Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 119 (P. Oxy. 119 orP. Oxy. I 119) is a letter from a child, written inGreek and discovered inOxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written onpapyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the 2nd or 3rd century. Currently it is housed in theBodleian Library (Ms. Gr. Class. f 66).[1]
The document is a letter to a father from his youthful son. It is written in a rudeuncial hand with some erasures, and the grammar and the spelling are flawed. The measurements of the fragment are 100 by 135 mm.[2]
It was discovered byGrenfell andHunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.[2]
Theon to his father Theon, greeting. It was a fine thing of you not to take me with you to the city! If you won't take me with you toAlexandria I won't write you a letter or speak to you or say goodbye to you; and if you go to Alexandria I won't take your hand nor ever greet you again. That is what will happen if you won't take me. Mother said to Archelaus, "It quite upsets him to be left behind (?)." It was good of you to send me presents ... on the 12th, the day you sailed. Send me alyre, I implore you. If you don't, I won't eat, I won't drink; there now![2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: B. P. Grenfell; A. S. Hunt (1898).Oxyrhynchus Papyri I. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.