C O R P U S P A P Y R O R U M J U D A I C A R U M

V O L U M E I I

CORPUS PAPYRORUM JUDAICARUM

VOLUME II

E D I T E D B Y

VICTOR A. TCHERIKOVER (1894-1958) P R O F E S S O R O F A N C I E N T H I S T O R Y I N T H E

H E B R E W U N I V E R S I T Y , J E R U S A L E M

A N D

ALEXANDER FUKS A S S O C I A T E P R O F E S S O R O F

A N C I E N T H I S T O R Y A N D C L A S S I C S I N T H E H E B R E W U N I V E R S I T Y , J E R U S A L E M

P U B L I S H E D F O R

T H E M A G N E S P R E S S , T H E H E B R E W U N I V E R S I T Y

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS C A M B R I D G E , M A S S A C H U S E T T S

i 9 6 0

The Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum has been printed by the generosity of the

Lucius N. Littauer Foundation

i 9 6 0 B Y T H E M A G N E S P R E S S

T H E H E B R E W U N I V E R S I T Y

A L L R I G H T S R E S E R V E D

D I S T R I B U T E D I N G R E A T B R I T A I N B Y

O X F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S , L O N D O N

P R I N T E D I N G R E A T B R I T A I N

VICTOR A. TCHERIKOVER (1894-1958)

T H E architect and editor of the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum passed away in Jerusalem on 16 January 1958.

Victor A. Tcherikover was born in St. Petersburg in 1894. After having graduated in the University of Moscow, he went to the University of Berlin for further historical studies. In Berlin he worked under the supervision of Ed. Meyer and U. Wilcken. He was drawn b y the latter into the field of Hellenistic History and Papyrology, subjects for which he maintained his enthusiasm to the end of his life. In 1925 he came to Jerusalem and joined the staff of the recently founded Hebrew University. He was the pioneer of teaching and research in Ancient History in Jerusalem, and later became the first occupant of the chair of Ancient History in Jerusalem. In 1927 he published his first book, Die hellenistischen Stadtegriindungen. Though he had wide historical interests, his field of research was chiefly the history of the Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Early in his research he grasped the importance of papyrological documents in the field he had chosen, and devoted much of his time to the s tudy and historical interpretation of papyri.

Over many years he published both in Hebrew and in English studies dealing with various aspects of Jewish history in the Hellenistic and Roman periods and in the field he liked to call 'Jewish papyrology'. His main contributions were: The Jews and the Greeks in the Hellenistic Period (in Hebrew), The Jews in Egypt in the Hellenistic-Roman Age in the Light of the Papyri (in Hebrew), 'Palestine under the Ptolemies' (Mizraim, v) , 'Syntaxis and Laographia' ( / . Jur. Pap. v) , 'The Sambathions' (Scripta Hierosolymitana, i), 'Jewish Apologetic Literature Reconsidered' (Eos, xlviii. 3), 'The Ideology of the Letter of Aristeas' (HTR, li).

Two major undertakings round off the well-planned lifetime of Tcherikover the historianthe Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews (Philadelphia, 1959), and the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum.

As scholar, teacher, and man Tcherikover was a true representative of the humanistic tradition.

PREFACE T H E second volume of the Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum was in the press when Professor Victor A. Tcherikover died on 16 January 1958.

I regarded the completion of Professor Tcherikover's undertaking as m y foremost duty to the memory of a dear teacher, colleague, and friend. N o w that the second volume has been completed, work is being done b y Mr. M. Stern and myself on the manuscript of the third and final volume, and it is hoped that it will follow before long.

Professor Tcherikover had seen galleys of Sections VII , I X , and X I ; he had not seen proofs of Section V I I I ; Section X was, at the t ime of his death, not yet ready for the press.

Sections VIII and I X of this volume are b y Victor A. Tcherikover, Sections VII and X I b y A. Fuks, Section X b y Tcherikover and Fuks. All unsigned commentaries to documents and introductions to sections in this volume are by Tcherikover; those written b y Fuks are signed A. F . ; Introduction to Section VII , signed M. S., is by Mr. Menahem Stern.

Many people helped with this volume, none more than Mr. D . M. Lewis (Oxford) and Mr. M. Stern (Jerusalem).

Mr. Lewis not only advised constantly on various points of scholarship but also translated most of the documents in this volume, read and reread proofs of the book, and was unsparingly helpful in all stages of production.

Mr. Stern not only wrote the Introduction to Section VII , but also advised on m a n y points of Jewish history, and contributed much to improve the bibliographical lists in this volume.

Special thanks are due to Mrs. A. Tcherikover, who transcribed almost all the papyrological texts , and whose never abating interest in the progress of this volume has been of great help.

Warm thanks go out to Professor J. Schwartz (Strasbourg), whose thorough knowledge of the material and patient work considerably improved Section IX. H e also made available for publication four unpublished ostraka (Nos. 183a, 256, 328a, 350).

Dr. H. A. Musurillo, S.J. (St. Andrew-on-Hudson), kindly made available proofs of his book Acts of the Pagan Martyrs long before it was published; he also agreed to read proof of Section VIII and made several useful comments .

Thanks are due to Mr. C. H. Roberts (Oxford), Professor E . G. Turner (London), Dr. J. W. B. Barns (Oxford), Mr. T. Reekmans (Louvain), Mr. T. C. Skeat (London), Professor H. Gerstinger (Graz), and Professor E . Kiessling (Marburg), who patiently answered many queries concerning both readings and interpretations.

Thanks are also due to friends and colleagues in Jerusalem: Dr. S. Applebaum gave much help on matters of s ty le ; Dr. M. Amit read proofs of Sections VII and V I I I ; Mr. D . Rokeah, former student of Professor Tcherikover, prepared the List of Abbreviations and Indexes to this volume.

The Ministry of Education and Culture of the State of Israel as well as the

viii P R E F A C E

Institute of Jewish Studies of the Hebrew University and its former Chairman Professor B. Dinur, are t o be thanked for their initial grants, which enabled us to begin the work. To Mr. E . Poznanski, Academic Secretary of the Hebrew University, thanks are due for help and advice on many matters connected with the Corpus.

Finally deep appreciation must be recorded of the assistance given b y the Trustees of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, whose generous grant made this publication possible, and particularly b y its Director, Mr. H. Starr, and Professor H. A. Wolfson.

A. F .

CONTENTS V I C T O R A. T C H E R I K O V E R (1894-1958) v P R E F A C E vii

L I S T O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S xi

E X P L A N A T O R Y N O T E xvi

S E C T I O N V I I : J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 1-24

142. Jewish-owned land in the chora of Alexandria 5 143. Agreement about a legacy 8 144. Deed of Divorce 10 145. Jewish landowner in the Bousirite district 12 146. Engagement of a wet-nurse 15 147. Annulment of a contract with a wet-nurse 19 148. Payment of debt by a Jewish freedwoman 20 149. Repayment of loan to a loan-society 22

S E C T I O N V I I I : ' T H E J E W I S H Q U E S T I O N ' I N A L E X A N D R I A 25-107 150. The so-called'Boule-papyras' 25 1 5 1 . A petition to the Prefect 29 152. Jewish money-lenders in Alexandria 33 153. The Letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians 36 154-159. Acts of Alexandrian Martyrs 55 154. An Interview between Flaccus and the Leaders of the anti-Semites 60 155. Isidoros before the Emperor Gaius Caligula 64 156. Isidoros and Lampon before Claudius 66 I 57- Jews and Greeks before Trajan 82 158. Jews and Greeks before Hadrian 87 159. A trial before Commodus 99

S E C T I O N I X . O S T R A K A F R O M T H E J E W I S H Q U A R T E R O F A P O L L I N O P O L I S M A G N A ( E D F U ) 108-77

160-229. Part I. The Jewish Tax 119 230-374. Part II. Various Taxes (A.D. 56-117) 136 375-403. Part III. Various Taxes (A.D. 151-165) 168 404-408. Part IV. Miscellaneous 176

S E C T I O N X. V A R I O U S D O C U M E N T S OF T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 178-224

409. Receipt for bath-tax 178 410. Fragment of an account 179 4 1 1 . Loan of barley 179

x C O N T E N T S 412. Return of sheep and goats 181 413. Abstract of a loan 183 414. Contract of a loan 183 415. A list of clothes 185 416. Fragment from a tax-list 186 417. An agreement concerning a loan in form of a deposit 186 418. Tiberius Julius Alexander 188 419. Marcus Julius Alexander 197 420. Gaius Julius Alexander 200 421. The Jewish tax in Arsinoe 204 422. Receipt for reception of a cargo 209 423. Sale of part of a house in the Jewish quarter in Oxyrhynchos 210 424. Letter from Johanna to Epagathos 210 425. An account 212 426. List of persons liable to the poll-tax 213 427. Notification of death 213 428. A list of sitologoi 215 429. A customs-house registry 216 430. A census return 216 431. The enrolment of a Jew for land-work 218 432. Supply of water to two Jewish houses of prayer 220 433. A list of names 224 434. A fragment 224

S E C T I O N X I . T H E J E W I S H R E V O L T I N E G Y P T (A.D. 1 1 5 - 1 7 ) 225-60 435. The Revolt in Alexandria 228 436. A letter from Aline to Apollonios 233 437. A letter from Eudaimonis to Apollonios 235 438. Jewish victories in the Hermoupolite district 236 439. Jewish defeat in the vicinity of Memphis 239 440. A letter from Heliodoros to his father Sarapion 240 441. Letters from Heliodoros to his brothers 242 442. A letter from Eudaimonis to her daughter Aline 244 443. Apollonios's application to the prefect of Egypt for leave of sixty days 246 444. Letter from Ammonios and Hermokles to Apollonios 249 445. Confiscation of Jewish Property 251 446. A letter from Herodes to Apollonios the strategos 253 447. Damage to property in the Oxyrhynchite district 255 448. Confiscation of Jewish land in the Athribite district 255 449. Damage to agricultural property caused in the course of the Jewish

revolt 257 450. Annual festival in the Oxyrhynchite district in commemoration of

victory over the Jews 258 I N D E X E S 261-283

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

I . P A P Y R I , O S T R A K A , A N D I N S C R I P T I O N S

Berlin inv. 1 2 5 3 7 = Arch. v i . 220 , no. 6, ed. Plaumann.

B G U = Aegyptische Urkunden aus den staatlichen Museen zu Berlin: Griechi-sche Urkunden, 1 8 9 5 - .

BL = F . Preisigke, F . Bilabel, M . A . David , B . A . v a n Groningen, E . Kiessling, Berichtigungsliste der griechischen Papyrus-urkwnden aus Agypten, 1 9 1 3 , 1 9 2 2 , 1 9 3 1 , 1 9 3 3 . 1 9 5 8 .

CI] Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, ed. J . B . F r e y , 1 9 3 6 , 1 9 5 2 .

O. Deissm. = P . M . Meyer, Griechische Texte aus Agypten, 1 9 1 6 , pp. 1 0 7 - 2 0 5 .

Dikaiomata = Ausziige aus alexandrini-schen Gesetzen und Verordnungen . . . herausgegeben von der Graeca Halensis, 1 9 1 3 -

Ghedini, Lett. Crist. G . Ghedini, Lettere cristiane dai papiri greet del III e IV secolo, 1 9 2 3 .

Goodspeed and Colwell = E . J . Goodspeed and E . C. Colwell, A Greek Papyrus Reader, 1 9 3 5 .

ILS = H . Dessau, Inscriptiones latinae selectae, 1 8 9 2 - 1 9 1 6 .

Knudtzon, Bakchiastexte = E . J . K n u d t -zon, Bakchiastexte und andere Papyri der Lunder Papyrussammlung, 1 9 4 6 .

L ie tzmann 2 = H . Lietzmann, Griechische Papyri, 2 . AufL, 1 9 1 0 .

M . Chr. = L . Mitteis and U . Wilcken, Grund-ztige und Chrestomathie der Papyruskunde, ii. 2 , 1 9 1 2 .

Meyer, Jur. Pap. P . Meyer, Griechische Texte aus Agypten, 1 9 1 6 .

Milligan = G. Milligan, Selections from the Greek Papyri, 1 9 1 0 .

Musurillo H . A . Musurillo, The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs, Acta Alexandrinorum, 1 9 5 4 -

O. Ashm. , O. Bodl. , O. Camb. , O. Fl ind. Pet . = J . G. Ta i t , Greek Ostraka in the Bodleian Library at Oxford and various other Collections, 1 9 3 0 .

O. Briiss.-Berl. = Ostraka aus Briissel und Berlin, ed. P . Viereck, 1 9 2 2 .

O E = G. Manteuffel in: Fouilles Franco-

Polonaises. Rapports . I . Te l lEdfou , 1 9 3 7 I I . Te l lEdfou , 1 9 3 8 ; I I I . Te l lEdfou , 1 9 3 9 .

