31
_. >
University of Toronto Studies
i
Volume
THEBAN OSTRACA
EDITED FROM THE ORIGINALS, NOW MAINLY IN
THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY,
TORONTO, AND THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY, OXFORD
PART I. HIERATIC TEXTS: BY ALAN H. GARDINER
PART II. DEMOTIC TEXTS: BY HERBERT THOMPSON
PART III. GREEK TEXTS: BY J. G. MILNE
PART IV. COPTIC TEXTS: BY HERBERT THOMPSON
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
London : Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press
1913
OXFORD: HORACE HART PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
PJ
O
PREFATORY NOTE
THE ostraca which are published in this volume have been selected from a large collection obtained in 1906 by Mr. J. G. Milne and myself in the neighbourhood of Thebes. As we practically bought up the whole stocks of one or two native excavators, in addition to making more discriminating purchases from other dealers, a good many of the pieces are of little interest. But, after all deductions of fragmentary, illegible, and unimportant examples, there remains a consider- able proportion of the collection which offers material of permanent value for students of the history or language of Egypt. After the preliminary sorting of the potsherds, we secured the assistance of Dr. Alan Gardiner and Sir Herbert Thompson for the work of editing the texts in the native language ; and the University of Toronto undertook to publish the volume.
The collection has now been divided, and about half the texts included in this volume will be found in the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology at Toronto, while most of the remainder will, I understand, be deposited in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
C. T. CURRELLY.
I
HIERATIC TEXTS
NOS.
A. i-io. LITERARY TEXTS.
B. 1-18. BUSINESS DOCUMENTS.
C. 1-3. RELIGIOUS TEXTS.
D. i. ROMAN PERIOD.
INTRODUCTION
AMONG the ostraca acquired in Egypt by Messrs. Currelly and Milne but few are inscribed in hieratic characters, and these are without great importance. Nevertheless in their subject- matter they are a fairly representative collection, the epistolary being the only common class of text of which there is no specimen. Among the literary ostraca (A) there are fragments of two Egyptian books which for their popularity in the Rames- side period deserve to be considered classics, namely the Satire on the Professions and the Instruction of King Amenemmes / to his son. Of the business documents (B) most are fragments of journals and accounts ; dry as isolated texts of this kind may seem, in bulk they afford us a comprehensive picture of the daily practical concerns of the population that dwelt in the Theban Necropolis. The religious texts (C) consist of a fine magical spell, the most valuable accession to our knowledge contained in the series ; and a fragment naming several places where Thoth was worshipped. All these texts are of Ramesside date ; there is also a tiny potsherd (D i) with part of a hymn dating from the Roman period.
A. LITERARY TEXTS
A 1. FRAGMENT OF AN EARTHENWARE POT, height 15-16 cm., greatest breadth 15 cm. The text, about thirteen lines in a good Ramesside hand, is very much rubbed, the following words being all that is legible : —
A""
Probably an extract from an unknown literary text, to the subject of which there is no clear clue.
A 2. LIMESTONE FRAGMENT, height 15-5 cm., greatest breadth ii cm. Inscribed on both sides in the same large, careless, Ramesside hand ; the recto has preserved only the beginnings, the verso only the ends, of the lines. Red verse-points.
Recto.
^^\-] blank
5-
•
6.
7. HIERATIC TEXTS
•) _JU. A 0 X -
Verso.
(5
ifijs t\ EEED ^ :
:>d^-
(Rest blank.)
II
Perhaps the beginning of a lost book of didactic nature. Why the scribe wrote the words 'Thoth, master of the hieroglyphs' in recto i is not clear. Lines 2-3 give the normal beginning of a book of this kind : — ' Beginning of the instruction which a man made for [his] son. . . . [Give] thy heart to that which I say to thee ; act according to. . . .' The remaining lines of the recto are too fragmentary to be intelligible. Note the rare word snm ' grief in 7, as also above in A 1. 2. The verso is no less obscure than the recto \ we appear to have the ends of the lines complete. In 4 there is the trace of a date (' . . . day 13 '), being the usual memorandum of the scribe as to when the following words were written. Then follows a sentence of proverbial (?) nature, ' He who is free from changes is a lord of wealth ' ; at this point the text comes abruptly to an end.
A 3. LIMESTONE, inscribed on one side only in a large Ramesside literary hand. Red verse-points. Height 16 cm., breadth 16 cm.
x lines lost, i.
LITERARY TEXTS
@@
•"]
J
Remainder of stone blank.
We have here an excerpt from the Satire on the Professions, of all Egyptian writings perhaps the most popular in the Ramesside schools. The text, which is fairly good, corresponds to Sallier //, 4, 6-9. In line 4 is a date of the kind mentioned in the notes on A 2.
A 4. POTSHERD, 7-5 cm. high and 12-5 cm- broad, inscribed on one side in a literary hand of the New Kingdom. Red verse-points. In- complete in every direction.
I
•
o ill
III
An enumeration of minerals, obviously taken from a literary exercise of the kind known from the Papyrus Keller or Anastasi IV. This particular text appears to be unknown, and *i-r-h in line 2 is a a7ra
6 /. HIERATIC TEXTS
A 5. FRAGMENT (8 cm. high, 10 cm. broad) of a limestone tablet that was flat on each side and rounded at the edges. Complete at top only. Literary hand of the New Kingdom, with red verse-points.
Recto.
•
s$
? «c
SIC
rp
@
5
6
x lines lost. Verso.
? ?
"ft /WWW \\
.mi I I <=>\
x lines lost.
Taken from a lost didactic or gnomic work. In lines 3 and 5 of the recto are traces of dates. Note the following expressions and sentences: — recto 2, 'the ears are deaf/ read '*'</(?); 3, ' thou art rich, thou art ... (m* is probably corrupt), thou passest thy life in , . . ' ; 4, 'he who is without a name shall find
LITERARY TEXTS 7
honour/ lit. 'he who is void of his name (shall be) for a revered one' ; 5, 'hale (wdl) of limbs is he who . . / ; verso 2, 'do not relax thy heart (i. e. attention), long be thy silence (?) ' ; 3, ' according to his deserts.'
A 6. LIMESTONE, with rough surface, much worn ; height 9-5 cm., breadth 12-5 cm. Large uncial Ramesside hand. The text, which might be derived from a hymn, is very fragmentary and void of all
interest. The word (1 <s m <S\ Vv <a .^y^ in line 4 is perhaps worth
__£jcX^ yjyiN^t ^""T
noting.
A 7. POTSHERD, 5-5 cm. x 9-5 cm., with the following words in large cursive hieroglyphs : —
* I [came ?], I carried off Cret[ans] . . /
A 8. IRREGULAR RED POTSHERD, with some words in a big literary hand of the nineteenth dynasty ; 9 x 9*5 cm. Line i . . . . J 0 (1
I ^ £? I— c -- sj
I . . . c like Min the son of . . . ' ; line 2, . . . g ^_^ ~ < child of ' ; line 3, undecipherable.
A 9. LIMESTONE FRAGMENT (13-5 x 6 cm.), with the ends of seven lines in a Ramesside literary hand ; in no line are there more than three words left. Duplicate of Millingen 2, 5-2, 9 (the instruction of king Amenemhet I to his son) without any variants of interest.
A 10. SMALL LIMESTONE FLAKE, with a few signs, written vertically, in cursive hieroglyphs of uncertain date. Line i, . . .
IJw *i^ V
%•...; Hoe a,...
8 /. HIERATIC TEXTS
B. BUSINESS DOCUMENTS
B 1. SMALL FRAGMENT OF LIMESTONE (6x4 cm.), inscribed in hieratic of the New Kingdom (possibly Dyn. 18) on one side only. Broken on the left side.
f n A/WVNA r\ <-, ^ ^^ <==> 1 y Of)/ C3 GO
/WWW ^ *^-> I Jf M/WVA I O
••- -^..'..OV^t,, " — >
' Amount of dates of the first month of winter, sacks .... Made into
(?), | of a sack. Expended, second month of winter [. . . . sacks].
Day 17, 4 sacks. Total '
Memoranda for a journal recording receipts and consumption of dates.
B 2. LIMESTONE (9x6 cm.). A few half-illegible words of uncertain meaning.
B 3. FRAGMENT OF SMOOTH POT (Canopus ?), with the isolated word Q^/fiflflflJin hieratic.
B 4. LIMESTONE FRAGMENT (6-5 x 13 cm.), with a few Ramesside hieratic signs. Accounts, without interest.
B 5. UPPER PORTION OF CREAM-COLOURED OIL-JAR, inscribed in good hieratic characters with the following words : —
' Year 36, oil of the garden [of .... (?) king] Rameses II . . . . '
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS 9
B 6. LIMESTONE (6x7 cm.), with fragments of accounts (of beer delivered ?) : —
IM i i nhn i 1 1
fl (D ^ ^ mm ' ' '
3 J 4 ^nnnn n
' [Day . . . ., by the hand of Amenjemuia, /#-jars, 23 65, remain- ing, /£-jars, 72 [Amenemjuia, ^-jars 8, /3-jars 85.
The combination ' ££-jars, /<$-jars ' is found elsewhere, e. g. the Papyrus Chabas- Lieblein at Turin.
B 6 bis. LIMESTONE SLAB (17-5 x 14 cm.), inscribed on both sides in a XXth Dyn. business hand ; much rubbed and to a great extent illegible. Recto , journal entries from day 37 to day 6 of the next
month ; in line i (1(1 | 1 shows that the figures in the following
lines refer to '^-cakes'; note that Mast day' (of the month) is written ^ (sic). A second shorter column appears to give the month's totals :—
* Total, first month of Inundation, 245. 5cjj/-cakes, 262. ./?-/z-,r-cakes, 212. Vegetables, bundles 395.'
The verso consists of similar accounts, almost wholly undecipherable.
B 7. BROKEN POTSHERD (7 x 5-5 cm.), with parts of several lines in a legible Ramesside business hand.
C
io /. HIERATIC TEXTS
I s$$ sss
.... 1 x lines lost.
1 the workman . . . . , left over, 20 bundles. Right hand. . . . Total
of all the supplies (?), total, bundles. . . . Left hand, head workman of the workmen -mose '
From the accounts of the gangs of workmen belonging to the Theban Necropolis. The word ' bundles ' (hrs) makes it probable that ' vegetables ' (sm) are the commodity here in question. The words wnmy and smhy are an as yet unsolved puzzle ; they refer in some way to a twofold division of the workmen, but it is not easy to suggest an exact meaning for ' right hand ' and ' left hand ' here; so too in the Turin papyri, passim. H\w nb in line 4 is a not quite common expression.
B 7 bis. LIMESTONE CHIP (6-5 x 4 cm.), inscribed in a Ramesside
hand.
?
^ ^ * Us J 1^ I
Perhaps the fragment of a letter. The name of a fish kP in line 4 seems legible enough, but the word is unknown.
B 8. LIMESTONE (10x9 cm-)> incomplete. Ramesside accounts recording the deliveries of fish by various scribes. Of the seven lines preserved in part, line 6 is the most complete and may be restored as
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS n
' Received from the Scribe Pentwer, fish 400 dbnl The first five lines follow the same scheme, but lines i (?), 3, 3, and 4 replace the scribe
Pentwer by F^ftl D ^^ t\ Q "^^ ° V§* * [the scribe] Amenone ' ;
L|0|o|J l/wvwv _B^ 1 /wwv\ K£±A £1 L
line 7 is an incomplete total of the fishes delivered. On the verso are faint traces of similar accounts ; the words H <=> t\ <£ ^- ' ^ en
. /T^- ^7 AAAAM
show that the word for c fish ' is to be read rm throughout.
B 9. A THICK SLAB OF LIMESTONE, 15 cm. high by 10 cm. broad, inscribed in uncial Ramesside characters ; broken at the top, and chipped on the right-hand side : —
o
AAAAAA
&
These lines contained the names of three ' chantresses of Amon ', all of them now partly illegible. The verso has faint traces of a similar text.
B 10, AN INCOMPLETE FRAGMENT OF LIMESTONE (9x9 cm.) inscribed in a business hand of the Ramesside period.
Recto.
2.
!w/// ^ I^M B ' ' ' ' B (perhaps no other line is lost). Verso, i.
J] /WWSA (I ' Q (D V\i £/##£ ^. 8 . . . . S space \
^AA ^A.,»S^ n ^- £M ^ ^ -^
AWWV AAVWN 1 AAAAAA — 0 CiL AVWVN
^ n lA r?_ -^1 fk n /o <t AAAAAA
12 /. HIERATIC TEXTS
. 4-. .
(Probably this was the end.)
This fragmentary text clearly refers to a bargain or dispute about the loan of an ass ; several ostraca of a similar kind are known. The parties concerned are the choachyte Amenkhow and the workman Hay.
B 11. A GREYISH-BROWN POTSHERD, 11-5x10 cm., inscribed in a XXth Dyn. hand. The beginnings of nine lines seem to be journal entries of the ordinary type, not worth recording m extenso. The name
^ ,] ^— j -n L<-J vii ^yj occurs twice.
B 12. A WORTHLESS GREY-BROWN POTSHERD with some unde- cipherable words in a Ramesside hand.
B 13. A FRAGMENT OF LIMESTONE with rough convex surface, isxio cm. The text consists of two columns of proper names in a small and difficult cursive writing dating from perhaps the XXIst or XXIInd Dynasty. Among the legible names are the following : — (i, 10)
B 14. LIMESTONE, measuring 23 x 15 cm. Badly-damaged accounts of the XlXth or XXth Dynasty. The text does not merit reproduction
as a whole, but the following items deserve notice : (1. 5) • * « • |f fl 5^ fl iH G I -ft ^^ = a HI' ____ a basket, value 3 dbn ' ; (1. 7
I ' ' /WWv\ /WVW\ '
and 1. 12) s=" t^a t\ \\(\ 'wood for burning' ; (1. 11 and 1. 13)
£Z^ I /WWNA W^> ^7
f\ ] - J
(I U\
IV.
i ^=0) *tf /WVAAA I « one donkey-skin for water '.
1
\ /WWVN /WVW\
B 15. A WORTHLESS YELLOW POTSHERD with a few words from a business (?) text. N. K.
BUSINESS DOCUMENTS
B 16. A SMALL POTSHERD with the words I * its deficit on the last day of the month '.
B 17. A SMALL LIMESTONE FLAKE with some rather obscure fragments of temple accounts ; the word smd-t seems here to have the
exceptional spelling \\
B 18. A ROUGH-SURFACED RED-BROWN POTSHERD (9x8 cm.) ; the hieratic words upon it probably belong to the label of a jar for wine
nnnn nnnn
or oil ; the only legible signs are :— i
i& , D ^ §§§
2.
C. RELIGIOUS TEXTS.
C 1. A VALUABLE LIMESTONE OSTRACON, complete at top and on the right ; the other sides are damaged. Inscribed on one side only in an uncial Ramesside hand ; the surface available for writing measures 21 x n cm.
\\ \\
(D [*^
v\ \\
1 S might possibly be oo, and ,r^& an n.
2 These signs look more like ,<7:5j, but 'wy must surely be the right reading ;
at its first occurrence the word is of still more doubtful reading, the surface being very rough.
I. HIERATIC TEXTS
D
e
0 ^ length? «« dS^a f] I
£ I I 4- Ml
| S^ • • . • §^ /wwv\ I 4^
rn^j^-^
p;
*ikp
^^_ uu D <^?
-A
X o 73
^j length? §58
^^^e-PiPi(l(j
^ length? §
^ • • • • Is? -^ -A \\
sic ^^^A/v^ f" (Jj)
length?
/wvw\ A /wwv\
«<:
7-ffiJ
0
X
0 1 """ f
lines lost.
'Get thee back, thou enemy, thou dead man or woman (and so forth) who dost cause pain to N the son of M .... his flesh. Thou dost not fall upon him, thou dost not establish thyself in him. Thy head has no power over his head. Thy arms have no power over
1 So more probably than . w .. z Mnd a little doubtful.
3 /WSAAA (apparently so) added above line ; this can only mean that be read in place of
should
RELIGIOUS TEXTS 15
[his] arms, [thy legs ?] have no power [over his legs ?]. No limbs of thine have power over any limbs of his. Thou fallest not upon him, so that suffering befall him. Thou hast no power over his toes, so that there be. ... Thou weighest not (upon) his flesh, so that there be aught wherewith his limbs are burdened. Thou pressest not upon his breast, so that there be blood (?). Thou enterest not into [his . . . , so that there be . . . .] in it. Thou dost not take up thy position on his back, so that there is injury to his spine. Thou dost not cleave to his buttocks, so that there is shshy\t ?]. [Thou dost not . . .] his legs, so that there is retreat. Thou dost not enter into his phallus, so that it grows limp. Thou dost not cast seed into [his] anus(?) . . . Thou hast no power over his toes, so that thou impedest him (?). Thou dost not press upon [his] fingers . . . , thou dost not [blind] his eyes, thou dost not deafen his ears, [thou] hast no power . . .
This is a singularly clear and simple spell for the prevention of disease. The demon is directly invoked and bidden to be gone ; various possibilities of attack are then enumerated in turn, it being denied in each case that the demon is able to force an entrance by this channel. Of special interest are the statements * thy head has no power over his head ' and the following, as they contain a somewhat novel application of the magical adage that like influences like. The text is not
quite free from mistakes; in line 4 ^ must be inserted after dns-k, and for
er\ AA/WVA *_ <^> I /° . In line 6
I *S^--^ o
hnhn lacks its usual determinative /V^ , and the suffix f ought to be supplied after hnn. In line 7 the final h of s\h has dropped out. The only unknown word is shshy\i\ in line 5.
C 2. LIMESTONE (8-5 x 13 cm.), inscribed on both sides with large uncial writing of the New Kingdom. Complete only on the right side and at bottom.
Recto. Column i. # lines lost.
i6 /. HIERATIC TEXTS
Column 2 (separated from col. i by a thick curved line), x lines lost.
•
2.
3- -A
Verso. Very obscure signs written in red.
The redo enumerates (for what purpose is not clear) a number of towns in which offerings were made to Thoth. The formula throughout is ' Offerings (zvdnw) to Thoth in . . . ' (name of town). The places mentioned are Schmun (?), Cusae, Bubastis, Meir, >2nbw and H\t-k\-k\-\k ?]. What town is meant by *lnbw is uncertain ; the place-name H\t-k\-k\-\k ?] occurs in the Golenischeff Vocabulary somewhere between Ptolemais and Aphroditopolis; in the Medinet Habu list it occurs
is a similar position, the local deity being fijl I \\ ^Jj . Of col. 2 of the recto,
JQ I and of the signs on the verso I can make no sense.
D. ROMAN PERIOD.
D 1. A POTSHERD OF RED WARE with fragments of five lines in hieratic of the Roman period, giving parts of a hymn. Without interest.
1 It is doubtful whether v. — ^> was ever written.
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX i6a
APPENDIX
AT the last moment it has been found possible to include in our volume a record of one of the largest and best-preserved hieratic ostraca in existence. This stone belongs to the Toronto Museum, and became available for study in England only in September, 1913, when the earlier portions of the book were already printed off.
A 11. SLAB OF LIMESTONE, height 54 cm., greatest breadth 28 cm. Incomplete at the top of recto = bottom of verso. Inscribed on both sides in a practised but careless literary hand, the signs varying consider- ably as to both size and thickness in different parts of the text. The writing is of Ramesside date, and closely resembles that of an ostracon in Berlin (P 12337 = Hierat. Pap. III. 31). Red verse-points, and a rubric at the conclusion of the recto. In front of the twelfth and following lines of the verso there are written a few epistolary phrases. These in some cases join up so closely with the text proper of the verso as to appear continuous with it.
The subject-matter is a collection of four model letters, such as are familiar to us in the Anastasi, Sallier, and other papyri ; such ' Complete Letter- writers ' are among the commonest varieties of text found on hieratic ostraca. The spelling and the readings are here throughout extremely corrupt, and it is not always possible to discern the intended meaning. In order to facilitate the study of the ostracon, critical notes giving what I believe to be the true readings are added to the notes on the hieratic.
c*
I. HIERATIC TEXTS
&U J £4K&PZ>S** &&4E!
*&9 • —_ ^ <• A _ Oi ^ — . A^Jb •••* ) _ .
RECTO : lines 1-16.
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
16 c
*££ife£*ft*£*
riH?*t*B3P
^^?U*WMK*&T cV£ft*%4i ^ffcPii&p;
RECTO : lines 17-30.
L HIERATIC TEXTS
VERSO : lines 1-13.
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
i6e
VERSO: lines 14-25.
/. HIERATIC TEXTS
I.
lacuna
LETTER I (recto i-
2.
very large lacuna
J
<— >
j/<: ?
3- ery a Iacuna [||J
[p]lverylargelacunal 5
% very large
MiP
'mmj»
space
Notes on the hieratic. ! Followed by two small undecipherable signs. 8 Over a deleted f . 8 Corrected from
Critical notes. a Read ^ J^=^; then probably followed lniy<r\ n-t, /;-/, &c. b Emend \tto-i\ hr dd (n) ^f/nn> c For snb-lwf (sic), cf,
below 14. d Emend /j^-/ «^ e Emend n t\ for w? f Read
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
i6g
The servant .............. [salutes] his lord ...............
The town [of Pharaoh (?), which is under the control of my lord, is in good condition .......... The servants] of Pharaoh [who are in it]
........................ which my lord gives to them, in due order.
[I] say to Amon-Rasonter, to Mut . ....... Amon, to Khons in Thebes,
who receives the new-moon (?), lord of heaven ........ Neferhotp. In
life, prosperity, health ! In the praise of Pharaoh, thy good lord ! May he have the duration of the mountains, the sky and the water, being in the house of his father Re, the lord of eternity, prince of everlasting, my lord being in life, prosperity, and health ! Again, salutations to my lord ! May my lord turn his face towards the work-people, and give to them their [rations] .....
(Written) by the scribe Si-Amon.
The first letter was not improbably addressed to the Vizier Khay, like the second and third. Some hints as to how the defective portions should be restored may be got from the fourth letter, The salutations occupy the best part of ten lines, while the actual subject of the letter — a request for the work-people's wages — is dismissed in a couple of sentences. The epithet hp psd^ here given to Khons, is unknown to me elsewhere. For efiew n] dww, cf. Leipzig Os fr aeon 5.
LETTER II (recto 12-30).
i6h
L HIERATIC TEXTS
*•
31.
A/VWW S~M }T^\. I w i H
5« 6
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
161
25.
10
$
12
1*1 -
n
AAAAAA
l"1""!
AAAAAA
15 . -| F=? &. i tk n ^ a •
44 $ ^ilMfv^
aa
29.
Dbb
llll
l AAAAAA
Notes on the hieratic. l Above the line is t^^i which has been erased ; upon this has been written a sign like =*f= or ^y3. 2 O I above the line. 8 o has the appearance of ss . 4 * — is surcharged on ^i^a . B -s&- is a correction. 6 Written over H . 7 (| (j »<^^ is a correction. 8 JJ is
a correction. 9 ^ written over *^ - 10 Like the sign of the old man, but without any stick. u o surcharged upon **=> — " Corrections.
18 Under fl (1 are visible the deleted signs Tk |). 14 ^ is almost like
hieratic
" Corrections. " is a correction. 17 Corrections.
Critical notes. a Read nb-(/). b Read /y^T as in 22 ; so too 24.
c Read nty r. d Emend .—>•*-. for /zt/j as above 10. e Some words seem to be omitted. f Read fr3. g Read H ^. h Surely ^ ^ should be
C**
i6/ /. HIERATIC TEXTS
substituted. * Emend hst-(tw)f. J For ^ read ^. k Emend ^ .
1 Dsr-hprw-R* is clearly meant. m The verse-point is misplaced. n Read 2^. ° For substitute T^, an easy corruption. P Corrupt? 1 Ditto-
graph? r Read . s Readr? t Read
" Read ptrl. v Read U ^. w .gj? is a n°t uncommon
" I v^_^^j *z*-
_
confusion for hr-f, e.g. Leipzig Ostracon 16 ; so, too, at the beginning of the next line. x ^imperative? y Read Q ^. z Readwjy-z? aa Read
V^^G
Mntw-rh, like 'Inhr-rh, Bologna 1094, 2, 7. bb TV omitted.
The chief of the Mazoi ....... .... salutes (his) lord, the Overseer
of the City and Vizier Khay. In life, prosperity, health ! It is a com- munication to inform my lord ! Again a salutation to my lord, to the effect that the great place of Pharaoh which is under the charge of my lord is in proper order ; the walls in the district .......... are
safe and sound. (As to the) delivery of the yearly dues, they are in proper order, wood, vegetables, fish and beer ....... I (?) say unto
Amon, Ptah, Pre, and the gods of the Place of Truth, ' Preserve Pharaoh, my good lord, in health, and may my lord be in his favour daily.' Again a salutation to my lord, to the effect that I am the aged servant of my lord since the seventh (?) year of King Haremheb. I (?) ran before the horses (?) of Pharaoh. I brought to him .......... I yoked (his
steeds) for him (?). I made report to him, and he inquired of my name before the courtiers ; and no fault was found in me. I acted as Mazoi of the west of Thebes, and guarded the walls of his great place. I was made (?) chief of Mazoi, thy excellent recompense because ..........
