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scribal signatures it appears that professional notaries played comparatively little part at Syene, and that the majority of the deeds, even where the parties concerned were civilians, were written by soldiers. The following is a complete list of the scribes whose names are preserved in the British Museum collection. Descriptions preserved in any one document, when the same scribe is responsible for more than one, are added to the name. The numbers after some of the names give the number of documents written by the scribe; and in every case where he is also the writer of documents at M(unich) I have added the number in that collection also. Abbreviations are extended.

Αβραάμ Δίου.

Φλαούιος Αβραάμ Παμήτ, κεντυρίων λεγίωνος Συήνης.

Αλλάμων Πέτρου, ἀπὸ βικαρίων (2, Μ. 1).

Φλαούιος Δίος Βασιλείδου, ἀπὸ

Διος Παπνονθίου.

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ἀριθμοῦ Συήνης (23) 4).

Θεοδόσιος Απολλωνίου, νομικὸς Βαβυλώνος?)*).

Θεόφιλος, ἐλάχιστος διάκονος).

Φλαούιος Λάζαρος Πέτρου, ἀδιούτως ἀριθμοῦ Συήνης.

Μάρκος Απα Δίου, στρατιώτης ἀριθμοῦ Συήνης (54), Μ. 2) 5). Among these scribes Dius son of Papnuthius enjoys an evil preeminence by virtue of the excessive badness of his Greek. Dius son of Basilides, in both the documents assigned to him, writes a very illegible hand (he is certainly the worst writer of them all), and commits many grammatical blunders. Allamon son of Peter is also very uncertain in his constructions. The most accomplished penman is Theophilus the deacon, whose writing is easy and elegant, and whose Greek is moreover comparatively correct. The general impression derived from these documents is, however, that in this outpost of the Empire the Greek language was rapidly decaying. 1) This scribe is somewhat doubtful. In Inv. 1788 the scribal signature, if it was ever added, which is doubtful, is lost; but the body of the document seems to be in the same hand as the subscription, which is by Dius. In Inv. 1789 the scribe was Dius son of The badly written patronymic can at need be read as B[co]ikeidov, and the hand of the document, though at first sight unlike that of Inv. 1788, seems, on a more detailed examination, to have a good deal of similarity to it.

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2) This person, if the extension of Ba is correct, belongs of course to a different category from the rest.

3) The word diazovog is lost, but can be certainly restored from another document, in which this scribe subscribes for an illiterate person.

4) This includes one papyrus (Inv. 1799 = Mon. 109) of which the beginning

is in the British Museum, the conclusion at Munich.

5) To these may be added Picovios Aẞocàμ Movaciov, the scribe of Mon. 106; for the beginning of that document is in the Brit. Mus. (Inv. 1803a); see above, p. 164, note 2. Being called Flavius, he too was no doubt a soldier.

Klio, Beiträge zur alten Geschichte XIII 2.

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6. Classes of Documents.

A complete description of the contents of the papyri cannot here be given, but the nature of some of them may be briefly indicated.

It has already been remarked (above, p. 163) that the three documents from the neighbourhood of Thebes all relate to loans. Inv. 1794 and 1805 are actual loans1), in the latter case some articles of jewellery being pledged as security. Inv. 1793 recto is apparently a receipt for the full price of an ear-ring deposited as security for a debt; the borrower had evidently found that she was unable to redeem her pledge, and being in want of money she surrendered it to her creditor in return for the difference between its full value and the amount of her debt. Of the documents written at Syene four are loans.

Two documents are concerned with the inheritance of Jacob, which plays so large a part in Wenger's Vorb. (pp. 12-17). Inv. 1790 having already been published by the Palaeographical Society, it is unnecessary to say anything further concerning it here). The other document, Inv. 1792, which is dated in either 584 or 585 (see above, p. 165), is connected with the disputes between brother and sister concerning the inheritance. The loss of a few letters from the beginning of each line and the fact that the papyrus is badly rubbed in places render portions of the document at present unintelligible, but the general sense is clear. John acknowledges to his sister Kako his abandonment of all claims on the zooripaion лQаquáτor, but reserves from this surrender certain property, including τῶν ξύλων τοῦ πλοίου ... ἱσταρίου (cf. Vorb. p. 13).