O G I S = W . Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones selectae, 1 9 0 3 - 5 .

O I F A O = Ostrakon (Institut francais d'ar-ch6ologie orientale du Caire).

Olsson = B . Olsson, Papyrusbriefe aus der friihesten Romerzeit, 1 9 2 5 .

O. Petrie, see O. Ashm. P a p . Primer = M . D a v i d and B . A . v a n

Groningen, Papyrological Primer, second (English) edition, 1 9 4 6 .

P . B a d . = F . Bilabel, Veroffentlichungen aus den badischen Papyrussammlungen, 1 9 2 3 , 1 9 2 4 .

P . Berl. inv. 8 8 7 7 ( = Uxkull -Gyl lenband, Stzb. preuss. Ak., ph.-hist. Kl., 1 9 3 0 , xxvi i i ) .

P . Berl. Moller = S. Moller, Griechische Papyri aus dem Berliner Museum, 1 9 2 9 .

P . bibl. univ. Giss. 46 = Premerstein, Ale-xandrinische Geronten vor Kaiser Gaius, 1 9 3 9 . PP- 4 - 1 1 -

P . Bour. = P . Bouriant = Les papyrus Bouriant, ed. P . Collart, 1 9 2 6 .

P . Brem. = U . Wilcken, Die Bremer Papyri (Abhandlungen der preussischen A k a d e -mie der Wissenschaften, 1 9 3 6 , Phil.-hist. Klasse N o . 2) , 1 9 3 6 .

P . Cairo 1 0 4 4 8 = T h . Reinach, RE J x x x i , 1 8 9 5 , 1 6 1 sqq . ; xxxi i , 1 8 9 6 , 1 6 0 .

P . Cairo Masp. = J . Maspero, Papyrus grecs d'dpoque byzantine, 1 9 1 1 - 1 6 .

P . Cornell = W . L . Westermann and C. J . Kraemer, j r . : Greek Papyri in the Library of Cornell University, 1 9 2 6 .

P . E n t . = O. Gueraud, ENTEYSE1Z, 1 9 3 1 - 2 .

P . F a y . = P . F a y . O. = B . P . Grenfell, A . S . Hunt , D . G. Hogarth, Fayum Towns and their Papyri, 1900.

P . Flor. = G . Vitelli and D . Comparetti , Papiri greco-egizii: Papiri Fiorenlini, 1 9 0 5 - 1 5 *

P . F o u a d = Les Papyrus Fouad I, ed. A . Bataille, O. Gueraud, P . Jouguet , and others, 1 9 3 9 .

P . Giss. = O. Eger , E . Kornemann, and P . M . Meyer, Griechische Papyri im Museum des oberhessischen Geschichts-vereins zu Giessen, 1 9 1 0 - 1 2 .

xii L I S T OF A B B R E V I A T I O N S P . H a m b . = P . M . Meyer, Griechische

Papyrusurkunden der Hamburger Staats und Universitatsbibliothek, 1 9 1 1 - 2 4 .

P . H a w a r a = The Hawara Papyri, ed. (Sir) W . M . Flinders Petrie; (Hawara, Biahmu, and Arsinoe), 1 8 8 9 .

P . Hib. = B . P . Grenfell, A . S . Hunt , E . G . Turner, and M . T h . Lenger, The Hibeh Papyri, 1 9 0 6 - 5 5 .

P . Lille = P . Jouguet (ed.), Papyrus grecs, 1 9 0 7 - 2 8 .

P . L ips . = L . Mitteis, Griechische Urkunden der Papyrussammlung zu Leipzig, 1906 .

P . Lond . = F . G . K e n y o n and H . I . Bell, Greek Papyri in the British Museum, 1 8 9 3 - 1 9 1 7 .

P . Lond . inv. 2 7 8 5 = Bell, Arch, x, 1 9 3 2 , 5 sqq.

P . Louvre (cf. P . Par.) = W . Brunet de Presle, Notices et extraits des papyrus grecs du musee du Louvre et de la biblio-theque imperiale, 1 8 6 5 .

P . Merton = H . I . Bell and C. H . Roberts , Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the Collection of W. Merton, 1 9 4 8 - .

P . Mich. = Michigan Papyri , 1 9 3 1 . P . Mich. inv. 6 2 2 9 ( = Aeg. x v , 1 9 3 5 ) . P . Oxford = Some Oxford Papyri, ed. E . P .

Wegener, 1 9 4 2 . P . O x y . = The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, ed. B . P .

Grenfell, A . S . Hunt , and others, 1 8 9 8 - . P . Par . (cf. P . Louvre) = W . Brunet de

Presle, Notices et extraits des papyrus grecs du musee du Louvre et de la biblia-theque imperiale, 1 8 6 5 .

P . Phil. = J . Scherer, Papyrus de Philo-delphie, 1 9 4 7 .

P . Princet. = Papyri in the Princeton University Collections, vol. i. ed. A . C . Johnson and H . B . v a n Hoesen, 1 9 3 1 ; vol. ii, ed. E . H . Kase , 1 9 3 6 .

P . R y l . = Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library, Manchester, 1 9 1 1 - .

P S I = G . Vitelli and others, Pubblicazioni delta Societa italiana per la ricerca dei Papiri greci e latini in Egitto: Papiri greci e latini, 1 9 1 2 .

P . Strassb. = F . Preisigke, Griechische Papyrus der Kaiserlichen Universitats und Landesbibliothek zu Strassburg, 1 9 0 6 - 2 0 .

P . Tebt . = The Tebtunis Papyri, ed. b y B . P . Grenfell, A . S . Hunt , J . G . S m y l y , E . J . Goodspeed, 1 9 0 2 - 3 8 .

P . univ. Bibl. Giess. = H . Kl ing and others, Mitteilungen aus der Papyrussammlung der Giessener Universitatsbibliothek, 1 9 2 4 - .

P . Vindob. Boswinkel = Einige Wiener Papyri, ed. E . Boswinkel, 1 9 4 2 .

P . W a r r e n = The Warren Papyri, ed. M . Dav id , B . A . van Groningen, and J . C . v a n Oven, 1 9 4 1 .

P . Wisconsin 1 6 = Clauson, Aeg. ix, 1 9 2 8 , 2 4 0 - 8 0 .

P . Y a l e inv. 1 5 3 6 = Welles, TAP A lxvii , 1 9 3 6 , 7 sqq-

S B = F . Preisigke and F . Bilabel, Sammel-buch griechischer Urkunden aus Agypten, vols. 1 - 2 , 1 9 1 3 - 2 2 ; vol. 3 , 1 9 2 6 - 7 ; vols. 4 - 5 , 1 9 3 1 - 8 , 1 9 5 2 .

Schubart , Griech. Pap. = W . Schubart , Griechische Papyri, T e x t , 1 9 2 7 ; K o m -mentar, 1 9 2 7 .

S E G = Supplementum Epigraphicum Grae-cum, 1 9 2 3 -

S P = A . S . H u n t and C . C . E d g a r , Select Papyri, 1 9 3 2 - 4 .

Syl l . = W . Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscripti-onum Graecarum, 1 9 1 5 - 2 7 .

U P Z = U. Wilcken, Urkunden der Ptole-mderzeit, 1922.

W . Chr. = L . Mitteis and U . Wilcken, Grundziige und Chrestomatie der Papyrus-kunde, i. 2, 1 9 1 2 .

W O = Wilcken, Ostr. = U . Wilcken, Griechische Ostraka aus Agypten und Nubien, 1 8 9 9 .

2. P E R I O D I C A L S Abh. preuss. Ak., Phil.-hist. Kl. =Abhand-

lungen der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Aeg. = Aegyptus: Rivista italiana di egitto-logia e di papirologia, 1 9 2 0 - .

AJPh = American Journal of Philology, 1 8 8 0 - .

Am. Journ. Theol. = American Journal of Theology, 1 8 9 7 - 1 9 2 0 .

Anal. Bollandiana = Analecta bollandiana, 1 8 8 2 - .

Anglican-Theol. Rev. = Anglican Theological Review, 1 9 1 8 - .

Ann. d. Serv. = Annates du Service des Antiquites de l'gypte, 1 8 9 9 - .

Ann.Epigr. = L'Annie Spigraphique, 1 8 8 9 -Ann. Inst. Phil. Hist. Orient. Slav. = An-

nuaire (Institut de philologie et d'histoire orientates, Universite libre de Bruxelles) 1 9 3 2 - .

Anz. K. Akad. Wien, Phil.-Hist. Kl. Anzeiger der koniglichen Akademie in Wien, Philologische-historische Klasse, 1 8 6 4 - .

L I S T OF A B B R E V I A T I O N S xiii Arch. = Archiv fur Papyrusforschung,

1 9 0 0 - . Arch.f. Religionswiss. Archiv f.Religions-

wissenschaft, 1 8 9 8 - . Archivio Giuridico = Archivio giuridico,

1 8 6 8 - . Atene e Roma Atene e Roma, 1 8 9 8 - . Berl. Phil. Woch., see Phil. Woch. BIFAO Bulletin de I'Institut frangais

d'Archeologie orientate, 1 9 0 1 - . Bilychnis = Bilychnis, Rome, 1 9 1 2 - 3 1 . BO = Bibliotheca Orientalis, 1 9 4 3 - . BSAA Bulletin de la Societe archeologique

d'Alexandrie, 1 9 0 4 - . Bull. Ac. Roy. de Belgique, CI. lettres et sc.

mor. et pol. = Bulletin de V Academie royale de Belgique, classe des lettres et sciences morales et politiques, 1899.

Byzantion = Byzantion, revue internationale des etudes byzantines, 1 9 2 4 - .

Byz. Zeitschr. = Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 1 8 9 2 - .

Chr. d'Eg. Chronique d'Egypte, 1 9 2 5 - . Classical Weekly Classical Weekly, 1 9 0 7 -

5 7 (now Classical World). CP = Class. Phil. = Classical Philology,

1 9 0 6 - . CQ = Classical Quarterly, 1907. CR Classical Review, 1 8 8 7 - . CR Ac. Inscr. Comptes rendus de 1'Aca

demie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Didaskaleion Didaskaleion, 1 9 1 2 - . DLZ = Deutsche Literaturzeitung, 1 8 80 - . Edinburgh Review Edinburgh Review, or

Critical Journal. 1 8 0 2 - 1 9 2 9 . Eranos = Eranos: Acta philologica Suecana,

1 9 0 6 - . lit. Papyr. = Etudes de Papyrologie,

1 9 3 2 - . Expos. Times = The Expository Times,

1 8 8 9 -Le Flambeau = Le Flambeau (Brussels),

1 9 1 8 - 2 4 . Forsch. u. Fortschr. = Forschungen und

Fortschritte; Korrespondenzblatt der deut-schen Wissenschaft Technik, 1 9 2 5 - .

GGA = Gdttingische gelehrte Anzeigen, 1 7 3 9 - . Gnomon = Gnomon, kritische Zeitschrift fur

die gesamte klassische Altertumswissen-schaft, 1 9 2 5 - .

Gottinger Nachrichten = Nachrichten der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gbt-tingen.

Harv. St. Class. Phil. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 1 8 9 0 - .

Hermes Hermes, Zeitschrift fur classische Philologie, 1 8 6 6 - .

Hist. Jahrb. Historisches Jahrbuch, 1 8 8 0 - . Hist. Zeitschr. Historische Zeitschrift,

1 8 5 9 - . HTR The Harvard Theological Review,

1 9 0 8 - . Jahr. der judisch-literarischen Gesellschaft

(Frankfurt a.M.) Jahrbuch der Judisch-literarischen Gesellschaft, 1 9 0 3 - 1 9 3 1 / 3 2 .

JEA = Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1 9 1 4 - .

Jew. Soc. Stud. = Jewish Social Studies, 1 9 3 9 - .

JHS = Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1 8 8 0 - .

/. Jur. Pap. Journal of Juristic Papyrology, 1 9 4 6 ; 1 9 4 7 -

Journ. Sav. Journal des Savants, 1 6 6 5 - . JRS = Journal of Roman Studies, 1 9 1 1 - . JTS Journal of Theological Studies,

1 8 9 9 - . Klio Klio, Beitrdge zur alten Geschichte,

1 9 0 1 - . Krit. Vierteljahrschr. f. Gesetzgeb. = Kriti

sche Vierteljahresschrift fur Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft, 1 8 5 9 - .

Kyrkohistorisk Arsskrift = Kyrkohistorisk Arsskrift, 1 9 0 0 - .

Latomus Latomus, revue d'etudes latines, I937--

Litteris = Litteris, an International Critical Review of the Humanities, 1 9 2 4 - .

