T. BM EA 56919r-rḫ⸗w - field work receipt for vineyard
Pathyris (Gebelein)109 - 108 BCE
History and find spot:The wooden panel BM EA 56919 was acquired in Luxor in 1926 by the contemporary Keeper of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities,
Henry R.H. Hall, for the British Museum from the Egyptian antiquities dealer
Mohammed Mohasseb Bey(1843-1928;
Hagen / Ryholt, Antiquities TradeHagen, F. / Ryholt, K., The Antiquities Trade in Egypt 1880-1930. The H.O. Lange Papers (Scientia Danica:Series H, Humanistica, 4.8; Copenhagen, 1962)., 245-247;
Vandorpe / Worp, CdÉ 88 Vandorpe, K. / Worp, K. A., 'Paying Prostimon for new Vineyard Land (T. BM inv.no. EA 56920). A Bilingual Set of Wooden Tablets from the Archive of Horos, son of Nechouthes', Chronique d'Égypte 88 (2013), 105-115., 106).
It belongs to the bilingual archive of the Horos son of Nechoutes (TM Arch 106), which was found at Pathyris and dates from 138 to 89 BC (
Vandorpe / Waebens, Reconstructing Pathyris Vandorpe, K. / Waebens, S., Reconstructing Pathyris' archives. A multicultural community in Hellenistic Egypt (Collectanea Hellenistica 3; Brussel, 2010)., No. 40, 127-141).
Materiality:It has a long rectangular shape (height: 6.9 cm; width: 22.7 cm; thickness: 1.1 cm; weight: 104 grammes). Seen from the recto, both corners on the right side have been cut away. The surface appears to be brushed on both sides. It has stains on its surface from liquid penetration on both sides.
Textlayout:The tablet is inscribed on both sides. The main text, a
r-rḫ⸗w - field work receipt for vineyard, on the 'recto' comprises 5 lines. The 'verso', turned vertically, shows two confirmations, one . Confirmation I comprises 3 lines, confirmation II 1 line.
Text summary and dateT. BM EA 56919 makes part of a bilingual set of three wooden tablet of the archive of the Horos son of Nechoutes, which can be dated in the reign of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy IX (both not named): T. BM EA 56919 (TM 44925: Demotic; year 9, BC 109 Sep 19 - 108 Sep 18), T. BM EA 56920 (TM 44926; Greek, year 10, BC 107 Mar 12) and T. BM EA 56918 (TM 44924 Demotic, year 14, BC 104 Sep 18 - 103 Sep 17, year 14 of Cleopatra III and year 11 of Ptolemaios X) (
Vandorpe / Worp, CdÉ 88 Vandorpe, K. / Worp, K. A., 'Paying Prostimon for new Vineyard Land (T. BM inv.no. EA 56920). A Bilingual Set of Wooden Tablets from the Archive of Horos, son of Nechouthes', Chronique d'Égypte 88 (2013), 105-115., 106, no.5.)
These tablets are related to the same issue: They constitute a part of the annually renewed "land registers", during which the wasteland belonging to the domain of Pathyris was inspected. According to the land survey records, Horos, the son of Nechouthes, had planted a vineyard on this wasteland, probably illegally or at least not as an official tenant, for which he had to hand over the wine obtained from this vineyard to the temple of Pathyris and to pay a fine called
prostimon or
gns which in contrast to the P. BM EA 56919 is not explicitly mentioned here, but is calculated:
"A prostimon was a fine charged for taking (extra) land.... When individuals took illegal possession of land, which was ownerless or derelict (usually dry land) and belonging to the Crown, a once-off fine or prostimon had to be paid. The fine was cashed through the bank and paid into the account of the Idios Logos, a special account of the Crown into which were deposited payments from the sale of royal property. The etymology of the Demotic word qns ('violence'; n qns means 'with violence, by force, illegally') and the circumstances in which prostima-payments were imposed suggest that, in general, an illegal act was involved and that the translation 'fine' is to be preferred to 'charge'" (cf.
Vandorpe / Thompson, ZPE 190 Vandorpe, K. / Thompson, D. J., 'Prostima-Fines and Crop-Control under Ptolemy VIII BGU VI 1420 Reconsidered in Light of the New Schubart-Column to P.Haun. inv. 407', Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 190 (2014), 188-190., 188-189).
