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Introduction

Register of tax payments

Nicola Reggiani

P.Lund inv. 85 is a papyrus fragment measuring 20,9 (w) x 31,5 (h) cm. It is broken on three sides and the bottom margin is preserved; its surface is damaged by several holes and cracks throughout. The provenance is unknown, but at least three names mentioned in the text point to the Arsinoites (see notes below). The text can be dated to the 2nd century AD: if the month name Hadrianos is correct at l. 22 of the verso, then at least the back can be dated after AD 130 (see commentary to P.Col. X 261, 5); the mention to the 19th and the 20th years at l. i, 5 of the recto suggests the reign of Hadrian (AD 134-5 and 135-6), Marcus Aurelius (AD 178-9 and 179-80) or Antoninus Pius (AD 155-6 and 156-7). Since the verso was certainly written some time after the recto, however, the reign of Trajan (AD 115-6 and 116-7) cannot be completely ruled out.

The recto, written along the fibers, contains the remains of two columns of a register of people. Only the end of the lines of the first column and the beginning of those of the second one are preserved; moreover, the first column is preserved up to the bottom margin, while the other one breaks off towards the middle of the sheet. People are recorded with name, patronym, papponym, metronym, sometimes their profession (l. i, 10: κουρεύς "barber"), age. A large interlinear space was left blank, probably for later additions (see such additions at ll. i.4-5 and ii.1-2). The text typology certainly relates to the census procedures and to the so-called eikonismoi (

H. Braunert, Terminologie der Volkszählung (1956)

, pp. 56-62;

P.J. Sijpesteijn, Three Papyri Concerning Census (1995)

, p. 274 nn. 2-3;

T. Kruse, Der königliche Schreiber (2002)

, II, p. 807 n. 122;

M. Depauw, Physical Descriptions, Registration and εἰκονίζειν (2011)

, pp. 190 ff.). General population registers collecting and listing personal data taken from the census declarations are attested in the extant sources: they are those μόνα ἀντίγραφα λαογραφιῶν [κ]ατ’ ἄνδρα ("single copies of the population lists arranged person-by-person") mentioned among other similar typologies in a famous contract issued by nine scribes to the secretaries of Arsinoe in AD 134 stating the different types of documents they had been hired to write (P.Mich. XI 603, 6-7). See also P.Heid. IV 310 , 20-21 (mention of the text category) and P.Lond. II 257, 258, 259, three huge detailed registers of persons from some group of villages of the Herakleides meris in the Arsinoites dated to AD 94-95. Similar registers are preserved in BGU II 493-494-495-496-497-498-499-500-501-502-503-504-505-506-507-508-509-510 (Arsinoites, 2nd cent. AD) and CPR XV 28 (Soknopaiou Nesos, second half of the 2nd cent. AD). Cf. N. Reggiani, Identifying People in Official Reports, in A. Jördens - U. Yiftach (eds.), Accounts and Bookkeeping in the Ancient World, Wiesbaden 2020, pp. 203-06 (ibid., pp. 196-99, on the recording of professional occupations in personal declarations and tax registers).

A third column was added between the two main ones, attesting a later stage of reuse of the register: here a simple list of people, only the names of which are mentioned, and payments in cash is recorded. The rates of the payments (mostly of 4, 8, 16 drachmas) point to the poll tax (laographia or syntaximon: cf.

S.L. Wallace, Taxation in Egypt (1938)

, pp. 123 ff.), wich could be closely related to the personal register in the main document. Moreover, what appears to be a huge theta is placed immediately to the left of the top of the later insertion: its function is unclear, since it appears different from the usual way of marking the numbering of columns in register rolls, but it could refer to the year of payment. After the readjustment of the top-right part of the fragment (see below, discussion of the verso) it gets more like an L-shaped mark going into a half circle, which is unclear as well.

On the verso there are 26 lines of almost illegible text, perhaps written by the same hand as the later insertion on the recto. Amounts of drachmas appear throughout, and it is likely that the text is a register of cash payments. The entries are grouped in text blocks separated from each other with blank spaces; each record starts with a number of men (ἄνδρες) and then records a series of monthly payments (commonly 8, 12 or 16 drachmas, that is the same figures dealt with on the recto) made through at least two persons, Aphrodisios and Deios (?). The months mentioned are Phamenoth, Pharmouthi, Pachon, and Hadrianos (= Choiak). The last two lines seem to provide the total amounts paid through the aforesaid persons. The alignment of the lines of the first four sections shows that the top-left part of the papyrus is slighlty shifted and needs to be moved one line (c. 0.7 cm) down. The readjustment does not affect the text on the recto, where the joint corresponds to the unwritten intercolumnium, except for the huge mark on the top discussed above.