Lit. Zentralblatt Literarisches Zentralblatt fur Deutschland, 1 8 5 0 - .

MGWJ = Monatsschrift fur Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, 1 8 5 2 1 9 3 9 .

Mnemosyne Mnemosyne, 1852. Museum = Museum, Maandblad voor philo

logie en geschiedenis, 1 8 9 3 - . N. Jahrb. = Neue Jahrbiicher fur Antike

und deutsche Bildung, ( 1 9 3 8 - 4 2 ) . OLZ = Orientalistische Literaturzeitung,

1 8 9 8 -Oudtestament. Stud. = Oudtestamentische

Studien, 1 9 4 3 - . Phil. Woch. = Berlinerphilologische Wochen-

schrift, 1 8 8 1 - 1 9 2 0 . Preuss. Jahrb. = Preussische Jahrbiicher,

1 8 5 8 - . RB = Revue biblique, 1892. REG Revue des Etudes grecques, 1 8 8 8 - . REJ = Revue des Etudes juives, 1880-. Rev. Arch. = Revue Archeology .t.e, 1 8 4 4 - . Rev. belg. de philol. Revue ^elge de philo

logie et d'histoire, 1 9 2 2 - .

xiv L I S T OF A B B R E V I A T I O N S

Rev. binid. = Revue binidictine, 1 8 8 4 - . Rev. de France La Revue de France,

1 9 2 1 - . Rev. des quest, hist = Revue des questions

historiques, i 8 6 0 - . Rev. d'hist. eccl. = Revue d'histoire eccUsia-

stique, 1 9 0 0 - . Rev. d. Philol. = Revue de Philologie, 1 8 7 7 - . Rev. it. anc. Revue des itudes anciennes,

1 8 9 8 - . Rev. hist. d. droit frangais et etr anger

Revue historique de droit frangais et itranger, 1 9 2 2 - (formerly Nouvelle revue historique de droit).

Rev. hist, philos. relig. = Revue d'histoire et de philosophic religieuses, 1 9 2 1 - .

Rev. Hist. Rel. = Revue de I'histoire des religions, 1 8 8 0 - .

RID A Revue Internationale des Droits de V Antiquiti, 1 9 4 8 - .

Riv. d. Filol. = Rivista di filologia, 1 8 7 3 - . Sav. Ztschr. Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stif-

tung fur Rechtsgeschichte, 1 8 8 0 - . La Scuola Cattolica La Scuola Cattolica,

1 8 7 3 - . Stud. Pal. = C . Wessely, Studien zur Palao-

graphie und Papyruskunde, 1 9 0 2 - 2 2 . Stzb. Berl. Ak., see Stzb. preuss. Ak. Wiss.

ph.-hist. Kl. Stzb. Heid. Ak. Heidelberg Akademie der

Wissenschaften. Sitzungsberichte phil.-hist. Klasse.

Stzb. preuss. Ak., Wiss. ph.-hist. Kl. Sitzungsberichte der preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil.-hist. Klasse.

Stzb. Wiener Ak., phil.-hist. Klasse Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, philologisch-historische Klasse.

Symb. Osloen. = Symbolae Osloenses, 1 9 2 2 - . TAP A = Transactions of the American

Philological Association, 1 8 6 9 - . Tarbiz = A Quarterly for Jewish Studies (in

Hebrew), 1 9 3 0 - . Tijdschr. v. Gesch. Tijdschriftvoor Geschie-

denis, 1 8 8 6 - . TLZ Theol. Lit. Zeit. Theologische Lite

raturzeitung, 1 8 7 6 - . II Vessillo Israelitico II Vessillo Israeli-

tico, 1 8 7 4 - 1 9 2 2 . Vestnik Drevnej Istorii = BCCTHHR ^ p e B H e f i

HCTOpHH, 1 9 3 8 - . Vossische Zeitg. = VossischeZeitung, 1 7 5 1 - . YCS = Yale Classical Studies, 1 9 2 8 - . Zion = A Quarterly for Research in Jewish

History (in Hebrew), 1 9 2 6 - .

3. B O O K S A N D O T H E R P U B L I C A T I O N S

Arnim, Leben und Werke des Dio Chrys. = H . F . A . von Arnim, Leben und Werke des Dio von Prusa, 1 8 9 8 .

B e v a n = E . Bevan , A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty, 1 9 2 7 .

Blass-Debrunner = F . Blass, Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch (bearb. von A . Debrunner), 8te Aufl. 1 9 4 9 .

Blau, Papyri und Talmud = L . Blau, Papyri und Talmud in gegenseitiger Be-leuchtung, 1 9 1 3 .

Bludau = Bludau, Juden und Judenver-folgungen im alien Alexandrien, 1906 .

B M C . Alexandria = British Museum. Dept . of Coins and Medals. Catalogue of the coins of Alexandria and the nomes, 1 8 9 2 .

CAH Cambridge Ancient History. Calderini, Dizion. d. nomi geogr. = A . Cal-

derini, Dizionario dei nomi geografici e topografici dell'Egitto greco-romano . . ., 1 9 3 5 -

Calderini, Le schede di censimento dell'Egitto romano = A . Calderini, . . . La composi-zione delta famiglia secondo le schede di censimento dell'Egitto romano, 1 9 2 5 .

Cantarelli, La serie dei prefetti = L . Can-tarelli, La serie dei prefetti di Egitto. Memoria del prof. Luigi Cantarelli.

Cowley = Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C., 1 9 2 3 .

Dessau, Prosop. = H . Dessau, Prosopo-graphia Imperii Romani, 3 vols. 1 8 9 6 - 8 .

Diction, d'arch. Chrit. = F . Cabrol, Diction-naire d'archiologie chretienne et de liturgie, 1 9 0 3 - .

Fuchs = L . Fuchs , Die Juden Agyptens in ptolemdischer und romischer Zeit, 1 9 2 4 .

Goodenough, Jurisprudence E . R . Good-enough, The Jurisprudence of the Jewish Courts in Egypt, 1 9 2 9 .

Groag and Stein, PIR2 = E . Groag et A . Stein, Prosopographia Imperii Romani, I 9 3 3 - -

Groningen, Le Gymnasiarque = B . A . v a n Groningen, Le Gymnasiarche des mitro-poles de I'Egypte romaine, 1 9 2 4 .

Gulak, Das Urkundenwesen im Talmud A . Gulak, Das Urkundenwesen im Talmud im Lichte der griechisch-aegyptischen Papyri und des griechischen und roemi-schen Rechts, 1 9 3 5 .

L I S T OF A B B R E V I A T I O N S xv Heichelheim, Wirtsch. d. Alt. = F . Heichel-

heim, Wirtschaftsgeschichte des Altertums, 1 9 3 8 .

Johnson = A . C. Johnson, Roman Egypt, 1 9 3 6 .

Jus ter = J . Juster , Les Juifs dans I'Empire romain, 1 9 1 4 .

Kuhner -Ger th = R . Kiihner, Ausfuhrliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache, Teil I I , B . Gerth, 1 8 9 8 - 1 9 0 4 .

M . Grundz. L . Mitteis und U . Wilcken, Grundzuge und Chrestomathie der Papyrus-kunde, ii. 1 . 1 9 1 2 .

Milne = J . G . Milne, A History of Egypt under Roman Rule, 3rd ed., 1 9 2 4 .

NB = F . Preisigke, Namenbuch enthaltend alle Menschennamen, soweit sie in griechischen Urkunden Agyptens sich vorfinden, 1 9 2 2 .

Oxford Class. Diet. = Oxford Classical Dictionary, 1 9 4 9 .

Pape-Benseler = W . P a p e - E . Benseler, Worterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen, 3 . Aufl. , 1 8 6 3 - 7 0 .

Peremans-Vergote = W . Peremans and J . Vergote, Papyrologisch Handboek, 1 9 4 2 .

Preisigke, Girowesen F . Preisigke, Giro-wesen in griechischen Agypten, 1 9 1 0 .

Premerstein, A AM A . von Premerstein, Zu den sogenannten alexandrinischen Martyrerakten, Philologus, Supplement-band X V I , Heft ii, 1 9 2 3 .

Premerstein, AG = A . von Premerstein, Alexandrinische Geronten vor Kaiser Gaius, 1 9 3 9 .

RE = P a u l y - W i s s o w a , Real-Encyklopddie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 1 8 9 4 -

Reinach, Textes = T h . Reinach, Textes d'auteurs grecs et romains relatifs au Judaisme, 1 8 9 5 .

Riccobono, Fontes Juris Romani S . R i c -cobono, Fontes Juris Romani Anteiusti-niani, i, Leges, 1 9 4 1 .

Rostovtzeff, Kolonat M . Rostovtzeff, Studien zur Geschichte des romischen Kolo-nates, 1 9 1 0 .

Rostovtzeff, SEHHW = M . Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World, 1 9 4 1 .

Rostovtzeff, SEHRE1 = M . Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, 1 9 2 6 .

, SEHRE2 = id., rev. P . M . Fraser , 1 9 5 7 . R o t h = J . M . Roth, Greek Papyri Lights on

Jewish History, 1 9 2 4 . San Nicolo = M . San Nicolo, Agyptisches

Vereinswesen zur Zeit der Ptolemder und Romer, 1 9 1 3 .

Schiirer = E . Schurer, Geschichte des judi-schen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, 1 9 0 1 - 9 .

Stein, Prdfekten = A . Stein, Die Prdfekten von Agypten in der rom. Kaiser zeit, 1 9 5 0 .

Strack-Bi l lerbeck = H . L . Strack und P . Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, 1 9 2 2 - 5 6 .

Taubenschlag 2 = R . Taubenschlag, The Law of Greco-Roman Egypt in the Light of the Papyri, 2nd edition, 1 9 5 5 .

Thes. Ling. Gr. = H . Stephanus, Thesaurus Linguae Graecae.

Tramontano = R . Tramontano, La Lettera di Aristea a Filocrate, 1 9 3 1 .

Wal lace = S . L . Wallace , Taxation in Egypt from Augustus to Diocletian, 1 9 3 8 .

WB = F . Preisigke und E . Kiessling, Wdr-terbuch der griechischen Papyrusurkunden, 1 9 2 5 - 3 1 -

W . Grundz. = U . Wilcken, Grundzuge und Chrestomatie der Papyruskunde, i. 1 , 1 9 1 2 .

Wilcken, Ant. = U . Wilcken, Zum alexandrinischen Antisemitismus, A b h . d. Sachs . Ges. d. Wiss . 2 7 , 1909, pp. 788 sqq.

W u t h n o w = H . Wuthnow, Die semitischen Menschennamen in griechischen In-schriften und Papyri des vordern Orients, 1 9 3 0 .

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Square brackets [ ] indicate a lacuna, round brackets ( ) the resolution of a symbol or abbreviation, angular brackets < ) a mistaken omission in the original, braces { } a superfluous letter

or letters, double square brackets O a deletion.

PART II

THE EARLY R O M A N PERIOD

SECTION VII

JEWS IN ALEXANDRIA IN THE EARLY R O M A N PERIOD

T H E eight documents of the present section stand out from the bulk of the Jewish papyri in that they give us a glimpse of the life of Jews in Alexandria during the formative years of the Augustan settlement of Egypt . Thus they serve as a welcome counterpart to the general statement of Strabo (ap. Jos. ant. 1 4 . 1 1 7 ) concerning the organization of the community. Being of a legal character these documents tend to raise the question of how far the influence of specific Jewish law as applied to Jews can be traced in the papyrological evidence.

All the eight papyri come from the excavations undertaken b y a German expedition under the direction of O. Rubensohn at Abusir el-Meleq on the site of a settlement in the Herakleopolite nome, the ancient name of which had apparently been Bousiris. Among the many documents uncovered in Abusir from mummy-cartonage and published in BGU iv, one distinguishes two main groups (cf. Schubart, Arch. v. 36). One of them, the smaller in number, consists of documents deriving partly from the late Ptolemaic age, and the information they supply has a bearing only on local conditions of the Herakleopolite nome and above all of Bousiris. More interest attaches to the second group and especially to those documents in it which are drawn in the typical Alexandrian form of avyxcoprjaig. These documents date from the 6th to the 26th year of Augustus and emanate undoubtedly from Alexandria, a conclusion which is forced on us b y the geographical and topographical allusions which are found in them, all of which hint at Alexandria and are capable of being explained only b y an assumption of an Alexandrian origin (cf. Schubart, op. cit. 37 sqq.). In addition, other facts such as the mention of institutions specifically Alexandrian (e.g. Kpirriptov iv rfj avXfj), the occurrence of soldiers serving in the 22nd legion stationed then in the capital (cf. Lesquier,L'Armee romained'Egypte, p. 388), and the evidence of No. 151 (where ivravOa clearly means Alexandria) point in the same direction.