The texts of the Demotic tablets BM EA 56919 and BM EA 56918 belong to the group of so-called
r-rḫ⸗w temple-receipt ("that which was measured"). These receipts originate from the greater Thebais area and date from the Ptolemaic to the Roman era. On the text genre:
Kaplony-Heckel, in: Grund und Boden 46Kaplony-Heckel, U., 'Thebanische Acker- Amt-Quittungen ', in: Allam, S. (Hg.), Grund und Boden in Altägypten (rechtliche und sozio-ökonomische Verhältnisse). Akten des internationalen Symposions Tübingen 18.-20. Juni 1990 (Untersuchungen zum Rechtsleben im alten Ägypten 2; Tübingen, 1994), 189-197 (=
Kaplony-Heckel, Land und Leute am Nil IIKaplony-Heckel, U., Land und Leute am Nil nach demotischen Inschriften, Papyri und Ostraka. Gesammelte Schriften I-II (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 71.1-2; Wiesbaden, 2009)., 1007-1015);
Vandorpe, AfP 46 Vandorpe, K., 'The Ptolemaic epigraphe or harvest tax (shemu)’, Archiv für Papyrusforschung 46 (2000), 169-232..
The scribe of the
r-rḫ⸗w temple-receipt on the 'recto' of T. BM EA 56919 was Apollonios (TM Per 445323). The confirmation I on the 'verso' was written by Polykrates (TM Per 75619), confirmation II by Patseous (TM Per 445324).
-
Kaplony-Heckel, U., 'Pathyris I (Nr. 1-30). Demotische Kurz-Texte in Cairo', Enchoria 19/20 (1992/93), 45-86, Taf. 4-33, Nr.28, 77-79, Taf. 28-29.
-
Kaplony-Heckel, U., Land und Leute am Nil nach demotischen Inschriften, Papyri und Ostraka. Gesammelte Schriften I (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 71.1-2; Wiesbaden, 2009), Nr.28, 626-628, 660-661 Taf. 28-29.
-
Vandorpe, K. / Worp, K. A., 'Paying Prostimon for new Vineyard Land (T. BM inv.no. EA 56920). A Bilingual Set of Wooden Tablets from the Archive of Horos, son of Nechouthes', Chronique d'Égypte 88 (2013), 105-115..
-
BM: T. BM EA 56919The British Museum Collection online..
wording
|1 𓂋1𓂋:𓐍@1 𓏪 𓂋1 𓅃𓅆 𓅬◳𓀀 𓈖:𓄿𓏴:𓂡1𓍘𓇋2𓆑1𓀀3 𓈖 𓉐𓏤𓉗1𓉐𓏤𓅃𓅆𓁗1𓏏:𓆇1 𓅯𓄿3 𓊹𓊵:𓏏@𓊪1°𓆰𓏪𓏤𓊖 𓉗1𓉐𓏤𓅃𓅆𓁗1𓏏:𓆇1
|2 𓏏:𓄿 𓊹𓆳5𓏏:𓂋𓇋𓆵𓇋𓏲𓁗1𓏏:𓆇1𓉻1:𓇋𓇋𓏲 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1𓇋𓏲'𓏪 𓂞:𓏏4 𓅯𓄿𓏲𓏛:𓏥 𓇋2𓂋:𓊪° 𓂋1 𓌡:𓂝*𓏤1 𓂓𓏤𓅓1𓆮𓉐𓏤𓆰𓏪 𓂋1 𓊹𓉗1𓉐𓏤𓅆 𓈖 𓉐𓏤𓉗1𓉐𓏤⸢𓅃𓅆𓁗1𓏏:𓆇1𓏤𓊖⸣
