OSTRAKON. - Sherds of amphorae and vases, used on the convex side for writing purposes, generally for votes (the Athenian "ostracism" is well known), for receipts, short communications and also, exceptionally, for literary texts. They have been found at Rome (Testaccio), at Alexandria and especially in Upper Egypt (Thebae, Pathyris, Edfu, Elephantine, Ombos) and in Nubia (Talmis, Dekka); the writing is generally Greek or Coptic; more rarely Latin.

Besides documents for the most part financial, which concern Egyptian churches or monasteries, some non-documentary texts are also found on Egyptian o.: the most copious contribution in this regard is given by W. E. Crum (v. bibl.) in Coptic ostraca with Ps. 24, 50, 103, 117, with the fragment of Lc. 1, 28.42 and liturgical texts in honor of the Virgin; elsewhere in o. edited by J. G. Tait (v. bibl., p. 145) one reads Io. 2, 12-14; hymns to the Virgin in an o. from Aberdeen, perhaps of the 6th century (Paderb. 4), and in one from Cambridge (J. G. Tait, pp. 117-18); at Aberdeen there is also a text on o., which narrates the Baptism of Jesus in dialogic form (Paderb. 3, of the 6th century); a Christian prayer is written on an o. from Tuna el-Gebel (Hermopolis; cf. Etudes de papyrologie, 3 [1936], p. 106, n. 26).

For the Hebrew o., v. LACHIS; SAMARIA.

Bibliography13 works

BIBL.: U. Wilcken, Griechische Ostraka aus Ägypten und Nubien, 2 voll., Lipsia-Berlino 1899; W. E. Crum-E. F. Brightmann, Coptic ostraca from the collections of the Egypt exploration fund, the Cairo museum and others, Londra 1902; H. R. Hall, Coptic and greek texts of the christian period from ostraka, stelae etc. in the British Museum, ivi 1905; Theban ostraca, ed. H. Thompson-J. G. Milne, Londra - Oxford 1913; F. e W. Preisigke, Die Prinz Joachim Ostraka, Strasburgo 1914; H. G. Evelyn White, Graeco Roman ostraca from Dahka Nubia, in Classical rev., 33 (1919), p. 49 sgg.; P. Viereck, Ostraka aus Brüssel und Berlin, Berlino-Lipsia 1922; P. Viereck, Griechische und griechische demotische Ostraka der Universitätsund Landes-Bibliothek zu Strassburg im Elsass, I. Texte, Berlino 1923; The momastery of Epiphanius at Thebes, II, Coptic ostraca and papyri, ed. W. E. Crum-E. G. Evelyn White, Nuova York 1926; J. G. Tait, Greek ostraca in the Boylston Library at Oxford and other various collections, I, Londra 1930; L. Amundsen, Ostraca Osloensia, greek ostraca (Norwegian collections), Oslo 1933; id., Greek ostraca in the University of Michigan collection, I. Texts, Ann Arbor 1935; Cl. Préaux, Les ostracs grecs de la collection Charles Edwin Wilbour au Musée de Broochlyn, Nuova York 1935.

Aristide Calderini

@incollection{ec9_ostrakon, author = {Calderini, Aristide}, title = {Ostrakon}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {443--444}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/ostrakon} }

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