Since all these documents come from Alexandria, we should have expected to meet here many Jews because of the large Jewish population known to have inhabited that city, the more so, since the only quarters expressly mentioned in the documents are 8 and jS. Concerning /3 there is no explicit evidence that it was inhabited mainly b y Jews, but as regards 8 we have the assertion of Jos. bell. 2. 495 to the effect that the Jewish population was concentrated in it (. . . S e A r a , OVVCOKLCTTO yap e/cet TO 'IOVSCLIKOV) .* Hence it is a fair inference that

1 Philo, Flacc. 5 5 states that of the five quarters as would appear, the S. Whether the second of

named after the first letters of the alphabet (for them is the cannot be determined. Yet , as is their enumeration cf. Ps.-Callisthenes, i. 3 2 ; P. M. implied by Leg. 132, the Jews were numerous Fraser, JEA xxxvii, 1951, 104, from a late Syriac enough to make their presence felt in the other source; see also Seyfarth, Aeg. xxxv, 1955, regions as well, their synagogues being found 15), two are named Jewish, one of them being, throughout the town.

B 5195 B

2 S E C T I O N V I I

there should be a high proportion of Jews among the persons occurring in the synchoreseis. Still, we must take exception to the long list of Jews drawn from them b y Segre (BSAA xxvii i , 1933, 157), many items of which would not stand a closer examination, and we limit accordingly the number of the papyri included in this section. Our main reason for doing so is that we cannot find out a way to distinguish among Jews and non-Jews in most of the documents. 1 W e have also to bear in mind that though the only quarters mentioned are j8 and 8, they appear only in some of the papyri, and there is no cogent argument to make us deny the possibility of having among the documents synchoreseis relating to other parts of the town as well, as the office of Protarchos in which most of them were drawn up need not necessarily have been limited in its activities b y local considerations. In addition we m a y note that the 8 was b y no means exclusively Jewish, and we cannot prove even that Jews constituted the vast majority of its population in the time of Augustus . 2 Another possible explanation for the relatively low number of Jews in the synchoreseis may be sought in the natural inclination of a part at least of the Jews to have recourse to their autonomous courts (Modona, Aegyptus, hi, 1922, 39). Still, the most weighty reason for our rather scanty inclusion of the synchoreseis in the present section is that first adduced, that it is hardly possible to discern in them Jews from non-Jews.

The Jewishness of some of the persons appearing in our eight documents is fairly certain, while of others it is either probable or possible. So Theodoros, the son of Nikodemos (Nos. 142-3), who deposits his testament in the Jewish archive, belongs undoubtedly to the Jewish community. The theophoric name borne b y one of the brothers, and the names Alexander and Nikodemos, common among Jews, m a y serve to corroborate our supposition (cf. No. 143,7, note a d l o c ) . On the other hand, there is nothing to reveal the nationality of Alexander's creditor, Ammonios (No. 142). Dionysia, to whom Theodoros bequeathes a sum of 200 drachmai, is likely to have been a Jewess (No. 143). Next (No. 144) we have a divorce case, one of the parties to which is Apollonia, the daughter of Sambathion, who, as her father's name shows, is probably a Jewess, and her mother Eirene and her husband Hermogenes may also be Jews. We have, however, to reckon with the possibility of a mixed marriage, a phenomenon perhaps not unusual in Alexandria though wholly disapproved b y Philo, who declares it (de spec. leg. 3. 29)

1 According to Segre there are nearly fifty

Jews to be found in the Alexandrian papyri published in B G U IV. However, his criteria for inclusion seem to be somewhat lax: (a) the word K a l a a p o s , which sometimes goes with a name, does not point to the man's Jewishness; it means that the person in question was an imperial slave or freedman; (b) theophoric names were certainly not restricted to Jews; (c) not all the inhabitants of the quarter were Jews.

3 Though Strabo says that a region of the

town was assigned to the Jews, it does not necessarily mean that this region is identical with one of the five quarters. It may be only a part of one of the quarters, possibly of the 8 . Stronger

evidence in favour of a Jewish majority in two of the five quarters is supplied by Philo, Flacc. 5 5 , according to whom two of the five town-quarters were labelled 'Jewish'. Yet much depends on the translation of the words 8 i a TO irXeLoTovs 'IovSalovs iv ravrais KarotKeiv. Goodenough, Jurisprudence, 16, n. 29, translates 'inhabited mostly by Jews'; Colson (Loeb edition) gives as his translation 'because most of the Jews inhabit them', and adds note 'or perhaps: "because most of the inhabitants are Jews", i.e. there are also Gentiles'. Box, Philonis in Flaccum, 1939, translates 'because Jews for the most part dwell in them*. I prefer Colson's first version.

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 3 forbidden b y the Law because of the likelihood of apostasy from monotheism b y the children of a marriage of this kind. 1 The following document (No. 145) has as its subject a transfer of land. One of the lots bordering on the land in question is denoted as the land of Helkias. Helkias seems to be a contemporary Jewish landowner rather than the renowned Jewish commander whose activities fall in the reign of Kleopatra III , some ninety years before the drawing of the present document (cf. the commentary). Concerning the parties to the agreement, there is nothing to establish the Jewishness of either Protarchos, the former owner, or his wife, designated aar-q, but the name of the buyer, Tryphon son of Simon, renders it probable that he was a Jew. N e x t come two agreements in both of which there appear Jewish wet-nurses (Nos. 146-7). Another Jewess, called Martha (No. 148), plays her part in satisfying the financial demands of the creditor of her late patron, whose property she shares with his son. There is nothing to be said as to the nationality of the patron himself. The last of the series is a highly interesting synchoresis dealing with a repayment of some debt to a loan society (No. 149). It is almost certain that the three debtors are Jews. The documents, as we see, are fairly illustrative of the variegated onomasticon of Alexandrian Jews. We find Hebrew (or Semitic) names like Isakis, Marion, Martha, by the side of theophoric names (Theodoros, Theodotos) and common Greek names, well established in Hellenistic Jewry (Lysimachos, Tryphon, Alexander).

The social picture that emerges from the documents confirms largely the impression we get from Philo's writings, that the rich financiers and businessmen constituted only a part, and probably a numerically negligible one, of Alexandrian Jews. As the benefits of the synchoretic agreements extended to the different grades of the population, it results inevitably that we find represented in them people of various social classes and of different economic standing. Of those appearing in the present documents, highest in the social order seem to rank the Macedonian Alexander and his brother Theodoros, who owned some land in the Alexandrian chora.2 Yet even these brothers do not seem economically well-off and some land possessed b y Theodoros was knocked down to a creditor. Other Jewish landowners are Helkias, whose land is situated in the Bousirite nome, and possibly Tryphon, son of Simon (No. 145), who pays at least 1,400 drachmai for land in the same district (ibid.). All these people come from the higher social grades of the Jewish population of Alexandria, but that cannot be maintained in respect of the others, who definitely occupy a place among the lower ones. So Apollonia (No. 144) with her rather meagre dowry of 60 drachmai, and the two Jewish wet-nurses (Nos. 146-7). One of them (Theodote) is designated as a Tlepaivrj, while her husband styles himself a

1 Cf. also Jos. ant. 8. 1 9 1 ; Jubil. 30. 11 sqq.,

who extend the prohibition of marriage to all but co-religionists; cf. b. Abodah Zarah 36b. See also Belkin, Philo and the Oral Law, 232; Allon, Tarbiz (in Hebrew), vi. 32 sq.. A list of mixed marriages is drawn up by Juster, ii. 4 5 , n. 5 ; but some of those referred to by him may be accounted for by special circumstances. For the question of marriages between persons

of different nationalities in Graeco-Roman Egypt cf. Taubenschlag2, 104 sqq.

2 It stands to reason, though it is not abso

lutely certain, that Theodoros too was a Macedonian. It is noteworthy that Alexander is one of the few persons in the papyri of the Abusir find who are classed among the Macedonians (the others are a man in B G U 1052 and a woman, Laodike, daughter of Lysias, in B G U 1059).

4 S E C T I O N V I I

IJepa'qs rijs imyovrjg; her monthly salary consists of 8 drachmai and a quantity of oil. Another Jewess is a freedwoman (No. 148). Finally the three Jews of N o . 149, who pay their loan of 140 drachmai in 14 instalments, and are denoted 'Persians', are not likely to have belonged to the well-to-do section of the population (cf. Vol. I, pp. 50 sq.).

As stated above, the present documents are drawn in the form of a synchoresis, a kind of document which originated in the legal conditions of Ptolemaic Alexandria. I t appears to have developed from settlements of disputed matters brought before the court, and so publicity was inherent in i t from the very start. It would seem that it remained an instrument specifically Alexandrian. 1

The synchoreseis dealt with in the present section are all addressed to Protarchos, a public notary, whose activity falls at least between the years 16th and 26th of Augustus. They are all worded objectively. No . 148 refers in addition to a v7T6fjivrifj,a delivered to the archidikastes.

Though these documents are of a legal character, we nevertheless look in them in vain for any details which may throw some light on the working of the Jewish jurisdiction of Alexandria, the existence of which is implied b y the celebrated passage of Strabo and is expressly attested b y the Thoseftha (Peah 4. 6; Kethuboth 3. 1). In the present section there is only a single reference to the functions of Jewish autonomous institutions, namely the Jewish archive in which the testament of the 'Macedonian' Theodoros was kept (No. 143). It is reasonable to suppose that the Jewish archive enjoyed some sort of official recognition, especially as we know from the Gnomon of the Idios Logos 7 that for a testament to be valid the government of Egypt required it to have been drawn before a public notary. 2 As the testament of Theodoros is not quoted in full, we cannot say whether it differed in any way from the common type of Graeco-Egyptian testaments. Apart from this single mention of the Jewish apx^tov (No. 143) the papyri do not bear any distinct mark of Jewish law or institutions, and one of them plainly contradicts what we know to be Jewish law. This is No . 144, a deed of divorce. It is drawn in the usual form of Graeco-Egyptian divorce as known from other papyri (cf. No . 144, Introduction), and the full equality of both parties to the deed can hardly be explained in terms of traditional Jewish law, either Biblical or Talmudic, according to which the husband exercises the sole right of sending the divorce, the wife being reduced to a subordinate position. It is true that the court could at the wife's instigation force the husband to send a divorce; ye t even so no change in the inferior legal status of the wife is implied. 3 In agreement with Graeco-Egyptian but not with Jewish usage

1 Cf. for the ovy>xpyoeis in general, Schubart,

op. cit. 47 sqq.; P. M. Meyer, Jurist. Papyri, 92 sq.; Pringsheim, Greek Law of Sale, 32 sq.; L . Wenger, Die Quellen des roemischen Rechts, 143 n. 79, 7 4 3 sq.

2 8[i\a0TJKai Soon, [irj Kara 8r][iomovs xP7]fJLarl'afl0'^S

yevcovrai, aKvpol elai. Cf. S. Riccobono, jun., 11 Gnomon dell'Idios Logos, 119 sq.

3 That Jewish women in actual practice exer

cised right of divorce might be inferred from Cowley, no. 15 , 23, but here too we may interpret

the case in question only to mean that the woman could come into the congregation and demand a divorce. Cf. Belkin, op. cit. 269. See J . N. E p stein, Jahrb. der judisch-literarischen Gesellschaft (Frankfurt a.M.), vi, 1909, 368 sqq., for parallel references in the Palestinian Talmud. In any case the legal practice of Elephantine Jewry can hardly serve as an example of strict Jewish law, because of the non-Jewish influence prevalent there. We should mention that ant. 15 . 259, 18. 136, apparently relate two cases in which women

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 5

No. 142 . Jewish-owned land in the chora of Alexandria Abusir el-Meleq. 3 1 x 12 cm. May/June 14 B.C.

B G U 1 1 3 2 (Schubart). Cf. BL i. 98. LIT.: Schwarz, Hypothek und Hypallagma, 106 sqq. Preisigke, Klio, xii, 1 9 1 2 , 4 1 1 . Schubart,

Arch. v. 38 n. 4, 73 n. 4, 74 n. 2, i n n. 3 , 128 n. 2. Jors, Sav. Ztschr. xxxvi, 1 9 1 5 , 3 3 1 sq. Kreller, Erbrechtliche Untersuchungen, 1 7 1 n. 18b, 260, 306 n. 1 7 . Engers, Klio, xviii, 1923 , 89. Schonbauer, Beitr. zur Gesch. d. Liegenschaftsrechtes, 1924 ,29 ,49 . Schnebel, Landwirtschaft, 1 3 . Engers, Mnemosyne, liv, 1926, 154. Bevan, 100 n. 2. Segre, BSAA xxviii, 1933 , 147 , 157 n. 3 . Calderini, Dizion. d. nomi geogr. i. 1 . 208-9. Bickerman, HTR xliii, 1949, i n . Pringsheim, Greek Law of Sale, 408 n. 1 .

