P.Ryl.Greek Add. 1166: Christian Prayer Amulet with a Tax Receipt on the Back

This article presents the critical edition, with historical analysis and commentary, of an unpublished Greek papyrus from the John Rylands collection, dating to the end of the 5th beginning of the 6th century AD. The manuscript main side bears a Christian amulet divided into two sections: the first consists in citations of verses from the Psalms, the second is an abbreviated, so far unattested formula of the Eucharist prayer. The papyrus leaflet was later folded and re-used to draft a tax receipt, illegible to the naked eye, which was deciphered through the use of multi-spectral imaging technology: this has led to the discovery of the ancient provenance of the manuscript from the village of Tertembuthis, in the region of Hermopolis (al-Ashmunein). The combined application of papyrological and scientific methods (carbon dating and multispectral imaging) has implemented greatly the deciphering and interpretation of this new important text.