(Work on this papyrus took place in two courses offered by Rodney Ast, Lajos Berkes, and James Cowey at the University of Heidelberg's Institute for Papyrology during summer semester 2014. The author expresses his gratitude to all involved in those classes for their assistance. This publication is also part of the project "Synopsis: Data Processing and State Management in Late Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt (150 BCE-300 CE)", conducted by Prof. Andrea Jӧrdens (University of Heidelberg) and Prof. Uri Yiftach-Firanko (University of Tel Aviv) under the auspices of the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (grant no. G-38-111.4/2011). A revision of this possibly Arsinoitic papyrus has been conducted in the framework of the PRIN national project "Greek and Latin Literary Papyri from Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Fayum: Texts, Contexts, Readers" (P.I. Prof. Lucio Del Corso, University of Cassino), Research Unit of Parma (coordinator Prof. Nicola Reggiani))

r

column 1
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]ρου τοῦ Διοσκ̣ό̣ρ̣ου μητ(ρὸς) Διο̣ν̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]σεως τοῦ Διοσκόρο̣υ μητ(ρὸς) Τα̣[  ̣]  ̣τ̣ο̣ς̣ [  ̣]ι̣ε̣  ̣
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ νε]ώ̣τ(ερος(?)) ἀδελφ[ὸ]ς̣ μητρ̣ὸς τ̣ῆ̣ς α̣ὐ̣τ̣ῆ̣[ς ⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣ητρου τοῦ Ὀρσενούφεως μητ(ρὸς) Ταύρ̣εως   ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
5[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ ]χθ( ) τῷ ιθ (ἔτει) καὶ τῷ κ (ἔτει) δι(ὰ) προσγρά(φου) παραγεγρα( ) ⁦ vac. ? ⁩ (δραχμ ) [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]εως τοῦ Σαμβᾶ μητρ̣[ὸ]ς̣ Ταύρεως χοῖνιξ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]ο̣υ τοῦ Ψεναμούνεως μ[η]τ̣(ρὸς) Τασουχαρ̣ε̣ί̣ο̣υ(*) [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣[  ̣]  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] Ταπετσωούκ̣ι̣ο̣ς [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] τοῦ̣ Δ̣ι̣[- ca.5 -]ο̣υ̣ μ̣η̣τ(ρὸς) Τασο̣υ̣χαρ̣ί̣ο̣υ̣ ἀ̣π̣ο̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] (ἐτῶν) ιϛ Traces
10[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ ἀπ]ά̣τωρ μητρὸς Ζωίδος κουρεύς (ἐτῶν) κ̣ε̣
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]εως τοῦ Ἀπολλωνίου μητ(ρὸς) Αγχῆτος [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] Traces
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣του τοῦ Σοχώτου μητ(ρὸς) Ταορσενούφ̣εω̣[ς ⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] Traces
[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ Διον]υ̣σίου τοῦ Κονῶτος(*) μητ(ρὸς) Τα̣  ̣  ̣[  ̣]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]   ̣ [(ἐτῶν)] ιε column 2
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1Διόσκορος [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
⁦ vac. ? ⁩ κ̣α̣ὶ̣   ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣γρ(  ) [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Δίδυμος [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Πε̣τ̣αλλίω̣ν̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
5Ψενατῦμι̣ς [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Διόσκορος [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Ἀπ̣ολλών[ιος ⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Π̣[  ̣]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- column 3
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1(added at left: ((unintelligible)) )
(hand 2) Δ̣ι̣[όσ]κορο[ς ⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] (δραχμ- ) η