An agreement concerning a debt due from Alexander, styled 'Macedonian', to Ammonios. The debt has been contracted by Theodoros, the deceased brother of Alexander, who made his will (as we know from No. 143) in the Jewish apx^lov. Hence both brothers are certainly to be regarded as Jews. In the preserved part of this document four synchoreseis previous to the final one, which is not preserved, are cited. The deceased Theodoros had borrowed from Ammonios a sum of 500 drachmai. When he failed to repay, some plots of his land in the chora of Alexandria were put up for auction and knocked down by aprosbole (cf. note ad loc.) to the creditor. In consequence of high station divorced their respective hus- Marriage Laws, 1944, 182 sqq. bands, but here they act as open transgressors of 1 In the eyes of the strict Jewish law, as for-the Law, presumably under Roman influence, mulated in m. Gittin, i. 5 , divorce proceedings and the same applies to the hypothetical case of brought before a non-Jewish court had in any Mark 10. 12 . Cf. Amram, The Jewish Law of case only doubtful validity. Divorce, 1896, 61 sq.; Neufeld, Ancient Hebrew

is also the appearance of a Kvpios at the side of the woman in two of the documents (Nos. 143-4). But w h y should we expect to find traces of Jewish law in an Alexandrian synchoresis drawn in a non-Jewish office and naturally according to the requirements and forms of the general law prevalent in the town ? 1 The problem is rather why the Jews who had their own autonomous courts had nevertheless recourse to non-Jewish tribunals. Though we do not know enough to reach conclusions as to the scope and nature of Jewish jurisprudence in Alexandria, we m a y point to the following considerations: (a) that in the synchoreseis the general law as applied to Jews, exposed as they were to external influence, is consonant with what emerges otherwise from the papyri coming from the xPa ( C I- Vol. I, pp. 32 sqq. ) ; (b) the jurisdiction of the Jewish courts of Alexandria seems not to have been compulsory and hence the Jews could apply to non-Jewish courts; (c) the official and quasi-judicial character of the synchoresis and the resulting effectiveness associated with it had as much attraction for Jews as for non-Jews. I t probably assured them of a better settlement of their business than could be obtained b y the other ways open to t h e m ; (d) there is always a strong presumption that in some of the documents included in the present section, if not in most of them, only one party to the agreement is Jewish.

The documents are reproduced in this section with but few textual corrections, since no photostats of the B G U papyri were obtainable after the Second World War.

M . S .

6 S E C T I O N V I I : NO. 142

the debt was reduced by 200 drachmai. The following three synchoreseis deal with further loans of 500, 200, and 200 drachmai respectively. The final synchoresis might have dealt with the repayment of the debt by Alexander, or perhaps with taking over the debts of Theodoros by Alexander (see similar case in No. 148).

IIpcoTdpxi> irapa Ap.p.tovio(v) TOV Aiovvato(v) Zrj(vLov) Kal napa AXe^dvSpov

TOV NiKoSetfJiOV Mt6ot) dXXrjv ixop,ev7]v

Xep

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 7 Kal XOLTTWV ovowv iv ra>i eohdipwi o t to t w v t o v dpyv(piov)

(hpaxn&v) 4> $paX{p>d>v) r TrpooheSaveLadai Trapa [ [ T O W aVT9vl 0 1 A rrjs T avrrjs rparr^^s) aAAa? dpyu(ptou) (Spax/xas) , OJOT

ytveodau iv

@eo(oopooi) (Spaxpas) oj &v Kal dvvrfvoXvat els rgy A^uviov) iv rrji avrrji

30 ( j w x ^ T H Bavelov [ [ . . . . ] ]

8 S E C T I O N V I I : N O S . 1 4 2 - 1 4 3

year in the month Phaophi, it is signified, beyond what stands in the first agreement, that in addition to the 300 drachmai of silver that remain to Theodoros of the 500 drachmai, he has borrowed from the same Ammonios through the same bank another 500 drachmai of silver, so that Theodoros has in all 800 drachmai, and has given in the agreement an acknowledgement of the loan to Ammonios: and b y the third agreement, made in the sixteenth year of Caesar (Augustus) in the month Hathyr, it is shown that the previous agreements stand, and that Theodoros has borrowed in addition from Ammonios, through the same bank of Marion and Theogenes, in the month Hathyr 200 drachmai, and in the month Pachon another 200 drachmai, to make in . . . months ( ? ) . . . 1200 drachmai of silver . . . register . . . to Theodoros . . . the previous agreements . . . agreement: and b y the fourth agreement, made in the same 16th year of Caesar (Augustus) in the month Payni. . . .

1. Protarchos was the public notary, to whom the documents included in this section are addressed.

2. Z - q ( v d o v ) : denotes the deme of Alexandria in which Ammonios was enrolled, cf., for example, Schubart, op. cit. 82; Martin, Chr. d'Egypte, xiii, 1932, 301.

3. On the question of 'Macedonian Jews' see Vol. I , pp. 14 sq. Kpir-qplovmost probably the court whose head was Protarchos. On the two Kpirrfpia in Alexandria cf. Schubart, 58 sqq.

7-8. iJLvrjixovLKrj ovyyparj is an agreement drawn up in a notary's office ((ivrjfjioveiov); cf. Schubart, 77. 8. 8iaypar) Sta rpane^rjg is a document authenticated by a bank; loans contracted through a bank

are frequent. Maplcov may be a Roman name with a Greek suffix, cf., for example, S B 4604; Arch. v. 175 n. 26; S B 4374, 7354. For irpoofiepXijodai cf. 1. 17 Trpoa^oX-q and note ad loc. The unpublished P. 13090 (Inv. Berl.) seems to bear on this case: fifj OVOTJS T(rj)s peficutooeLos T(TJ)S 7tpoK(eip.4vqs) TTpooflo(Mjs) Afi/jLCoyioy (?) 8ta TT}(S) Bed TCOV irpa^Topcov) ovyxcopiftcretos), see Schubart in BL, I.e.

9 - 1 1 . yvos means usually in the papyri a field surrounded by dykes, also a plot (cf. Olsson, Papyrus-briefe, 67, 1. 16 note; P. Oxford, p. 51) . It would seem that the A X e g a v S p e w v x ^ P 0 - consisted of plots ( y v o i ) both numbered and named (cf. 1.10 y v o v i m o r j u o v ) with pertinent mark on the boundary stone; however, in 1.15 occurs iv Tfj.ai see Vol. I , pp. 4 - 5 ; for KaraKenXvafievrj x^poos cf. Schnebel, I.e.

17. -npoofioXriis 'ein Eigentumszuschlag des Pfandes im Vollstreckungsverfahren' (Schwarz, 104), cf. Taubenschlag2, 276, 527, 533, 535 n. 21 , Pringsheim, Scritti Ferrini, iv. 284 sqq., Segre, Archivio Giuridico, Sesta Serie, i, 1945, 161 sqq.

18-19 . Ammonios has taken over land under cultivation and building-plots; on tjiiXol r o v o i see No. 447, note.

B G U 1 1 5 1 , I V (Schubart). Roth 10. L I T . : Schubart, Klio, x, 191 o, 65. Berger, Die Strafklauseln in den Papyrusurkunden, 1 9 1 1 , 1 5 , 188,

195 . Wilcken, Grundz. 63. Mitteis, Grundz. 236. Juster, i. 475 n. 2, ii. 7 n. 5 para. 5, 86 n. 2. Schubart, Einfiihr. in die Papyr. 330. Kreller, 1 7 1 n. 18b, 194 n. 29, 260, 300 n. 19 , 306, 3 1 6 , 320, 363, 364. Accordi, Stud. Scuol. Papirol. Milan, iii, 1920, 24. Fuchs, 93 sq., 97. Engers, Mnemosyne, liv, 1926, 154 sq. Bevan, 100 n. 2. Goodenough, Jewish Courts in Egypt, 1 5 . Weber, Obligationenrecht, 19. 180, 182 , 1 8 3 , 184. Segr6, BSAA xxviii, 1 9 3 3 , 147 , 157 n. 3 , 158 n. 2. Box, In Flacc, Introduction, p. xxvii n. 3 . Lenger, RIDA iii, 1949, 74. Tcherikover, Commentationes Lewy (Hebrew), 159 n. 52 .

A sum of 200 drachmai was bequeathed to Dionysia by Theodoros. The sum is due to her from Alexander, Theodoros' brother (see No. 1 4 2 ) . The papyrus is a synchoresis in which Dionysia acknowledges receipt of half of the sum; the remaining 100 drachmai

A . F .

No. 143. Agreement about Abusir el-Meleq. 37 x 12 cm. 1 3 B . C .

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 9 are to be paid in instalments in 1 7 months. The usual formulae concerning fines, in case the debtor fails to pay, follow. As the will of Theodoros was made S i a rod TCOV 'IovSatcov dpx^ov (11. 7 - 8 ) , it is certain that the two brothers were Jews; that Dionysia was a Jewess would seem to be probable, but not certain. This is the only instance of Ttjjv 'IovSaccov apx^tov being mentioned in the papyri (cf. CI J ii. 775 for an dpxelov TCOV 'IovSaicov in Hierapolis in Phrygia); the TTOXLTIKOV dpxelov, i.e. the notary's office of the TTOXLS of Alexandria, occurs in BGU iv (see Schubart, Arch. v. 3 8 ; cf. especially BGU 1 1 3 1 . 1 4 , 2 2 ) , and the 'IovSatcov dpx^ov seems to have been its counterpart, i.e. the records-office of the Jewishpoliteuma in Alexandria (see also Vol. I, pp. 3 2 sqq.).

Ko\(\rjfjLa) ITpojTdpxojL

rrapd Atpyyaias rr)(s) Apiorcovos fiera Kvpiov TOV rrjs p,r]Tp6(s) [d8eXcf>ov Aya-

divov TOV OiXtbrov KOI rr(apd) AXedv8pov TOV NeLKo8rjp,ov. [rrepl TCOV

5 8iarapi.v(cov) ovvywpel r) Aigyypia elXr](cf>evai) rrapd TOV dv8(pov) Std x(eLp6s) e [OLKOV.

dpyv(piov) (8pa)(fj[,ds) p drr* dpyv(piov) (8paxp>cov) a cov StareTaxev avrrji 6 fxerrjXXax(cos) [[ ]] TOV AXe^dvSpov

dSeX(f)6s o8copo(s) KaB* r)v e&eTO 8(,aBr}K(r)v) Std TOV TCOV 'Ipy8alcoy dpx^iov, Kal p/qje Aigyyoiay erreX^evaeoBai) \Lryf a{KXov) \y\rre\jp

av[rr\s) irrl TOV AXe(av8pov) Trepl Sv drr0'xr)K{) PaXM'\/*)V~\ ^Karov, /xe/x-feJ/otKevai Se ayrcoi

1 0 $1? Xgypy rcoy XOLTT(COV) (Spaxpcoov) p as . . . .xpo{vov) [J

1 0 S E C T I O N V I I : NOS. 1 4 3 - 1 4 4 d S e A ( ^ o s ) /nijTpo(s)

Kv(pios) Aya0Lvos COTOV 8ia9i]K(r)) drro (Spaxpicov) a (Spaxpids) p Std xetpos

rds \oi7r(ds) (Spax/Jids) p etps Meapprj TOV etatcWps if] (erous) Kataapos

25 dTOK(ovs). 13 . 1. dnoScoL.

(Translation.) To Protarchos, from Dionysia the daughter of Ariston with her guardian, her mother's brother, Agathinos the son of Philotas, and from Alexandres the son of Nikodemos. With regard to the matter in dispute, Dionysia acknowledges that she has duly received from Alexandros 100 of the 200 silver drachmai which were bequeathed to her b y the deceased brother of Alexandros, Theodoros, in accordance with the will which he deposited in the archive of the Jews, and neither she nor anyone acting for her will proceed against Alexandros for the 100 drachmai which he has retained, and there have been granted to him in order to account for the 100 drachmai which he owes (?) 17 months from the present month Pharmouthi of the 17th year of Caesar (Augustus), and she will receive them without interest . . . security; but if at the end of the period Alexandros does not pay the 100 drachmai of silver, he shall be liable to pay the principal and half as much again and, for the t ime in excess, the interest of 2 drachmai fixed b y the interest-code, and Dionysia may recover from Alexandros himself and from all his property, as if she had received judgement against him. N o guarantees are to be brought forward; if they are, they shall be invalid. To this we agree. The 17th year of Caesar (Augustus), Pharmouthi 17. Alexandros, son of Nikodemos. Dionysia, daughter of Ariston. Her guardian, her mother's brother, Agathinos son of Philotas. A will of 200 drachmai. 100 drachmai duly paid. The remaining 100 drachmai up till Mesore 7 of the coming 18th year of Caesar (Augustus) without interest.

