The Fackelmann Herodotus, fragment of a scroll, in Ionic dialect of classical Greek, on papyrus

two fragments, the larger 38mm. by 27mm., the smaller 32mm. by 15mm., with remains of seven lines of book II, chapter 145 in large and rounded Greek Biblical uncials, 9 lines in a cursive hand on verso from later reuse (containing otherwise unknown text published as Rupprecht and Hengstl, 'Sammelbuch Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten', 1985), slight damage to text in places but easily legible, else excellent condition, mounted in glass

From the collection of Anton Fackelmann (1916-85); his MS. 7, and published in Wiener Studien 93 (1980), pp. 25-8, and online as Mertens-Pack 0472.2 and LDAB 1146. Most probably recovered from mummy cartonnage.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is the foundation text of western history. Herodotus of Halicarnassus' (484 BC.-c. 425 BC.) lengthy written account of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars was a milestone in the history of literacy. Greek bards may have sung short songs about far-off historical events and a handful of writers may have penned brief accounts of their own cities, but Herodotus' work was the first attempt to write a systemically-researched history of the recent past of his whole world – in his words "in the hope that the story of this age will survive for all time, that the great and wonderful achievements, of Persians as well as Greeks, will always be remembered". He provides the earliest substantial account of the origin of the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great, and the development of a military superpower under his son Darius (whose forces swept through Babylon, Egypt and Scythia, but were turned back by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.) and his grandson Xerxes (whose vast invasion army was held for two days in the Battle at Thermopylae by the Spartans, in 480 BC., and ultimately defeated in a series of naval battles).

The text here, on the gods of the ancient Egyptians (here under the Hellenised titles of Pan, Heracles, and Dionysus), comes as part of an account of the geography and culture of the Egyptians under successive periods of Greek and Persian rule. Herodotus collected these observations at first hand in a visit to Egypt in the years soon after 459 BC.

This is the earliest witness to this section of the text. In general, manuscripts of the text are exceedingly rare. The earliest complete Greek manuscripts of the text date to the tenth and eleventh century AD., and almost all pre-Renaissance copies have been in institutional libraries for centuries: the Schoenberg database records no substantial Greek manuscript as ever being sold. Only a handful of papyrus fragments survive from the classical period. Some 20 are catalogued by A.H.R.E. Paap in his De Herodoti Reliquiis in Papyris et Aegyptiis servatus, 1948, and to these the LDAB database adds another 13 examples. The present manuscript is the only one recorded in private ownership.