupon?) at a loss?' Say: ... 3. Say: 'Night'. He will say: 'Where ...?' ... 4. Say: 'All things ...' 5. (He will say): '... you are called ...?' Say: 'Because of the summery ...' 6. ... having become ... he/it has the fiery ... 7. (He will say): '... did you receive/inherit?' Say: 'In a pit'. He will say: 'Where is your ...?... 8. (Say): '...(in the...) Leonteion.' He will say: 'Will you gird?' The (heavenly?) 9. ...(Say): '... death'. He will say: 'Why, having girded yourself, ...?' 10. '... this (has?) four tassels'.	2. 'Very sharp and ...' 3. '... much'. He will say: ...? 4. (Say: '... because of/through?) hot and cold'. He will say: ...? 5. (Say): '... red ... linen'. He will say: 'Why?' Say: 6. '... red border; the linen, however, ...' 7. (He will say): '... has been wrapped?' Say: 'The savior's ...' 8. He will say: 'Who is the father?' Say: 'The one who (begets?) everything ...' (He will say): '('How?)... 9. did you become a Leo?' Say: 'By the ... of the father'. ... 10. Say: 'Drink and food'. He will say '...?' 11. '... in the seven-...'."

Notes

7. bo/qrw|, bothros: a cavity, trench, or a pit for offering libations to the dead (c.f. Porphyry, de antro, 6). May refer to the man-sized pit found in the Carrawburgh mithraeum which in size and shape resembles a coffin. Possibly the emergence of the initiate from the earth might be part of a ritual in some way. Trenches and pits also appear in a magical context. Alternatively perhaps a sacrifical pit.

8. leoti/w|: literally leontion = "a little lion"; but more likely Leont<e>ion, a cult-centre for members of the Leo grade of Mithraic initiates. And a shrine or temple is the obvious answer to the question "where" on line 7.

9. Death: the initiate is depicted lying on the ground, as if dead, in the fresco in S. Maria Capua Vetere.

9. Mention of a belt.

7. sw[th=roj, "saviour": this may refer to the liberator, who releases the hands of the bound initiate in the frescos; or, as Soter is a standard epithet of deities, to Mithras himself.

8. path/r, "father": Extensive use as title in sacred and secular organisations: see Dieterich 147-155; Reitzenstein 40-41; Tran Tam Tinh 169.6; Franz Poland, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens 1909, repro Leipzig: Zentral-Antiquariat der DDR 1967, 371-373.

9. e)ge/nou le/wn, "did you become a lion": The literature on the Mithraic grade of Leo is extensive. See, for example, Carl Wilhelm Vollgraff, "Le role des Lions dans la communaute mithriaque", in: Hommages a L. Herrmann (Coll. Latomus 44), Brussels 1960, 777-785; Gordon, Doctrines 241; id., Reality, esp. 32-37,46-48; Hinnells in: Hinnells II 301-302; Merkelbach, Mithras, passim; Campbell 264-266, 309-310; Vermaseren, van Essen 156-157, 224-232; Jackson, Meaning, Lion passim; Simonini 157-159; Spada 639-{548; E. Francis, Ciotta 53 (1975) 43-66; Ciotti; Clauss.

10. Probably refers to an initiatory banquet.

It has been suggested that the document contains the questions and answers, each very terse, together with an explanatory comment.

Bibliography

• William M. Brashear, A Mithraic Catechism from Egypt (P. Berol. 21196), in: Tyche Supplementband 1, 70 p. 2 plates. Vienna: Holzhausen, 1992.