2.-rrapd A i o y y o i a $ : an Egyptian Jewess named Dionysia occurs in. CI J. ii. 1532 (beginning of the Roman period).

4. Nikodemos occurs quite often among the Jewish-Palestinian names; cf. ant. 14, 3 7 ; Joh. 3 sqq., see also Strack-Billerbeck, ii. 413 sq.

7. 'T sicher, der 4 Bst. 8 oder a , Schluss cov sehr wahrsch. Demnach bleibt kaum etwas anderes iibrig als 'IovSalcov ' (Schubart ad loc).

10.

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D n ptoletn.-kais. Aegypten, 1 9 3 9 , 1 2 n. 20, 23 n. 7 3 , 1 3 2 . Erdmann, Sav. Ztschr. lxi, 1 9 4 1 , 4 8 . Tcherikover, Comment. Lewy (Hebrew), 159 n. 52 . Pringsheim, Greek Law of Sale, 3 1 6 n. 4.

This deed of divorce of the Jewess Apollonia, daughter of Sambathion, and Hermo-genes, son of Hermogenes, is couched in terms typical of Hellenistic deeds of this kind. No trace of the influence of the Jewish law of divorce is to be seen in it. The document falls into the following main sections: (a) agreement of divorce; (b) restitution of dowry; (c) annulment of marriage and statement about the illegality of any claim based on the contract of marriage; (d) freedom to marry for both parties; (e) fines for transgression of the deed of divorce.

For deeds of divorce in the papyri cf. Montevecchi, op. cit. 20, where 26 deeds are listed; see also Taubenschlag 2, 1 2 0 sqq.; Mitteis, Grundz. 2 1 7 sqq.; Erdmann, op. cit. 44 sqq.

KoX(Xr)p,a) IIp[coTd]pxooL

rr[a]pd ArroXXajvlas rrjs 2Jap,^ad[c-oo[vo]s /xerct Kvpiov rod rrjs pirjrpos

5 d[8eX]cf>ov 'HpcLKXelSov rod *HpqKXei-Kal Trapa eEpp,oyevovs rov 'Ep[AO-

ye\y]ovs Apxi'Crr(pareLov). ovvxoopovaiv A[rro]XX covia Kal 'EpfAoyevrjs K-x[co]pLadaL air* dXXrjXtov rrjs ova-

1 0 r[a\arjs avrous ovvfiitbaretos /c[a]rd avyxooprjcnv Std rov av-r[ov] Kpirr\piov TOOL ty (eret) Kaioa-pos &apfiovdi, r) Se ATTOXXOO-via Kal drreaxrjKevaL rrapd

1 5 rov 'EpfJioyevovs Std XLPS o[t]/cot> o eXafiev Trapa rcov yo-

vioiv avrrjs Uapi^aducovos Ka\_i\ rjLpr)vr]v err avrrju Kara rr)\y] ovvxcbprjariv epvdpiov

2 0 d[pyv(plov)] (8paxp>ds) etvat p,ev avrodev df

1 2 S E C T I O N V I I : NOS. 1 4 4 - 1 4 5

Tjlfijepas, &' fjs K[CH] ee[t]ra[t r[fji] fxev IL7ROAAAW[ai d]AA[aH a]v-o[p~\l Kal ro)L Se rEp[fjLoyVL e]r[e'-p[au] yvvaiKx dp\^>orepois dvv-

3 5 7r[e]ydvvoLs ova[t,v rj TOV 7rapaj3al-y[ov]rq ivex[eadai r a n co\pio-pi\e\v(x)L \TT\POGTLP\(X)L.

(ZTOVS) it, Kaiaapos [a]jUe|V]a># iS. 15 . 1. x*'pos. 18. Elp-qvt]v: second v above the line, 1. Elp-qv-qs. 19. epvdpiov: second

above the line.

(Translation.) To Protarchos, from Apollonia daughter of Sambathion with her guardian, her mother's brother, Herakleides son of Herakleides, and from Hermogenes son of Hermogenes an Archistrateian. Apollonia and Hermogenes agree that they have dissolved their marriage b y an agreement made through the same court in the 13th year of Caesar (Augustus) in the month Pharmouthi. Apollonia agrees that she has duly received back from Hermogenes the dowry of 60 drachmai which he had on her account from her parents Sambathion and Eirene according to the marriage-agreement. They agree therefore that the marriage-agreement is void, and that neither Apollonia nor anyone proceeding on her behalf will proceed against Hermogenes to recover the dowry, and that neither of them will proceed against the other on any matter arising from the marriage or from any other matter arising up to the present day, and that from this day it shall be lawful for Apollonia to marry another man and Hermogenes to marry another woman without penalty, and that whosoever transgresses this agreement shall be liable to the appointed penalty. The 17th year of Caesar (Augustus), Phamenoth 14.

3-4. On the name Sambathion cf. Vol. I , pp. 94-96. 7. ' a p x y y oder a p x i a r , scheint moglich; man erwartet ein Demotikon, aber die Wortendung ent-

spricht nicht der gewohnlichen Bildungsweise der Demotika' (edit.), a p x r j y , however, seems to be unexplainable while ^ p x t < T T P a T e ' ' o u is w e U attested, cf. P S I 1223. 7-9: ixerd Kvplov rov narpos Eloltovos TOV Ilapdficovos Apxiarparelov TOV Kal AXdautos, see also P S I 777. 4; P. Flor. 382. 28; S B 5676; Mitteis, Chr. 189. 4all of them referring to the above phyle and d e m o s . Thus, Hermogenes was either a Jew who had full Alexandrian citizenship, or an Alexandrian Greek, married to a Jewess (on mixed marriages see above, Introduction p. 2).

15-20. Cf. B G U 1103. 1 0 - 1 4 ; 975. 20-23. 20. The amount of 60 drachmai as Apollonia's dowry shows that the Jewish family in question were

'little men'. 20-22. Cf. B G U 1103. 1 4 - 1 5 . 30-31 . Cf. B G U 1103. 22-25; 1104. 24-25; P. Lips. 27. 23 sqq. 34. The usual formula owapno&odai erroneously omitted, cf. 1103. 23 ; P. Lips. 27. 25-26; P S I

921. 30. A . F.

No. 14^ . Jewish landowner in the Bousirite district Abusir el-Meleq. 37 x 24 cm. 7th April, 1 3 B . C .

B G U 1 1 2 9 (Schubart). Mitteis, Chr. 254. Cf. BL i. 98; iii. 1 , 17. L I T , : Berger, 5, 1 5 , 38, 43 , 50, 124 , 1 3 5 n. 3 , 136 . Schwarz, 1 2 5 n. 2. Schubart, Arch. v. 1 1 9 n. 2 .

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 13 Juster, i. 204 n. 5, ii, 69 n. 2, 295 n. 1 . Kreller, 189 n. 2. Woess, Urkundenwesen, 164, 277. Fuchs, 52 . Weber, Obligationenrecht, 1 1 sq., 21 n. 1 . Segre, op. cit. 22 n. 4. Arangio-Ruiz, RIDA iv, 1950, 12 n. 1 2 . Pringsheim, Greek Law of Sale, 170 n. 1 0 , 1 7 6 n. 4, 320 n. 2 , 3 2 3 sq., 326 n. 2, 364, 393 n. 5, 394 nn. 2, 3 , 6, 401 n. 3 . Taubenschlag2, 89 n. 104.

Protarchos, a landowner, received from Tryphon in January-February 1 3 B . C part of the price of some land in the Bousirite district and promised in a synchoresis to transfer the land to Tryphon by 2 1 s t March on receipt of the rest of the price. On the date of the present papyrus he has received the sum due to him and transfers the land (Pringsheim, op. cit. 3 2 3 ) .

The main interest of the present papyrus lies for us in 11. 1 5 - 1 7 , the description of the lot in question; the land bordering on it on the south is stated as XCXKIOV yrj, on the west "Hpcovos Kal XeXKio(v) yrj. Helkias is a Hebrew name irrpbn (though we know of a non-Jewish Semite being called by that name; cf. Zucker, Abh. preuss. Ak. 1 9 3 7 , Phil.-hist. Kl. no. 6, p. 4 , 1 . 93) , and it would seem reasonable to suppose that the land mentioned in 11. 1 4 - 1 7 was in Jewish ownership (for details cf. notes below). I print 11. 1 - 2 7 and 39 only; the rest of the papyrus is badly preserved and has no bearing on our subject.

KoX(Xr)p,a) IJpoordpxooL rrapd Tpvcf>co(vos) rod Uifjbopy(os) Kqiaq[pos Kal rrapd] L7[pcord]p[xo]v

rov Zrjiyetov) [rrapovarjs Kal avvevSoKovorjs rots Kqrd rr)(v) ovvxooprj(oLv) arjp,aLvop,(evoLs) rrjs yvvaiK(6s) 'Orrcopas

rrj(s) IJpcordpxov 5 dorrj(s) pierd K(vpiov) avrov IJpco(rdpxov). irrel Kara rrjv Std rov

av(rov) KpLrrj(pcov) rereXei,cop,(vr]v) oyyx(covos) Kql dpx(acov)

Kcj)aX(aiov) rrpoGKop,iodp,(vos) rds Xoirr(ds) rrj(s) iorap,i(vr)s) rip,rj(s) dpyv(piov) (8paxpcovi) rj ois edv avvrdaarji Ka9* erep(av) avyx

14 S E C T I O N V I I : NO. 145

fiopp&L TCOV KdTOL Napcp(...), drrrjXico'(T7)L) fiovvos, At/?t AXe^avhpicov Kal iv iripai

[[at Se XoLrralJ\ 15 \[dpovp(ai) /as" (rj^ttcru)J] opayeib*i at Aot7r(at) dpovp(ai) p,s" (r)pLiov),

cov yeiTOves VOTCOL XCXKLOV yrj, f$opp(ai) ^copa, drrrjXicoTrji /3OVVOL, XL/31 "Hpcpvos Kal

XeX KLO(V) yrj id? ois dXXous r) avvxoopr}(oLs) rrepiexei, ^d vvv \[crvyxco(vos) Std Trjs Kdgj(opos) Tparre^rjs rd? [[77/do/c]] TOV dpyv(piov) (Spaxp-as)

av Kal ovyxoipel 20 rrapaxooprj(oai) TCOL Tpv(cpcovi) drro TOV VV(V) els TOV del xpd(vov) rds

TrpoK(eLp,evas) dpov(pas) pi9 (fjpLLGv) r)is"' Kal e t e ( . . . ) fiey Tpycpcoyq Kpajely Kal Kvpieveiv qyjcpy Kal eTepois rrapaxcope(tv) Kal

eyfiiadovv \[olKOvop,etv Kal irriTeX(eiv) rrepl avTCo(v) OTL idv fleA^tJJ Kal drroepe-

odai r d avTco(v) ioofieva /car' eros drro TOV elaigyjos ir) (erovs) Kaioqpgs Std t o r d TOV

ive(oTCOTOs) (erovs) etvai TOV IJpcoTapxov Kal OLKovop,(eLv) /cat e7UTeA(etV) /car* avrcov OTL

idv [[^e'A^tJ] 25 reAetow Se Kal ovs idv erepovs OeXrjt x#?7/^aTtcrju.ous' fxejeyeyK^ovTa)

typo Trj(o)8e TV(S) ovvxcoprf{ocos) Kal tcov npos avTrjv eli

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 15

A . F .

Engagement of a wet-nurse Abusir el-Meleq. 35 x 1 1 cm. February/March 1 3 B.C.

B G U 1106 (Schubart). Mitteis, Chr. 108. L I T . : Berger, 5, 7 nn. 5, 8, 1 5 , 27 n. 7, 44 n. 2, 57 , 77, 166, 177 n. 4. Schubart, Arch. v. 38 n. 1 ,

on the south b y the remaining land which Tryphon has bought, on the north b y the land at Naro . . ., on the east b y hills, and on the west b y the chora of Alexandria, and in another sphragis the remaining 4 6 ! arourai, bordered on the south b y the land of Helkias, on the north b y a dyke, on the east b y some hills, on the west b y the land of Heron and Helkias. With regard to this agreement, Protarchos now, in conformity with the agreement, has received from Tryphon through the bank of Kastor the 1400 drachmai of silver, and agrees to transfer to Tryphon from now and for ever the above-mentioned 4 9 ^ arourai, and it shall be lawful for Tryphon to have and possess them, to transfer them to others, to lease them, and to take away their yearly produce from the coming 18th year of Caesar (Augustus), the produce of this year being reserved to Protarchos, to manage and deal with as he wishes and transact whatever other business he wishes, being empowered b y this agreement . . . to the land . . . reckonings . . . register the land without needing the presence of Protarchos. 17th year of Caesar (Augustus), Pharmouthi 12.