Now behold the chief of the Mazoi Nakht-Thout ; ruined (?) is the great place of Pharaoh in which I am ......... * ... my lord .....
........... ( I am small,' said he to me, ' do thou equip (?) this place ;
thou art ........ ,' said he to me. He took away my fields in the
country. He took away ^ ..... vegetables (?), belonging to my lord as
the share of the Vizier, and gave (them to) the chief of the Mazoi Ment-rakh, and gave the remainder to the high-priest of Mont. He took away my grain, which was stored in the country. It is a communi- cation to inform my lord.
The draughtsman Si-Amon.
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
This model letter is addressed by a chief of Mazoi, i.e. a head-policeman or head-ghaffir, to the well-known Vizier Khay, who was a contemporary of Rameses II. The first part of the letter, down to line 18, consists of the customary greetings and assurances that the writer's duties are being properly performed. The remaining twelve lines are so corrupt as to be barely intelligible. In 11. 18-23 tne writer seems to enumerate his past services, doubtless in the hope that the grievances spoken of in 11. 23—30 may receive the more attention. It is difficult to make out what the complaints are about. Another chief Mazoi Nakht-Thout is named, after which the text becomes wholly incomprehensible; in 11. 27-30 reference is apparently made to some property that this official has taken away, and allocated to wrong people. — There is only one difficulty of vocabulary, tfcn in 1. 24, which is not improbably corrupt. For the formula ssnb Pr-*\ (1. 16), cf. Anast. v. 19, 5 ; see too here, verso 24.
LETTER III (verso 1-13).
i.
• e
6.
0-6 ° 1^-111
/VWW ft n _ 2
n n
J*
7.
I. HIERATIC TEXTS
«"« 'TX m
II.
«: O
I I I
r 5 HD °-
O - -H- H 1 I I I
10.
[TT] A/WWV
v^
Q <£ x
o \\
sic
o 1 1 1
1
Notes on the hieratic. l r-**-i corrected from (a. 2 - corrected from <a.
8 1 1 over - , which however is preferable. 4 Here corrections. 6 For the phrases at the beginning of this and the next lines see after the twelfth letter.
Critical notes. a For hr swd\ Ib n. b Read i\y hwy-t hr wnmy (n
ni-swt), cf. below, 14. c _g!^ is dittographed and the words ist m s-t
m\*-t probably borrowed from line i ; but cf. below, 1. 15. d Read r rdi-t rh
p]y-l nb. e (AW) omitted, as once above and often below. f Emend
m n\ n Is-wft e I suspect that hr wn driw m-di-s-n\- is merely a corruption
of the familiar adjectives driw mnh. *-*
k Emend h\b r di-t tm
I I
) omitted.
1 -/I/ superfluous.
Read nfrw m Read
for which the scribe has wrongly substituted the similar-looking sign J T T. D Read V\ ^ ^ $ . o For r rdi-t. P For Aj? read -. q Read
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX i6m
- wsV jl @ ^ I Ql " ' r Read mtw~l or mfw-n. g (A^) omitted.
* (A^) omitted, as above, note e.
The workman in the Place of Truth, Enherkhow salutes his lord, the Fanbearer to the Right (of the King) ; the Overseer of the City and Vizier, who does Justice, Khay. In life, prosperity, health ! It is a com- munication to inform my (lord). Again a salutation to my lord, to the effect that we are working (in) the place that my lord said should be excellently adorned. Let my lord (cause) me to perform his good purposes, and let a message be sent to cause Pharaoh to know. And let a dispatch be sent to the Estate-superintendent of Thebes, to the high-priest and second priest of Amon, to the toparch of Thebes, and to the controllers who control in the Treasury of Pharaoh, so as to supply us with all that we require. To inform my lord! Ifnt\ knl\ \w-t-ib \ tmhy; lapis lazuli ; ssy\ fresh fat for burning; old clothes for lamps ; and we will perform (every) commission which my lord has said.
This is a letter supposed to be written by one of the workmen at the Theban Necropolis, doubtless one of those engaged in work at the Royal Tombs, to the well-known Vizier Khay, the addressee of letter No. 2. The upshot of the text when shorn of its ceremonious phraseology is a request for certain pigments and materials required in the decoration of the tombs. — The only unusual words that occur are in the list of desiderata, gnt and km are well-known names of pigments; \wt-lb occurs Ebers 54, 18; Lmhy, cf. Harris /, 62 b, 14; 70 a, n ; MAR., Dendera IV, 36, 50; 39.
LETTER IV (verso 13-25).
\\ a
\ I 1 1
i6n
/. HIERATIC TEXTS !?•
about line lost
Notes on the hieratic.
Corrected from
2 Here a correction.
Critical notes. a For these titles, here again corruptly written, see verso, 1. i. b See above verso 1-2 and critical note thereon. c F is superfluous. d Emend p\y-i (nb). e P\y-\ does not seem right and is perhaps corrupt.
The scribe Neb-re salutes his lord, the Fanbearer to the Right of
the King, the ; the Overseer of the treasury, the Overseer
of the priests of the Gods of Upper Egypt ; the Overseer of the City and Vizier, who does Justice, Psiur. In life, prosperity, health ! It is a communication to inform my (lord). The town of Pharaoh which is under the control of my lord is in good condition ; every wall which is in its neighbourhood is safe. The servants of Pharaoh who are therein are given my(?) revenues, which [my lord] has granted
to them. [I say unto Amon, Ptah [Pre] [May] Pharaoh
be kept in health . May it (?) be given to thee here
eternally
LITERARY TEXTS. APPENDIX
16 6
A letter very similar to the first, addressed by a scribe to the Vizier Psiur, who was Khay's predecessor. No information is given in the letter beyond the state- ment that the ' town of Pharaoh ' is prospering.
A few very short lines are inscribed in front of verso 12 et seqq., and appear to contain a consecutive text. These lines which I letter (a), (6), (<:), &c., are as
follows :_(„)
In the Praise of
Again salutations to my lord, to the effect that of my lord
To inform my lord ' What is intelligible
of this is couched in the usual epistolary phraseology.
II
DEMOTIC TEXTS
1)
TABLE
PAGE
D 5. Tax Receipt . 23
D 29. Tax Receipt 25
D 16. Tax Receipt 25
D 37. Tax Receipt 26
D 52. Tax Receipt . . . . . . . . 28
D 4. Receipt for arrears of taxes. . . . . 29
D 61. Receipt 30
D 28. Tax (?) Receipt 31
D 19. Receipt for rent . . . . , . 31
D 45. Receipt for rent 33
D 216. Receipt for rent 34
D 49. Notice of payment of rent ..... 34
D 107. Receipt for rent . ..... 35
D 55. Tax (?) Receipt 36
D 56. Receipt for money 36
D 22. Acknowledgement of wheat-loan (?) . . . 37
D 24. Acknowledgement of receipt of wheat . . . 38
D 51. Acknowledgement of receipt of wheat . . . 39
D 100. Acknowledgement of receipt of wheat . . . 40
D 103. Acknowledgement of receipt of wheat . . . 41
D 135. Order to deliver wheat . . . . . 42
D 12. Land measurement . . . . . . 42
D 23. Allotment (?) of land ...... 44
D i. Allotment (?) of land . . . . . 46
D 25. Allotment (?) of land 46
D 6. Allotment (?) of land 47
D 44. Allotment (?) of land 48
D 2. Allotment (?) of land 49
D 82. Allotment (?) of land 50
D 31. Transfer of temple services . . . . 51
D 122. Transfer of temple services . . . . 52
D 175. Transfer of temple services 53
D 221. Transfer of temple services . . . 54
0235. Transfer of temple services 55
D 197. Listofphylae ....... 56
D 88. Oath 57
D 32. Oath . 58
D 104. Oath ........ 59
D 179. Oath 60
D 9. Letter 61
D 14. Letter 62
Dm. Letter .... ... 63
D 220. Memorandum ... ... 64
D 168. Accounts .... ... 65
INTRODUCTION
No large collection of demotic ostraca has ever been published and treated systematically in the way in which Wilcken has dealt with the Greek ostraca. This is probably due mainly to two reasons — the difficulty of reading them and consequently the uselessness of publishing transcriptions or translations with- out reproducing the originals ; and any mechanical reproduction on a large scale has until recently been very expensive.
The difficulty of reading them arises from various causes — the perishable nature of the writing, the cursive nature of the script on documents originally of small importance, and the little care taken of such fleeting records. These considerations affect the Greek ostraca equally. Peculiar to the demotic ones are the inherent difficulty of the writing with its immense number of separate signs, many of which have a tendency to run into closely similar forms, and our limited knowledge of the vocabulary of the language, and more especially of the abbrevia- tions used in these often hurriedly written memoranda. The only way to overcome these obstacles is to publish as accurately as possible a large number of ostraca so that by the comparison of numerous specimens of the various types of formulae we may eventually arrive at definite results as to their meaning. It is hoped that the present collection may form a small contribution towards such a corpus.
M. Revillout in this, as in other departments of demotic work, has been a pioneer ; he has published by far the largest number of demotic ostraca hitherto. He transcribed several from the
20 INTRODUCTION
Louvre, British Museum, and Berlin in the Revue Egyptologique, vols. iv and vi (1885-8), and the P.S.B.A. xiv (1891), but these are mostly demotic dockets to Greek ostraca. In 1895 he published in his Melanges sur la Me'trologie, &c., over 1 20 ostraca of different kinds, many being of great interest ; unfortunately his hand-copies are very imperfect ; it is difficult sometimes to accept his readings and impossible to control them, for he often omits the number and not infrequently the resting-place of the original.
In 1891 H. Brugsch published thirty-six from the Berlin Museum in hand-copies in his Thesaurus, as well as three from Ghizeh in the A. Z. xxix.
Wiedemann in 1881 (Revue Egyptol. ii) had already given a short account of a collection he made at Karnak, which has since passed into the Berlin Museum, but he gave, no examples.
Chardon in his Dictionnaire Dgmotique, 1893-7, published about a dozen examples from the Louvre and one from the British Museum in hand-copies.
In 1902 Magnien published ' Quelques recus cl'impots agri- coles ', comprising nine ostraca from the Louvre with hand-copies and translations. In the same year Hess published three from Berlin in the notes to his edition of the Rosetta inscription, and Spiegelberg has published three or four incidentally in various publications (A.Z. xlii. 57, xlvi. 112 ; Pap. Elephantine, p. 13; Pap. Libbey, pi. III). Up to the present time, however, only one single example — that in Pap. Libbey above — has been reproduced by photography.1 On the plates of the present volume will be found untouched photographs of forty-five specimens, which perhaps will be an encouragement to others,
1 Since the above was written Prof. Spiegelberg has reproduced four more by photography in A. Z. xlix, pi. VI.
INTRODUCTION 21
so that the best of these documents may be preserved. The chief causes of their destruction in museums or private hands are exposure to light and especially to dust. If each ostracon is wrapped in paper before being stored, it will, if it have no salt in it, remain legible for an indefinite period ; but if they are left unwrapped in drawers, the dust fills the fine pores of the clay and the inscription becomes illegible.
The present demotic collection consists in all of nearly 400 specimens, including a large number of fragments and many in very poor condition. They all come from Thebes. About 300 are serviceable and from these I have selected forty-four. The number was necessarily restricted by considerations of expense of reproduction ; but the selection gives a very fair idea of the more interesting ones. A considerable proportion contains only lists of names and many are only partly legible and afford small information as to their meaning.
I must be allowed here to offer my thanks to my collaborators in this volume who generously gave up nearly the whole of their share of the plates in order to allow of as many demotic exam- ples as possible being reproduced, and also to Mr. Horace Hart of the Oxford University Press, who by his skill has overcome the difficulties of reproduction with marked success. In order to adapt them to the plates, the ostraca are given on a scale of approximately two-thirds of the size of the originals.
H. T.
OSTR. D 5 (PL I). TAX RECEIPT.1
1. a.5n P-sr-Mnt s Pa-Mn a p shn n n cy-w
2. sbte-w hr p ht cpe.t n hsp 2.t n Zme sttr i.t
3. a qt i.t a sttr i.t wth (?) cn sh n hsp 2.t n Gys c.w.s.
4. 5bt-4 pr ss 3 5bt-J sm ss i hr p ht <pe.t sttr i.t a qt i.t a sttr i.t wth(?) <n
5 >bt-i sm ss 26 hr p ht (pe.t sttr i.t a qt i.t a sttr
i.t wth(?) <n . . . .
6. 5bt-2 sm ss 24 hr p ht <pe.t sttr i.t a qt i.t a sttr i.t wth (?) <n
7 5bt-4 sm ss 3 hr n tMv qt i.t t s.t
8. ?ywn qt i.t a qt | a qt i.t cn
' Psenmonthes, son of Paminis, has paid2 to the bank of the merchants' houses 3 for the silver 4 (of the) poll(-tax) of the year 2 in Jeme5 stater 6 i = kite i = stater i refined (?) 7 (silver) again. Written" in year 2 of Gaius,8 Pharmuthi day 3.
Pachons day i, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) stater i = kite i = stater i refined (?) (silver) again.
Item,9 Pachons day 26, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) stater i = kite i = stater i refined (?) (silver) again.
Item, Payni day 24, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) stater i = kite i = stater i refined (?) (silver) again.
Item, Mesore day 3, for the apomoira^ kite i, the bath(-tax)11 kite i = kite | = kite i again.'
1 Taxes were usually paid by instalments and each instalment, as it was paid, was acknowledged by the banker on the same ostracon, which the tax-payer doubtless kept at home and brought with him on each occasion to the bank with his money. The chief taxes mentioned at this time (early Roman empire) are poll-tax, apomoira, bath- and dyke-tax.
2 lit. ' bring ' : it is the technical word for paying money.
8 The bank is no doubt the royal bank to which taxes payable in money were
24 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
paid. The name it bears here, ' bank of the merchants' houses/ probably refers to the locality in Thebes where it was situated. These ' merchants' houses ' are mentioned on six ostraca in this collection besides others known to me. I suspect it is the district known from Greek ostraca as the dyopat, from an unpublished bilingual, but the demotic reading is not certain. For the use of y-w, ' houses,' as the name of a district, cf. n y-w mht, Rec. tr. xxxi, pp. 92 and 103, n. xii, and n y-w n *Y-m-htp in Ostr. Louvre 9069 (Revillout, Melanges, p. 147 note). For the reading Ute, see Griffith in P.S.JB.A., xxxi, pp. 51-2 ; Spiegelberg adopts the transcription st\ (Cat. Gen. du Mus. du Caire: die demotischen Papyrus, p. i and elsewhere), which he derives from H. Brugsch, Worterb., p. 1335.
4 At first sight the reading here appears to be p <pe.t, but *pe.t is a feminine word, and the full phrase is/ ht n *pe.t, 'the silver of poll(-tax)/ which occurs on D 69 in this collection. Usually the words p ht are run together by the scribe so as to resemble a p with a small additional stroke as here ; occasionally it is still further reduced to a sign resembling p rather than ht : but as / *pe ./ is impossible, there is little doubt it must be read ht *pe.t.
5 A district of Thebes on trie west bank of the Nile called in the Greek papyri and ostraca the Mc/M/ovcta.
6 The stater at this time was equivalent to four drachmas, the kite to two. The Egyptian in financial documents, in order to avoid errors, after mentioning a sum, wrote down half the amount and then repeated the original amount. Hence, though he uses a sign meaning = , it is not a real equivalence, and after the first = the words 'its half must be understood.
7 These two signs seem to be an abbreviated form of writing the word wth, ' refined ' (silver). Cf. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Demotic Papyri, Glossary, p. 344, and his notes there referred to. The words ht wth, ' refined silver/ are written out in full on a Berlin Ostracon published by Brugsch, Thes., p. 1059, though from his translation he has misread the words as e-fwt-w.
8 A. D. 38. The Emperor's name is followed by the three signs representing ' life, health, strength ', which were always attached to the names of the ancient Pharaohs, and in demotic they follow every imperial title and epithet, but it is not necessary to translate them.
9 There is no doubt as to the meaning of the Egyptian word : it is clearly the same as the Greek 6/Wcos, but the reading is very uncertain.
10 This was a tax of one-sixth of the produce of vineyards and orchards (cf. Grenfell, Revenue Laws, p. 119 ; Wilcken, Gr. Ostr.,\, p. 157; Otto, Priester u. Tempel, i, p. 340; Pap. Tel fonts, i, p. 37). In demotic it is always used in the plural (Rosetta inscr., 1. 9, where, however, the Greek has TO.S a/7ro/Wpas, and on the three other ostraca in this collection, D 37, D 52, D 69). The plural is employed probably because the tax was levied on two classes of land. It is literally ' the portions '.
11 s.t ywnt Coptic cioovn, c bath/ here used for the tax = /foAaviKoV, cf. Wilcken, u. s. i, p. 165; Pap. Hibeh, i, p. 284. The amount of the tax seems to have varied at different times and, perhaps, localities. On Theban demotic ostraca the amount is usually, as here, two drachmas ; but numerous unpublished tax receipts from Dendera (belonging to Mr. J. G. Milne) show that the amount there in the reign of Tiberius was 40 drachmas per annum.
TAX RECEIPT 25
OSTR. D 29 (PL I). TAX RECEIPT.
1. a.wt 5Mns s Glymqs(?)
2. hr ht <pe n hsp 29 sttr 2.t wth(?) n hsp 29 n Gsrs
3. 5bt-2 sm ss crq n 'bt-3 sm ss 4 sh . . . . s Gphls(?)
' Ammonius, son of Kallimachus (?) 1, has paid 2 on account of the poll (-tax) of the year 29 two staters refined (?) (silver) in the year 29 of Caesar 3, Payni day 30 (and ?) on Epiphi day 4. Written by .... son of Kephalos (?).'
1 The handwriting is difficult, and the names Kallimachus and Kephalos are doubtful. They are certainly Greek, not Egyptian names.
2 The word wt is not infrequently used instead of >n for ' pay ' in the early Roman empire. It seems to have no special significance., Cf. Spiegelberg, Demotische Papyrus von Elephantine, p. 13, note xiii.
3 i. e. Augustus, B.C. i.
OSTR. D 1 6 (PL X). TAX RECEIPT.
1. a.'n Pa-Mnt p co s Glen a p shn n
2. n cy-w sbte-w hr p ht cpe.t n hsp 25
3. hn n rm-w Pa-Mnt s Pa-5re sttr 2*.t a sttr i.t a
4. sttr 2.t (n sh n hsp 25 5bt-3 sm ss 27
5. . . . n 5bt-4 sm ss 4 sttr 2.t a sttr i.t a
6. sttr 2.t <n
* Pamonthes the eldef, son of Glen,1 has paid into the bank of the merchants' houses on account of the silver (of the) poll(-tax) of year 25 among the men 2 of Pamonthes, son of Paeris, 2 staters = i stater = 2 staters again. Written in year 25, Epiphi day 27.
Item, in Mesore day 4, 2 staters = i stater 3 = 2 staters again.'
1 KAccw (?).
2 He was one of the veterans who had kleroi allotted to them and was enrolled in a company called after its captain, Pamonthes, son of Paeris.
3 The last six words of 1. 5 are very indistinct, but there is no practical doubt as to the reading.
E
26 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
OSTR. D 37 (PL I). T'AX RECEIPT.
1. a.'n Py-k s Hns-tef-nht a p shn n n cy-w sbte-w
2. hr ht (pe n hsp 3.1 n Zme sttr 2.t a sttr i.t a sttr 2.t cn
3. sh n hsp 3.1 n Gys c.w.s. Gysrs c.w.s. Sbcsts c.w.s.
4. Grmnykws c.w.s. 5bt-3 pr ss crq . . . . 5bt-i sm ss 19 hr
5. p ht cpe.t sttr 2.t a sttr i.t a sttr 2.t cn . . . . 5bt-2 sm ss 23 hr
6. n V-w qt i.t a qt | a qt i.t cn t s.t 5ywn qt i.t a qt f a qt i.t <n . . . . >bt-4 sm
7. ss 5 hr p nbe n hsp 3.t sttr i.t qtf (oft.) 4.t a qt i.t (o/3.) 5.t a sttr i.t qt | (o/3.) 4.t <n
* Pikos, the son of Khons-tef-nekht,1 has paid to the bank of the merchants' houses for silver (of the) poll(-tax) of year 3 in Jeme, 2 staters = i stater = 2 staters again. Written in year 3 of Gaius Caesar Sebastos Germanicus, Phamenoth day 3o.2
Item, Pachons day 19, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) 2 staters = i stater = 2 staters again.
Item, Payni day 23, for the apomoira i kite = J kite = i kite again ; the bath (-tax) i kite = -|kite = i kite again.
Item, Mesore day 5, for the dyke-tax 3 of year 3, i stater \ kite 4 obols4 = i kite 5 obols = i stater f kite 4 obols again.'
1 The same individual as on D 52 infra.
2 A.D. 39.
3 The word nbe is not a new one, though its reading and meaning have not hitherto been fully recognized. The ostraca here published furnish fresh evidence on these points. It occurs on four demotic ostraca, D 37, D 52, D 69, D 117, and on one bilingual, G 222 (unpublished), and doubtfully on a second, G 427.
From these, especially G 222, there is no doubt that the reading is nbe \ \\ \\ Q .
The word occurs on two published papyri in the Louvre (below), but only on one published ostracon, a bilingual at Berlin, no. 1113. The latter was published by Revillout and Wilcken in the Revue figyptologtque, vi, p. n, and the Greek text
TAX RECEIPT 27
again by Wilcken in his Grieckische Ostraka under no, 1025, and it explains one meaning of nbe for us. The Greek text is
L/c/3 aTrcipyaorai eis TO 8iaKo/A/xa v A cp/xo^iXos 'Year 22 work done on the breach in the dyke, 30 naubia, Hermophilus.'
StaKo/x/xa is clearly a breach in a dyke (x^/xa, 7re/oixeo//,a), or rather in the bank of a canal which is raised above the surrounding fields (8iwpv£, Pap. Tebtunis, no. 13 and notes). See Mahaffy-Smyly, Petrie Papyri, iii, nos. 37 a. ii. 19, b. iii. 9, and 45. (2). 5. The two lines of demotic underneath the Greek read, so far as one can be sure from the hand-copy,
sh Hr . . . . s Hry a nbe 30
sh . . . . s S-wsr nb 30
' Written by Hor .... son of Erieus for 30 nbe\ signed by .... son of Senwosre for 30 nb!
Wilcken, Griech. Ostr. i. 259-60 discusses the question whether the Egyptian nbt (as Revillout read it) can be the same as the Greek word vavfiiov, of which it is here clearly the equivalent, and leaves it unsettled. This is settled for us not only by the material published here, but also by over thirty unpublished demotic ostraca known to me, the large majority of which come from Dendera and belong to Mr. J. G. Milne. The Greek word which is unknown to classical literature and has long been a subject of discussion since its appearance in the papyri and ostraca, is now known to be a cubic measure of soil equal to a cube whose side is a royal double cubit (Pap. Lille, i, p. 1 5), No reasonable etymology has, I believe, been suggested for it ; if so, there is the more reason for regarding it as a graecized Egyptian word, if we can find an origin for nbe. Now there is an old word
i l\ 0-7*" (Brugsch, Wtb. 327-8, 749, Suppl., 662) meaning a stake which
was employed in staking out the ground in the representations of temple founda- tion scenes. It is not difficult to see that such a stake should be, or become, of a recognized length and form the origin of a measure for excavating earth generally.
The above bilingual accounts for the number of naubia of earth removed. Thirty naubia seem to have been the amount of forced labour on dykes which the government could demand (MahafFy-Smyly, u. s. p. 344), and probably represents the five days' work which constituted the corve'e (Wilcken, u. s. p. 338). In two papyri in the Louvre of the 36th year of Amasis (535 B.C.) this corve'e is mentioned as p nbe n hte ' the compulsory nbe ' (Corpus Papyrorum, Louvre, no. 14, pi. xv, 11. 14, 15, and no. 15, pi. xvi, 1. 7), a tax on land the payment of which has to be specifically provided for in agreements relating to the transfer of land. Even at that early date it would seem that the corve'e could be commuted for a money payment. It was certainly so in Ptolemaic and Roman times, when the tax in money form was known in Greek as XW/^TIKOV (Wilcken, u.s. p. 338), and in demotic it is the tax we have here, in D 37, as nbe. That these are the same is evident from the amount of the tax, which for the
28 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
was the peculiar sum of 6 dr. 4 obols annually (Wilcken, «. s. p. 334, Pap. Brit. Mus. ii, p. 107, iii, p. 55, Pap. Tebtunis, ii, p. 188), thus distinguishing this tax from all others. In our ostracon (037) the payment, it is true, is only 5 dr. 4 obols, but in D 52 and in D 69 the payments, though paid by instalments, in each case amount together to 6 dr. 4 obols. Conclusive evidence, however, is furnished by Mr. Milne's Dendera ostraca, since out of twenty-nine «fc-ostraca (unpublished) twenty-four are for precisely 6 dr. 4 obols and three of the remainder are for exactly half the amount.
4 This reading of the demotic word is uncertain. Dr. Griffith in his Cat. Rylands Demotic Papyri, iii, p. 400, suggests qt (?) with doubt ; but as this may lead to confusion with the silver kite, I have preferred to use the Greek o/?oAos in a bracket, seeing that there is no doubt as to the meaning.