Διόσκ̣ο̣ρ̣ος [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Κρόλις (δραχμ- )   ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
Ὡρε̣ίων (δραχμ- ) λϛ̣
5Πτολλᾶς (δραχμ- ) ιϛ
Ψ̣ενεμ̣(  ) (δραχμ- ) ι[ϛ   ̣]  ̣
[Π]άτρων (δραχμ- ) ι[ϛ]
[Δ]ω̣ρᾶ̣ς̣ (δραχμ- (?)) η̣
[Ὡ]ρε̣ί̣ω̣ν (δραχμ- ) ιϛ Traces
10[  ̣]  ̣ς (δραχμ- ) ιϛ
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
ἀ̣ρειθ(μήσεως)(*) Φαμ̣ε̣νώθ
[/] Ἀ̣πολλὼς Τιτ⟦ίο⟧υ (δραχμ- ) ιβ (δραχμ- ) η
/ Ψεναμοῦνις (δραχμ- ) η (δραχμ- ) δ
[/] Ἀπολλὼς εξ  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣
15[/] Δ̣ιό[σ]κ̣ορος   ̣  ̣ (δραχμ- (?)) δ̣
[/] Ψωρᾶς̣ (δραχμ- ) ι̣ϛ
[/] Πατω  ̣  ̣  ̣ (δραχμ- ) ιβ
[/] Ωρ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] (δραχμ- ) ιβ
/ Κρόλι̣ς̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
20  ̣  ̣ / Ωρείω̣ν̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
/ Πτολλα[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
⁦ vac. ? ⁩ (γίνονται) (δραχμαὶ) ν̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] v
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
1Π̣τ̣[  ̣]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣ ἄ̣νδ̣[ρ]ε̣ς̣ οζ
αρ -9-10- ι̣β δ̣ι̣’ Ἀ̣φ̣ροδισίου̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
δ̣ι̣α̣  ̣  ̣  ̣ ου (δραχμ- ) ιϛ
Φαρ̣μ̣ο̣[ῦθι] Traces [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣
5ιβ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
Ἀπ̣ο̣λ̣λ̣ω̣ν̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ Φαμε]ν̣ὼθ ἄνδ[ρε]ς .1ε
α̣ρ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]δ̣ια̣α  ̣ι  ̣
/ δ̣ι̣α̣  ̣  ̣ το[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ δι]ὰ Δ̣ε̣ί̣ου (δραχμ- ) ιβ Φ̣α̣μ̣ε̣ν̣ώθ
(δραχμ- ) η Φα̣ρ̣μ̣οῦθι [(δραχμ- ) -1-2- Παχὼ]ν (δραχμ- ) η
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
10Πάτ̣ρ̣ω̣ν̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩ ἄ]ν̣δρες δ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]   ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣
(δραχμ- (?))   ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣ τοῦ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩] ι̣β̣ δ̣ι̣α̣  ̣[ -2-3- ] -2-3- Φ̣α̣μενώθ
(δραχμ- ) ιβ Φ̣α̣ρ̣μοῦ̣[θι (δραχμ- ) -1-2- Π]α̣χὼν (δραχμ- )   ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣τ̣ω̣ν̣   ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣ ἄνδρε̣[ς] λ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
/ - ca.9 -[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣δ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣
15δ̣ι̣α̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣ δ̣ι̣ὰ̣ Δε̣ί̣ου̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣
[ -2-3- ]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣  ̣[  ̣  ̣] Φ̣α̣ρ̣μ̣ο̣ῦ̣θ̣ι̣ [(δραχμ- ) -1-2- ] Παχών
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
[ -2-3- ]  ̣οσι  ̣  ̣ ἄνδρες̣ Traces
[ -2-3- ] Traces [δι’ Ἀφ]ροδ̣ι̣σ̣ίου   ̣
[ -2-3- ] Traces ιϛ  ̣  ̣  ̣ δια[⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]  ̣  ̣ Φα̣-
20[με]ν̣ωθ (δραχμ- ) ιϛ Φα[ρ]μ̣οῦθι (δραχμ- ) -1-2- Π̣α̣χ̣ὼ̣ν̣ [(δραχμ- )] ι̣β̣
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
[ -2-3- ]λ̣ -3-4- ἄν̣δρες   ̣ ος
[ -2-3- ]  ̣  ̣  ̣ Ἁδριανοῦ (δραχμ- ) β δι’ Ἀφρ̣ο̣δ̣ι̣σ̣ί̣ο̣υ̣ - ca.3 -
[ -2-3- ]  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣  ̣τος -2-3- δι̣ὰ Δε̣ί̣ου (δραχμ- ) ιϛ Φ̣α̣με̣ν̣ὼθ
[ -2-3- ] ις
⁦ vac. ? lines⁩
25[ -2-3- ]  ̣  ̣ρ̣εις τῶν δύο μ̣η̣ν̣ω̣ν̣ [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]
[ -2-3- ]  ̣  ̣ δι’ Ἀφροδισίου (γίνονται(?)) (δραχμαὶ) μ̣ -3-4- δ̣ι̣ὰ̣ Δ̣ε̣ῖ̣ου (γίνονται) [⁦ -ca.?- ⁩]

Notes

• r,i,4.