3 . Both Sificov and Tpviov are names often borne by Jews; for Ei^iiov, cf. Vol. I , Index of Names; as an example of an Alexandrian Jew bearing the name of Tpvcfxov cf. the Tryphon mentioned by Philo among the members of the Jewish gerousia of Alexandria who were persecuted in the time of Flaccus (Flacc. 76), and the Tryphon father of Helenos in No. 1 5 1 . Kalaapos; the purchaser was an imperial slave or freedman (cf. Taubenschlag, I.e.; Tait, Arch. vii. 177). The name of Protarchos' father is left out. For the demotikon Zyveios cf. No. 1 4 2 , 1 . 2, note.

5. For 6.oT7j cf. Vol. I , p. 41 , note 102. 7. KOL a p x ( a i o v ) : Schubart's tentative reading. Perhaps Kai(_a)>ap(os)7 9-13 . Protarchos sells to Tryphon 4 9 $ arourai out of 200 arourai of katoikic land which he holds in

the vicinity of the village Thonopho, in the $ 0 e i p u j toparchy of the Bousirite district. The land purchased by Tryphon forms two different lots, in two different sphragides {acf>payis occurs here in the well-attested sense of an officially defined area of land which includes plots belonging to different persons, cf., for example, P. Oxy. 918, ii. 8 and the introduction to that papyrus; B G U 831. 6; P. Hamb. 12 . 3 , 9 with note on 1 . 2 ; see Preisigke, P. Strassb. 1 . i, pp. 90 sq.).

1 3 - 1 4 . One plot bought by Tryphon consists of 3 ^ - arourai; it borders on the west on the chora of Alexandria, cf. Schubart, ad loc.

1 4 - 1 7 . The other plot is of 46J arourai. It is described as follows: from the south it borders on the land of Helkias; from the north on a dyke; from the east on some hills, from the west on the 'land of Heron and Helkias'. Schubart (op. cit. 119 n. 2) suggests that the Xpy(otu) Mitteis; 7rapaxa>pi?(criv) Schubart; Berger, and Schwarz, propose 7rapaxwp'?-Kevu; the cession is a present one, cf. Pringsheim, 323 n. 2.

27. The land could be legally registered on Tryphon's name and pass into his full ownership without Protarchos' presence being necessary (cf. Pringsheim, 323 sq.).

16 S E C T I O N V I I : NO. 146 59-60 n. 3 , 1 1 3 n. 3 , 1 1 4 n. 1 , 1 1 5 n. 2. Weber, Obligationenrecht, 1932 , 62 nn. 1 , 2, 98 n. 5, 99 n. 1 , 165 n. 2. Johnson, Roman Egypt, 286. Bringmann, 66 n. 3 1 1 , 1 3 4 . Bola, Untersuch. z. Tiermiete u. Vieh-pacht 1940, 64 n. 2, 76 n. 1 , 77 n. 1 , 89n. 2. Tcherikover, Comment. Lewy (Hebrew), 159 n. 52. Pringsheim, Greek Law of Sale, 464 n. 6. Taubenschlag2, 74 n. 30, 86 n. 94, 377 n. 7, 378 n. 1 5 , 3 7 9 nn. 1 7 , 1 8 .

An agreement between Theodote, daughter of Dositheos, and Marcus Aemilius, son of Marcus, of the Claudian tribe. Theodote is to act for the period of eighteen months as a wet-nurse of a child entrusted to her by Marcus. Her wages amount to 8 drachmai a month and a certain quantity of oil. The contract is couched in the usual terms of a avyypaprj rpoLTLs. It states: (a) the conditions of work; (b) the amount of wages (usually paid, wholly or partly, in advance); (c) undertaking on the part of the wet-nurse, to take good care of the child and of herself in the period specified in the agreement (not to injure her milk, &c.); (d) specification of fines in case of breach of agreement.

For list of nursing contracts cf. Johnson, Rom. Eg. 286 sqq.; on agreements of this kind see also Winter, Life and Letters in the Papyri, 5 5 , 5 6 ; Taubenschlag2, 377 n. 7 ; Berger, 1 7 6 sqq.; Bringmann, 1 3 3 sq.

(1st hand) [IJpcordpx^i T < ^ t i Tv Kpirrjpiov (2nd hand) [rrapd] MdpKov AlpaXiov MdpKov (vlov) KaXXcSta /c[at

rrapd [eod^prrjs rrjs AcooiOeov TIepaei\y]rjs p.e\rd Kvpiov K \ O I i]yyvov rcov Kara rrjvhe rrjv avvxoj[prjoiv

5 orj[Laivop,evcov rov dvSpos Ecbppyps [rov [....].. .dpxov \[2co(f)povos]\ IJep[cT]py rrj[s im-[yovrjs-] rrepl rcov Stearap,ev'cov [ovyxpeL rj eo-80717 irrl xpovov p,rjvas Se/ca [OKTCO drro

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 17

[/car]a p>rjva Tpor)ois rroietoBai rr\v r e earrjs [KOL TOV] rraioLOV rrpoar]Kovaav irnpieXrjav p,r) [cj>dipova]ay TO ydXa /x??S' dvopoKOCTOvaav p>r)8* 7r[i-

30 [fcjupyorav ju/nS' krepov rrapadrjXdc^ovaav TratSt-py, d T idv XdfirjL rj maTevOrjt acda crvvTrjprjcnv Kal drrohcboeiv OTQV drraiTrJTai rj iKTiaeiv Tr)v eKapjov dLav rrXr)v ovvcf>avovs arrcoXiqas, r)s Kal avepds yevr)6eia\r]s d]rroXeXvodco, Kal p,r) iyXeirr\eiv

35 Tr)v Tp[o]cbr]av ivTOS TOV [x]p6vpy- i[dv S]e' TL rrapaftai-vrji, elvai avTrjv re Kal TOV Scocj>pov[a d]ycoylp,ovs Kal avvexeodai p^expei TOV e'/creftajat a re iXr)~ tfiey r[po]tf)rja Kal a idv Xd^[r]t] ovv rjp,[i]oXcai Kal r d pXdftr) Kal Sarravrjp,ara Kal dXXas dpyv(piov) (opaxp

i 8 S E C T I O N V I I : NO. 146

own milk pure and uncontaminated the foundling slave baby child Tyche which Marcus has entrusted to her, receiving from him each month as payment for her milk and care 8 drachmai of silver besides olive-oil, and Theodote has duly received from Marcus b y her guarantor Sophron for the agreed 18 months wages for 9 months adding up to 72 drachmai; and if the child chances to die within this t ime, Theodote will take up another child and nurse it and suckle it and restore it to Marcus for the same 9 months, receiving no wages, since she has undertaken to nurse continually, providing her monthly care honestly and taking fitting thought for the child, not damaging her milk, not lying with a man, not conceiving, not taking another child to suckle. Whatever she takes or is entrusted with, she will keep safe and restore when it is asked or will pay the value of each thing, except in the case of a manifest loss, which will release her if it is proved. She will not give up her nursing before the time. If she defaults, she and Sophron m a y be seized and held until they pay back her wages and whatever else she receives and half as much again and the damages and the costs and another 300 drachmai of silver. The distraint m a y be made on either or both of them, since they guarantee each other, and on their property as if a judgement had been made against them, and whatever guarantees they give and all resort to protection shall be invalid. But if she duly performs everything, Marcus Aemilius will give her the monthly wages for the remaining 9 months and will not take the child away within the t ime or will himself pay the same penalty. Theodote shall bring the child to Marcus for inspection each month. Surety . . . .

Theodote daughter of Dositheos and her husband Sophron for a slave child Tyche for 18 months, for which they have received 8 drachmai for 9 months, in the city.

2. MdpKov AlfitXiov MdpKov (vloOy KaXXiSla, cf., e.g., B G U II08. 23; trapa MdpKov Sevrrptoviov Md[p KOV viovj vXijs AlfuXlas arparicorov rcov K rrj(s) oevrepjas Kal eZJKOorrjs X[e\yetov\o\s KTX. P. Warren 8, 8: MdpKtot AvTLovLtoi. MdpKov vitoi Kvpiva. Cf. B G U 1104. 33-34. KaXXiZla denotes the tribe of M. Aemilius. There was, however, no tribe of that name, and there is little doubt that the tribus Claudia ( K X a v h i a ) is meant here (for the nomenclature of veteran soldiers cf. O'Brien-Moore, Y C S viii, 1942, 25 sqq. and esp. 46 sq.); the father's name may well be fictitious, i.e. that of the donor of citizenship (cf. op. cit. 46 sq.).

3. For the name AcoolOeos cf. Vol. I , p. 231. For Jews as Tlipaai rrjs imyovrjs, cf. Vol. I , p. 5 1 , n. 10. f i e r d K v p l o v : there is no guardianship of a woman in Jewish law, according to which she is a legal agent and may even act as a guardian herself (cf. Tcherikover, Jews in Egypt, 146-7; Gulak, Das Urkundenwesen im Talmud, 36).

6-7. rrjs i m y o v r j s is added only to the man's name, Theodote is simply n

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 19 clause cf. Mitteis, Chr. no. 170, Intr.; Taubenschlag2, 369 sq.; Gulak, 76 sqq.; for inscriptional evidence cf. Christophilopoulos, RID A iv, 1950, 297 sqq.

33. ov(iavr)s airwXeia: a manifest loss, to be proved by the nurse; cf. B G U 1 1 0 7 . 1 6 . 35 sqq. For the penalty-clauses cf., e.g., B G U 1058. 37 sqq.; 1107. 19 sqq.; 1108. 19 sqq.; 1109.

24 sqq. P. Bour. 14. 24 sqq.; the penalties to which the economically weaker party is liable are always considerably more severe than those applying to the employer (cf. Berger, op. cit. 57) ; on the d y c o -yi/ios-clause in such documents, see Schubart, Arch. v. 113 n. 3 .

44-45. OK4TT[7)S] TRDORIS, i.e. a resort to any legal protection shall be invalid; cf. B G U 1085. 46; 1107. 23.

47-49. The usual guarantee on the part of the employer not to take away the child before the time stipulated in the agreement expired.

50. 'Ende S t ? oder rpts ' (edit.). 54-56. Indication of the content of the document given in Inv. Berl. 193 V.

A. F.

No. 147. Annulment of a contract with a wet-nurse Abusir el-Meleq. 19 x 10-5 cm. 16th May, 14 B . C .

B G U 1 1 5 3 , I . (Schubart). Cf. BL i. 98. L I T . : Berger, 38, 43 n. 3 , 50, 79 n. 2, 1 8 9 , 1 9 6 n. 3 . Juster, i. 487 n. 4, ii. 67 n. 4. Fuchs, 63. Bring

mann, 134 . Tcherikover, Comment. Lewy (Hebrew), 159 n. 52. Taubenschlag2, 86 n. 94, 288 n. 83, 388 n. 4.

This badly mutilated papyrus is part of an annulment of a ovyypar) rpocpiTis. Even after Schubart's second reading has eliminated 'Eot,p(...) in 1. 4 (BL, I.e.) there still remain three women involved in the annulment of the agreement. It seems to be clear from 11. 2 and 6 that Martha was a wet-nurse, and her name leaves little doubt that she was a Jewess. Hovepov(s) in 11. 4 , 8 seems to have been Martha's employer. The role of the third woman, bearing the Jewish name of Mapiov, is not very clear. As we know of hiring out of female slaves as wet-nurses (cf., e.g., BGU 1 0 8 5 ; P. Oxy. 9 1 , P. Tebt. 399, BGU 1 1 0 9 ) , it could be supposed that Marion was Martha's owner. But that would not fit in with Mdpdav em TT)V Mapio(v) in 1. 6 , nor with the fact that Martha is evidently a legal agent.

For annulments of rpo^ms-agreements cf., e.g., BGU m o , 1 1 1 1 ; P. Tebt. 399 .