OSTR. D 52 (PL I). TAX RECEIPT.
1. a.'n Py-k s Hns-tef-nht a p shn
2. n n <y-w sbte-w hr p ht (pe.t n hsp 2.t n Zme sttr i.t
3. a qt i.t a (?) sttr i.t wth (?) <n sh n hsp 2.t n Gys «.w.s. >bt-2 pr ss 26
4 n >bt-3 pr ss 3 hr p ht cpe.t sttr i.t a qt'i.t a sttr i.t
wth (?) <n
5. . . . . n ss 25 hr p ht. <pe.t sttr i.t a qt i.t a sttr i.t wth (?) cn . . . . n
6. ?bt-4 pr ss 19 hr p ht <pe.t sttr i.t a qt i.t a sttr i.t wth (?) <n 7 5bt-i sm ss 26 hr n tMv qt i.t a qt | a qt i.t cn . . . . t s.t
°ywn qt i.t
8. a qt | a qt i.t <n . . . . >bt-4 sm ss 3 hr p nbe qt i| (o/J.) 4! a qt | (o/3.) 5.t
9. a qt i| (o/3.) 4! <n . . . . ss 24 hr p nbe qt i.t (o/3.) S.t f a qt I (oft.) 4.t |
10. a qt i.t (o/3.) S.t § cn
' Pikos, son of Khons-tef-nekht, has paid to the bank of the merchants' houses for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) of year 2 in Jeme, i stater = i kite = i stater refined (?) (silver) again. Written in year 2 of Gaius,1 Mechir day 2,6.
Item, Phamenoth day 3, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) i stater = i kite = i stater refined (?) (silver) again.
TAX RECEIPT 29
Item, on day 35, for the silver (of the) poll(-tax) i stater = i kite = i stater refined (?) (silver) again.
Item, Pharmuthi day 19, for the silver of the poll(-tax) i stater = i kite = i stater refined (?) (silver) again.
Item, Pachons day 26, for the apomoira i kite = \ kite = I kite again.
Item, the bath(-tax) i kite = J kite = i kite again.
Item, Mesore day 3, for the dyke-tax ij kite 4| obols = J kite 5 obols 2 = i£ kite 4^ obols again.
Item, day 24, for the dyke-tax i kite 5^ obols = \ kite 1% obols3 = i kite 5^ obols again/
1 A.D. 38.
2 Strictly 5j obols, but the scribes often neglect small fractions in these equivalences.
3 Strictly 2| obols.
OSTR. D 4 (PL VIII). RECEIPT FOR ARREARS OF TAXES.
1. Ws-h s Hry
2. Ns-Mn s Pa-by
3. n nt z n Pa-Zme
4. s Pa-Wn wn . . . . Pr-co
5. i a | a i <n e.5n-k s a
6. p pr-ht Pr-<o n N
7. n hsp 35 5bt-3 pr ss 18 hn
8. n sp-w
9. sh hsp 35 5bt-3 pr ss 18
' Weser-he, son of Erieus (and) Zminis, son of Pa-by, say to Pasemis, son of Phagonis : there is1 .... 2 of the King (artaba?) i = £ = i again, which thou hast paid to the treasury 3 of the King in the City (Thebes) in year 35, Phamenoth day 18, among the arrears. Written year 35,* Phamenoth day 18.'
1 i.e. 'we have', 'we acknowledge'. The receipt is given by two sitologoi probably to the tax-payer.
2 At first glance this group looks like a date, but this it cannot be here, and
3o //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
I can only suggest — but with great diffidence— that it may be a writing of pr, corn, with a ' prosthetic alif to represent the initial vowel of e&p* (e&pe, e&pi), pi. e&pHire.
3 * Treasury ' is not, perhaps, the most appropriate word, but it is the customary translation <ti pr-ht = ra/uetov (for this equation see Spiegelberg, Demot. Pap. Berlin, p. 4 note). According to Wilcken (Griech. Ostr. i, reff. in index, s.v. ra/xtctov) the latter is a general word for the' royal (and imperial) ' treasury ', which included both the banks (rpa7re£ai), for receipts and payments in money, and the magazines (Qrjo-avpoi, storehouses, granaries) for the like in kind, whether live stock, or grain, oil, &c. In Ptolemaic times the usual word for ra/xtetov was simply TO /foo-iAtKoV. In demotic shn n pr-'o = rpdir^a /frwnAi/o} and r n pr-'o = Orjcravpos /2ao-. Here we have the less common and more generalized term pr-ht n pr-*o = ra/uetov /?ao-., which in this case is more probably = ^o-avpos than rpaTrc^a. Had it been a money payment into the bank, the nature of the sum, whether teben, stater, or kite, would probably have been stated.
* From the handwriting I should be inclined to date the ostracon as late Ptolemaic. If so, the 3 5th year would be either of Philometor or Euergetes II, 147/6 or 136/5 B.C.
OSTR. D 6 1 (PI. VIII). RECEIPT.
1. Ws-h s Hry Ns-Mn s Pa-by
2. n nt z n P-sr-copht s Ns-Mn wn 3 Pr-<o i a | a i cn e.5n-k s
4. a p pr-ht n Pr-<o n N n hsp 35
5. >bt-3 pr ss 18 hn p wbt(?)
6. sh hsp 35 5bt-3 pr ss 18
' Weser-he, son of Erieus, (and) Zminis, son of Pa-by, say to Psena- pathes, son of Zminis : there is .... of the King (artaba ?) i = J = i again, which thou hast paid to the treasury of the King in the City (Thebes), in year 35, Phamenoth day 18, among the . . . ,1. Written year 35, Phamenoth day 18.'
1 This ostracon is of exactly the same date and in the same handwriting as D 4, see notes there. The givers of the receipt are the same, but the individual to whom the document is given is different and also the subject of the receipt* What wbt (or wb* ?) is, I cannot guess.
TAX RECEIPT 31
OSTR. D 28 (PL II). TAX(?) RECEIPT.
1 . a.5n Pa-Mnt s P-msh a p r
2. Pr-co (.w.s. n t (?) nsytykwn n hsp 2,t
3. hr Zme yt (?) | & a yt (?) i £ a yt(?) | & <n
4. n p hy n ?yp.t sh n hsp 3.t n
5. TwmHyns c.w.s. nt hwe
6. [>bt-. .] >h ss 2 i
* Pamonthes, son of Pempsais, has paid to the royal thesaurus for the ..... -1 of year i for J£me barley (?) (artaba) J ^ := barley (?) \ •£$ = barley (?) § -fa again by the measure of the oiphi.2 Written in year 3 of Domitian, who is august3 [month- . . of] verdure,4 day 21.'
1 This should be the name of a tax or other reason for payment The reading of the demotic word (which is obviously a Greek word transliterated) is certain except for the second letter s. Demotic ns is the customary transliteration of £ and the word which naturally suggests itself is tyriKov. There is some obscurity attaching to this tax which rarely occurs under this name (see note in Pap. Tebt. ii, p. 335), the usual word being ^vrrjpd, but both taxes were paid in money, whereas here the payment is made in corn of some kind ; for though there is some doubt about the symbol for ' barley ', the reference to the measure of the oiphi and the payment into the Oya-avpos /?a<riAtKos are conclusive as to its being grain in some form.
2 The oT<£i was equal to four ^otViKcs, cf. Wilcken, Gr. Ostr. i, 750-1. It occurs not infrequently in demotic documents; in Coptic, Crum, Coptic Ostr. no. 499.
8 lit. ' who protects '. The word hw> originally ' protect ', seems in Ptolemaic times to have come to mean simply * sacred ' when applied to divine beings. In the bilingual inscriptions it is used as the equivalent of iepos (Brugsch, Wtb. 1061). The formula nt hw is found on the cartouche of Domitian and many other Roman emperors, and presumably represents o-e/fooros (Augustus). On Greek ostraca Domitian is usually qualified as 6 Kvptos or Kcucrap 6
4 i.e. a month between Thoth and Choiak inclusive.
OSTR. D 19 (PL II). RECEIPT FOR RENT.
1. a.5n P-me s Hr-Mnt hn p shn
2. a.'r-f n t qnb.t (?) n p tme n p wh (?) 5s
3. n p wh (?) 5Mn P-^he n hsp 22 m (?) sh wy mbh
32
//. DEMOTIC TEXTS
4. 'Mn-R'-nsw^ntr-w rtb sw 50 a sw 25 a sw 50 cn
5. n p qws n hmt n h.t-ntr N e-w swt
6. st §p 5p sh Ns Z-hr
7. sh hsp 22 5bt-i pr ss 24
8. s~P-hl-Hns hr-f (?)
< Pmois, son of Harmonthes, has paid under (?) the (contract of) lease which he made with the council (?) of the village of " The old Estate (?)"2 on the estate (?) of Amon3 (called) Pois,4 in year aa,5 by deed of cession6 before Amonrasonther,7 50 artabas of wheat = 25 (artabas of) wheat = 50 (artabas of) wheat again by the bronze xofo-measure 8 of the temple of Thebes, they being delivered.9 They are received by reckoning (?).10
Written by Ns . . . ., (son of) Teos. Written in year 22, Tybi day 24, by ...... son of Pkhelkhons, on his account (?).'
1 Sethe, A. Z. xlix. 15. His arguments for this reading seem to me convincing.
2 The reading and meaning of wh are doubtful. The word occurs frequently in place-names. Spiegelberg reads it hr ( face ', ' aspect ', and gives references (Rec. trav. xxxi, pp. 98 and 104, n. xxix) to its use with the words 'North' and ' South '. But this meaning does not satisfy other contexts, and the sign may equally well be read wh, possibly with a meaning akin to oviog ' dwell, dwelling- place ', though as it is here applied to a landed property containing a village, it must have a wider significance than a mere house or group of houses. This village is named also in D 24 and D 100.
3 This property of the great Temple of Amon at Thebes is mentioned on other documents, viz. Pap. dem. Berlin 3116, col. 6, 1. 21, and Ostr. Louvre 9086 (Revillout, Melanges, p. 80), and another unnumbered (ibid. p. 191, p wfi(?) *hy)> and Pap. dem. Brussels 5 (Spiegelberg, Demot. Pap. Mus. Roy. du Cinquantenaire, pp. 20 and 24, note 21 tp *hy only).
4 Pois is the Greek form of the demotic p *hy given by the Pap. Casati 14/5 (Bibl. nat. no. 5, only in the genitive TTWCWS). It means 'the stables', no doubt large erections for the great herds of cattle belonging to the Temple. Cf. Spiegelberg. Pap. Reinach, p. 196. In Peyron, Pap. gr. Taurin, ii, p. 45, we have TTOCVTTWIS, perhaps p wh (hr ?) n p *hy. Cf. Phtlologus, Ixiii, p. 530.
5 Judging by the writing I think the date is probably late Ptolemaic, but as several kings reigned twenty-two years and over, it is not possible to be more precise.
6 See Griffith, Cat. Rylands Demot. Pap. iii, p. 255.
7 i. e. confirmed by oath in the great Temple of Amon at Karnak.
8 Cf. Griffith, u. s. p. 397 ; also Spiegelberg, Pap. Reinach, 39, 4/1 4 (he reads hnwsl), Ostr. Louvre 9083, 9066 (Revillout, Melanges,^. 92, no). M. Revillout was the first to read the word as kos (= qws}. As to the ' bronze ' measure, see Pap. Hibeh, i, p. 229.
RECEIPT FOR RENT 33
9 ' They ', i. e. ( the wheat ' ; suit probably implies actual delivery at the cost of the tenant, cf. Spiegelberg, u.s. p. 183.
10 The exact significance of this frequently recurring sentence is not clear. The full phrase is st sp n >/ and seems to mean that the amount has been received after being counted or measured.
OSTR. D 45 (PL V). RECEIPT FOR RENT.
1. >n Hrklts
2. s 'Rystypws
3. hr p sm pe-f (?) km n t mrwt
4. 'py nt sh wy mbh 5Mn-Rc-nsw-ntr-w
5. p ntr (o hnc pe-f 5rp a wc km
6. 5rp 2 hr pe-f km
7. n p 5br (?) rt 5rp f
8. a >rp 2| st 3p n (?) 5p
g. sh . . . . s Hf-Hns hsp 15 a hsp 12
10. >bt-i ^h (?) ss 25 sh Hr . . . -Hns
1 1. sh Wn-nfr s Hr sh Z-hr Hf-Hns
' Herakleitos,1 son of Aristippus, has paid for the rent 2 of his garden in the corn-land 3 of Ophi,4 which was conveyed5 before Amonrasonther the great god, together with his wine(-tax ?) for a garden 2 (keramia of) wine 6 for his garden (and) for the .... (of) the produce half a (keramion of) wine, making a J (keramia of) wine. They are received by reckoning (?).
Written by .... son of Khapokhonsis, year 15 = year* i a,7 Thoth (?) day 35.
Written by Horus, (son of) ... -khons.
Written by Onnophris, son of Horus.
Written by Teos, son of Khapokhonsis.
1 Or Heraklides.
2 Cf. Spiegelberg, Pap. Reinach^ pp. 181-2, 240. If further proof were required that sm = fK<f>6piov, it is given by a bilingual in this collection, G. 131, where the two words correspond.
8 Cf. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. in, p. 266, n. 15. 4 i. e. the modern Karnak.
34 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
5 Usually sh wy means a deed conveying all the property in the land possessed by the owner. Here it seems to be a lease.
6 For this use of >rp as a measure of wine, cf. Rosetta, 1. 18.
7 This double date applies to the regnal years of Cleopatra III and Alexander I
— IO2 B. C.
OSTR. D 216 (PL V). RECEIPT FOR RENT.
1. Thwt-stm s
2. By-<nh
3. p nt Z n Hr-py-k5 s
4. Pa-n-nht.w (?) erme P-5hy s
5. P-hm-bk wn sttr.t 2.t
6. a sttr.t i.t a sttr.t 2.t cn
7. sp n 5p hr p sm n
8. T-sgt (?) sh n hsp 6.t
9. tp-sm ss 14 (2nd hand) sh Thwt-stm 10. s By-<nh
' Thotsutmis, son of Bienchis, saith to Harpikos, son of Panekhates (?), and Pois (?), son of P-khem-bekis : there are l 2 staters = i stater = 1 staters again received by reckoning (?) for the rent of Tseget (?). Written in year 6, Pachons day 14. Signed Thotsutmis, son of Bienchis.'
1 i. e. 'I have ' = $x«> of the Greek tax-collectors' receipts (Wilcken, Griech. Ostr. i, p. 6 1 sq.).
OSTR. D 49 (PL XI). NOTICE OF PAYMENT OF RENT.
y
1. Ssnq s Pa-^Mn p nt z n P-hb
2. s P-sr-Mnt te-y mh p hwe Hr-nht
3. n t t.t I n p yh tkm a.5r-k t (?) wp.t hr zz
4. p rrP n t msh n hsp 10 hr T-sr.t-^Mn-htp (?)
5. ta Ns-Mn e-y st ty . . . . a hn
6. hsp 9 sh Ssnq s Pa-'Mn n hsp 9 >bt-3 sm ss 19
* Sheshonk, son of Pamounis, saith to Phibis, son of Psenmonthes, I am paying the surplus of Ho-nekht1 for the quarter share of the land
NOTICE OF PAYMENT OF RENT 35
(under) oil-crop, of which thou doest the work,2 on the canal3 of the Crocodile for year 10 on behalf of Senamenothis (?), the daughter of Zminis. I will discharge (?) 4 this .... until year 9. Signed Sheshonk, son of Pamounis, in year gf Epiphi day 19.'
1 The name of a farm — more clearly written in D 107 (pi. XI). Perhaps it should be read wh-nht, cf. D 1 9, note 2 above. The farm was probably worked in common by Sheshonk and Phibis under a farming agreement such as we have in Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. nos. xxvi, xxxiv (and see reffs. there, pp. 155-6).
2 i. e. in the full phrase / wp.t wyf (eienovoei) ' tillage '. It means here the work on the crop, not ' work on the canal ', the hr zz refers to the locality of the farm.
8 The word m*, the old word for a canal (Griffith, u. s. p. 170, n. 3, and p. 299, n. 7), is only known to me in published demotic documents in the compound me-wr = /xotpis (Griffith, u. s. and p. 423 ; Spiegelberg, A. Z. xliii. 84) and once alone (Spiegelberg, Demot. Pap.Mus. Roy. du Cinquantenaire, no. 4, 1. 3). It seems to have survived chiefly in place-names. In this collection, besides the present instance, we have in D 35 / m? t zl* ' the canal of the Scorpion', D 147^ m* u Hr-p-K(f) 'the canal of Horus-the-bull '. From the context it seems usually, however, to denote a tract of land named after the canal bounding it (?). ' The crocodile ' has the feminine article and must refer to a crocodile-goddess, cf. D 22, note 4.
4 lit. ' avert '. The meaning of this phrase is probably ' I will be responsible for the payment of rent till the end of year 9, if you do the work on the land*.
5 Phibis, son of Psenmonthes, occurs on a number of these ostraca, including D 6 below, and as he is doubtless the same person in both, it is likely that this is the ninth year of Augustus.
OSTR. D 107 (PL XI). RECEIPT FOR RENT.
1. [a.Jn P-hb s P-sr-Mnt
2. hn p hwe Hr-nht
3. p yh tkm a 5r-f h-zz
4. t msh hr hsp ic.t tkm
5. 1 2 hr t t5.t e p yh rn-f
6. e-f sp 5p sh Nht-Mnt
7. s Hf-Hns n hsp lo.t 5bt-i §m ss 25
' Phibis, son of Psenmonthes, has paid from among the surplus of Ho-nekht 1 the land (under) oil crop which he worked2 on the Crocodile3 on account of year 10, oil (artabas) 12 for the Jth share of the land
36 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
named. It is received by reckoning (?). Signed Nekhthmonthes, son of Khapokhonsis, in year 10, Pachons 25.'
1 Cf. D 49, note i.
2 V-^here is evidently equivalent to >r t wp.t in D 49.
3 = the place known as the ' Canal of the Crocodile ' in D 49. This ostracon is much abbreviated and would be unintelligible without D 49. Note the writing h-zz for hr-zz.
OSTR. D 55 (PL IX). RECEIPT FOR A TAX(?).
1. E-f-cnh s Wm-p-mw (?)
2. p nt z n Py-k s E-f-c[nh]
3. wn sttr 2.t p ms sp n [5p ?]
4. hn pe-k t'y (?) n hsp 16 . . .
' Apynkhis, son of Wem-pmou (P),1 saith to Pikos, son of Apynkhis : there are 2 staters (and) the interest received by reckoning (?) for thy tax(?)2 of year 16 . . . .'
1 The name is incomplete owing to the left-hand corner of the ostracon having been broken away; but it can hardly be anything else. The tip of the deter- minative of mw ' death ' remains. The name, which is new to me, means ' Death has consumed ' and is parallel to Sy-p-mw (O-ICTT/AOVS) * Death is sated ' (cf. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. iii, p. 131, n. 7). The name P-sr-p-mw * the child of death ' occurs on an ostracon (D 81) in this collection..
2 This seems to be the same word as in Brugsch, A. Z. xxix. 67-8, and Spiegelberg, Rec. trav. xxxi. 102 ; cf. Id., Pap. Reinach^ pp. 181-2. It is written very like sm 'rent', but the determinative is different. Here I think it is the silver determinative.
OSTR. D 56 (PL IX). RECEIPT FOR MONEY.
1 . Pa-Mnt s Pa-p-zyt sme a
2. Pa-Zme s Py-k wn krkr 5
3. erme p . . . . sp n >p hr P-'swr
4. s P-sr-'Np
5. sh n hsp 29 >bt-i pr ss 14
RECEIPT FOR MONEY 37
' Pamonthes, son of Papzoit,1 sends greeting to Pasemis, son of Pikos. There are 5 talents and the . . . . 2 received by reckoning (?) for Pesuris, son of Psenenupis. Written in year 39, Tybi day 14.'
1 lit. * he of the olive tree ', a name I have not met elsewhere.
2 This word begins with w ; the gender prevents it being wz.t ' interest ', It may be the same as the obscure word in 1. 5 of D 61 (wbtl].
OSTR. D 22 (PI. II). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF WHEAT-LOAN (?).
1. hsp 18 >bt-i sm ss 12
2. Pa-Mnt s P-sr-'Mn-'py p nt z
3. n P-si°Mn s My-hs wn nte-k
4. rtb n sw 22^ a c-y nte-y
5. t sp-w a p qws n Mn-k-Rc (?)
6. s (?) Pa-Mnt p srtyqws erme
7. ne-w hwe-w hr (?) wn n yh a-te-k n-y
8. hn p gsrrP n t
9. msh.t n hsp 18 10. n htr 't mn
* Year 18, Pachons day 12, Pamonthes, son of Psenamenophis, saith to Psenamounis, son of Miusis, there are (belonging) to thee 1 22^ artabas of wheat in my charge and I will cause them to be received at the \ovs- measure of Menkere(?),2 son(?) of Pamonthes, the strategus, together with their interest (?) 3 according to (?) (the) list of fields which thou gavest me in the " canal-land (?) of the Crocodile"4 in the year 18 compulsorily without delay.'
1 i.e. 'I owe thee', cf. Spiegelberg, Pap. Reinach, p. 199.
2 For corn-measures known by the names of individuals cf. Cat. Greek. Pap. Brit. Mus. ii, p. 257. The reading of the name Menkere (only the final syllable is doubtful) I owe to Dr. F. LI. Griffith. Nothing else is known of this strategus unless, as Dr. Griffith suggests, he be the same as Menkere, the father of Ham- sauf (?), whose tomb-papyrus (' Book of the Dead ') we have in the Rhind papyrus (ed. H. Brugsch, 1865). Menkere is there called governor (hieratic wr, demotic *o * great one ') of Hermonthis, but his father's name is not given, only that of his mother. His son was born in the thirteenth year of Ptolemy Neos Dionysos,
38 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
69-8 B. c. ; and if the eighteenth year of the ostracon be taken to refer to the same king (64-3 B. c.), I should not be inclined to contradict it on palaeographical grounds, though it could perhaps be earlier.
3 The meaning of hw is uncertain. The word itself is very general, ' excess, addition/ It might mean cost of carriage, or in connexion with the measure- ment (cf. Spiegelberg, Pap. Reinach, 1/13, p. 176), but is more likely interest on the loan (Spiegelberg, Pap. Strassb. no. 44/5, Pap. Berlin, no. 3103/7, Rec. trav. xxxi, p. 92, and Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. no. xxi, 1. n).
4 The word gsm? is obscure. It has the determinative of water, and being written out alphabetically it suggests a foreign word. It possibly might stand for xdo-fjia, though the transliteration of x ^7 8 ^s unusual. But it may also be
a demotic writing for a hieroglyphic *-j— ( ^ ' side of a canal ' (for m* — J^, see D 49, note 3 above), and be equivalent to Tre/otxw/xa ' land bounded by a dyke or
canal ', Pap. Tebt. i, p. 80. The ' canal-land (?) of the Crocodile (fern.) ' is a place-name, the crocodile being no doubt a local goddess ; with t-msh.t, cf. Lake Timsah. See also D 175, note i, p. 54 infra.
OSTR. D. 24 (PL II). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
OF WHEAT.
1 . Twt s Se-ny p mr pr-st.t (?)
2. n pr 5Mn n s 2-n sme a n rt-w n
3. t sme.t wn rtb n sw 35 a sw 1 7! a sw 35 cn
4. e-te s n-y Ns-Mn s P-a.te-'Mn-nsw-tw Z-hr s Mnhs
5. n shn-w n p wh (?) >s n hsp 30 hn pe >p
6. n s 2-n st sp n 'p
7. Sh hsp 30 ^bt-2 sm ss 2
'Totoes, son of Shenai,1 the chief baker2 oi the Temple of Amon, of the second 3 phyle, greets the bailiffs of the stock-farm (?).4 There are5 35 artabas of wheat = 17! (artabas of) wheat = 35 (artabas of) wheat again, which Zminis, son of Petamestous, and Teos, son of Menhes,6 the collectors 7 of " The Old Estate (?) ",8 gave to me for year 30 in my account of the second phyle. They are received by reckoning (?).
Written in year 30, Payni day 2.'
1 The literal meaning of the name as written is ' These have departed ', but what the mythological reference is, I do not know. Perhaps the Greek transcrip- tion is o-evat^s (Cat. Greek Pap. Brit. Mus. iii, p. 164 — a woman's name there).
2 The same title is found in Pap. Dem. Berlin, 3116, col. 2, 1. 18, with the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF WHEAT 39
Greek equivalent dpTo/c[o7ros] in Pap. Casati, vi, 1. i, and in Petrie, Denderah, pi. XXVI. A 28, 29, lit. 'overseer of the fire-chamber ', i. e. kitchen or bakery. The reading of this last may perhaps be e-st.t (?), cf. Spiegelberg, Cat. Cairo Dem. Pap. no. 30801.
1 The numeral is written with the old form of the ordinal numbers, cf. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. p. 417. In what sense Totoes belonged to the second phyle is not clear, probably not as Chief Baker (cf. Otto, Priester u. Tempel im Helleni- stischen Aegypten, i. 283), but he may have been priest as well, though it does not seem probable in so large an institution as the Temple of Amon at Thebes.
