1The end of a Christian hymn on a papyrus from Oxyrhynchus: all creation is bidden to keep silence while the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are praised, and the heavenly powers answer 'Amen'.
About this work
Author
Anonymous
Attribution
authentic · Anonymous. The end of a Christian hymn in Greek with musical notation, written on the back of a grain account from Oxyrhynchus; the oldest surviving Christian music with notation.
Standing
Not honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Anonymous or pseudonymous work read and used in the church of its time.
Date
late 3rd cent. (approximate) · Dated by the handwriting; the grain account on the other side belongs to the first half of the third century.
Written at
Oxyrhynchus, Egypt (probable)
Language
Greek
Genre
poem
Reference system
single fragment, lines 1-5 of the papyrus
SBL abbreviation
P.Oxy. 1786Not yet checked
Text from
Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, eds., The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, part 15 (London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1922), no. 1786, pp. 21-25 (Printed edition in the public domain)