Kaigapo(s) xpovous 8OVXLK(OV) eavrrj(s) 7ratSto(i>) [.MyaA]-fjLaTi[ov, cocrjje

TIORJVEIADAL Sta rfjg avrrjs MdpOas KOL psqop,L(av) rfji . a . . r t p,r)o' dAAcot vrrep avrij(s) //.^(Se/uW) KaraXeirr(eadaL) etf>o8o(v)

irrl rr)(v) Uovepov(v) fjv Kal etvai aKvpo(v)

5 p>7)oe irrl rrj(s) TrpoK(eip,vr)s) ovvxpr)(oLOs) p>rjde irrl aXXpy p,r)Sevo(s) drr(Xcos) iyypdrr(rov) r) dypd(ov)

drro r(cdv) EP.(rrpoadev) xp{oV(x)V) ^XP1, Tv(s) iv(arcoar]s) r)piipa(s), rr)v Se Mdpdav irrl rrjv Mdpio(v) psqhi

[ . . . ] . . .RCDR) v. .rp ( . . . ) TOV p,Tav %p6vov p,rjSe irrl TO BOVXLK(6V) na(I8IOV)

poj(p,aTiov) [e7reAeu]p-ecr^at Kara p,rj(Siva) Tp6rr(ov), TOV Se /cat 7reAevCTo/x(evov) e m Tr)(v) 2gyep(ovv) rj rrapa-

20 S E C T I O N V I I : NOS. 1 4 7 - 1 4 8

[av\vypa(f>ovvTa aTroaT7](aeLv) 7rapax{pfjp>a) rots 18IO(IS) Sair(avqp,atJiv) KOL x>pls TOV Kvpia elvai rd o(vvK)x(a)p)rj(p,eva)

io e r t Kal v{ex)eadai TT)(V) 7rapaf$(aivovaav) rots re j8(Adj8eox) Kal TCOL (cbpiCTp,VCoi) TTpo(oTLp,COL). d(lOVp,ev).

(erovs) eg Kaioapo(s) 77a^a>(v) 7ca,

(Translation.) . . . t imes of Caesar (Augustus) for her slave child Agalmation, to be nurtured b y the same Martha; and no process against Souerous shall be permitted either to Martha (?) or to anyone acting for her, neither on the basis of the said agreement, which is invalid, nor on the basis of any other agreement, written or unwritten, made from that t ime to the present da y ; and Martha shall not . . . against Marion for the intervening time and shall not proceed against the slave child in any way, and whosoever proceeds against Souerous or breaks the agreement shall immediately be held in default at his own expense. The provisions of the agreement shall come into force, and she shall besides be liable for damage and the fine legally established. To this we agree.

Year 16 of Caesar (Augustus). Pachon 21.

1. [ilyaA]/xaTi'[ou: tentative reading of the editor. 2. MdpOa: for this very common Jewish name cf. No. 148; C I J 1219; 1246. 4; 1261; 1263 .134 ; Luke

10. 38; John 1 1 . 1 (here the two sisters of Bethany are named Mdpda and M a p i d p . ) ; m. Jebamoth 6 . 4. 6. Mdpiov: cf., e.g., Nos. 28. 27; 40. 47; 149. 4.

10. The formula jSAajSeai ivexeadai (or cvoxov etvai) occurs often in B G U iv, cf. Berger, 25 n. 3 . A. F.

No. 148. Payment of debt by a Jewish freedwoman Abusir el-Meleq. 34 x 1 1 cm. 10 B . C .

BGU 1 1 5 5 (Schubart). Mitteis, Chr. 67. Schubart, Arch. v. 63 n. 1 (part). Cf. BL ii. 2, 24. L I T . : Berger, 29 n. 3 , 38, 43 n. 3 , 49 n. 3 , 188, 194. Schwarz, Hypoth. u. Hypall. 77 sq., 86 sq.

Mitteis, Grundz. 28. Schubart, Arch. v. 1 1 8 n. 1 , 1 1 9 n. 2, 129 n. 2. Kreller, Erbrecht. Untersuch., 38 sq. Weber, Obligationenrecht, 91 n. 2 , 9 6 , 1 6 4 sq. Calabi, Aegyptus, xxxii, 1952,408 n. 5 , 4 1 0 .

Apollonios, son of Theon, lent to Protarchos son of Polemon a sum of 200 drachmai. After the death of Protarchos the debt devolved upon his son, Protarchos, and a woman bearing the Jewish name Martha, evidently joint successors to Protarchos the elder. In consequence of the delay in the repayment of the debt Apollonios lodged a complaint with the archidikastes. In the same year Martha paid her half of the debt, the payment being acknowledged in the present synchoresis. Whether this was the result of a decision of a court (cf. Schubart, Arch. v. 63) or a private agreement (cf. Schwarz, 7 7 ; see also Mitteis, Grundz. 28 , Weber, 164) cannot be said with certainty. Martha was a freedwoman of the deceased (rod perr/XXaxoTos TTJS pev Mdpdas Trdrpcovos, 11. 1 2 1 3 , cf. 1. 4 ) . As she had to pay half of the debt, she was apparently made by her patron heir to half of the estate.

KoX(Xr)p,a) IJpcoTapx{oJi)

Trapd ATTOXXCOVLOV TOV ecovos Kal [rrapd Mdpdas TTJS IJpcoTapxov jaerct Kvplov ['Hpa-

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D

5 KXLSOV TOV 'HpaKXiSov. irrl Tv[y]xqyei [Jl7roAAt6-VLOS irriSeScoKcbs AprepiiScbpcpi TCOL dp[xi-BLKOLGTTJL TCOL iveorcoi K (erei) Kaiaa[p]os Ad[vp vrr6p,vrjp,a drraiTrjoiv rrpipyp,eyps rrapd re rrjs MdpOas /c[a]t en IJpco-

10 rdpxpv rov JIpcordpxo[v] dpyv(piov) (Spaxp>

22 S E C T I O N V I I : NOS. 1 4 8 - 1 4 9

(Translation.) To Protarchos, from Apollonios the son of Theon and from Martha (the freedwoman) of Protarchos, acting with her guardian, Herakleides the son of Herakleides. Whereas Apollonios presented to the archidikastes Artemidoros in the present 20th year of Caesar (Augustus) in the month Hathyr a petition demanding from Martha and also from Protarchos son of Protarchos 200 drachmai of silver with interest which he submitted to be owing to him from the deceased Protarchos son of Polemon, the patron of Martha and the father of Protarchos, on the evidence of the promissory note he produced and of the agreements made b y Protarchos; now, since he has been satisfied b y Martha in respect of her half share and has duly received from her her half share, Apollonios agrees that neither he himself nor anyone acting on his behalf will proceed in any w a y against the property left b y her deceased patron Protarchos with respect to Martha's half share of the principal and the interest . . ., nor with respect to the . . . nor to any other loan or demand whatsoever, written or unwritten, arising from that t ime to the present day. . . . (And whosoever transgresses) this agreement, shall be liable to damages and the fine legally established. This shall not prejudice Apollonios' right to proceed against Protarchos for the remaining half of the principal, 100 drachmai and the interest on them. . . .

4. For this Jewish name cf. No. 1 4 7 , 1 . 2, note. 6. On Artemidoros see B G U 1108. 1 ; 1 1 1 1 . 1 . 7. The reading of the date is not certain; it is based on B G U 1134. 4-6 and 1 1 5 2 ; cf. edit, ad loc. 8. For a parallel vnopvTipa cf. P. Oxy. 68. 4 sqq. 10. On the advice of Prof. Youtie, we have corrected the expansion (Spaxuds) of previous editors,

which is grammatically inadmissible. 15 . irpoLKaTo: cf. B G U 1167. 3 - 4 ; 1135 . 10. 1 5 - 1 6 . Schwarz, 86 n. 2, takes mrraKlov nefiapTvprjuevov together, and compares the phrase xciP~

ypaov eKfiefiapTvprindvov Sid chfuoalas 6p.oXoyia$. But the position of the Se forbids this. We prefer to take TtmaKiov with d' ov, and regard iiefiaprvprnxevov as an impersonal genitive absolute. For the TtnraKiov, cf. B G U 1167. 3-4 and Schubart, ad loc.

22. For this reading see Kreller, Erbrechtl. Untersuch. 38. 36. fJXdfleoi KTX. For the formula, cf. No. 1 4 7 , 1 . 1 0 note. 37 sqq. Tentatively restored by the editors.

A. F.

No. 149. Repayment of loan to a loan-society Abusir el-Meleq. 33 X 9 cm. March/April 10 B.C.

B G U 1 1 3 4 (Schubart). Cf. BL ii. 2 , 24. L i t . : Berger, 1 5 , 58 n. 1 , 74, 1 1 5 , 1 1 9 n. 3 , 194 n. 5. Schubart, Arch. v. 1 1 4 n. 1 , 1 1 9 n. 2,

130 n. 2. Juster, ii, n n. 3 , 63 n. 2, 67 n. 4(e). San Nicolo, i, 217 sqq., ii. 191 n. 1 . Neppi Modona, Aegyptus, iii, 1922 , 3 2 . Pringsheim, Sav. Ztschr. xliv, 1924, 403 n. 1 . Fuchs, 63, 82. Bevan, 1 1 0 . Weber, Obligationenrecht, 1 2 3 , 1 4 3 , 1 7 5 n. 2, 180, 183 n. 2, 184. Segre, op. cit. 21 n. 3 . Leider, Der Handel von Alexandreia, 1 9 3 3 , 82-83 . Zucker, RE, s.v. Ilepaat, 916. Heichelheim, Wirtsch. d. Alt. i. 558. Tcherikover, Comment. Lewy (Hebrew), 159 n. 52.

The present document is an agreement concerning repayment of loan to a credit-society (ipavos). Among the debtors is a Jewess Marion, daughter of Isakios. Her husband is Lysimachos, son of Theodotos, and the third debtor Tryphon, son of Theodotos, might well have been Lysimachos' brother. They form a group repaying

J E W S I N A L E X A N D R I A I N T H E E A R L Y R O M A N P E R I O D 2 3 the debt together. This fact, taken in conjunction with the theophoric names and names favoured by Jews, would seem to make almost certain the supposition that the whole group of debtors were Jews. Their loan from the credit-society amounts to 140 drachmai; it is to be repaid in 1 4 instalments of 10 drachmai each. The debtors pay 1 0 drachmai on the date of the present document and undertake to repay the rest in 1 3 months. If they fail to pay one instalment they have to pay the loan with interest and fines.

The small sum of 140 drachmai borrowed by a group of three, to be repaid in 1 4 months, shows that we have here to do with 'little men' who were rather hard up. BGU 1 1 3 5 is a close parallel to the present document; cf. also, e.g., BGU 1 1 3 3 and 1 1 3 6 .

IIpcordpxcoL Trapd Tpvcovos rod TlroXepbatov rrpoardrov ipdvcov Kal Trapd Avocpcaxov rod eo86r[ov Kal rrjs yvvaiKos Mapiov rrjs 'IoaKios Kal Tpvcoyps

5 rov eo86rov rcov rpicov IJeppcpy puerd Kvpi\ov rrjs Mapiov avr(rjs) dv8p(6s). o Kqracyeppygiy ovop,a ev ipdvov Se/caS/ad^/xou .Xrjp.py, o eKarov Kal p, rjv 18 od r) dpxr) drro &ap,(evco)9 rod K (erovs) Kaiaapos, ovyycopdpiv Trpo(epeodai)

10 pi 8 . . . .epyqi, 8 ia xeipp(s) ($paxp.ds) pp> Kql rrpp[.... irrl rovs XOLTTOVS prijvas ty drro [0app,o(vdi) rod avrov (erovs) rds Kara purjva (Spa^p-ds) t [p,rjhe(va) yjfjy(a) KpiXpTroLpyp,eypi, rj ecf? [ 0 ] $ eqy p,rj\yds p,rj hiopdcoocovrai rds Kar[d purjva (opa%p,ds) t

1 5 [e/crfcrai evros ro]d xppypy r[6 evocf>iXr)(0r)LT6p,evov) [ovv] r)piioXiai rod 8' VTrep[rreo6vro(s) xpd{vov) rpKoys j8 (Spaxpids) rrjs rrpd^ecos yeivop,e[yr\s rcdt Tpvcp(vL) eK re qyrcpy pyrcov dXArjXeyyycov els [

24 S E C T I O N V I I : NO. 149

agree duly to pay the 140 drachmai during the remaining 13 months, beginning from Pharmouthi of the same year, at 10 drachmai a month, failing in no month. For whatsoever month they do not succeed in paying the 10 drachmai, they shall pay the debt within the agreed time and half as much again, and the interest for time in excess shall be 2 drachmai. Tryphon shall have the right to distrain on them, each of them being security for the other, from anyone of them he chooses, as if judgement had been given against them . . . .

Lysimachos son of Theodotos, Marion daughter of Isakis, and Tryphon son of Theodotos towards the loan, 10 drachmai, from 14th Phamenoth, for the remaining 13 months, from Pharmouthi.

2-3 . The same man in B G U 1135 and 1 1 3 6 ; he acts on behalf of the eranos paying, it seems, and receiving back the loan (cf. San Nicolo, op. cit. i. 217 sqq.