* This word occurs again on two other ostraca in this collection (D 78, D 157) and Ostr. Louvre 9083 (Revillout, Melanges, p. 92). Perhaps it is only a variant of the word smyme.t which is found on an ostracon at Cairo (A. Z. xxix. 70), and which Brugsch translates Gehoft ' farm-buildings ', deriving it doubtless from
which is found on the Pianchi stela with the meaning ' stables ' n
or ' stud-farm', cf. Brugsch, Wtb. 1390, Suppl. 1186.
5 i. e. 'I have in my charge ', * I account for '. The rent-collectors of the village which was on the estate of the Temple (p. 32 supra) would ordinarily hand over the rents, which were paid in kind, to the Temple-bailiffs ; but in this instance they handed these 35 artabas direct to the Chief Baker for his use, and hence he addresses this ostracon to the bailiffs.
6 These two officials are named also on D 100 and the former of them on D 103 also. On D 100 the name Menhes is clearly written in its more familiar form Menkhes.
7 Cf. Spiegelberg (A. Z. xlii. 57), who takes the shn to have been 'finance officials ', perhaps taxation officials, corresponding to the Xoycvrat who were the ordinary tax-collectors of Ptolemaic times (Grenfell and Hunt, Fayum Towns, p. 323). Here they are clearly collectors of rents or other dues belonging to the Temple.
8 Cf. p. 32 supra, D 19 and notes 2, 3 ibid.
OSTR. D 51 (PL II). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
OF WHEAT.
•%/
1. Ssnq s Hr
2. s Ssnq n nt z n P-sr-Mnt (?)
3. s P-sr-'MrPpy wn rtb sw if n p qws
4. n 29 e-te-k s n-n hr P-a.te-'Mn (?) p mr sn Mnt
5. p hm-ntr 2-n hn n sw a.te-f n-n n p hc Mnt
6. hsp 9 st sp n 'p sh n hsp 9 ^bt-i sm ss 26
4 Sheshonk son of Hor (?), [and X.] son of Sheshonk, say unto Psen- monthes son of Psenamenophis : there are J ij artabas of wheat by the
4o //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
29-Xo£s measure 2 which thou hast given to us on behalf of Petamounis (?), the chief priest3 of Montu (and) second prophet, among the wheat which he gave us for the festival of Montu 4 of the 9th year. They are received by reckoning (?).
Written in year 9, Pachons day 21.'
1 i. e. ' we have '.
2 The artaba varied in size locally and hence was frequently defined. What was the meaning of this particular measure, which occurs frequently, is obscure. It is discussed in Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. iii, p. 397, and references given there.
8 The mr-sn is represented in the Canopus and Rosetta decrees by dpx^pevs, and etymologically by the word Aeo-ows. He was administrator as well as chief priest of the temple and was elected annually (Arch. f. Papyrusforschung, ii, p. 122 ; cf. Griffith, u. s. p. 65, note 3).
4 There is, as far as I know, no record of the date of the annual feast of Montu at Thebes. From this it would appear that it was possibly in Pachons.
OSTR. D 100 (PI. II). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
OF WHEAT.
i. Se-ny s Hns-p-hrt p gwt n pr Mnt nb
2 s tp p nt z n Ns-Mn s P-a.te-^Mn-nsw-tw
3. Z-hr s Mnh n shn-w n p wh (?) 5s wn rtb
4. n sw 10 a sw 5 a sw 10 cn e.te-tn n-y hr
5. p fy pr Mnt nb . . . . s tp
6. st sp 5p
7. sh n hsp 30 5bM sm ss 21
'Shenai, son of Khespokhrates, the gwt1 of the temple of Montu, lord of .... 2 (of) the first phyle saith to Zminis, son of Petamestous, (and) Teos, son of Menkhes,3 the collectors of " The Old Estate " : there are 10 artabas of wheat = 5 (artabas of) wheat = 10 (artabas of) wheat again, which you have given me on account of the bread-rations4 (of) the temple of Montu, lord of .... (for) the first phyle. They are received by reckoning (?). Written year 30, Pachons day 21.'
1 Cf. Spiegelberg in A. Z. xxxvii. 36. The meaning is uncertain ; from similar hieroglyphic titles Spiegelberg thought it might mean a workman, but in demotic
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT OF WHEAT 41
at any rate the title is always associated with a temple or a god. In his later Cat. Demotic Papyri at Cairo (no. 3 1 080) Spiegelberg translates it ' to-Priester ', and as its holder is described as belonging to a phyle (D 103 below), he was probably a priest.
2 Montu is usually ' lord of Wese (Karnak) ' or ' of Hermonthis ', or rarely ' of Totun ' (Cat. Dem. Papyri Cairo, u. s.), but I cannot read any of these in the present signs.
3 See D 24 and notes 6 and 7, p. 39, supra. For the 'Old Estate', cf. D 19, note 2 (p. 32).
4 Cf. D 31, note 6, infra, p. 52.
OSTR. D 103 (PL II). ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT
OF WHEAT.
1. Se-ny s Hns-p-hrt p gwt n pr
2. Mnt s . . . . p nt z n Ns-Mn s P-a.te-^Mn-nsw-tw
3. [p] shn n (?) t (?) my.t rs n hsp 30 wn rtb n sw 5^ ~
4. [a sw] 2| | -— a rtb n sw 5! ~ cn e.te-k [n-y]
5. [hr p] fy n pr Mnt nb . . .
6. sh hsp 30 5bt-4 pr (?)...
' Shenai, son of Khespokhrates,1 the gwt of the temple of Montu, (of the) .... phyle 2 saith to Zminis, son of Petamestous,3 the collector of the Southern Island 4 for year 30 : there are 5^ T^ artabas of wheat [= wheat (artabas)] 2f J^ = 5iT^ artabas of wheat again, which thou hast given [to me on account of the] bread-rations (?) 5 of the temple of Montu, lord of ....
Written in year 30, Pharmuthi (?)....'
1 Cf. D ioo, supra, p. 40.
2 In D ioo Shenai is said to belong to the first phyle. Here the reading looks like ' fifth phyle ', but the number is faint, and I do not venture to insert it. It would be unprecedented to find a man belonging to two phylae in succession (cf. Otto, Priester u. Tempel, i. 31) except in the circumstances arising out of the formation of the fifth phyle (Canopus decree), and the date does not allow of that explanation here; but see P.SJB.A. xxxi. 219, where a priest appears to belong to two phylae at once. A few months only separate this ostracon and D ioo.
3 Cf. D 24. 4 Not referred to elsewhere, I believe. 5 Cf. D 31, note 6, p. 52 infra.
G
42 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
OSTR. D 135 (PL V). ORDER TO DELIVER WHEAT.
1. a.nw a p gy n t rtb n sw 2
2. Py-k s My a h p tbhe nte-y
3. t.t-f (?) n-t.t-k SoOrjvai TTLKCDTL
ras Svo apra/3(as)
' See a to the giving 2 of two artabas of wheat (to) Pikos, son of Moui, according to the petition which I have received (?) from thee. (Greek) 3 To be given to Pikos, the two artabas/
1 The old form of imperative retained in the Coptic
3 Vm^ actio dandi : so far only the Bohairic form -xm^ seems to have occurred (Peyron).
3 Mr. Milne has kindly read the Greek. There is room for the two missing letters at the end, and possibly a trace of them exists.
OSTR. D 12 (PL III). LAND MEASUREMENT.
1 . hsp 1 1 .t ">bt-4 'h ss 20 n hy-w n P-twl
2. n P-si°Np s Py-k erme (?) pe-f 're nt hn
3. p yh cS-">hy mh-i n rs
* Year 1 1, Khoiak day 20, the measurements of Ptollis for (?) Psenenupis,
LAND MEASUREMENT 43
son of Pikos, and (?) his companion, which are in the first field of Asychis on the South.1
= total (?)2M (arura)3 its adjacent (?) 4 (piece)
i ^4 = total (?)« (arura) East (?)...
i-TT §1 = total (?) £f (arura) its adjacent (?) (piece)
tl H = total (?) A (arura).'
1 This system of recording land measurements has been explained by Kenyon in his Cat. Greek Pap. Brit. Mus. ii, p. 129. The dimensions of the sides of each plot are written round a line representing the plot. The unit of measurement is the h.t= 100 cubits linear*, or should be, strictly speaking, as the scribe employs the fractions of the arura here and in all the instances I have met with, the arura having a set of symbols for its fractions distinct from those for ordinary fractions, which should properly be used for those of the h.t. Since the arura was i oo xi oo cubits, or a square h.t, it comes to the same thing for practical purposes, though it is logically indefensible, if he says \ (ar.) x-| (ar.) = J arura, when he means -| (h.t) x \ (h.f) = J arura. It is only a substitution of the symbols he is working with. The area is obtained by multiplying together the means of the two opposite numbers. When the two opposite sides of a plot have the same length, the figure is written out once and a dot placed on the other side of the line.
Other examples of land measurement may be found in Cat. Greek Pap. u. s. and Pap. Tebt. no. 87 (Greek), in Brugsch, Thesaurus, iii-567 (hieroglyphic), Hall, Greek and Coptic Ostraca, p. 128 (Coptic), and in demotic, in this collection are several examples.
2 A symbol having a strong likeness to the fraction f (ar.) followed by a dot comes in each case between the preposition a (' amounting to ') and the result. It must stand for ' total ' or * superficies '.
3 None of the fractions are carried beyond the nearest -^. Strictly the first result should be T%, i.e. TJg more than is set down. The second result is overstated by TJ^, the third by T|^, and the fourth is understated by -£$. On other ostraca the measurements are carried down to ^ arura.
4 This is speculative : I cannot read it.
* This h.t, the linear measurement, must not be confused with the mh ty or square cubit, a unit of surface. This ht is a different word altogether.
44 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
5 Against each of the first three measurements some notes are recorded in the margin; but as I do not feel at all sure of their reading, I give them under reserve here. To the first: sp . . . . mh 5o(?) n ht 'remainder .... 50 square cubits', and below it a st \ J ....'= -| arura', which I take to mean that 50 square cubits have for some reason or other been omitted from the measure- ment and also f ar. of land unfit to be included owing to it being desert, salt- marsh, &c., indicated by the word I cannot read. To the second : sp a mh 80 (?) ' remainder So (?) cubits ' and . . . . st \ ^ ' . . . . arura ^ '. To the third : sp . . . . mh 80 (?) ' remainder .... 80 (?) cubits '.
OSTR. D 23 (PI. IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. a.rh-w a P-sr-Mnt s P-hb st 3 a st i| a st 3 cn
2. sh <O-pht s Hr-s-'S hsp 30 5bt-4 Sm ss 2
3. sh Hns-Thwt s P-sr-Mn a st 3 a h p nt sh hry
4. sh P-a.te-p-sy s Hr-Thwt
5. a st 3 a h p nt sh hry
6. sh S-wsr s <Nh-H<p
7. st 3 a st if a st 3 cn
' There have been adjudged (?) l to Psenmonthes, son of Phibis, 3 aruras = i \ aruras = 3 aruras again. Written by Apathes, son of Harsiesis, year 30,2 Mesore day 2.
(2nd hand) Written by Khesthotes, son of Psenminis, for 3 aruras as is above written.
(3rd hand) Written by Petepsais, son of Harthotes, for 3 aruras as is above written.
(4th hand) Written by Senwosre,3 son of Ankh-Hapi, 3 aruras = ij aruras = 3 aruras again.'
1 rh, primarily ' to know ', ' recognize ', seems to have a technical meaning here. It is followed by a (e) and apparently means ' to recognize as belonging to ', ' measure out to ', ' adjudge ', just the meaning of the Coptic verb pu>uje which is found followed by e in the same sense, e.g. Z. 419, qcooTit ^^p -xenKcogT irrregen^ n^pcouje eneTejULTTOTroTWig CCWTJUL ' for he knows that the fire of Gehenna will be meted out to those who have refused to hearken'. The derivation of pu>uje is unknown and may come from this special use of rh. (The
ALLOTMENT OF LAND 45
other verb pcoiye 'to see to V consider', js associated withr$ by Brugsch, Wtb. p.868, and by Griffith, Cat. Ry lands Pap. iii. 367, but this word, whether it have the same origin or not, has become differentiated in meaning.) Dr. Griffith has kindly referred me to what is perhaps a similar use of the word rh in earlier times, Beni-Hasan, i, p. 59, where Chnemhotep relates how the king 'came .... and caused one city to know its boundary with another city, establishing their land- marks as heaven, reckoning their waters (r$ mw-sn) according to that which was' in the writings ', &c., i. e. allotting their rights in the water for irrigation purposes. Probably the sense is approximately the same here, and these ostraca may refer to rectifications of boundaries of land disturbed by the inundation. The amount of land is sometimes so small as to exclude the idea that they can be allotments of kleroi or of farms to royal georgoi.
This ostracon is one of a considerable group. Revillout has published four examples from the Louvre, nos. 8007, 9070, 9083, and 9152 (Melanges, pp. 108, 97, 92, 99), but I cannot agree with many of his readings. There are sixteen examples in this collection, and five others, unpublished, are known to me. They usually state that so much land has been adjudged (?) to X. This formula is expanded in Louvre 9083, 9152 to 'there has been adjudged (?) to the (land-) measurements' (a n hy) of X, &c., and in D 41 here we have 'there has been adjudged (?) for the compensation of the measurements (n p >s n hy-w) of the year 23 of Caesar to X '. In Louvre 9070 we read ' There have been adjudged (?) to X for the tillage (wp.t ivy<) of the temple of Montu, lord of Thebes ' so many aruras. These documents are usually signed by three officials, but their status is not revealed. The land is always agricultural land but its locality is nowhere more closely defined than ' in J6me '. Some few of the ostraca give further details, which only make the subject more obscure ; they will be discussed in the notes as they occur.
2 I am inclined to think that the whole group dates from about the same period. The regnal years fall into two groups, one ranging from 2 to 9, the other from 22 to 37, with a single one of year 17 between them. Only one, D 41 (not published here because it is partly obliterated), bears a definite date, year 23 of Augustus. But another, D 82 below, bears the name of a man, Pikos the younger, son of Permamis, who is almost necessarily identified with a group of Greek ostraca which Mr. Milne attributes to the years 94 to 75 B.C. (Part III, no. 1 2 note). On palaeographical grounds I should be content to accept Mr. Milne's date also for my group, except perhaps for D 44, which looks to me Roman ; but I confess to having little confidence in my ability to put anything like an accurate date to these demotic hands on ostraca, and as I cannot distinguish D 41 with Us certain Augustan date from the rest of the group, I must leave the problem open.
3 This official signs four other ostraca in this group ranging between years 29 and 36. His name is the same as that of the i2th dynasty kings which used to be transliterated as Usertesen, and of which Sethe gave the correct reading and interpretation (Untersuchungen, ii ; A. Z. xli, p. 45), equating it with the Sesostris of the Greeks. For the demotic form, see Spiegelberg, Rec. trav. xxviii, p. 195. I have refrained from using the Greek form of the name as it does not occur as a proper name in Ptolemaic or Roman times.
46 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
OSTR. D i (PL IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. a.rh-w 'Pwlnys s Th5m
2. rtb sw 10 (?) -J- Zme q st 3 a st i| a st 3 cn
3. sh S-ws(r) s <Nh-Hcp n hsp 35 >bt-2 pr
4. sh Hr-s-'S s Hns-te-f-nht a q st 3
5. a st i| a st 3 cn n hsp 35
6. sh P-sr-Hr s P-sr-Hns a q st 3 a st if a st 3 <n
7. sh P-sr->Mn->py s Hr-Thwt st 3
8. a st if st 3 cn a h p nt hry
'There have been adjudged (?) (to) Apollonius, the son of Teham l
2 (in) Jeme high-land 3 aruras = ij aruras = 3 aruras again.
Written by Senwosre, son of Ankh-Hapi, year 35 Mechir.
(2nd hand) Written by Harsiesis, son of Khons-tef-nekht, for high-land 3 aruras = i| ar. = 3 ar. again in the year 35.
(3rd hand) Written by Psenuris, son of Psenkhonsis, for high-land 3 aruras = i-| ar. = 3 ar. again.
(4th hand) Written by Psenamenophis, son of Harthotes, 3 aruras = i-|ar. ( = ) 3 ar. again according to the above.'
1 The final letter of this name may perhaps be n instead of m ; if so, it could represent ®eW.
2 The words rtb sw 10 (?) J, ' ioj (?) artabas of wheat ', look as though they had been inserted later, probably after the ostracon was signed. It may represent a rent reserved on the land allotted, but if so, it is a very high one. Cf. D 44, note 2, p. 49 infra.
3 Cf. Spiegelberg, Pap. Elephantine, p. 15, note ii.
OSTR. D 25 (PI. IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. arh-w a P-hr s Ns-ne-w-hmn-'w Zme
2. q st i|-J-£ a st \\-h-h a st if * f6- sh S-ws(r) s <Nh-H<p
3. [hsp] 29 2-pr ss 4
4. [sh . . . -]Thwt hn< Pa-zme a st i|£rg- a st -J l^-h a st
ALLOTMENT OF LAND 47
5- [sh ]st iH£astH™ast l\lh cn a h p nt
sh hry
6. [sh . . . -]Thwtast if f J-astff^r^ast i|f^<n
'There have been adjudged (?) to Pkhoiris, son of Snakhomneus,1 (in) Jeme high-land i££ aruras = §£ ar.2 = ij£ ar. Written by Senwosre, son of Ankh-Hapi, [year] 29, Mechir 4.
(snd hand) [Written by .... -JThoout and Pasemis for iJJ aruras = f-J ar. = i JJ- ar. again.
(3rd hand) [Written by ] ift ar. = f Jar. = ij| ar. again as
is written above.
(4th hand) [Written by -]Thoout for i£| ar. = §J ar. = i J£ ar.
again/
1 This name, which is not uncommon in the Theban district, means ' devoted to Nakhomneus ', the latter being a surname of Amon. But what the surname means as an epithet of Amon it is difficult to say. Its literal meaning is ' They of ffmnw are coming ', i.e. the gods or spirits of Shmun, the eight elemental gods, children of Ra, who were associated with Thoth in his worship at Hermopolis (Brugsch, Diet. Geogr., p. 750). The form of the name is comparable with Thoteus, ' Thoth is coming ', and- several others.
* The two signs for the fractions ^ and -^ of an arura are sometimes ligatured when they follow one another, and this has caused them to be read as a single sign. Griffith (P.S.B.A. xiv, p. 410 table, and ibid, xxiii, p. 295, and Cat. Rylands Pap. iii, p. 414) reads the group as •£§ in order to make an equation when the fraction £ is divided into its component parts. In a similar context it occurs in Pap. Strassburg no. 7, line 3. But I believe the Egyptian was satisfied to equate the -J to as many smaller fractions as he knew, viz. J- J- ^ ^. When he wanted
to express ^, he adopted another system, see D 6, note 2. H, probably the first letter of P ^\ \>5 and not (as Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. p. 414) = J^ arura ; and ^ , abbreviated often to | (hierogl. <^> \>) = ^.
OSTR. D 6 (PI. IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. a.rh-w a P-hb s P-sr-Mnt n Zme q
2. tkm st ~ a st i| a st ^ cn sh Hry n hsp 7.1
3. sh Hry hn< Pa-Mnt a q st ^ a st i| a st ^ <n hsp ;.t
4. sh P-sr-Mnt hn< P-sr-Mnt a tkm st ^ n hsp ;.t
5. sh Hr-p-Rc a h p nt sh hry n hsp y.t
48 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
'There have been adjudged (?) to Phibis, son of Psenmonthes, in J£me high-land (under) oil-crop l arura ^ = (land-cubit) i£2= arura ^ again. Written by Erieus in year 7.
Written by Erieus and Pamonthes for high-land arura ^ = (land-cubit) i§ = arura ^ again, in year 7.
Written by Psenmonthes and Psenmonthes for oil-crop arura ^ in year 7.
Written by Harpres in conformity to that which is written above', in year 7.'
1 tkm, the final letter is written with a stroke so small as to be little more than a mere dot — and this occurs elsewhere as well as here — so as to raise a question whether the reading should not be tk — tgy of Rosetta, 1. 9, where yh-w tgy = 7ra/oa8«o-oi, ' orchards '. But since, so far as I know, tgy does not occur alone without^ and as in one of this group (D 26) the word is undoubtedly igm, I have preferred to take it so here. The ?£7/z-plant produced an oil which was exten- sively used by the Egyptians. Loret (Flore Pharaonique, ed. 2, p. 49) identifies it with Ricinus communis, mainly on the authority of Revillout ; but the identi- fication is not free from doubt.
2 Apparently there was no symbol for •£% arura. We know the hieroglyphic words for the fractions of the arura down to and including -£%> hut none is known for •£$ (cf. Griffith, P.S.B.A. xiv, table, p. 410). So it is expressed in mh ytn 'land-cubits' (the mh ytn being one-hundredth of an arura) as i^ 'land-cubits' ; strictly speaking ^ arura = 1-5625 land-cubits.
Ostr. D 44 (PI. IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. a.rh-w a Z-hr s Py-k
2. n Zme st(?) q st 7! ||
3. a st 3|J §• a st 7! f cn sh Pa-Mnt n hsp 1 7
4. sw 33! bt (?) 2-J- a sw i
5. tkm i\\
'There have been adjudged (?) to Teos, son of Pikos, in Jeme aruras (?) (of) high-land 7| aruras = 3! ar. = 7f 1 ar. again. Written by Pamonthes in year 17. Wheat 33^ (artabas) 2, spelt (?) 3 2| (artabas) to wheat i (artaba). Croton-oil i| (artabas)4.'
1 These figures do not correspond, though the reading is quite certain. Either the first must be corrected to 7| by omitting the final fraction ; or if 7-^ be accepted, then 3! should be 3jf , and yj becomes 7|.
ALLOTMENT OF LAND 49
3 If this be the entire rent, it is doubtless a round figure. If the land was 7 J ar. in extent, it means 4^ art. wheat per arura, which would work out exactly at 33re artabas rent. If the land was 7| aruras, it means 4^ artabas per arura, working out exactly at 33§f . In either case the result is not far removed from the average rent of crown-land at Tebtunis somewhat earlier than this (Pap. Ted/, i, p. 564).
J The reading is very uncertain. Cf. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap.) p. 412, for the same group, who reads it £/(?) or h (?). The ratio would be about that for oXvpa, cf. Pap. Tebt.t p. 560, value of wheat to olyra = 5:2, or as the ratio is put on the ostracon, spelt 2^ art. = wheat i art.*
4 Presumably this is the ratio of croton-oil to wheat.
OSTR. D 2 (PI. IV). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. hsp 4.1 a.rh-w a P-sr-Mn s P-si°S ne-f yh
2. Ptlwmys s 5Mnys hn
3. st 9| § sw 4| st \ 2.t st 2| k.t (?) hn st 25
4. sw 3f . . . . i.t 2| a st 5 a st 2| a st 5 cn sh P-sr-Mn
5. s<O-pht
6. sh ^Y-m-htp s Hry st 5 a st 2| a st 5 cn n hsp 4.1
7. sh Gphln s Hr-p-bk st 5 a st 2\ a st 5 cn n hsp 4.t
8. TTToXe/xaios cre(cn7/xatwju,ai) (erous) S7
'There have been adjudged (?) to Psenminis, son of Psenesis, (as?) his lands l from (?) Ptolemy,2 son of Ammonius, among 9§ aruras (at ?)
4| (artabas of) wheat,3 J arura (at ?) 2 ,4 2 \ aruras ; 5 another,
among 25 aruras (at ?) 3! (artabas of) wheat, i , 2j (aruras), making
5 aruras = i\ aruras = 5 aruras again. Written by Psenminis, son of Apathes.
(2nd hand) Written by Imuthes, son of Erieus, 5 aruras = 2j aruras = 5 aruras again, in year 4.
(3rd hand) Written by Kephalon, son of Harpbekis, 5 aruras = i\ aruras = 5 arufas again, in year 4.
(Greek) I, Ptolemy, have signed, year 4.'
* In P.S.J3.A. 31/50 Dr. Griffith rejects the reading btiti (oXvpa) but agrees that it represents some grain or other. Spiegelberg (Rec. trav. 28/187 ; Cairo Cat. Demot. Pap. p. 2) treats it as a measure =
H
50 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
1 Elsewhere n ne-fyh (D 68) 'for his lands' or 'as his lands '.
2 In two other instances (ostraca in private possession unpublished) a name is inserted here — in one case preceded by n — but what its relation is to the preceding name is by no means clear. Perhaps the land assigned to Psenminis had belonged to Ptolemy. In any case, the latter is presumably the man who signs in Greek at the foot. In neither of the instances quoted does the corresponding individual sign the ostracon.
3 Probably the annual rental per arura of the ground out of which an allotment is being made.
4 This group, which I cannot read, occurs also in D 68 and D 82 in the same connexion as here. It is a feminine substantive and is always followed by a number which ranges between i and 3 and admits of fractions (ordinary fractions, not those of the arura). I suspect that it is the name of some crop other than the wheat which always precedes it. Sometimes it is written so as to be indis- tinguishable from the word sJ ' seat ' (without its determinative), but usually it is a little more 'curly ' in its upper part. It is not impossible that it reads rnp ' year'
5 This is the amount actually allotted ; but in all the examples I know of this group of ostraca, there is never any relation between the number so allotted and the larger number ' among ' or ' from ' which it is taken, nor any relation to the other numbers involved. Here we have two plots of 2-| aruras allotted, making a total of five.
