The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 38

NOTE ON THE METHOD OF PUBLICATION AND ABBREVIATIONS

The method of publication follows that adopted in Part XXXVI. As there, the dots indicating letters unread and, within square brackets, the estimated number of lost letters are printed slightly below the line. In the new literary texts, corrections and annotations which appear to be in a different hand from that of the original scribe are printed in thick type. Non-literary texts are printed in modern form, with accents and punctuation, the lectional signs occurring in the papyri being noted in the apparatus criticus critical notes, where also faults of orthography, etc., are corrected. Iota adscript an iota written at the end of a vowel is printed where written, otherwise iota subscript an iota written below a vowel is used. Square brackets [ ] indicate a lacuna gap/loss in the text, round brackets ( ) the resolution of a symbol or abbreviation, angular brackets < > a mistaken omission in the original, braces { } a superfluous letter or letters, double square brackets [[ ]] a deletion, the signs ` ' an insertion above the line. Dots within brackets represent the estimated number of letters lost or deleted, dots outside brackets mutilated or otherwise illegible letters. Dots under letters indicate that the reading is doubtful. In the new literary texts letters not read or marked as doubtful in the literal transcript may be read or appear without the dot marking doubt in the reconstruction if the context justifies this. Lastly, heavy Arabic numerals refer to Oxyrhynchus papyri printed in this and preceding volumes, ordinary numerals to lines, small Roman numerals to columns.

The abbreviations used are in the main identical with those in E. G. Turner, Greek Papyri: an Introduction (1968). It is hoped that any new ones will be self-explanatory.