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Document Details : Title: The Long Rising of Sirius in P.Oxy. 73.4950 Author(s): ZEICHMANN, Christopher B. Journal: Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists Volume: 61 Date: 2024 Pages: 221-226 DOI: 10.2143/BASP.61.0.3293797 Abstract : P.Oxy. 73.4950 presents an ex eventu prophecy about the rise of the Flavian dynasty, drawing upon the widespread phenomenon of Sothis divination – an Egyptian form of astrology centred around the rising of the star Sirius. This note argues that the prophecy preserved within this papyrus retrofit the Year of the Four Emperors, the Jewish War, and other events of the period 68-70 CE to an existing astrological prognostication already known from other texts of Sothis divination (P.Cair. 2.31222.8-10, P.Oxy. 65.4471.15-23, Heph. 1.23.22). The creator of the 'prophecy' in this papyrus likely knew of the zodiacal configuration of Sirius’s rising in 70 CE and consciously imitated the specific divination in these other papyri so as to impress upon the reader the appearance of a genuine prediction in service of the Flavian dynasty. |
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