OSTR. D 82 (PI. IX). ALLOTMENT (?) OF LAND.
1. hsp 23 a.rh-w a Py-k p hm s P-rm-mm (?) hn st 3
2. n sw 6f . . . . i.t (?) | st i hn st 10 n sw 6 . . . . i.t (?) | (?) -J- st i
3. hn st 1 5 n sw 3 . . . . 3.t st i * a st 3- a st i \ -J a st 3* cn
4. sh >Skl> Gphln
5. sh Hrmys s Phyln st 3^ a st i\\
6. a st 3f cn n hsp 23
' Year 23, there have been adjudged (?) to Pikos the younger, the son
of Permamis,1 among 3 aruras of 6J (artabas of) wheat ij,
i arura; among 10 aruras of 6 (artabas of) wheat ..... i-|J(?),
i arura ; among2 15 aruras of 3 (artabas of) wheat 3, ij arura,
making 3^ aruras = ij aruras = 3^ aruras again. Written by Asklas, son of Kephalon.
(2nd hand) Written by Hermias, son of Philon, 3^ aruras = if aruras = 3j aruras again in year 23.'
ALLOTMENT OF LAND 51
1 This is a not infrequent name on Theban ostraca in its Greek form wep/xa/xig, fern. T€p/x,a/u,ts : but hitherto it has only occurred twice in demotic publications, on an ostracon in the Louvre, no. 8112 (ap. Chardon, Diet. De'motique, p. 1 1 3), and on the verso of the Pap. Brit. Mus. 1201 (Rec. irav. xxxi, pL v, 1. 16). I do not think there can be serious doubt as to the reading. The hieroglyphic
transcription is A$£ <5cv * > W I 4w> | JjWi | W* , perhaps ' the man of
the </2?/K-palm '. For Trep/x,- =p rm cf. Spiegelberg, A. Z. xliii, pp. 89, 158. The same name TTIKWS i/ewre/oos Trepjua/uos occurs on six Greek ostraca (see Part III, no. 1 2 note), and this Pikos being the only one distinguished by the epithet ' the younger ', it is natural to conclude that the same person is named on the Greek and demotic ostraca.
2 The stroke which looks like nt before hn is continuous with the top stroke of sh in 1. 4, and I believe it is merely a flourish belonging to it, especially as it was written over, and therefore after, the horizontal stroke of hn. In line 3 the number 15 is certain.
OSTR. D 31 (PI. III). TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES.
1. [P-sr ?]-Mnt s P-a.te-Hns-p-hrt p nt z n yt-ntr Yr.t-Hr-ar-w
s sp-sn
n »bt-4 pr ss 28 a »bt-i sm ss 27
2. [shn-y] n-k pe 5bt n h.t-ntr n s tp nte-k 5r ne-f sms-w
3. '[ne~]f crs-w ne-f hc-w e.bnp-k t cs-w m-s-y n mt
4. n p t e.nte-k s p fy p hnq hn nh 5- 3 sw | hn t wpre.t e-w ivm nt nb
6. nk nb nt a hp n p 'bt rn-f e-w wm
7. p ky n p tre 5bt-4 pr ss 15
8. sh n hsp 12 (?) n Kcmyts (.w.s.
9. pr-co nt hwe
' Psen(?)-monthes, son of Petekhespokhrates, saith to the divine father1 Inaros,2 son of Inaros, [I have leased]3 to thee my temple-month4 in the first phyle *of Pharmuthi day 28 to Pachons day 27* that you may do its services,5 its celebrations (and) its feasts without your making any claim for them against me in any respect whatsoever, since to you belong the solid offerings (?) 6, the beer,7 three kin of oil (and) one-sixth (artaba of) wheat in the .... when they8 eat, (and) everything whatsoever that
52 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
shall accrue during the month aforesaid when they eat the .... of the ... .9 of Pharmuthi day 15.
Written in year 12 (?) of Commodus. the King who is august.*10
1 A general title of honour given to any priest who held no special rank.
cq £^ j^o | Cf. Canop. 3, where j * — /^8 I = ot aXXot Upcts = dem. n ky-w w*b-w.
2 Spiegelberg, Rec. tr. xxviii. 197.
3 Restored from D 175 below, and from a very similar demotic ostracon at Brussels (E 353) of the fourteenth year of Tiberius. The verb shn is used of a temporary assignment (lease or pledge) of land in Pap. Sirassb. no. 9, 1. 7 ; Pap. Reinach, no. 5,!. 30; and Ostraca Louvre, nos. 9081, 9052 (Revillout, Melanges, pp. 175-6) ; or of chattels, Pap. Reinach, no. 4, 1. 9 (cows). The same temporary quality of transfer applies in these instances of priestly offices.
4 This with similar expressions in other ostraca here proves that the term of service of each phyle was one month, which was not so clearly stated before (Otto, Priester u. Tenipel, i. 24-5). The words between asterisks are written above the line in the original.
5 For the meanings and Greek equivalents of these words see Griffith, Cat, Rylands Pap. iii, p. 319.
6 fy is that which is brought, any offering. It seems likely, however, that the temple offerings were largely a matter of contract, or at any rate not wholly voluntary ; and when they were in the shape of food they became the perquisites of the priests. Perhaps \hzfy were largely bread (cf. Brugsch, Wtb. p. 536).
7 In view of the frequent occurrence of hnq in later demotic = gnKe : ge.u.Ki(ii) ' beer ', and its spelling, both here and elsewhere, with ^, I have not ventured to depart from that translation, though I have a suspicion that it rather represents the old word hnk 'liquid-offering* here, which in the temples meant wine and milk rather than beer.
8 i. e. the priests.
9 Cf. D 122, 1. 8. The reading is certainly tre> but I cannot give any inter- pretation. It is not possible to read pre ' dream *.
10 Cf. D 28, note 3, p. 31, supra. [In connexion with this group of ostraca, see one just published by Prof. Spiegelberg, A. Z. xlix. 37, and his valuable notes.]
OSTR. D 122 (PI. III). TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES.
1. [P-sr-Mnt (?) s P-a.te-] Hns-p-hrt p nt z n yt-ntr ....
2. [ s . . . . shn-y]n-k pe 5bt n h.t-ntr n s 3-11 sty
3. Jbt-i 5h ss 14 nte-k 5r ne-f sms-w
4. ]-w e.bnp-k t cs-w m-s-y n mt n p t
5. [e.nte-k s p] fy p hnqe p kft (?) glm
TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES 53
6. ] pe (?) >bt nte-y t.t-w h.t-y
7- ] hp nte-y t n-k ty (?)
]pe-k (?) 5bt n s 4-11 hnc p qy (?) n p tre
9- bnC nt a hp n-k e-w p fy
10 ]nte-k t n-y p sp . .
11. pe >bt >bt-4 sm . . . .
12. sh
13. nt hwe
' [Psenmonthes (?), son of Petejkhespokhrates, saith to the divine father [X, son of Y, I have leased] to thee my month of the temple in the third phyle (and its) dues1 [of Mesore day 15 to] Thoth day 14 that thou mayest do its services, [its celebrations, its feast]s (?) without your making any claim for them against me in any respect whatsoever [since to you belong the] solid offerings (?), the beer, the .... 2 wreaths [which shall accrue during] my month and I will take them myself
happen and I will give thee [in exchange for (?)] thy
month in the fourth phyle 3 together with the 4 and the
which shall accrue to thee, they being (?) the solid offerings (?) [and the
beer (?)] and thou shalt give me the remainder my month of
Mesore Written Augustus.'
1 sty, see. Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. Hi. 319.
2 The reading seems to be kft or possibly kfn, in either case an unknown word. If it could be read kf, it might be K^q : x*^ ' branches ', especially of palm-trees, but as against this the determinative looks like a vessel.
3 This must mean an exchange of duties between the two priests for their respective months.
1 Cf.D3i, 1. 7.
OSTR. D 175 (PL III). TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES.
1. yt-ntr Hr . . . s 5Mn (?)-htp p nt Z n (?)
2. Ns-pe-w-t s Bs shn-k n-y pe-k
3. 5bt n Qsm n 5bt-4 pr
4. ss 9 a 5bt-i sm ss 9 n Bs s (?) Ns-pe-w-t pe-k sr
54 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
5. n te-y 5r ne-f sms ne-f crs-w e.bnp-y
6. t cs-k m-s-y n mt p t (?) nte-K
7. t n-y (?) p (?) -sw (?) . . hn nh (?) 2 (?) ± (?) 8 >bt-4 (?) pr ss 9
' The divine father Hor . . . ., son of Amenothes (?), saith to Spotous, son of Besis, thou hast leased to me thy month of Qesm * of Pharmuthi day 9 till Pachons day 9 belonging (?) to 2 Besis, son of (?) Spotous thy son ; and I will do its services (and) its celebrations without causing thee to make any claim upon me for anything on earth, and thou shalt give3 me (?) the . . (artabas) of wheat (and) 2T^ (?) hin of oil (?).... Phar- muthi (?) day 9.'
1 Written A \2=$ I f\ 1/L T ' ® » probably the name of the temple of some
\ I -£r^ vL/\ I I I
goddess. This can hardly be the same as the gsm* of D 22.
2 It is not clear how the ' month ' could belong both to Spotous and to his son.
3 From here to the end the text is a palimpsest and very difficult to decipher.
OSTR. D 221 (PI. X). TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES.
1 . y t-ntr
2. p nt z n yt ntr Hf-Hns s . . . shn[-y]
3. n-k pe ">bt n h.t-ntr n s 3-11
4. n ">bt-4 sm mte-k ?r ne-f sms-w ne-f cr
5. sw e-bn (?)-k t cs m-s-y n mt p t
6. mte-k t p f y p hnq
7. hn n nh 2 ef sw (?)
8. n t mte.t yt-ntr p >bt . . . . sh
9. n hsp n.t n n pr-co-w nt hwe 10. 5bt-4 sm ss i
' The divine father . . . ., son of . . . ., saith to the divine father Khapokhonsis, I have leased to thee my temple-month of the third phyle for Mesore so that thou mayest do its services (and) its cele- brations ; thou shalt not cause any claim to be made against me in
TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES 55
regard of anything on earth, and thou shalt take the solid offerings (?) (and) the beer, two kin of oil, meat (and) corn (?) as the due (?) l of a divine father (for) the temple- month aforesaid (?). Written in year 1 1 of the august kings,2 Mesore day T .'
1 This may be only an unusual way of writing mt = JU.HT-, 'the beer, &c., of the office of a divine father/
2 The only joint emperors to whom such a date can apply are Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The eleventh year of their joint reign would be A. n. 208-9.
OSTR. D 235 (PL X). TRANSFER OF TEMPLE SERVICES.
1. [A s B pnt z n CsD]
2. [shn-k] n-y (?) ne-k >bt-w n thb (?) n (?) h-t-ntr n
3. [n ?] rpy-w [n] h.t[-w-ntr] .... Zme(?) >Py pr-Mnt nb To-tn(?)
4. [n hsp . .] Wspsyns Sbsts (?) 'bt-i pr ss 4 s< p mnq n rnp(?).:
5. ... 3.1 n Wspsyns 5bt-i pr cn nte-y 5r ne-w sms-w ne-w crs-w
6. e.bnp-y t <s-w m-s-k n mt nb (?) p t e.'nk s nt nb nk nb nt e-w a hp n n ^bt-w
7 nt sh hry hp nte . . . -k n . . >bt-w nt (?) hry (?)
8 t cs-y m-s-k n mt n p t e.bn-y rh
9 nte-k 5r syh
10 n n skr erme-k hr n ^bt-w
n skr hr-w sh n
12
'[A, son of B, saith to C, son of D, thou hast leased] to me (?) thy months l of temple-duties 2 of the shrines and temples in (?) Jeme (?),3 Ophi, (and) the temple of Montu in To-tun (?) for the [second ?] year of Vespasian Augustus (?), Tybi day 4, until the completion of the year (?), [being year] 3 of Vespasian, month of Thoth again ; 4 and I will perform their services (and) their celebrations, without my making claim for them against thee in any respect whatsoever, since to me 5 belongs everything which shall accrue in the months above mentioned. If [anything
56 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
shall come to thee in ?] the months above mentioned [or any one should ?] cause me to make a claim on thee for anything whatsoever, I shall not be able [to claim it of thee ?], and thou shalt keep possession [thereof and I shall not have any question] with thee as to the rent (?) 6 of the months [aforesaid] the rent (?) on account of them. Written .....'
1 The only instance I know of a lease for more than a month's service.
2 The reading is uncertain ; but if it be thb, it is doubtless the same word that we have in the Canopus decree n gy n thb (Tanis, 1. 31 = El hisn, 1. 9) = al ayi/eicu, i. e. the payment of the priests for their religious services (Otto, Priester u. Tempel, ii. 32). For another instance of the same word see Spiegelberg, Cairo Cat. Demotic Papyri, no. 3061 1, 1. 10. In the Canopus decree it means the payment for services, here it is the services themselves, called after one of the principal duties, viz. that of ' sprinkling ' the statues of the gods (Moret, Rituel du culte divin, p. 171 sq.).
8 J£me was the Memnoneia on the west bank, Ophi was Kamak on the east bank, and To-tun was the site of a temple of Montu somewhere close to Thebes (cf. Spiegelberg, Cairo Cat. u. s. p. 258, n. 4).
4 i.e. for the eight months from Dec. 30, A.D. 69, to Aug. 29, A.D. 70,
8 The scribe began writing mte-k and altered it >nk.
6 This word is found in the decrees of Canopus and Rosetta as = Tr/ooo-oSot ' the revenues of the state ', especially those derived from sources other than the taxes — chiefly rents ; and this is the meaning also of ujK&p in Coptic (Crum, Copt. MSS. Fayyum, p. 79; Id., Coptic Ostraca, Ad. 15, p. 23; Krai], C.P.R. Kopt. Texte, pp. 72, 107).
OSTR. D 197 (PL V). LIST OF PHYLAE.
1. n s wcb 12
2. n s tp wcb 12
3. n s 2-n w<b 1 2
4. n s 3-11 wcb 1 1
5. n s 4-11 wcb 12
6. n s 5-11 wcb 10
' To each (?) phyle, 1 2 priests.1 To the first phyle, 12 priests. To the 2nd phyle, 12 priests. To the 3rd phyle, 1 1 priests. To the 4th phyle, 1 2 priests. To the 5th phyle, 10 priests.'
LIST OF PHYLAE 57
1 I cannot read the critical word in this line. I suppose it is a statement of the normal number in each phyle and we should expect n s nb in w<b 12. The fifth phyle was instituted by the decree of Canopus, 238 B.C.; but the writing here seems to me to be Roman. The inscription is apparently complete.
OSTR. D 88 (PL VI). OATH.
Recto i. h p cnh nte P-hb s Hr . . .
2. a 5r-f pr Hns nb ch hsp io(?) 5bt-i sm (?) ss 19
3. n Hns-Thwt s P-a.te-'y-m-htp (?) z cnh
4. Hns nb ch nt htp ty erme ntr nb
5. nt htp erme-f p hw sp te-k
6. t.t -J- a.'r-y a (?) <pr (?) bp-s ....
7. hn-y (?) e.'r-k t pr.t sh.t Verso 8. nte-w wy ar-f
9. e-f 5r p cnh nte Hns-Thwt
10. 1 1 pr.t sh.t e-f st
11. a tm >r-f nte P-hb t
12. sw rtb 2|
13. te-w(?) p cnh a rt
14. Pa-Mnt
' Copy of the oath which Phibis, son of Hor . . ., shall l make (in) the temple of Khons, lord of time,2 in year io(?), Pachons (?) day 19, to Khesthotes, son of Petimuthes (?), saying, " As liveth Khons, lord of time, who dwelleth here, and every god who dwelleth with him,3 (since) the day I received 4 your quarter share for storage (?) 5 it has not . . .
If you give seed corn, let no claim be made upon him. If he make the oath, let Khesthotes give the seed corn ; if he fail to make it, let Phibis give 2j artabas of wheat/'
hand) The oath was given to Pamonthes.' 6
1 The future tense seems undoubted, though we should rather expect the oath to be made verbally first and then recorded as having been taken. The demotic is exactly the Sah. n&n&>u| eTepe$i&ic e&a,q. Cf. Spiegelberg, Demot. Pap. Strassburg, p. 34, 'Eid welchen A. leisten wird/ quoting Wilcken, Gr. Ostr.
I
58 II. DEMOTIC TEXTS
no. 1150, O/OKOS ov Set o/x,o<rai'HpaKAei&7v; and another Greek example has recently been published in A. Z. xlviii, p. 168.
2 As the moon-god Khons was 'lord of time'. Lanzone, Mil. pi. 343, 2. His temple at Thebes seems to have been known as the Xeo-e/fooyov (A. Z. xlviii, p. 173), and Wilcken raises the question whether this can involve the above title ffns nb fh (or nb ha, as Revillout transliterated it): Though I know no parallel for the elision of the n of nb, I think Wilcken's suggestion must be correct. The Coptic form of *h is *ge : ^gi, which would be quite right for -0,07-. The n. pr. irerexfvo-e^aL^ is also known (Wilcken, Gr. Ostr. ii, p. 480).
3 = (rvwaoi Oeot.
4 lit. * the day of receiving thy J share which I did '.
5 epr, a word unknown to me in demotic elsewhere ; it is perhaps the hieroglyphic
D A, but the meaning here is very doubtful.
d'__ :^ Inn
6 I suppose Pamonthes was the temple official before whom the oath was taken.
a rt =
OSTR. D 32 (PI. VI). OATH.
1. h p cnh nte 5r Pa-zme s P-si°Np
2. [n X. s] Py-k mbh Mnt hsp 2.t(?)
3. ?bt-4 (?) >h ss 23 (?) z <nh Mnt nt htp ty
4. [erme] ntr nb nt htp ty erme-f ty sttr.t 8.t
5. [a.]5n-w n-t.t-y my ?p n-t.t-k e-f 5r p cnh (?)
6. nte-f wy n-f e-f mh t sttr.t 8.t nt hry
7. e-f st a tm 5r-f nte-f 5y e.5r-hr p rt
8. [nte-f] t <h (?) p <nh
1 Copy of the oath which Pasemis, son of Psenenupis, shall make [to X, son of] Pikos, before Montu in the year a (?), Khoiak (?) day 23 (P),1 saying, "As liveth Montu who dwelleth here [and] every god who dwelleth here with him, these 8 staters [which] were paid to me, let them be reckoned to thee." If he (i. e. Pasemis) makes the oath, let him make no claim on him (i. e. X), he paying the 8 staters aforesaid. If he fails to keep it, let him go before the Steward,2 [and let him] confirm (?) the oath.'
1 The month is either Athyr or Khoiak and the day is one of the twenties. 9 The steward of the priests of the temple of Montu, the usual representative of the priests in business matters. In Wilcken, Gr. Ostr. no. 1150, an oath of
OATH 59
134 B.C. before Khonsu of Thebes, we have the phrase d Se w Zpxeo-Ocn eul TOV fTTLa-TaTYjv, i.e. no doubt the cTrio-rar^s TOV Icpov. This officer is named in the Canopus decree (Kom-el-hisn, Greek, 1. 62), and is equivalent to the demotic (1. 20) p rm nt In, who is found making oaths (not receiving them as here) on behalf of the priests in Spiegelberg, Pap. Elephantine, no. 5.
OSTR. D 104 (PL VI). OATH.
1. h p cnh nte Py-k s Hns-Thwt a 5r-f
2. n hfth n Zme a 5r-f n hfth n Zme
3. n hsp 2O.t 5bt-3 sm ss 1 1 n Ne-w-hwe ta 4-Mn
4. cnh 5Mn na-hmn-'w nt htp ty erme ntr nb
5. nt htp ty n t n p se a.'r Twt s sp-sn pe-t
6. hy a bl ty bnp-y prq tkm
7. hn pe-t tkm bnp-y nw a ge e-f prq
8. bnp 5h.t nte-y wm-f sh n hsp 2i.t
1 Copy of the oath l which Pikos, son of Khesthotes, shall make in the dromos of Jeme 2 shall make in the dromos of Jeme (sic) in the year 2O,3 Epiphi day n to Neuhoue (i/e^otm?), the daughter of Phthouminis 4 : " As liveth Amon Nakhomneus,5 who dwelleth here together with every god who dwelleth here, since the departure which Totoes, the son of Totoes,6 thy husband, made from here, I have not rooted up (any) castor-oil plant among thy castor-oil (crop) ; I have not seen any one else rooting (it) up; no cow belonging to me has eaten it." Written in the year 31 '
1 There is another copy of this same oath in this collection, D 180, but made by another individual. It is in the same handwriting. In 1. i after <nh we have nt e.'r My-hs s P-a.te . . . ., then a fracture till n hfth n Zme n hsp . . . ; thereafter the text begins in 1. 3 at »<5/-3 sm ; the name ±-Mn is broken away. In 1. 4 the words nte-t z (which must be a blunder for nte-f z) are inserted before *nh. In 1. 5 erme-f is inserted after ty, while s sp-sn is omitted, and thenceforward the text is the same except that after 2o./ the rest of the date J£/-4 hi ss n is added; this may be lost by fracture in D 104. The translation of D 180 is as follows:
' [^°Py °f tne] oatn which Miusis, son of Pete , [shall make in the] dromos
of Jeme in year [21 ?], Epiphi day n, to Neuhoue, daughter of [Phthouminis], and he (?) shall say : As liveth Amon Nakhomneus who dwelleth here and every god who dwelleth here with him, since the departure which Totoes, thy husband, made
I 2
6o //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
from here, I have not rooted up (any) castor-oil plant among thy castor-oil (crop) ; I have not seen any one else rooting (it) up ; no cow belonging to me has eaten it. Written in the year 21, Epiphi day n (altered from day 2).'
2 Presumably the dromos of a temple of Amon — since the oath is taken before him — in Jeme, i. e. on the west bank of the river at Thebes ; possibly the great temple of Deir-el-bahri, which was dedicated to him, though his title of Nakhomneus occurs nowhere on the inscriptions there.
3 ' 20 ' must be a mistake for ' 21 ', as that is the date clearly written onD 180, as well as at the foot of the present ostracon.
4 This name means 'the four Mins', Min being one of the gods having a manifold form ; there are also references to four or more Montus and a corre- sponding name <£0ov/xw0?7s.
5 Cf. note i to D 25, p. 47, supra.
6 lit. ' Totoes, son of ditto ', a frequent method of abbreviation.
OSTR. D 179 (PI. XI). OATH.
1. h p <nh nte a.'r Hr-wz
2. s P-sr-Mnt a >r-f hr (?) Zme n hsp 30
3. 5bt-3 sm ss 6 (?) [n] P-sr-Mnt s Ws-
4. Mc.t-Rc z cnh 5Mn ne-w-hmn-'w nt
5. htp ty erme ntr nb nt htp ty erme-f
6. bnp-y t (?) cz a.'r-k z p ?sy
7. nt e-y 'r-f hr (?) ny sw-w nt (?).ne-hr (?)
8. p srtyqws e-y t-s e-f
9. 5r p cnh nte-f wy ar-f e-f st 10. a tm 5r-f nte-f t sw | ^ -^ n. sh(?)
1 Copy of the oath which Haruothes, son of Psenmonthes, shall make l in (?) Jeme in year 30, Epiphi day 6 (?), [to] Psenmonthes, son of Osimarres,2 saying, " As liveth Amon Nakhomneus who dwelleth here and every god who dwelleth here with him : I have not lied to thee (?),3 for the damage which I have done to this wheat,4 which is before (?) the strategus, I will pay (for) it." If he (i. e. Haruothes) makes the oath, let him (Psenmonthes) make no claim on him ; if he fail to keep it, let him give ^ (artaba) wheat. Signed (?).' 5
OATH 6-i
1 a.'r is written, but as it is followed by a *r-ft it can only be the same as 'r epe.
2 Cf. A. Z. xlii, p. 46 and pi. IV.
3 Cf. Pap. fnstnger, xxvii. 12.
4 lit. * these wheats ' in the plural. Cf. D 1 1 1 pass, and Coptic Texts no. 30, note 4, Pt. IV, p. 200, infra.
5 No name was ever written after sh, if it be sh.
OSTR. D 9 (PI. VII). LETTER.
1. >Y-m-htp s Ns-Pth n Mn-'S (?) te sr.t
2. e.'r-t gm 5nqer e.ne-cn-f my te-w
3. mz' 2.t n-y nte.t 1 5n-w-s n-y a.5r-t gm
4. kwk cn my te-w . . 2.t (?) ne-a.'r-t gm n p cy
5. n t sr.t n Hr s Ns-Hns-p-Rc (?) m-s (?) hp tPr-y rh
6. zhe a.wn ty hr-y t-w ne-5r hp n-y a Rc-qty
7. n wc hbl nte-y . .
8. te-y gm 5nqer ty n qb (?)
9. my mze |
1 Imuthes, son of Nesptah, to my daughter Menese (?). If thou findest (any) excellent anker? let two matia be given to me, and do thou have it sent to me. If thou findest dilm-palm dates also, let two (matia) of those which (?) thou findest be given to the daughter of Hor, son of Nesikhons- pre (?) ...... I cannot touch anything (?) here.2 I have taken those
which I have to Rhacotis (Alexandria) in a parcel (?) 3 of mine (?).