In Inv. 1791 a certain Jacob son of Apa Dius, a sailor, becomes surety to Patermuthius for the appearance of τὸν Ψανὸ καὶ Σανμοου at an arbitration to be made by Μρκο (sic) τῷ λογιωτάτῳ δικστην (sic). This is probably the Mark 6702cortzóg who in P. Mon. 103 (Vorb. p. 16f.) acts as arbitrator between John, the brother-in-law of Patermuthius, and his mother Tapia. As by a fortunate accident some fragments from the beginning of this document are preserved among the London papyri, the arbitration can be dated in July, 583. It seems likely, therefore, that the date of Inv. 1791, which is given by the indiction only, is to be taken as 586 (see above, p. 165). Whether the dispute with which it is concerned had anything to do with the inheritance of Jacob it is impossible to say.

An interesting document is Inv. 1796, an agreement between Patermuthius and his wife Kako concerning their property, perhaps due

1) 1794 is perhaps rather a bond to pay interest on a loan than the loan itself.

2) There were a few misreadings in the transcript given by the Pal. Soc.; see the corrigenda in part 10.

to a desire to avoid such disputes concerning the inheritance as they had themselves been parties to in the case of that of Jacob. After a verbose preamble in which they state that their motive in concluding the agreement is to prevent the survivor being in any way defrauded by their heirs (μήποτε κτλ. ευρεθείη τὸν ζῶντα ὑστερούμενον παρὰ τῶν ἀμφοῖν ἡμῶν τέκνων), they declare, νοοῦντες φρονοῦντες λογισμοὺς ἔχοντες ἔρρωμένας τὰς διανοίας τὰς φρένας ἀπαθεῖς τὰς αἰσθήσεις ὑγιεῖς ἐπὶ ποδῶν βαδίζοντες ἐπ ̓ ἀγορᾶς παρερχόμενοι εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἔγγραφον ὁμολογίαν), that on the death of either of them the survivor shall have full and entire possession of all the property of the deceased, whether acquired by inheritance, purchase, or personal exertion, and that on the death of that survivor their common property shall be divided in equal shares among their children, no child being favoured at the expense of the others. They then provide that if any child attempts to set aside this agreement he shall be disinherited and pay a fine of 12 solidi. The nature of the document suggests that it may have been drawn up fairly soon after marriage as a kind of marriage settlement; but the parties must, as already said (above, p. 165), have been married at least as early as 582, whereas the date of this document is A. D. 583-4 (above, p. 165).

The collection includes a number of sales, which are of considerable interest in several ways; for the formulae employed (cf. Vorb. section VI), for the light which they, with other Byzantine sales of houses, throw on the structure of the Graeco-Egyptian dwelling-house, and for the evidence they afford as to the topography of Syene. There are five of these sales, all of which are sales of house property. To them may be added. Inv. 1790 (New Pal. Soc. VI, no. 128), which is a transfer of house property in consideration of the discharge of obligations which the vendor is unable to meet; and in the matter of evidence for the structure of houses we may also add Inv. 1801, a loan on the security of house property. I have not left myself room here for any discussion of the first two subjects, but one interesting point in connexion with the second may be noted. In Inv. 1802, in the specification of the property sold, occur the words άλλο (i. e. κέλλιον) δὲ ἀπηλιωτικὸν νεῖον εἰς λίβα εἰς τὸν πυλόνα καὶ τὸ ὑποπέσσιον”) ἤτοι χρηρε, where έχρησε is evidently a Coptic feminine noun synonymous with oлootor. Mr. Crum, in reply to a query, informed me that he could not trace any such Coptic word, but suggested that light might be thrown on it from Demotic sources. This suggestion proved

1) Cf. the formula in the Schenkung auf den Todesfall", Zeitschr. d. Sav.Stiftung, XXXII, p. 326, and in the will in P. Cairo byz. 67151. Prof. Heisenberg suggests a reference to Mitteis, Grundzüge, 246 (Elterliche Teilung c).

2) Cf. also P. Flor. 15, 17, where inoxiosior is the right reading, Archiv 111, 532.

