text: The title, Mappae clavicula, is absurd, translating approximately as the little key to the small cloth. The best explanation is that it is a mis-translation from a Greek original, in which χειρόκμητον kheirókmēton (knack or trick of the trade) was mis-read as χειρόμακτρον kheirómaktron (hand-towel). This is consistent with the observation that certain recipes derive from the Greek technical papyri, the Leyden papyrus X and the Stockholm papyrus.