|3 𓂓𓏤𓅓1𓆮𓉐𓏤𓆰𓏪 𓈖:𓄿 𓂋1𓅠𓅓𓏭:𓏛 𓏪3 𓈖 𓅯𓄿3 𓂻1𓈖2:𓆼𓇋𓏲𓂷:𓂡 𓆳𓊗 𓐂1 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1𓇋𓏲'𓏪 𓅱𓍘𓇋2𓂻 𓏪3 𓅯𓄿𓏲𓏛:𓏥 𓅪:𓊃𓅪:°𓀐 𓏌:𓈖𓉐𓏤 𓈖:𓄿 𓏏:𓈇𓏤@𓏪⸢𓆷1𓈖:𓏌*𓏲𓉻:𓂝*𓏛𓀐⸣
|4 𓏏:𓈖 𓎡𓃭𓎡𓃭𓌉𓋞:𓈒*𓏥 𓏿 𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇 𓂢:𓈅 𓏴:𓏛 𓃛𓃭𓏤𓃭𓏤𓇋𓇋𓏲𓏰:𓇳 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇 𓏴:𓈅1 𓅬◳𓈅 𓋴𓈅:
𓂋:𓌳*𓈅1 𓅱𓈖:𓏌*𓏲⸢𓉐𓏤 𓎔:𓂝1 𓏺 𓏴⸣
𓄞:𓂧'𓉐𓏤'𓈘:𓈇𓏏 〈𓎔:𓂝1〉
𓏺 𓐝'𓏴 𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓂋:𓌳*𓈅 𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇 𓂢:𓈅 𓂽
|5 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1 𓆼𓄿5𓂝:𓂻𓈐:𓂻 𓈖 𓅯𓄿𓇋𓇋𓆑 ⸢
𓏭:𓂋3*𓏤𓏤𓉐𓏤𓄹⸣ □□□□□□□□□□□□□
𓏞𓍼:𓏤 𓄿°𓊪1:°𓃭𓏤𓍯𓈖:𓏌*𓏲𓇋𓏲𓐠𓏤𓏰:𓏛𓀀3 ⸢
𓆳𓊗⸣
𓐂1 (1) r:rḫ⸗w r Ḥr sꜣ Nꜣ-nḫṱ⸗f n Pr-Ḥw.t-Ḥr <n> ḥtp-nṯr Ḥw.t-Ḥr
(2) tꜣ nṯre.t ꜥꜣy(.t) ntỉ.ỉw⸗w ḏi̯.t pꜣy⸗w ỉrp r wꜥ km r ḥw.t-nṯr n Pr-Ḥw.t-⸢Ḥr⸣
(3) <wꜥ> km nꜣ r:gmi̯⸗w n pꜣ ỉw-n-ḫꜣe <n> ḥsb.t 9 ntỉ.ỉw⸗w wṱ⸗w pꜣy⸗w gns ẖn nꜣ ꜣḥ.w-⸢šnꜥ⸣
(4) tn krkr 6 r sṯꜣ.t 1/2 wp-st ỉwlly sṯꜣ.t 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32 wn ⸢mḥ-ꜥ 1 1/4⸣ šd.t <mḥ-ꜥ> 1 3/4 r sṯꜣ.t 1/32 r sṯꜣ.t 1/2 ꜥn
(5) ntỉ ḫꜣꜥ r-bnr n pꜣy⸗f rʾ □□□□□□□□□□□□□ sẖꜣ ꜣplwnes <n> ⸢ḥsb.t⸣ 9
(1) Was gemessen(bestätigt) wurde für Horos, Sohn des Nechoutes, in Pathyris <in> der Domäne der Hathor,
(2) der grossen Göttin: Man(der Quittungsempfänger) soll ihren(aus den genannten Aruren gewonnenen) Wein entsprechend 1 Weingarten(parzelle) an den Tempel von Path⸢yris⸣ geben.
(3) <Eine> Weingarten(parzelle) (ist) das, was man in der Vermessungsquittung <von> Jahr 9 gefunden hat. Man(der Quittungsempfänger) soll sie, (d.h.) ihre(zu den genannten Aruren gehörige) prostimon-Geldbuße von den ⸢Ödland⸣äckern zahlen
(4) je 6 Talenten (pro Arure, zu zahlen anteilig) auf 1/2(=16/32) Arure. Im Einzelnen: Rebland 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32(=15/32) Aruren; (aufgeschütteter) Wall ⸢1 1/4 Ellen⸣ (und) Graben 1 3/4 <Ellen>, macht (zusammen) 1/32 Aruren, macht (insgesamt) wiederum 1/2(=16/32) Arure,
(5) die von seiner Summe herausgelassen(steuerfrei) ist. □□□□□□□□□□□□□ Geschrieben von Apollonios <im> ⸢Regierungsjahr⸣ 9.
confirmation I.