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fruitful; for Sir Herbert Thompson, whom I next consulted, has identified the word with a rare Demotic feminine word found, up to the present, in only one document. This is P. dem. Strassb. 1 (Spiegelberg, Dem. Pap. d. Strassb. Bibl. p. 18ff.), a conveyance of house property dated in the 9th year of Alexander. According to information kindly supplied me by Sir Herbert Thompson, the parts of the house are the following (I quote from his letter):

..hyt

Copt. 2AEIT, elsewhere usually лvior, but occasionally úgα or лoоαúzov (Spiegelberg translates „Vorhof“).

hph = a building, meaning unknown.

hrr

'nh

= χρησε.

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trt=

enclosure, courtyard (Spiegelb. „Hof“).

staircase, probably a large outside one descending from the upper storey to the courtyard (Spiegelb. „Terrasse (?)"). syḥ = usually a detached garden-house (Spiegelb. „Kiosk“). ro = oa, door of the house, as opposed to the лνλóν.“ Spiegelberg translates hrr Frauenabteilung“, „evidently because he identifies it with a well-known hieroglyphic word; but I doubt very much if he is justified in doing so on philological grounds; and I see no reason in the text for suggesting such a meaning" (H. T.).

The evidence of Inv. 1802 makes it clear that Spiegelberg's rendering must be given up; for there cannot, I think, be a doubt that zonoɛ and hrr are to be identified. The лooós is shown by abundant evidence to have been part of, or in close connexion with, the πυλών; and the ὑποπέσσιον was obviously the space under the 78000s. Since then hrr goes along πεσσός. with hytлvior and trt = staircase or „Terrasse", the meaning vлOлÉGGIOV suits it perfectly. That a rare Demotic word occurring in a papyrus of the reign of Alexander should thus be elucidated from a Greek document of the reign of Justin is a striking instance of the inter-connexion of papyrological studies.

7. Topography of Syene.

As already remarked, some light is thrown by the contracts of sale on the topography of Syene. There is not sufficient material to give any detailed idea of the plan of the town- perhaps the Munich texts will in this respect supplement the London collection, but the scanty data of the latter may here be set down.

Two houses are described as situated in the νοτινὸν μέρος τοῦ gpovolov1). It may be inferred from this that Syene was divided, like Hermopolis, into quarters, one of which was called to Poovotov; and on

1) Cf. Zeitschr. d. Sav.-Stift. XXXII, 327.

the analogy of Hermopolis we may conjecture that the other was known as Пós. As at Hermopolis again, these quarters were subdivided into at least two portions called after points of the compass. At Hermopolis they were known as East and West. Since at Syene the South division of the Pooroor is mentioned there must presumably have been another known as North; but there may of course have been East and West as well, though at Hermopolis there were only two divisions. In this votvor μέρος του Φρουρίου the names of two streets are recorded. A house is situated περὶ λαύραν τοῦ ἁγίου ἀθλοφόρου Απα Βίκτορος μάρτυρος, and in the specification of its boundaries mention is made of τοῦ ἁγίου τόπου Απα Βίκτορος μάρτυρος. Again, another house is περὶ λαύραν τῆς Пagεuẞons1). This recalls the street of the same name at Arsinoe. In the same context mention is made of τοῦ καμηλόνος τῆς βασταγῆς τῶν Pikor, apparently a stable for camels engaged in transport to and from Philae.

Lastly, reference may be made to the church of St. Mary already mentioned above (p. 168). There is nothing to show in what part of the town it stood.

Postscript. One of the documents from Hermonthis several times referred to in this article (Inv. 1793) has on the verso a Coptic text, which Mr. H. R. Hall has kindly copied and translated for me. Like the other documents of this Hermonthite collection, it refers to articles deposited (apparently) as security, and gives further support to the conjecture made on p. 163 that these documents are the papers of a family or families of pawnbrokers. For this reason and because the Coptic text contains one or two interesting words. I give Mr. Hall's transcript here, with his consent. He states that he could perhaps make more out of it on further study, but has had very little time to give to it.

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2. Petemout was a Theban village (Hall, Copt. Texts fr. Ostraka in Brit. Mus., pp. 47, 84, 114).

5. A шwn is perhaps a purse.

6. XIN2OMĪT, „objects of bronze", „bronzes“.

1) Cf. the reference in the preceding note.

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