Information on spacing used in Greek Papyri Related discussions: Paul Saenger, Space between Words: The Origins of Silent Reading (1997) Buzzy Porton, Textbook of Aramaic Documents 3 -- Darius inscr, Ahiqar. Lindenberger on Ahiqar also Michael Haslam email: POxy 3891 (Thuc, 2nd ce) intro ("the text is at frequent intervals articulated by means of gaps" as sort of punctuation); on spacing, "there is certainly more of it about than one would ever guess from the editions. If it is indeed connected with reading-aloud you might well expect to find it more in texts publicly read e.g. in church or synagogue? Not in verse texts (e.g. Homer, though? And is it really syntactically based or more a matter of rhetorical articulation & delivery?" Ann Hanson, Galen papyrus ca 1995 Jean-Luc Fournet (email): CPR 15.14 (2nd ce, official to strategus) -- see BiOr 50 [1993] col 658 -- systematic, related to pronunciation? Much erosion of scriptio continua in late litt texts -- e.g. 6th c codex of the Iliad with prepositions and articles attached to their referent. Tim Finney, see NT p46, p13 (with punct), etc. Jean Bingen (email): Chron d'Egypte 40 (1965) 111-120 "the blank spaces, rather neglected in the editio princeps of the 3rd c bce MS of the Sikuonioi [Menander], had the value of an important punctuation. ...classical Attic inscriptions used the blank space as punctuation" see 1975 essay in Preaux Festschrift, repr. in Bingen collected essays (1991) 7-16. Also, "Les ordonnances royales C.Ord.Ptol. 75-76 (He/racle/opolis, 41 avant J.-C.)," Chron. d'Egypte 70 (1995), 206-222 (esp. 220-222 and note 44), on an inscription from 1st bce: comments both on spacing used as "punctuation," and spacing used around number-ciphers, arguing that by analogy, spelled out numbers sometimes also were treated in the same manner [in response to my query about Toubias' Zenon papyri]. In Bingen's email response to my query [dated 24 July 2002] he says: "Different from the spece left blank used as punctuation with a 'syntactical' value already present in inscriptions (Athenians decree, for instance) of the Archaic and Classical periods, the blank spaces regularly present on both sides of a number (cf. for instance, A. G. Woodhead, the study of inscriptions, p. 111) have another function. Found everywhere as well in papyri as in inscriptions when numbers are expressed in the acrophonic or alphabetical numeral system, they avoid that these should be joined as a letter to the preceding or following words, creating a ghost word and disappearing as figure. This purely mechanical solution became unconsciously 'symbolical,' therefrom the eventual use of blank spaces isolating a numeral written in full (your problem). I wrote five immortal lines on the subject in [the aforementioned Chron Eg essay 1995]. I suppose such banal observation has been said and written for years; I remember I was already drawing attention of the students to that at least forty years ago." Raffaella Cribiore, Writers, Teachers & Students (199?), on use of spaces in school exercises, which perhaps spilled over to schoolbooks such as POxy 2331. Tov, Scribal Features ... -- detailed description/discussion of the Jewish and Christian Greek scriptural materials. 1. Frequent in Tebtunis Ptolemaic materials! [ see http://sunsite.cerkeley.edu/APIS/Images/index.html ] PTeb 1.09 Application by Menches for post of komogrammateus PTeb 1.10 Official Letter from Asklepiades 1.14 Draft of letter from Menches to Horos PTeb 1.17 Letter from Polemon to Menches 114 bce (and others) .22 Letter from Taos to Menches 112 bce .23 Letter from Marres to Menches 119/114 bce .38 Official letter from Menches to Horos [nd] .77 Register of land 110 bce 3.711 Official letter from Theon 125 bce .715 Official letter from Petosiris [nd] .745-749 Official letters from Agathon [mid 3rd bce] .896 Philosophic dialogue (cf) from 2nd bce .763 Private letter from Ptolemaios from early 2nd bce Turner, GMAW\2 7 and n.28 #57 POxy 2435r Acta Alexandrinorum(?) -- papyrus roll, first half 1st ce #69 POxy 473 Honorary Decree -- cut from papyrus roll, mid 2nd ce PColZeno 2.122, a private letter of 181 bce (almost every word) POxy 2.291, letter of recommendation by professional scribe 25 ce PRyl 3.486, "a fragment of epyllion" from 1st ce (school text? [Roberts]; Latin influence? [Turner]) In Biblical MSS: 1. virtually all of the oldest Jewish Gk frgs (see e-study) 2. ChBeat 5 (Gen) 3. ChBeat 6 (Num-Dt) (Roberts MSB 15 "documentary influence") In Jewish Documentary Materials: 1. Toubias to Apollonios (P.Edgar 13 and 84 = CPJ 4-5), 257 bce: "written in large, regular uncials, with spaces between the sentences and also between the numerals and the adjacent words." [see sep file, image]