Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 235 (P. Oxy. 235 orP. Oxy. II 235) is ahoroscope written inGreek. It was discovered inOxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written onpapyrus in the form of a sheet. It is dated to the 1st century. Currently it is housed in theCambridge University Library.[1]
The papyrus contains the horoscope of a person born about 10 p.m. on September 28, between 15 and 37 AD. The measurements of the fragment are 210 by 135 mm. The handwriting is a good-sizedsemi-uncial hand. This is one of five known horoscopes written on papyrus.[2]
It was discovered byGrenfell andHunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1899.[2]
The horoscope gives the sign of thezodiac occupied by the Sun, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the four chief points in the heavens. A feature which distinguishes this horoscope from the other four known is a diagram below the text illustrating the position of the heavens at the time of the birth of the subject. The diagram consists of a circle divided by two diameters intersecting at right angles and connecting thezenith with thenadir, and the point in the heavens which was rising with that which was setting. The signs of the zodiac are marked inside the circle, the Sun, Moon, planets, and points of the heavens outside it, in a line with the sign to which they belong.
Beginning at the top appearAquarius at the zenith,Pisces,Aries,Taurus, containing the moon and the point which was rising,Gemini,Cancer,Leo at the nadir,Virgo,Libra, containing the Sun and Mars,Scorpio, containing Mercury, Venus, and the point which was setting,Sagittarius, containing Saturn and Jupiter, andCapricorn. There is some error in the astronomical calculations recorded, because the position of the planets indicated could not have occurred during the span of time in which the horoscope was made.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: B. P. Grenfell; A. S. Hunt (1899).Oxyrhynchus Papyri II. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.
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