I find (some) anker here ..... Send a quarter of a mation!
1 This is probably a foreign word, being spelt out. It has the determinative of a plant, and as the pdnov was a dry measure for small things such as seeds, spices, salt, &c., it probably means some species of seed or nut. e.ne^n-f— Copt.
2 The translation of this sentence is very doubtful.
3 A word unknown to me elsewhere.
62 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
OSTR. D 14 (PL VII). LETTER.
1. T-Sr.t-Bhy ta T-sr.t (?)-n-Hns sme a ....
2. s P-4-Mnt ty mbh >Mn p ntr co nte-f a t [nw-y]
3. a hr-k hn cs-shn (ne-)nfr nb h.t n mt nb p [t]
4. mn ze.t nm-y a hn a p-hw (?) te-y . . .
5. te-y tbh nm-k nte-k t ^n-w (?)....
6. a rs atbe hp te-y mqh (?)...
7. P-sr-Hns s Z-hr (?) nte-k t . . .
8. ty n p <ys sn (?) a m< (?)...
9. sh n hsp 1 2.t n Twmty[n] . . .
' Senbukhis,1 the daughter of Senkhonsis (?), greets .... the son of
Phthoumonthes 2 here before Amon the great god, who shall 3 cause [me to see] thy face in all prosperity (?) 4 before everything [on earth]. There is nothing to reproach me with 5 up to to-day (?). I .... I pray thee to
let them send .... southwards on account of what has happened (?).
I am in trouble (?) 6 [with regard to ?] Psenkhonsis, son of Teos (?). Do thou give ...... here to the ^-priest (?) 7 ; inquire in [every ?] place (?)
..... Written in the 1 2th year of Domitian 8 . . . .'
1 For the god Bukhis, the name of the sacred bull of Hermonthis, and its form in demotic, see Spiegelberg, Rec. trav. xxiv. 30.
2 See D 104, note 4.
3 The future here no doubt implies an optative.
4 Or perhaps 'success'. The words *l-shn nfr — or shn-nfr, they seem to be used interchangeably — occur often as an element in the valedictory phrases of letters (cf. Spiegelberg, Cat. Demot. Pap. Cairo, p. 201, note) and especially in petitions to the gods.
lit. ' there is no fraud in me ' — a common formula. Cf. A. Z. xlii, pp. 57-8.
6 Copt. ju.K*2 (?).
7 The word ys has occurred so far only as a title or description of some members of a priestly college. Spiegelberg (u. s. nos. 30618, 30619) translates ' c$ — Priester '. The context does not allow of any certainty as to whether it is the same word here.
8 A. D. 92-3. The month and day have disappeared with the portion of the ostracon broken away.
LETTER 63
OSTR. Dm (PI. VII). LETTER.
(Recto) i. Ns-Mn sy Z-hr p nt z pe-f sme a (?) 5Y-m-htp
2. s P-a.te-'Mn-R^-nsw-t mbh 5Mn p-hw ss 5
3. te-y 5n-w n-k sw f erme wc.t ble zc t st (?)
4. Ta-wbst.t t rm.t Ns-p-wt sy Ns-Mn bnp Wn-nfr
5. 5y n-y n sf (?) erme (?) wc . . . z >w-f
6. a N cn wc . . . p-e.5r fy n sw-w a 5Py
7. e-y y<b m-ss e.^r Wn-nfr >y
8. n-y t p . . . a.5r-y n 'Py e-y t
9. n-f ke sw I a mh sw f hb n-y n rst-
10. -e n . . . e-f hp e.5n-w-s
1 1. n-k mte-k 1 5w Wn-nfr
12. n rste m-s p ke^
13. sw \ a mh p rtb sw i
14. hp bnp
(Verso) 15. T-sr.t-Mn ta P-a.te-^Mn-R^-nsw-t
1 6. wh p sw | a.hb-k a.tbe.t-f
1 7. my ^n-f p bre 2 a.5n-w n-k hr
1 8. n sw.w n p-hw e-f 5w a N n rste
19. t mt.t co.t hb n-y n rste n p wh
20. n n sw.w n p-hw z n-y 5n-w-s n-k
21. n nte 5r-k wh-s hb n-y n'm-s (?)
22. sh hsp 28 3-% ss 5
* Zminis, son of Teos, utters his greeting to Imuthes, son of Peta-
mestous l , before Amon to-day, the 5th (of the month). I am
sending them to you, | (artaba) wheat and a basket2 of chaff (?).3 Give them (?) to Taubastis, the wife of Nes-pwot, son of Zminis. Onnophris
did not come to me yesterday , because (?) he went back to the
City (Thebes) . . . . a . . . , who took the wheat to Ophi. I am very ill. When Onnophris comes to me from the in Ophi, I will give (?)
64 //. DEMOTIC TEXTS
him another | (art.) wheat to make up f (art.) wheat. Write to me to-morrow .... if it is brought to thee, and send Onnophris to-morrow for the other | (art.) wheat to complete the one artaba of wheat. If Senminis, the daughter of Petamestous, has not asked for the J (art.) wheat which thou hast written about, let him bring the two baskets, which were brought to thee with the wheat to-day, when he goes to the City to-morrow. The chief thing is (to) write to me to-morrow, in addition (?) to the wheat to-day, (to say) that it has been brought to thee, that which thou didst ask for. Write it to me. Written year 28, Athyr day 5.'
1 The Greek equivalent is not quite accurate. It represents P-aJe-^Mn-nsw-t, whereas here, and in 1. 15 also, Amon-Ra takes the place of the usual Amon.
2 This word is distinctly written with a feminine article here and with /, and yet it can hardly be different from the word bre with a masculine article in 1. 17. Copt. Aip is feminine.
3 jsc qy. -XH
OSTR. D 220 (PI. VIII). MEMORANDUM.
1 . z-yt (?) n-f n rn n
2. co hwt hnc p sym
3. a.'n-y etbe ht e.^r
4. Hgr
1 1 have spoken (P)1 to him in the matter of the male ass and the fodder which I bought from (?) 2 Akoris.' 3
1 I cannot explain the final /, if it be one ; it closely resembles in form the hn* of the following line, but that is impossible here. The phrase z-yt n-f is used as our word 'called' ('Simon called Peter'), see Griffith, Cat. Rylands Pap. iii, p. 407, and probably also P.S.B.A. xxiii, May, 1901, pi. II,/". i, which Dr. Griffith explains as a participle. Here it can hardly be other than the first person singular of the stm-f form.
2 Cf. Griffith, u.s. no. xv, A/2, B/3. Following t.9r is a sign resembling ht which I do not understand.
3 I think certain, but the first two letters are written over an earlier error perhaps Sgr.
ACCOUNTS 65
OSTR. D 1 68 (PI. IX). ACCOUNTS.
1. P-my 5bt-2 pr ss 25 i
2. p hw ms srtyqws i
3. 5bt-4 pr ss 1 8 2 ss 20 i
4. >bt-i sm ss 2 a p . . . . i a 6
5. Pa-5Mn 5bt>3 pr ss 10 i
6. p srtyqws i
7. >bt>3 pr ss 10 i
8 sm ss 3 2
9. a 5 ii
* Pmois, Mechir day 35 i l the birthday (of the) strategus i Pharmuthi day 18 2 day 30 i Pachons day 2 for the .... Pamounis, Phamenoth day 10 The strategus i Phamenoth day 10 i .... day 3 2 = 5 II-'2
1 It does not appear what the units are. **
2 This final summation for lack of space at the bottom is written in the margin between 11. 5 and 6.
INDEXES
(The numbers refer to the pages.)
i . GODS.
Amon, 32, 38, 62, 63. Amon Nakhomneus, 59, 60. Amonrasonther, 32, 33. The Crocodile (fern.), 35, 37. Khons, 57. Montu, 40, 41, 55, 58.
2. KINGS AND EMPERORS.
Cleopatra III and Ptol. Alexander I, 34. Augustus (' Caesar '), 27. Caligula ('Gaius'), 23, 26, 28. Vespasian, 55. Domitian, 31, 62. Commodus, 52. Septimius Severus, 55 n. Caracalla, 55 n.
3. GEOGRAPHY.
Bank of the Merchants' Houses, 23, 25,
26, 28. Canal of the Crocodile, 35, 37.
„ „ Horus-the-bull, 35 n.
„ „ the Scorpion, 35 n. Honekht, 34, 35.
Jeme,23, 26, 28, 31, 46, 47, 48, 55, 59, 60. Ne (the City) = Thebes, 29, 30, 63, 64. ' The Old Estate (?) ', village, 32, 38, 40. Ophi, 33, 55, 63. Pois, 32. Qesm (?), 54. Rhacotis, 61. Southern Island, 41. Temple of Amon, 38. „ „ Khons, 57.
Temple of Montu, 40, 41, 55. To-tun(P), 55. Tseget(P), 34.
4. PERSONAL NAMES.
Akoris, 64. Amenothes (?), 54. Ammonius, 25, 49. Ankh-Hapi, 44, 46, 47. Apathes, 44, 49. Apollonius, 46. Apynkhis, 36. Aristippus, 33. Asklas, 50. Asykhis, 43.
Besis, 54. Bienkhis, 34.
Erieus, 29, 30, 48, 49. Glen(Kleon?), 25.
Harmonthes, 32. Harpbekis, 49. Harpikos, 34. Harpres, 48. Harsiesis, 44, 46. Harthotes, 44, 46. Haruothes, 60. Herakleitos, 33. Hermias, 50. Horus, 33, 39.
Imuthes, 49, 61, 63. Inaros, 51.
INDEXES
67
Kallimachus, 25. Kephalon, 49, 50. Kephalos, 25. Khapokhonsis, 33, 36, 54. Khespokhrates, 40, 41. Khesthotes, 44, 57, 59. Khons-tef-nekht, 26, 28, 46.
Menese(F), 61. Menhes, 38. Menkere, 37. Menkhes, 40. Miusis, 37. Moui, 42.
Nekhthmonthes, 36.
Nes , 32.
Nesptah, 61. Nespwot, 63. Neuhoue, 59.
Onnophris, 33, 63, 64. Osimarres, 60.
Pa-by, 29, 30.
Paeris, 25.
Paminis, 23.
Pamonthes, 25, 31, 37, 38, 57.
Pamounis, 34, 65.
Panekhates, 34.
Pa-p-zoit, 37.
Pasemis, 29, 37, 47, 58.
Pempsais, 31.
Permamis, 50.
Pesuris, 37.
Petamestous, 38, 40, 41 , 63, 64.
Petamounis, 40.
Petekhespokhrates, 51, 53.
Petepsais, 44.
Petimuthes (?), 57.
Phagonis, 29.
Phibis, 34, 35> 44, 4$, 57-
Philon, 50.
Phthouminis, 59.
Phthoumonthes, 62.
Pikos, 26, 28, 36, 37, 42, 43, 48, 50,
Pkhelkhons, 32.
Pkhembekis, 34.
Pkhoiris, 47.
Pmois, 32, 65.
Pois(?), 34.
Psenamenophis, 37, 39, 46.
Psenamounis, 37.
Psenapathesj 30.
Psenenupis, 37, 42, 58.
Psenesis, 49.
Psenkhonsis, 46, 62.
Psenminis, 44, 49.
Psenmonthes, 2 3,34, 35, 39, 44, 48,5 1,60.
Psenuris, 46.
Ptolemy, 49.
Ptollis, 42.
Senamenothis (?), 35. Senbukhis, 62. Senkhonsis, 62. Senminis, 64. Senwosre, 44, 46, 47. Shenai, 38, 40, 41. Sheshonk, 34, 35, 39. Snakhomneus, 47. Spotous, 54.
Taubastis, 63.
Teham, 46.
Teos, 32, 33, 38, 40, 48, 62, 63.
Thotsutmis, 34.
Totoes, 38, 59.
Wem-p-mou, 36. Weser-he, 29, 30.
Zminis, 29, 30, 35, 38, 40, 41, 63.
5. DEMOTIC WORDS. (A selected list)
yp.t, 'oiphi', 31.
•6r (?).... ,33-
*btnh.t-ntr, 'temple-month , 51, 52, 54,
55-
>rp, ' wine(-tax) ', 33. 'r/>, 'keramion', 33.
68
INDEXES
S 'charge', 37.
ys, ' ^-priest (?)', 62.
«/*./, 'poll(-tax)', 23, 25, 26, 28.
yr . . . ., 57-
•rJr-o;, 'celebrations , 51, 54, 55.
y<b, v. 'to be sick', 63. , 'barley ',31.
, 'divine father', 51, 52, 53, 54.
---- , 30, 37 n. wp.tt 'work', 34. wpre.t . . . ., 51.
o$(?), 'estate, farm(?)', 31, 38, 40. w/, 'pay', 25. wth, 'refined (silver)', 23, 25, 28.
£&, 'basket', 63. , 'spelt', 48.
-$/, 'treasury', 29, 30.
fy, 'bread-rations, solid offerings (?)', 40, 41, 51, 52, 53, 54.
m>, ' canal ',34.
mrpr-st.t(j)> ' chief baker ', 38.
mr sn, ' chief priest ', ' lesonis ',39.
mrwt, 'corn-land', 33.
mh, 'pay', 34.
ms, 'interest', 36.
mz>, lmation', 61.
nbe, ' dyke(-tax) ', 26, 28.
r, 'thesaurus, granary', 31. rm-w, ' men (of X.) ', 25. rh ' adjudge (?)', 44, 46-50. rt, ' produce ',33. rt, 'bailiff', 38.
hwe, 'surplus', 34, 35, 37. hnq, <beer(?)', 51, 52, 54.
ft, 'festival', 39,41-
hwe, 'Augustus', 31, 51, 53, 54.
hbl, ' parcel (?)', 61. hfth, ' dromos ',59.
-r, 'phyle', 38, 40, 41, 51, 52, 54, 56
s.t-ywn, ' bath(-tax) ', 26, 28.
swt, 'deliver', 32.
sp-w, ' arrears ',29.
shn, v. 'to lease', 53, 54.
shn, sb. Mease', 31.
shn, 'collector', 38, 40, 41.
sh wy, ' deed of cession', 31, 33.
shn, 'bank', 23, 25, 26, 28.
sbte, 'merchant', 23, 25, 26, 28.
sm, 'rent', 33, 34.
sme.t, ' stock-farm (?) ',38.
sms-w, 'services', 51, 52, 54, 55:
skr, 'rent', 55.
sty, 'temple-dues', 52.
qws, ' xovs-measure ', 32, 37, 39.
qnb.t, 'council', 31.
^/(?), 'copper kite, obol', 28n.
kynptre, 51, 53.
kwk, '^w-palm dates', 61.
gwt, 'a temple official', 40, 41.
kft
. . ., 52. km, ' garden ', 33. gsm* ---- , 37.
tax'(?), 36. /}-z#, ' apomoira ', 23, 26, 28. thb (?), ' sprinkling ', 56 n. tkm, 'oil', 34, 35, 47, 48, 59.
0e, 'chaff', 63.
6. FOREIGN WORDS.
<nqer, a plant (?), 61. nsytykwn, ^vTt/cdv(?), 31. srtyqws, crrpaT^yos, 37, 60, 65.
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III GREEK TEXTS
A. PTOLEMAIC
I. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN MONEY. Nos. 1-9. II. RECEIPTS^ FOR TAXES PAID IN KIND. Nos. 10-27. III. MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS. Nos. 28-31.
B. ROMAN
I. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN MONEY. Nos. 32-101, II. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN KIND. Nos. 102-125.
III. RECEIPTS FOR PERSONAL SERVICE. Nos. 126-130.
IV. MISCELLANEOUS. Nos. 131-146.
INTRODUCTION
THE total number of Greek ostraca included in this collection is about 1500. A large proportion of these, however, are fragmentary or partly illegible, and only about 500 appeared to be worth copying. Even of these many are of little interest, especially those belonging to the common class of receipts for corn : and I have therefore selected for publication only such as seemed to give some fact to be added to the evidence accumulating with regard to the economy of Graeco-Roman Egypt.
Any large collection of Greek ostraca must now be treated in the main as supplementary to Wilcken's great publication: and its chiet value is likely to be found in the additional light which it may give upon the taxation of Egypt. For this purpose I have grouped the texts according to the taxes to which they refer, and prefixed to each subsection references to Wilcken or other writers on the subject.
In preparing this work I have received most valuable help from Dr. A. S. Hunt, who has compared the transcripts of most of the Ptolemaic, and several of the Roman, ostraca with the originals, and made corrections and suggestions so numerous that they can better be acknowledged here than in sporadic notes. He has also read through the proofs, and thus assisted further in the improvement of the texts. I am indebted to Sir Herbert Thompson for the transcripts and translations of the demotic parts of the bilinguals.
J. G. M.
~7f
A. PTOLEMAIC
I. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN MONEY.
(a) 'A(T7ro( .).
The receipt in this ostracon refers to a payment, the amount of which is lost, in copper at par on ao-Tro, a contraction which only suggests da-Tropov : in this case it would appear that a tax on unsown land might be paid in money, contrary to the general principle observed that land- taxes were payable in kind, except for those on ground occupied by fruit- trees. But, as has been shown by Grenfell and Hunt (TebttiHis Papyri, i, p. 39), there are instances of money-payments for other land-taxes : and it is not unreasonable to suppose that a tax on land which produced nothing, and so could not furnish material for a payment in kind, was settled in cash.
1. (G. 101). -065 x -082 (broken below). 156 or 145 B.C.
"ETOVS /ce Meo-opr] K T€(ra/crai) eirl TTJV kv
os) a<nro( ) /ce L [ 5
1 Year 25, Mesore 20. Psenapathes has paid into the bank at Hermonthis kept by Apollonios for unsown land (?) for the twenty-fifth year [> drachmae] of copper at par.'
i . "Erous KC : from the handwriting there can be little doubt that the date is the twenty-fifth year of Philometor or Euergetes II.
3. 'ATTOAA.WVIOS : possibly identical with the Apollonios of G. O. 342, who was in charge of a bank at Hermonthis in the thirtieth year.
The receipts for bath-tax published by Wilcken are all of the Roman period, and he assumed (Ostr. i, p. 170) that the tax was introduced in
72 ///. GREEK TEXTS
Egypt by Augustus. This view has already been shown to be incorrect (Grenfell and Hunt, Hibeh Papyri, i, p. 284), and the present ostracon proves the existence of the tax at Thebes in Ptolemaic times. I have another Ptolemaic ostracon from Denderah, which records the payment of 1 60 copper drachmae for bath- tax.
For notes on the tax in Roman times see p. 99.
2. (G. 120). -090 x -064. 154 or 143 B.C.
"Erovs K{ 'End(j) la
Te(TaKTai) em rrjv kv 'EpfifivQei) Tpd(ire£av)
t(fj rjs 'EpjjLofaXo
KgL MC/JI(VOV€IG>V)
5 OTJS Tpi(r\iXia$
' Year 27, Epeiph n. Psemmonthes has paid into the bank at Her- monthis kept by Hermophilos for the bath-tax of the twenty-seventh year in the Memnonia three thousand six hundred and twenty (copper drachmae) = 3620 (dr.). (Signed), Hermophilos, 4180 (dr.).'
(c) 'EXai'Kd.
The ostraca relating to payments for oil are almost always in the form of receipts given by the royal banks, into which the sums collected by the government officials from the KdnyXot. were passed (cf. Rev. Laws, xlviii. 3). The first three published here refer to oil used for the gym- nasium at Thebes : it may be noted that no. 5 is dated five days later than no. 4, and so is in agreement with the direction in the Revenue Laws that oil should be measured out every five days to the dealers, and paid for if possible on the same day. It is not unreasonable to assume that each of these three ostraca refers to the amount of oil required for five days' consumption in the gymnasium : and, as the sums paid are comparatively small, averaging 500 copper drachmae, or approximately one silver drachma, it would not appear that the gym-
PTOLEMAIC 73
riasium was a very important institution. A similar receipt (G. O. 318) for the price of oil apparently for the use of the baths at Thebes about the same date is for 3000 copper drachmae — i. e. six times the amount spent for the gymnasium. No. 6, which shows a much larger payment, is probably for sums received from the dealers who retailed oil to the general public : the managers of the gymnasium perhaps did not obtain their oil from these dealers, but got it direct from the government officials.
3. (G. 102). -095 x- 109. Possibly 107 B.C.
Li <Pap/j,ov6i Ky rera/crat
(TTI rr\v kv Albs zroAe* rrji fj.e(ydXr))
Tpd(7T€£av) e<f> rjs '
TOV e/y TO yvpvdviov
5 )(a(A/eoi5) i<rov6(jJLOv) h rerpaKocnay / v. (ah.) rpa(7re$T?7y) '
'Year 10, Pharmouthi 23. Simaristos has paid into the bank at Dios- polis Magna kept by Apollonios for olive oil used in the gymnasium for the tenth year four hundred drachmae of copper at par = 400 (dr.). (Signed), Ammonios, banker.'
i. Lt : from the handwriting the reign of Soter II would seem a probable date for this and the two following ostraca.
4. (G. 103). -086 x -092. Possibly 107 B.C.
Lt Mt&Opr] Ky TtTCLKTaL
€7rl rrjv kv Jioy TroXet
airb Tifjifjs eXaiov TOV 5 €i'y ro yvfjLvdariov 'AiroX- Acoi/ios AecovtSov l(rov6(fjLov) h
(ah.)
74 ///. GREEK TEXTS
' Year 10, Mesore 23. Apollonios son of Leonidas has paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna kept by Apollonios as the price of olive oil used in the gymnasium five hundred drachmae of copper at par =500 (dr.). (Signed), Herakleides. (Countersigned), Herakleides.'
5. (G. 128). -063 x -097. Possibly 107 B.C.
Li Mearoprj KTJ re(raAcrai) CTH T^V kv Albs 7roA(ei) rr\i fjLe(yd\fl) rpdfrefav) e0' rjs 'Aft/nans LOS cXai/crJs tL TOV €LS TO yvLLvda-LOv 5 Aea>vi8ov ^a(\Kov) i<rov6(jtov)
/ h X' 'AfJLfJL<X>J/LOS.
(2 h.) NiKOfia^ov.
7« 1. NiKo/x^x05'
'Year i o, Mesore 28. Apollonios son of Leonidas has paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna kept by Am monies for the dues on olive oil used in the gymnasium for the tenth year six hundred (drachmae) of copper at par = 600 dr. (Signed), Ammonios. (Countersigned), Nikomachos.'
3. 'Aju/xwj/ios : the relationship between the various bank officials who sign these ostraca is not clear. Presumably the one who is named as ' over ' the bank is the head : and, if there was only one bank concerned in the three payments recorded on nos. 3, 4, and 5, it would appear that Ammonios, who signed no. 3 as a sub- ordinate of Apollonios on 23 Pharmouthi, succeeded him in charge of the bank between 23 and 28 Mesore.'
6. (G. 119). -064 x -093 (broken on left). Second to first century B.C.
$]apfjLov6i ie T€(TdKTai) eirl rr\v kv A LOS JTO(\€L) rfji /JLe(yd\r)) . . ] . dnb Ti(fjLrjs) eXaiov KOL KLKL(OS) *EpfJLoywr)S
'[Year #], Pharmouthi 15. Hermogenes has paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna [ ] as the price of olive and castor oil [ ]
five talents three thousand (drachmae) = 5 T. 3000 (dr.). (Signed), Apollonios, banker.'
3. cv£ : this presumably relates to the amount of oil.
PTOLEMAIC 75
The next ostracon is rather obscure: as it refers to a payment in respect of sales of sesame, it would appear to belong to the series of receipts dealing with the revenue from oils ; but there is an entry, in a position in the formula which would suggest that it was intended to give the general classification of the tax, of the title viTpiKrj. It is diffi- cult to see the connexion between the sale of sesame and that of natron, beyond the fact that the latter very likely, as the former certainly, was a royal monopoly (cf. next section).
7. (G. 1 1 6). .065 x -080. Latter part of third century B.C.
avvi /c5
TJS Ko\ .... lV07r6(\€CDS)
y Ta<ro(t5Toy ?) €ty TI^V <rrj(rdfjiov h e£/<r. XX
5
1 Year 24, Pauni 24. For the tax on natron in Kol[ Jinopolis Thoteus son of Tasous (has paid) as the price of sesame oil six drachmae = 6 (dr.). (Signed), Heliodoros.'
1. L/<S : the most probable date is in the reign of Euergetes I; the writing would suit this better than the twenty-fourth year of Philadelphus.
2. KoX .... IVOTT : this contraction presumably represents a place-name ending in
(d) NiTpiKrj.
The virpiKij, which is mentioned both on papyri and on ostraca (cf. Wilcken, Ostr. i, p. 264), is found on the latter with the addition TT\VVOV. The two examples published by Wilcken, like the one given here, are from Thebes ; and it would seem possible that the word TrAiWy has a local signification, in which case it may be compared with viTpiKrj KoX .... tj/oTroXecoy in no. 7 above. This interpretation is suggested by Grenfell and Hunt (Hibeh Papyri, i, p. 305) in connexion with the occurrence of the word TT\VVO$ in P. Hib. 114 and 116, in the latter of which vfcpov is also mentioned. The sale of natron was probably a government monopoly, and the ostraca may therefore represent pay- ments into the royal banks of the sums received from the contractors who retailed it, In all three of the ostraca relating to this tax the pay-
76 ///. GREEK TEXTS
ments are in copper at a discount (G. O. 329, 60 drachmae Trpoy apyvpiov : G. O. 1497, 600 drachmae accounted as 500 : this ostracon, 2400 drach- mae accounted as 2085).