  Perhaps Δη]μ̣ητρ⟨ί⟩ου, but μ is difficult.

• r,i,5.

  ]χθ( ) likely points to an abbreviated passive participle.

• r,i,6.

  The meaning of χοῖνιξ as a vase name or a unit of dry measure does not fit the context. At this point we expect the mention of a profession, such as κουρεύς at l.10: it might be an odd way to refer to a potter, but as far as I know it is unparalleled. A nickname could be taken into consideration, though unusual in this place. χοιν- could stand for χην-, though obviously it is not χοινοβοσκός.

• r,i,8.

  This name variant is listed under TM Nam 7731.

• r,i,9.

  The grandfather's name may well be Δ̣ι̣[οσκόρ]ο̣υ̣ (cf. ll. 1-2), but different readings (e.g. Δ̣ι̣[ονυσί]ο̣υ̣) cannot be completely ruled out.

• r,i,10.

  For the Greek female name Ζωίς see TM Nam 6477

• r,i,11.

  For the Egyptian female name Ἀγχης (ʿnḫ.t) see TM Nam 55; Demotisches Namenbuch, p. 105; H. De Meulenaere, "Anthroponymes égyptiens de Basse Époque", CE 38, 1963, pp. 213-220: p. 219 no. 11; S.P. Vleeming, "Some Notes on P.Hawara OI 1", Göttinger Miszellen 225, 2010, pp. 99-106: pp. 104-105.

• r,i,12.

  For the Egyptian male name Σοχωτης (Sbk-ḥtp) see TM Nam 1123, Demotisches Namenbuch, pp. 920-1.

• r,i,13.

  For the male name Κοννως see TM Nam 3700: except for a very early instance from Memphis, it is attested (not very frequently) only in the Arsinoites from the Ptolemaic to the Roman age.

• r,ii,4.

  For the Greek male name Πεταλίων see TM Nam 19136. Except for one Ptolemaic instance (P.Rain.Cent. 51,3 Therythis, first half of 1st cent. BC), the only attestations of this name come from 2nd-3rd century Karanis (P.Mich. 4.223, P.Mich. 4.224, P.Mich. 4.225, O.Mich. 3.1097,1). The spelling variant with two lambdas is attested six times only in P.Mich. 4.224 (Karanis, after 16.11.173 AD).

• r,iii,3.

  A phonetic variant of male name Κρῶλις, which form is so far attested only in P.Petaus 93r, iv, 86 (Ptolemais Hormou, Arsinoites, AD 182-187; cf. TM Nam 29654). It finds further variants in the Petaus archive and elsewhere: cf. Κλῶρις (which is given as Neseus’ patronymic at P.Petaus 97, 3, if the editors’ reading is right) and Κλῶλις.

• r,iii,6.

  The intial psi is not certain (cf. the other psi's in the papyrus, which appear shaped differently); if we accept Ψενεμ-, then we should think of a phonetic variant of Ψεναμ-, e.g. Ψεναμοῦνις.

• r,iii,8.

  Possible also [Θ]ώ̣ρα̣ξ̣, but this name is attested only in the 3rd-2nd cent. BC. I tend to exclude [Σ]α̣ρᾶς̣ - or even e.g. [Σ]α̣ραπ̣( ) - because the shape of the ink trace after the left-hand lacuna exhibits a raising curved trait, which is - in my opinion - more similar to omega than to alpha in this script.

• r,iii,12.

  The patronym Τιτίου, which is the only one in this list, appears to have been deleted by the scribe. It is likely that the list was intended to record only the payers' personal names, but was copied by another list containing patronyms too. This may have been the origin of the mistake, which was later corrected by the scribe. The actual deletion seems to affect only the letters ιο, but Τιτυ would make no sense, unless it was intended to render Τίτου. At any rate, the former interpretation seems more likely, in consideration of the lack of patronyms in the whole list.

• r,iii,16.

  Ψωρᾶς is unattested, but cf. Ψώρις (TM Nam 25920), Ψωρίων.

• r,iii,17.

  Several possible supplements, e.g. Πατῶμις, Πατώτης, Πατώσις, etc.

• v,1.

  Here and at l. 6, place names are possible (e.g. Ptolemais, Apollonias), but since at the beginning of l. 10 we find a personal name, we can suppose the same here (e.g. Ptolemaios, Apollonios).