|6 = vso 1 𓏞𓍼:𓏤 𓊪1:°𓍯𓃭𓏤𓍯𓎼:°𓃭𓏏𓐠𓏤𓏰:𓏛𓀀3@ 𓂋1 𓂓𓏤𓅓1𓆮𓉐𓏤𓆰𓏪 𓏺 𓂋1𓅠𓏭:𓏛 𓏪 𓁷1 𓈖 𓅯𓄿3 𓂻1𓈖2:𓆼𓇋𓇋𓏲𓂷:𓂡 𓈖 𓆳𓊗 ⸢
𓐂1 𓏌:𓈖𓉐𓏤⸣
|7 = vso 2 𓆷1𓈖:𓏌*𓏲𓏲𓏭:𓏛𓀐 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1𓇋𓏲'𓏪 𓂋1 𓅱𓍘𓇋2𓂻 ⸢
𓅯𓄿𓏲𓏛:𓏥⸣
𓅪:𓊃𓅪:°𓀐 𓏏:𓈖 𓎡𓃭𓎡𓃭𓏤𓌉𓋞:𓈒*𓏥 𓏿 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇 𓂢:𓈅 𓏴:𓏛:° 𓃛𓃭𓏤⸢𓃭𓏤𓇋𓇋𓏲𓆮 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓏴:𓈅1 𓅬◳𓈅 𓋴𓈅:
𓂋:𓌳*𓈅1⸣
|8 = vso 3 𓅱𓈖:𓏌*𓏲𓐎1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓎔:𓂝1 𓏺 𓐝@ 𓄞:𓂧𓏤1𓈘:𓈇𓏏 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓎔:𓂝1 𓏺 𓐝@ 𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓂋:𓌳*𓈅 ⸢
𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇1 𓂢:𓈅⸣
𓂽1 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1 ⸢
𓆼𓄿5𓂝:𓂻 𓂋1𓈐:𓂻 𓅯𓄿𓇋𓇋𓆑 𓏭:𓂋3*𓏤𓉐𓏤 𓈖 𓆳𓊗 𓐂1⸣
(6 = vso 1) sẖꜣ Pwlwgrts r km 1 r:gmi̯⸗w ḥr {n} pꜣ ỉw-n-ḫꜣy n ḥsb.t ⸢9 ẖn⸣
(7 = vso 2) šn(ꜥ) ntỉ.ỉw⸗w r wṱ ⸢pꜣy⸗w⸣ gns tn krkr 6 <r> štꜣ.t 1/2 wp-st ỉwlly sṯꜣ.t 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32
(8 = vso 3) wn sṯꜣ.t mḥ-ꜥ 1 1/2 šd.t sṯꜣ.t mḥ-ꜥ 1 1/2 r sṯꜣ.t 1/32 ⸢r sṯꜣ.t 1/2⸣ ꜥn ⸢ntỉ ḫꜣꜥ r-bnr n pꜣy⸗f rʾ n ḥsb.t 9⸣
(6 = vso 1) Unterzeichnet von Polykrates: Macht 1 Weingarten(parzelle), die man auf {in} der Vermessungsquittung aus dem Jahr ⸢9⸣ gefunden hat, ⸢gehörig zum⸣
(7 = vso 2) Ödland. Man (der Quittungsempfänger) soll ⸢ihre⸣(zu den genannten Aruren gehörige) prostimon-Geldbuße zahlen je 6 Talenten (pro Arure, zu zahlen anteilig) <auf> 1/2(=16/32) Arure. Im Einzelnen: Rebland 1/4 1/8 1/16 1/32(=15/32) Arure;
(8 = vso 3) (aufgeschütteter) Wall 1 1/2 Aruren-Ellen (und) Graben 1 1/2 Aruren-Ellen, macht (zusammen) 1/32 Aruren, ⸢macht (insgesamt)⸣ wiederum ⸢1/2(=16/32) Arure, die von seiner Summe herausgelassen(steuerfrei) ist im Regierungsjahr 9.⸣
confirmation II.
|9 = vso 4 𓏞𓍼:𓏤 𓊪:𓏭𓏏:𓄿𓊨𓏤𓉐𓏤𓉻1:𓉻:𓂝*𓏛 𓂋1 𓍬:𓏏*𓈇 𓂢:𓈅 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1 𓆼𓄿5𓂝:𓂻:° 𓂋1𓈐:𓂻:° 𓅯𓄿𓇋𓇋𓆑 𓏭:𓂋3*𓏤𓉐𓏤 𓂋1𓄡:𓏏*𓏤 𓅯𓄿 𓈖:𓏏*𓏭1 𓏞𓍼:𓏤 𓇯 𓈖 𓆳𓊗 𓐂1𓏏⸣ (9 = vso 4) sẖꜣ Pa-tꜣ-s.t-ꜥꜣ(.t) r sṯꜣ.t 1/2 ntỉ ḫꜣꜥ r-bnr n pꜣy⸗f rʾ ⸢r-ẖ(.t) pꜣ ntỉ sẖꜣ hrỉ n ḥsb.t 9.t⸣
(9 = vso 4) Unterzeichnet von Patseous: macht 1/2 Arure, die von seiner Summe ⸢herausgelassen (steuerfrei) ist im Regierungsjahr 9.⸣
(01/07/2024)