8. (G. 132). -090 x -ioi. 155 or 144 B.C.
2-sm 15 ^ntrsthns (tbn) 104 (qt) 2j tbn 1 20
L/CT Tlavvi i€ T€(ra/crat) e?n TTJV kv AIDS 7ro(\€i) rrji 5 TT\VVOV
oySorJKOvra
. TIa(dTrjs ?) f?v. ' Pauni 15. Androsthenes, 104 teben 2j kite : 120 teben.
Year 26, Pauni 15. [ ]eon son of Stal( ) has paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna kept by Paates (?) for the tax on natron of the washing-place (?) for the twenty-sixth year two thousand and eighty- five (drachmae) = 2085 (dr.). (Signed), Paates (?), banker, 2400 (dr.).'
4. Ilaap??: Dr. Hunt suggests Harpy? as a possible alternative reading.
5. . . €0)i/ 2<Ta\( ) or . . eon/s TaX( ) : the name is not to be equated with the Androsthenes of the demotic text : he was probably a clerk.
A tax on ferrymen— Tropevr&v — is already known from several ostraca published by Wilcken (Ostr. i, p. 280). Probably the same tax is the subject of the following receipt, although in this case it is nominally assessed on the ferry-boats instead of the men. Like Wilcken's ostraca, this shows a payment into the royal bank of sums collected in copper at a discount.
9. (G. 115). -oSyxaoS. 134 B.C.
LA<r Mto-oprj 0 T€(T(tKTai) enl TT?J> kv Jto? Tr(oXei)
TTJL /JL€y(d\rf) Tpd(7T€^av) 7TOpO/JLl8ct)l' €KTOV KOU A L
PTOLEMAIC 77
'Year 36, Mesore 9. Isidores has paid into the bank at Diospolis Magna for ferry-boats for the thirty-sixth year two talents five thousand one hundred and forty (drachmae) = 2 T. 5140 (dr.). (Signed), Diogenes, banker, 3 T. 1620 (dr.).'
II. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN KIND.
(a) 'Aprapieia.
The relationship of the various and numerous la^nd-taxes mentioned in papyri and ostraca is still obscure. But there can be little doubt that the apra/Steia was a tax of one artaba per aroura on corn-land ; and variants of this may be found in the rifj,LT€Taprapra^L€ia of P. Tebt. 346 — i.e. a tax of three-quarters of an artaba per aroura — and the rjfjiiapTapitLa of P. Reinach 9 bis. The latter impost occurs in these ostraca, once coupled with the dpraft^ia (no. n), where aprapitia KCU fl/juapTa/3i€ta may mean a tax of one and a half artabae per aroura, and twice with the €7ny/>a0?7 (nos. 13 and 15).
10. (G. 121). -065 x -089. 53 B.C. (?).
"Erovs Krj Tlavvi if apTafiidas rov avrov L
Av€\€OVS TTVpOV SeKCL /
(on verso) hr 's hsp 25 hq (?) sw (?) i a k (?) I (?)
* Year 28, Pauni 17. Seloulis son of Aueles has paid for the i artaba - tax of the same year ten (artabae) of corn =10 art. corn. (Signed), Theon, sitologus.'
' For payment of year 25 i artaba of corn = \ = i.'
i. 'Erovs K7) : the handwriting is distinctly of later Ptolemaic times, and, as Soter II was not recognized in Egypt during his twenty-eighth year, the date must be of Philometor (153 B.C.), Euergetes II (142 B.C.), or Neos Dionysos (53 B.C.). The attribution to the later reign is supported by no. n, which contains a payment by the same man in the third year. As a rule, the ostraca in this collection refer- ring to any one individual are fairly close together in date ; and it would be more likely that nos. 10 and u belong to the twenty-eighth year of Neos Dionysos and
L
78 ///. GREEK TEXTS
the third of Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIV, with an interval of four years, rather than to the corresponding regnal years of Euergetes II and Soter II respectively, with an interval of twenty-eight.
5. The demotic docket on the verso relates to a different transaction from that recorded on the recto.
11. (G. 122). -066 X -077. 49 B.C. (?).
"Erovs y Hay<b(y) 19 fi€(jJL€Tpr)K€y)
e/s rr]v ap(Taf$LGiav) Kal (rj/jLiapTa^ieiav) TOV av\Tov) L
2€\OV\IS Av€\€OVS TTVpOV CIKOPL TTeVre
5 /* *ۥ
* Year 3, Pachon 16. Seloulis son of Aueles has paid for the i^ artaba- tax of the same year twenty-five (artabae) of corn = 25 art. corn/
i. "Brow y : see note on 10. i. written L-$~.
(fr)
Grenfell and Hunt (Tebtunis Papyri, i, p. 39) have shown considerable reason for doubting Wilcken's explanation (Ostr. i, p. 194) of eTTiypacfrrj as the special term for the land-tax on corn -land; but its exact nature remains obscure. The name is confined to Ptolemaic times, except for a reference on an early Roman papyrus from Hawara (Archiv v, p. 397) ; but the very brief character of the receipts on which the tax is mentioned throw no light on the method of its assessment. In two cases it is coupled with the
12. (G. 126). -079 x -064. 94 B.C. (?).
K 'E7T€l(/> KB
TOV avfrov) L
5 KOVTO, Tpey rpirov
<nro\(6yoi).
PTOLEMAIC 79
' Year 20, Epeiph 29. Pikos the younger, son of Permamis, has paid for the epigraphe of the same year forty-three and eleven-twelfths artabae of corn = 43^1 art. corn. (Signed), Memnon (?) and Hermias, sitologi.'
i. "Erovs K: there are in this collection six Greek ostraca referring to Pikos son of Permamis — nos. 12, 13, 14,30, and 15, and G. 141 (not published), dated in years 20, 21, 23, 30, 5, and 6 respectively, and one demotic (D. 82) of year 23. In the first three and the demotic he is described as Pikos the younger, but the epithet is dropped in nos. 30 and 1 5, which may suggest that they are later in date. The only successions of regnal years which would fit this series, without a serious gap, in the later Ptolemaic period are from 94 B.C. to 75 B.C., which covers the twentieth to twenty-sixth years of Alexander I, the twenty-ninth to thirty-seventh of Soter II after his restoration, and (after the brief reign of Alexander II) the opening years of Neos Dionysos — or, as an alternative, 61 B.C. to 46 B.C., which covers the twentieth to thirtieth years of Neos Dionysos and the first to sixth of Cleopatra VII : but against the latter it may be urged that in the fifth and sixth years of Cleo- patra VII she was associated with Ptolemy XV, and there should be a double date ; the former series is accordingly preferable.
13. (G. 104). • 102 x -128. 93 B.C. (?).
'JErot/y KO, Havvi K /z€(/xerp^^ce^) €/y r^v
KOL (tipiapTafiietav) IIiKa>$ vcafrcpos) Ilopfid- nvpov — SeKa 8vo
5 KpovLos (n
2. 1.
* Year 21, Pauni 20. Pikos the younger, son of Permamis, has paid for the epigraphe and -| artaba-tax twelve and a quarter artabae of corn = 12^ art. corn. (Signed), Kronios, sitologus.'
1. "Erovs KOL'. see note on 12. i.
2. YffAiapTaj3i,€iav '. written ^-3-.
14. (G. 127). -089 x -088. 91 B-C. (?)«
yEroi;9 /cy 'Efrety 0 fjL€(/JL€TprjK€v) ety TTJ(V) €TTi'yp(a^rjv) TOV OLV(TOV) L nvpov — $€Ka eVra THJHOTV rpirov. i? K 6 av(To$) 8eKa eVra rpiTOv. Me<ro(prj) X
5 8VO TJHK7V TpLTO(v) / % Xr/.
8o ///. GREEK TEXTS
* Year 33, Epeiph 9. Pikos the younger, son of Permamis, has paid for the epigraphe of the same year seventeen and five-sixths artabae of corn. (Epeiph) 1 6, 2o(?), the same man, seventeen and one-third (artabae). Mesore 30, two and five-sixths artabae = 38 art. corn. (Signed), Hermias, sitologus.'
i. "Erovs Ky : see note on 12. i.
15. (G. 113). -079 x -098. 76 B.C. (?).
"Erovs e 'E7T€i</> t/3 /^(//erpr/Kej/) e/y TTJV
/cat fi/jLiapfrapietav) TOV O,V(TOV) L UtKa>(y) irvpov — \jiiav Tpi]rov
/ * — «/•
5 ITeTe( ) (nroX(oyoy).
' Year 5, Epeiph 12. Pikos son of Permamis has paid for the epigraphe and \ artaba-tax of the same year one and one-third artabae of corn = 1 1 art. corn. (Signed), Pete( ), sitdlogus.'
i. "Erous e : see note on 12. i.
16. (G. 138). -i 15 x -087. Second to first century 'B. C.
vErouy X Ilavvi Icy /j.€(fJL€Tpr)K€v) e/y TOV ev Jtoy 7roA(€t) TTJL fJL€(yd\rj) 67)((ravpbv) f7r/y/?a(0^y) e/y TO XL ^eXovXiy AgXrjvios, rcot 8e irportpov ypa(<j>tVTi) fJLrj XP^(°"??)> T®t ^ *v T^L K^ c/y TTJV €iTLypaj(<f)r)v) TOV avTOv L c/y TrXtfg&ffiy jeXoi^Xecoy) firj
Two lines demotic, mainly effaced.
( Year 30, Pauni 23. Seloulis son of Lolenis has paid into the granary atDiospolis Magnafor the epigraphe for the thirtieth year — the receipt pre- viously given is not to be used, nor that given in the twenty-ninth year for the epigraphe of the same year for the balance due from Seloulis — thirteen and three-quarters artabae of corn = 13! art. corn. (Signed), Apollonios.'
3. TOH 8e TTporepov ypa(<f>€VTi) /AT) XP^(°77) KT^« ' ^e prohibition to use a former receipt — i.e. the cancellation of a receipt 'by a subsequent one — is found on several ostraca (G, O. 351, 1026, 1496, and 1526, and no. 25 of this collection). It is
PTOLEMAIC 81
discussed by Wilcken (Ostr. i, p. 78), and Grenfell and Hunt have treated of the similar formula on papyri (Faydm Towns, p. 181). The present instance is excep- tional, as in it two previous receipts are cancelled by a single one.
4. €t? TrXrjptixriv SeXo^Xccos) : this phrase is explained by G. O. 464, which
contains a receipt for re'Aos rjTrrjrwv specified as Xonral Spaced Svo/ \-{3 et
i.e. it was the payment of the balance owing to complete the tax; though it is
not clear in this instance why a receipt for a payment towards the itnyptufrq of the thirtieth year should cancel one for the balance of that of the twenty-ninth year, unless it had been proved that the amount paid as balance brought the total payment above the amount due for the twenty-ninth year, and so could be credited towards the payments for the next year.
(c) Unspecified purposes.
A considerable proportion of the Ptolemaic receipts for payments of corn from Thebes do not specify the tax or other purpose for which these payments were made. It is probable that many, if not all, of these refer to rent for the royal domain-land, which, as suggested fay Grenfell and Hunt (Tebtunis Papyri, i, p. 40), most likely accounted for the bulk of the corn received by the government. In this case the receipts would presumably be given by the sitologi at the royal granaries direct to the holders of the land. Wilcken (Ostr. i, p. 99) is of opinion that the receipts were addressed to the tax-collectors. But the receipts for corn, with a very similar formula, of the Roman period were clearly, as Wilcken admits, made out to the actual taxpayers ; and -it is rather against his theory that receipts occur addressed to the same person over a long series of years (e.g. nos. 18, 19, 30, and 21, covering ten years). The position of the landholders in regard to./^erp^ara e/y Orjcravpov is shown for a later date by no. 133. There is, indeed, no definite evidence that any of the payments of corn into the royal granaries, whether for taxes in kind or for rents of royal domain-land, were farmed or made through collectors. The group of receipts given to Pikos, the son of Permamis, for 67ny/>a077 during a period of 18 years (nos. i£ to 15) do not suggest that he was a tax-farmer. Further, the amounts paid in are not such as would be likely to be passed on to the granaries by collectors ; it would not, at any rate, seem reasonable that a collector should go round to the granary with half an artaba which he had happened to receive : he would be much more likely to wait till he had accumulated rather more. The formula of cancellation (cf. note on 16. 3) also distinctly suggests that the receipt was to the actual taxpayer ; there would be little point in
82 ///. GREEK TEXTS
cancelling a receipt to a collector ; and the words €/y TrXrjpaxnv 2eXov- Aeooy added to the description of the receipt cancelled in no. 16 show that this receipt had been given to the person liable for the tax, to whom the new receipt also was addressed.
17. (G. 125). -090 x -i 02. Latter part of third century B.C.
Lty $ap/jiovOi A e/y TOV KO.T& Jtdy
TToXlV [[.....]] 'AfJL€VO>6r)$ '
Oov Kal Weft/Awl
ety TO iL 8ia KaXXiov
5 vr\
'Year 13, Pharmouthi 30. Amenothes son of Amenothes and Psem- minis son of Peteminis (have paid) into (the granary) at Diospolis for the thirteenth year through Kallias 58 (artabae) of corn only/
1. Liy : probably the thirteenth year of Euergetes I or of Philopator.
2. 1 ..... 3: the cancelled word may have been 6rja-avp6v, but it has been thoroughly erased, and it does not appear why, if it was this word, it should have been struck out.
18. (G. 106). -084 X -087. I33B.C.
if TIav(vL)
/ % e. ?/?*( )•
'Year 47, Pauni 5. Phibis son of Psemmonthes has paid for the forty-seventh year in the Memnonia five (artabae of corn) = 5 art. corn. (Signed), Pine( )(?).'
19. (G. 107). -058x073 (chipped on right). 115 B.C.
~iQ TrK^v aL .
wvpov
fiiav rjfiia-v iff / % aLif? . .[
' Year 2, Epeiph 19. Phibis son of Psemmonthes has paid for the first year one and seven-twelfths (artabae) of corn = i^ art. corn.'
i. "Erovs ft: there can be little doubt that, as the forty-seventh year of no. 18 must be of Euergetes II, the second year of this ostracon, a receipt addressed to the same man as no. 18, is of the following reign of Soter II.
3. The signature at the end of the line is almost entirely broken away.
PTOLEMAIC 83
20. (G. 117). -060 x -099. 115 B.C.
"Erovs /S Mecrop^ i?
1 Year 2, Mesore 1 6. Phibis son of Psemmonthes has paid for the second year in the Memnonia one and two- thirds artabae of corn = i§ art. corn. (Signed), Ammonios.'
i. "Erovs /? : see note on 19. i.
3. fuav ft : it may be observed that the payment made by Phibis for the second year — 1§ artabae of corn — was almost identical in amount with the belated pay- ment for the first year — iy^ artabae — made twenty-seven days previously (no. 19). On the other hand, in the forty-seventh year he paid 5 artabae (no. 18), and in the fourth he with others paid 5^ (no. 21). The explanation of the variations may be that the payments were instalments ; or, if it be accepted that they represent rent of domain-land, the amount cultivated may have varied from year to year.
21. (G. 108). -069 x -077. 113 B.C.
*Erov$ S Ila^obv a 8L e
,
Kal oi Xour(ol) j
P-hb s P-sf-Mnt sw
' Year 4, Pachon i. Phibis son of Psemmonthes and others, sons of Phibis, have paid for the fourth year ................ (?) in the Memnonia
five and one- twelfth (artabae of corn) = 5^2- Phibis son of Psemmonthes (art.) of corn/
i . "Erovs 8 : see note on 19. i .
2. e£ d^Tt&ay/oa^s) : this phrase occurs on Ptolemaic ostraca in reference to payments both in money (G. O. 1518) and in kind (G. O. 713, 742, 1509, 1533); but its meaning remains obscure.
22. (G. 133). -074 x -070 (chipped at edges). Second century B.C.
? Li]£ $apfjiov6i a fjL€(jjL€TprJKa(riy) e/y TOV i[v Jioy] 7ro(Xct) rg fj.t(yd\y) Orja-avpw 'Ep/JLias KO). .]av<rt$ Wwa/JLOvvtos
84 ///. GREEK TEXTS
ra !]£ fyi<rv rpirov iff / KP[tO(fjs)
5 •
Ns-p-mt a yt (?) 66| . . [P]-sr-Mn a yt (?) 66f . . ...... 661 A
' Year 17 (?), Pharmouthi i. Hermias son of Ptolemaios and [ Jausis son of Psenamounis have paid into the granary at Diospolis Magna sixty-six and eleven-twelfths (artabae) of barley = 66^ (art.) barley. (Signed), Antiochos.
Estimetis for barley 66^ (?).
Psemminis for barley
23. (G. 112). -099 x -105. 155 or 144 B.C.
c /L(e(/*€Tp?7K€) K<rL Ila . . .
(2 h.) M 'ATro\\a>v(ov TOV (i h.) % €*Wa y iff / Qytff. '
5 'ATroXXwvios % toy iff f By 'iff '. (3h.) 'AfxriiJM % Oy'tft' / Qy'iff.
SW 9ll2 hsp 26 3-sm ss 15 sw Q!^
'Year 26, Epeiph 15. Chesthotes son of Pa. . . chimos has paid for the twenty-sixth year in the Memnonia through Apollonios son of Theon nine and five-twelfths artabae of corn = 9-^. (Signed), Apollonios. (Countersigned), Apollonios, 9^ art. corn = 9r\. (Countersigned), Harsiesis, g^ art. corn = 9T%.
(art.) of corn. Year 26, Epeiph 15, 9T\ (art.) of corn.'
3. This line has been inserted in a different hand from that of the body of the receipt. Apollonios, the son of Theon, who made the payment on behalf of Chesthotes, appears five days later as paying in corn on his own account (no. 24).
PTOLEMAIC 85
24. (G. 105). -135 x -092. 155 or 144 B.C.
@€<*)VO$ TTVpOV
eVr* Lip / li 5 'Apo-irjo-is % iCtip'.
SW I7f T2
hsp 26 3-sm sw 17! T*2
' Year 26, Epeiph 20. Apollonios son of Theon has paid for the twenty- sixth year in the Memnonia seventeen and seven-twelfths (artabae) of corn = I7rV (Signed), Heliodoros. (Countersigned), Harsiesis, 17-^ art. corn.
J7T7^ (art-) of corn. Year 26, Epeiph, 17^ (art.) of corn.'
5. 'Apcrajo-ts : the sitologus who signs this receipt is the same who signs no. 23 of five days earlier, though the subordinate clerks are different — in this instance Heliodoros, in the earlier Apollonios. Possibly it is the same Harsiesis who signs G. O. 732 of the twenty-eighth year as sitologus, with Antiochos and Apollonios as clerks, and no. 26 of the thirty-third year with Antiochos as clerk.
25. (G. 118). -073 x -079. 149 or 138 B.C.
"ETOVS X/3 Havvi a /ze(yw€r/07;/ce) X/3{,
% o/cro) 0' /rjp'. *Hpa(K\c(8ris).
T(Ol
5
hsp 32 sw 8J(?)
«tr (?)
' Year 32, Pauni i. Haruothes son of Psemmonthes has paid for the thirty-second year in the Memnonia eight and two-thirds artabae of corn = 8§. (Signed), Herakleides. The receipt previously given is not to be used. (Countersigned), Hermias, 8| art. corn. Year 32, 8J (?) (art.) of corn. (Signed), Hatres.'
2. 'ApvvOrjs ^feimu(vOov)'> the same man appears as paying in 2j artabae of corn on Pauni 30 ol the twenty-ninth year in an ostracon of this collection (G. 114) not published here.
4. (TTporepov) : written a. For the formula see note on 16. 3.
7. Htr : it is noticeable that, as a rule, when a demotic docket is added to a receipt and signed by a clerk, this clerk is not the same as the one signing the Greek receipt; cf. nos. 22 and 26, and, in the case of a bank-receipt, no. 8.
M
86 ///. GREEK TEXTS
26. (G. in). -117 x -085. 148 or 137 B.C.
LXy 'Enel(f> te /ze(/ter/)?7/ce) XyL
^flpOS W€fJi/*ll>LO$ % jJLiaV
I % a. - 'Avrio'xps. sh Thwt-stm s Pa-mnt a sw i 5 *Ap<Tifj(ns % a.
Z^ 6 avTos % ?;/«cru / % Z..
sh Thwt-stm s Pa-mnt a sw f
* Year 33, Epeiph 15. Horos son of Psemminis has paid for the thirty- third year in the Memnonia one artaba of corn = I art. corn. (Signed), Antiochos. (Countersigned), Written by Thotsutmis for I artaba. (Countersigned), Harsiesis, I art. corn.
(Epeiph) 1 6. The same man (has paid) half an artaba of corn = | art. corn. (Signed), Antiochos. (Countersigned), Written by Thotsutmis for 4 artaba.'
5. 'Apo-djo-is: see note on 24. 5.
27. (G. 124). -087 x -125. 128 B.C.
"ErOVS /JL/3 <Pa//€J>0)0 i€ fJLf(fl€TpT]K€1/) €1$ TOV
kv A LOS TTo(\€i) rfji /JL€(yd\rj) Qr)(cravpov) //^L vnep TOTT(OV Mrjvo8<*>pov irvpov e£rJKOVTa T€<r<rap€S
5 irj 6 OLVTOS aAXay ^ 8tKa OKTCO / % irj.
4 Year 42, Phamenoth 15. Straton son of Menodoros has paid into the granary at Diospolis Magna for the forty-second year for the district sixty-four and a half (artabae) of corn = 64! art. corn.
(Phamenoth) 18. The same man (has paid) eighteen artabae of corn more = 18 art. corn.'
2. VTTC/O TOTT(OV): this phrase, which is found frequently in Ptolemaic receipts for payments in kind, is explained by Wilcken (Os/r. i, p. 306) as the equivalent of VTrep TOTrap^tas.
irparov M^i/oSwpou : the same payer occurs in G. O. 749, a receipt for 20 artabae of corn dated Pharmouthi 22 in the fortieth year.
PTOLEMAIC 87
III. MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.
(a) '
As the term tK<f>6piov was used commonly for rent of any kind, receipts specifying this may be of a purely private nature (cf. Wilcken, Ostr. i, p. 185). No. 39, though it does not include the word e/c06/ofoj>, may be placed under this head, as it clearly refers to a payment of rent.
28. (G. 131). -086 x -095. Second to first century B.C.
a cKcfiopiov TOV i@L SIV&TOS Kpi0(fj$) K. XXX
p sm hsp 12 n (?) P-sr-'mn ..... yt (?) 20 sh Hry 4-pr i
' Year 12, Pharmouthi i. Psenamounis son of Sinas (has paid) for rent of the twelfth year 20 (artabae ?) of barley.
The rent year 12 of (?) Psenamounis 20 ....... barley (?).
Written by Erieus, Pharmouthi i.'
29. (G. 16). .100x061. Possibly 88-87 B-c-
\ov\€L ^a- 7rap(a)
aov TOV XaL
TOV TTVpOV
5 ycov Kal ovB\(y) crol
ZVKOlXS).
1 Sarapion to Seloulis, greeting. I have received from you for the thirty-first year the corn in respect of the lands, and I make no claim against you.'
3. XaL : the handwriting would suit the thirty-first year of Soter II.
The word €7n<SeKaTOj>, as has been shown by Grenfell and Hunt (Hibeh Papyri, i, p. 171), means an ' extra tenth' in connexion with fines. But in the present instance there is no suggestion of a fine ; and it would seem probable that the receipt is for a tithe simply. It is given by the Trpoorcmu of Philae, who were certainly temple officials (see Otto, Priester
88 ///. GREEK TEXTS
«. Tempel, ii, p. 75, note i) : in a series of ostraca dated in the reign of Nero (G. O. 412-18, 420, 421) Psenamounis the son of Pekusis bears the titles of TfpocrTOLTV}S TOV Qeov and </)ei>i>fj(ri$, and gives receipts for the Aoye/a "lo-ttfoy, which facts mark him as the representative of the temples of Isis and her associated gods at Philae, who collected dues for them at Thebes (see Otto, op. cit. i, p. 362. It does not appear necessary to suppose with Wilcken (Archwjur Papyrus/, iv, pp. 251, 267) that these collections were made by a subordinate temple of Isis at Hermonthis — a sort of chapel of ease to Philae — though this explanation is possible). The tinStKaTov may be another form of the later Aoye/a, derived from lands, as is suggested by the addition of a place-name.
30. (G. 130). -117 x- 105. 87 B.C. (?).
lHpa.K\d8ov o$ Kal IIiKa>$ dp- 'Epiea>s TT/OOCT-
5 Ui/cooy
irapa <rov TO tiri-
TTJS 'IpKOVlTOTT^XttoS ?) TOV /C^L. IIpa(KTOp€LOV ?) TOV /3a((TiAt)-
KOV(?) |_A QafttvcbO a. 5. 1. lit/cam.
' Erieus son of Herakleides and Horos and Pikos sons of Erieus, assis- tant priests of Philae . . . . , to Pikos son of Permamis greeting. We have received from you the tithe of Ibionitopolis (?) for the twenty-ninth year. At the royal tax- office (?), year 30, Phamenoth i.'
4. a-Tparrj( ) : the meaning of this contraction is obscure: presumably it relates to the crrpar^yos in some way.
7. 'I/?ian/iT07r(oA€<os) : this seems the natural resolution of the contraction.
8. IIpa(/cTo/3€tov) TOV /2a((nAi)Ko9 : this is suggested by Dr. Hunt as a possible explanation of the text irp^ TOV p KOV ; for the contraction fi^Kov cf. P. Amh. 35, 55.
9. LA: see note on 12. i.
(c) 'OfaiXrjfjLaTa.
This ostracon may refer either to public or to private debts: more probably perhaps the former.
PTOLEMAIC 89
31. (G. 137). -106 x -049. Latter part of third century B.C.
Li 'AOvp f its ra 6(/)€i\rjfjLaTa TOV 0L 'A6r)viG)v 7rvp(ov) yf?t
'tnyn
5 sw 3§ P . . . hsp
' Year 10, Hathur 7. Athenion has paid for debts of the ninth year 3§ (artabae) of corn.
Athenion : 3! (art.) of corn. Year . . . .'
B. ROMAN
I. RECEIPTS FOR TAXES PAID IN MONEY.
(a)Af.
It seems desirable to treat the ostraca in which the symbol at* occurs separately, as Wilcken (Ostr. i, p. 132) has regarded this symbol as the name of a tax. There is, however, considerable reason to take a different view. The symbol is always used in immediate sequence to a stated sum of money, and is followed by a second sum slightly less than the previous one, e.g. $8ai*$ypc. If it introduced a fresh payment, it should be preceded by o/zoiiwy, according to the general rule observed in ostraca giving a series of payments (cf. nos. 32-6). Commonly, further, the symbol $ is omitted before the second sum, and the entry runs $8ai*ypc. The second sum also bears approximately the same proportion to the first in all instances, the normal decrease being that in the instance cited — one and a half obols in four drachmae. It would appear therefore that the second sum is a restatement of the first with the omission of a fixed charge or discount. The payments in connexion with which ai" occurs are usually for \<x>}ia,TiK6v or, more rarely, XaoypaQia, during a period extending from the fourth year of Claudius to the second of Antoninus Pius. During this same period another formula is found in receipts for these taxes — a sum is stated with the addition KOU TO. TOVTG>V wpocrSia- ypa(f>6/jL€i>a, sometimes with the further words e£-c, which Wilcken has lately explained (Archiv filr Papymsforschung^ iv, p. 146) on the basis of the fuller phrase coy TOV evos orar^poy €*-c of a Strasburg ostracon as meaning an additional charge of i| obols to the stater of four drachmae. Another rate for the 7r/>oo-<$taypa06/*ej/a — one- tenth — is found in connexion with the naubion (Tebtunis Papyri, ii, App. I). The two formulae — at* and Kal 7rpoo-8iaypa<p6fj,€i>a — never occur together ; but as they both relate to a charge of the same proportion to the sum paid, so far as the ostraca show, it seems clear that they are two separate ways of stating
ROMAN 91
the same transaction : when a payment was made the payer might either add to the amount on account of the tax a sum of i£ obols for each stater, in which case he would get a receipt for the amount of the tax Kal 7rpoo-8iaypa</)6iJL€va, or he might have a deduction made from what he actually paid at a similar rate, when the receipt would be for the sum paid aiK this sum less the deduction. Under these circumstances the meaning of at* would appear to be cu Kai, treated as indeclinable.
It is still, however, not clear why the extra payment or alternative deduction should have been required in the case of certain taxes only. But the charge of ] J obols to a stater is approximately the same as that found in cases of conversion of copper into silver. In the Ptolemaic period a silver stater was reckoned as the equivalent of a6J obols copper for the purposes of certain taxes, in the payment of which copper was only accepted at a discount. In the early part of the first century A.D. the rate of exchange had fallen, as appears from a case of conversion of copper into silver at 26 obols to the stater (P. Tebt. 401). In the ostraca now under consideration the rate is practically 35! obols to the stater. The discount on copper seems to have been about the same at Pergamon in the second century A.D., viz. one-eighteenth.
No clear distinction can yet be drawn, either for the Ptolemaic or for the Roman period, between taxes for which payment could be made at par and those for which it was subject to a discount. As has already been noted, on the ostraca the deduction is made most commonly in payments for -^yLGLTiKov — sometimes (e. g. G. O. 1379) in a receipt given for this tax alone ; but more usually a series of payments for Aaoy/oa0/a, $iAaVa>j>, or other taxes is followed by an entry or two for from which alone the deduction is made (e. g. nos. 32, 33,34)- Occasionally, however, the amount reduced is for Xaoypafyia, in two instances (1105.37 and 39) through a series of payments. In one ostracon (G. O. 1282) a reduction of uncertain proportions seems to be made from a payment for reXoy r)7rrjTan>, and in another (no. 40) the tax concerned is tvK(vK\i.ov ?).
The two formulae — that with at /cat and that with Kal irpoaSiaypa^o- fieva— may have been local variants. Wilcken (Ostr. i, pp. 133 and 287) has pointed out that the great majority of his ostraca in which the former is used come from the district Noro? KOI Aty, while those with the latter are from Xdpag, '/20*efoj/, and 'Ayopal ftoppd: and from the examples here published it would appear that the usage of Me/xi/oi/eia was the
92 ///. GREEK TEXTS
former. In a number of instances the precise district is omitted : but all examples of either formula on ostraca come from the neighbourhood of Thebes ; and, so far as our present information goes, the cases may be grouped as follows : at Kai : *A(j>is (?)
NOTOS
NOTOS Kai Aty : XtofiaTixfo, Xaoypa<f>ia.
: 'Ayopal floppa : \a>/iaTlK6yf Xaoypa<f)ia, 'Ayopal VOTOV : Xaoypa(f>ia.
No-Toy : Xaoypafaa,
IVoro? KOU Aty : x&fjiaTiKov (once).
Xdpa£ : xcopaTiKov, XaoypcKftia,
'fifaeTov : Xaoypafaa, ycafttTpia.
But, even during the period when these formulae were in use, ostraca occur relating to the above-mentioned localities and taxes in which there is no note of any addition or subtraction.
In illustration, a few examples of the use of at Kai may be given here instead of under the headings of the taxes to which they should more strictly be referred.
32. (G. 263). -iiax-137. 68 A. D.
IIafjiovi>i(os;) vn(ep) Xaoy(pa<pia$) Me/jLvo^eicw) 18$ $rj. L,t8 Ne TOV Kvptov Me\(€tp) K^. tO/zo(roo9) $apnov(6i) K $8. 5 ITaw(i) K0 $8. (O/JM(MV) $y- at K(al) /3^c.
' Psemmonthes son of Patephmois and Tachoulis daughter of Pamounis has paid for poll-tax in the Memnonia for the fourteenth year 8 dr. Year 14 of Nero our lord, Mecheir 2,6. Likewise on Phamenoth 25, 4 dr. Likewise on Pharmouthi 30, 4 dr. Likewise on Pachon 23, 4 dr. Likewise
ROMAN
93
on Pauni 29, 4 dr. Likewise in the first year, on Mesore 5, for dyke-tax for the first year 3 dr. i obol, reckoned as 2 (dr.) 5| obols.'
5. a $ : i. e. the first year of Galba. It would appear that the writer of this receipt had heard of the death of Nero (June g, 68) by July 29. But G. O. 1399, written ten days later, is still dated under Nero.
33. (G. 273). -115 X -109. 70 A.D.
Ilao-fjpis tFevapovfyios) JTar^aofy)
) ftt 5i/3. \_/3
TOV Kvpiov $appo(vOi) P. *Opo(i<QS)
/3 $8. * — at K(OL) /3.
' Pasemis son of Psenamounis son of Patphaes has paid for poll-tax in Photr( ) for the second year 12 dr. Year 2, of Vespasianus our lord, Pharmouthi 2. Likewise on Pachon 23, 8 dr. Likewise on Epeiph 2, 4 dr. Likewise in the third year, on Thoth 3, for dyke-tax 2 dr. i obol, reckoned as 2 (dr.).'
34. (G. 422). -104 x -115. 109 A.D.
apy(vpiK<*)v)
taf. Lift Tpaiavov Kaicrapos TOV Kvpiov $a//(evoo^) a. 5 ^. 'Opofas $apfji(ovOi)
'O//OW09 Ha\(£>V «f $8.
ic/8 $8. ^XX(ay) 'Eir€/> 5 0a\(dviKov) $8. 'O pottos iy<> &(od K/3 Xa>(paTtKov) $8 at K(al) ypc. 'Opoiax Tv/3i 10 8 $j8/?cX od K(al} ft/px
* Petosiris, collector of money-taxes of the Memnonia, to Phthoumonthes son of Chemsneus. (I have received) for guard-tax in the Memnonia for the twelfth year i dr. 3 obols. Year 12 of Trajanus Caesar our lord,
N
94 • ///• GREEK TEXTS
Phamenoth i. Likewise on Phamenoth 5, 4 dr. Likewise on Phar- mouthi 14, 4 dr. Likewise on Pachon 6, 4 dr. Likewise on (Pachon) 23, 4 dr. Also on Epeiph 4, for bath-tax 4 dr. Likewise in the thirteenth year, on Thoth 22, for dyke-tax 4 dr., reckoned as 3 (dr.) 4-| obols. Likewise on Tubi 4, 2 dr. 5 obols 5 chalki, reckoned as 2 (dr.) 4 obols I chalkus.'
1. Heroo-ipis: the same irpaKrup appears in G. O. 1613, which is a receipt for payments of Xaoy/oa^ia and xoyuiTiKoi/ from March 16 to December 3, 109, while this one covers a period from February 25 to December 30" of the same year. From no. 82 it appears that Petosiris was still in office in the fourteenth year of Trajan, but had retired before the seventeenth year.
2. &6ovfjL<*)(v6r)) : the names of the taxpayers are usually abbreviated in the receipts given by the collectors of the Memnonia during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. It has been assumed that they should be restored in the dative, and that the formula is a summary variant of that more commonly found elsewhere, which would run in this case IIeTo<r6pis . . . ^Oov^vOy xatpctv. "E<TXOV Trapa crov
4. 'O/xoiws 3>aft(ei/w0) e *S: the objects of this and the three following payments are not specified, and at first sight they would appear, like the preceding one, to be for o-KOTre'Aon/. But this would give an unusually high total for this tax, and it is more probable that the sums were actually paid for Xaoypacpia.
35. (G. 228). -J33X-1II. IIOA.D.
/cat Ilao'fjfjLLS 7rpdK(TOp€$) apy(ypiKS*v) Mefavovticov)
VfVS
) Aao(y/>a0*as) iy<> Me(/*t>oi>aW) 5 77. L*y Tpacavov Kaia-apos TOV Kvpiov $afJL(ev<*>)Q y. *O pottos $apfj(ovOi) rj $S. 'OyLtoicoy Ha^tov a 55. 5 'Quotas I? $8. 'Ofjioicos )((o(fjLaTiKov) )f at K(CU) )(a.
I. 1.
' Petosiris and Pasemis, collectors of money-taxes of the Memnonia, to Sachomneus son of Pamonthes. (We have received) for poll-tax for the thirteenth year in the Memnonia 8 dr. Year 13 of Trajanus Caesar our lord, Phamenoth 3. Likewise on Pharmouthi 8, 4 dr. Likewise on Pachon i, 4 dr. Likewise on (Pachon) 16, 4 dr. Likewise for dyke-tax 2 chalki, reckoned as i chalkus.'
ROMAN 95
36. (G. 231). -Ii6x-i57 (broken above on left). 113 A.D.
8i(a) vflp(ov)
<POofji<x>(v6ov) 'Arprjovs VTT(CP) \ao(y pastas] Me/ij/o(i/etW) i<?$ T€<T€pa$ / $8. LIT Tpaiavov TOV Kvpiov ) KTJ. I7ax<*>M iO 8pax(pas) Tecrepas / $8. Mcvofaty ^ 5 8pax(f*as) 8vo / 5/3. 'O/iot&s Ze Spa%(/*a9) 8vo / 5/3, KOL vn(€p) TTOTO,-
8vo / $@. t£$ $aa>(j)i KOL x^aTLKov) 55 at K(al)
' Erieus son of Pamonthes, collector of money-taxes of the Memnonia, through Horos his assistant, to Petechonsis son of Phthomonthes son of Hatres. (I have received) for poll-tax in the Memnonia for the sixteenth year four drachmae = 4 dr. Year 16 of Trajanus our lord, Pharmouthi 28. Pachon 19, four drachmae = 4 dr. Mesore 6, two drachmae = 2 dr. Like- wise on (Mesore) 15, two drachmae = 2 dr. : and for river-police two drachmae = 2 dr. Year 17, Phaophi 21, for dyke-tax 4 dr., reckoned as 3 (dr.) 4^ obols. Hathur 18, for dyke-tax 6 dr. 2 obols 2 chalki, reckoned as 6 dr.'
i . 'Epievs IIa/A<o(v0ov) : this irpaKTtap occurs in several receipts of this collection (cf. nos. 37, 38, 99, with G. 217 and G. 417, not published here). He employed various /Jo^floi, but the receipts are all written in the same hand, presumably that of Erieus. One receipt (G. 217) is to the same taxpayer as the present one, and is also for payments of Xaoypa^ia of the sixteenth year, ending on Pharmouthi 23, five days before the first payment recorded on this one. The two must therefore clearly be taken together (see p. 119).
3 and 4. 1. TeWa/oag. Erieus habitually misspelt this word.
4. ~M.€<ro(prj) : from this point the entries, though in the same hand, are written with a different ink and pen.
5-6. 1. TTora/uov. For the term cf. G. O. 440.
7. The entry on this line is again in a changed ink and pen.
37. (G. 251). -204 x -170. 113-14 A.D.
8i(a) "fip(ov) /3(or)0ov,
\(aoypa<j)ias) Me/zi/o(mW) i£$ 5/3cx/3 <» *«(') *£• Li£ Tpaiavov
96 ///. GREEK TEXTS
TOV Kvptov $aa>(/>i 8. 'AOvp la ^fay? at K(al)
5 */?. XoL(aK) Id Ipcx13 at K(al) */3. Tvpi <~ at K(al) */?.
at K(al) 10. Mea-o(p^) ^ I fay* ai K(al) 10 j. 1* at K(al) $0.
2. 1.
' Erieus son of Pamonthes, collector of money-taxes of the Memnonia, through Horos his assistant, to Psenamounis son of Patphaes son of Psenthuntasemis. (I have received) for poll-tax in the Memnonia for the seventeenth year a dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as i dr. Year 17 of Trajanus our lord, Phaophi 4. Hathur n, a dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as a dr. Choiak n, a dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Tubi 6, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Mecheir5, 2, dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Phamenoth 6, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Pharmouthi 7, 2 dr. 6 chalki, (reckoned as) 2, (dr.)- Pachon 3, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 (dr.). Pauni 4, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 (dr.). Epeiph 6, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Mesore 6, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr. Thoth 3, 2 dr. 6 chalki, reckoned as 2 dr.'
i. 'Eptcvs: cf. note on 36. i.
7. [[ilaxj| $-'• there has been a blunder here, partly corrected; perhaps the writer, after entering Ila^wi/) as the beginning of the next item, realized that he had omitted at ic(at) 5 before the preceding (3, and erased Ilax(wv), adding $. He has, however, left out 5 after at K(<U) in both entries on the next line.
* 38. (G. 216). -063 x -135 (chipped on right). 114 A.D.
tW) \ao(ypa<t>las)
Tpaiav[ov
Kat&apos TOV Kvpiov Hayow q- "A\(\o 5 Havv(t) a $/oaX//(ay) recrepey / $ 8. irj$ w) $8 at K(al) 5yfc. Tvfii 8
ROMAN 97
' Erieus son of Pamonthes, collector of money-taxes of the Memnonia, through Phthomonthes, to Psommonthes son of Patpheus. (I have received) for poll-tax in the Memnonia four drachmae =4 dr. Year 17 of Trajanus Caesar our lord, Pachon 8. Also 4 dr ...... Pauni i, four
drachmae =4 dr. Year 18, Hathur . . for dyke-tax 4 dr., reckoned as 3 dr. 4^ obols. Tubi 4 . . . .'
3 and $. 1. reWapas : cf. note on 36. 3 and 4.
39. (G. 275). -084 x -131. 126 A.D.
Wavarv&s TrpaK(T(op) dpy(v paeans) Me^(VoyetW) 8t(a)
8i(a) n/}6/zra>(rou). "Eoyfov) vn(ep) Aao(y/>a0fa?) it $80$ K(ai) yp 'ASptavov Kafoapos TOV Kvpiov *A6vp 8. 5 Xo(iaK) 0 \ao(ypa<t>ia$) $8 at K(al) y/?c.
2.
' Psansnos, collector of money-taxes of the Memnonia, through Phmois his clerk, to Petearoueris son of Asklas through Premtotes. I have received for poll-tax for the tenth year 4 dr., reckoned as 3 (dr.) 4^ obols. Year n of Hadrianus Caesar our lord, Hathur 4. Choiak 9, for poll-tax 4 dr., reckoned as 3 (dr.) 4^ obols.'
40. (G. 226). -086 x -105. 138 A.D.
'Ie/>a£ Kal IIopitvQ(ris} 7rpa/c(rope?) apy(vpiKG>v) 8i(a) Wevo'€i>Trdo(vs') ypa^/zarea)?) ^€i/7raa"tjfjL(€i) .E(rx(o/*€'') vn(ep) €VK(VK\IOV) K \(rjpovo/j,iS>v ?) a 5 Kaia-apos TOV Kvpiov $aco(0f) £. €O/i(o£x(»y 5 v7r(e/>) £VK(VK\IOV) K\(ripovofjLiS)v^) $a at K(al)
' Hierax and Porieuthes, collectors of money-taxes of the Memnonia, through Psensenpaes their clerk, to Senpasemis daughter of Paeris. We have received for the fee on inheritances (?) for the first year I dr. 4 obols. Year 2 of Antoninus Caesar our lord, Phaophi 7. Likewise on Phaophi 19 for the fee on inheritances (?) i dr., reckoned as 5^ obols.'
98 ///. GREEK TEXTS
3 and 5. K\(^povo^v) : this is suggested as a possible expansion of the abbrevia- tion K\ as KXypovofjiLaL were a likely subject for ey/cv'/cAiov; see note below, p. 114. 4. O/A(OICOS) : written — .
(6) '
The receipts on Theban ostraca for salt-tax previously published have all been of Ptolemaic period (cf. Wilcken, Ostr. i, p. 141) ; but the existence of the tax in Roman times is shown by papyri (e.g. P. Fay. 42 (a), 192, 341, of the second century A.D., P. Tebt. 482 of the reign of Augustus). It is not clear in what manner the tax was levied ; but it appears to have been collected with other money-taxes by the npaKTopes. The suggestion of Wilcken (/. c.) that the consumers of salt — i. e. practically all inhabi- tants — paid an annual sum to the state in recognition of the royal monopoly, in addition to buying their salt from the retailers, is not in accordance with any of the known principles of Egyptian tax-collection : a more probable supposition is that it was paid by the dealers for the right to sell salt. It is fairly clear that the tax was accounted a yearly one ; and the receipts are mostly for small sums, though of very varying amounts.
41. (G. 291). -097 x -099. 64-5 A.D.
toS TIaiJLG)vQ(ov) KCU
recrajoay / $S TOV ia$
TOV KVplQV. 2. 1.
' Pikos son of Pamonthes and his colleagues to Senphaeris, greeting. We have received for salt four drachmae = 4 dr., for the eleventh year of Nero our lord.'
There are three Theban receipts published by Wilcken (G. O. 559, 603, 604) for /j.€pio-fj,bs avs ; and he offers no explanation of the contracted word. It would appear possible that the levy was one vtrep avSpiavrtov , which he recognizes in G. O. 1430 from Thebes and a long series of ostraca from Elephantine. In the latter the full particulars given admit of no doubt as to the purpose of the tax ; and it is commonly described
ROMAN
99
as a /j,€picrfj,6s and collected in small amounts, as in the examples from Thebes. It may be due to chance only, but the three receipts of Wilcken and the one here published belong to two years only — the eighteenth of Hadrian and the fifth of Antoninus Pius — which suggests that the tax was a casual one at. Thebes, as at Elephantine. The receipts for the eighteenth year of Hadrian may perhaps be taken as representing a collection for a rather belated statue of the emperor, put up to celebrate his visit to Thebes over two years previously ; but it is difficult to suggest an occasion for the erection of a statue of Antoninus Pius in his fifth year, unless it was an even more belated record of the completion of a Sothic period in 138 A.D. (It may be noted that the Phoenix, which occurs as a type on Alexandrian coins of the second year of Antoninus, doubtless with reference to the Sothic celebration of that year, is used again on coins of the sixth year.) In one case — G. 0. 603 — the tax is said to have been levied on land, the receipt being for 5^ obols on 30^! arourae, which shows a very low rate per aroura, much below that of any known
land-tax.
I
42. (G. 246). -053 x -077. 133 A.p.
al 'Airta>v d7TaiT(rjTai) ) *Ayo(pS>v) 8 No(rou)
K€pjJ.(aTOs) 6po\(oi>s) 8. LIT? 'ASpiavov Kalvapos 5 8a>0 KTJ.
(% h.) 'Airfav <T€crr]fj.(€i<*)iJLai).
* Pasemis and Apion, collectors of the rate for statues (?) in the fourth district of Agorai South, to Petermouthes son of Phaeris. We have received four obols in copper = 4 obols in copper. Year 1 8 of Hadrianus Caesar, Thoth 28. Signed, Apion.'
2. 'Ayo(pem/) 8 NO(TOV) : see note on 125. 3.
3. /cep/x(aTos)*: the term Ke'/o/xa was probably used to denote the copper (or bronze) coinage of Alexandria of the first and second centuries A. D., which supplied the needs of Egypt for any change less than a tetradrachm.
(d) BaXaviKov.
Receipts for (ZaXaviKov are among the commonest of those found on Theban ostraca ; but in spite of their number it is still obscure how the
ioo ///. GREEK TEXTS
tax was assessed or collected : and the additional information given by those published here does not agree with the conclusions previously formed by Wilcken (Ostr. i, pp. 165 ff.). It has already been mentioned (p. 71) that his supposition, that the tax was introduced by Augustus into Egypt, has been found to be wrong ; and it now appears that the tax might be reckoned in monthly payments (no. 47). As a general rule, however, the payments for bath-tax are entered as adjuncts to other taxes, usually \aoypa</>ia and ^{JLOLTLKOV ; and the amounts of the receipts in the first century A. D. may explain the reason for this. The normal forms of state- ment are either \aoypa(f>ia 10 drachmae, fBaXaviKov I dr. ij obols, KOL TTpoa-SLaypatyopeva, or \(A^OLTLK.OV 6 dr. 4 obols, fiaXavLKov 4 (later 4-5) obols, Kal Trpoo-SiaypaQofjieva. It is probable that at this period the fixed rates for Xaoypafaa and xcofjLaTiKov in most regions of Thebes were 10 drachmae and 6 dr. 4 obols respectively, though the evidence with regard to Xaoypafaa is not very definite (see p. 118). There was always, during the Roman rule in Egypt, a dearth of small change in the country; a disproportionately large part of the coinage in circulation consisted of tetradrachms, and consequently as many payments as possible were made in coins of this denomination. A man desiring to pay his 10 drachmae as Xaoypafaa for a year would accordingly hand in three tetradrachms ; and, instead of receiving any change, he would have the balance credited to his paXaviKov, after the 7rpoo-8iaypa(f>6/jL€i>a had been written off at the rate of i^ obols to the tetradrachm. Similarly, in the case of a year's XtopaTLKov he would pay in two tetradrachms ; though in the latter class of transactions the payers seem to have lost an obol or half an obol, as the 6 dr. 4 obols for ytofjiaTiKov and 3 obols for TrpocrSiaypa^o/JLeva on two tetradrachms should have left 5 obols for ftaXaviKov, whereas only 4 or 4-| are credited. It might be supposed that the total amount due for the year was made up by the two balances — as the same man occurs paying in both forms in the same year (nos. 49 and 50), and I dr. i J obols and 4-| obols at any rate make up a round sum — but other instances of higher payments for ftaXaviKQv alone conflict with this idea. Possibly these sums were taken as convenient instalments and the remainder of the tax due was collected later : the latter may be referred to in the receipts for TO TTpoXoiirov Tov fiaXaviKov of G. O. 1032,, 1033, 1035, 1036, IO37; the only two of these which are exactly dated are at the end of the year for which the tax was due or the beginning of the next.
ROMAN 101
The amounts, however, for which receipts are given, even in the same year and place, or to the same individual, do not show any definite basis : it may be remarked that in one instance (no. 47) the sum is much higher than anything noted by Wilcken ; but in no case do they approach what appears to have been the regular payment at Tentyra in the reign of Tiberius— 40 drachmae a year — as shown by a series of demotic ostraca, an account of which I hope to publish shortly.
43. (G.