Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 154

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Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 154 (P. Oxy. 154 or P. Oxy. I 154) is an account listing various payments, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the late 6th century. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10102) in Cairo. [1]

Greek language language spoken in Greece, Cyprus and Southern Albania

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.

Oxyrhynchus Village in Egypt

Oxyrhynchus is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an archaeological site, considered one of the most important ever discovered. For the past century, the area around Oxyrhynchus has been continually excavated, yielding an enormous collection of papyrus texts dating from the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Roman Egypt. Among the texts discovered at Oxyrhynchus are plays of Menander, fragments from the Gospel of Thomas, and fragments from Euclid's Elements. They also include a few vellum manuscripts, and more recent Arabic manuscripts on paper.

Papyrus Writing and painting implement

Papyrus is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge. Papyrus can also refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined together side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book.

Contents

Description

The recto side of this papyrus contains a list of payments of wine, oil, meat, etc., to various people. The verso contains a list of receipts and payments, partly in wheat and partly in money. The accounts on the verso side are of particular interest because of their comparisons between the relative values of different types of solidi. The measurements of the fragment are 300 by 545 mm. [2]

Solidus (coin) gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire

The solidus, nomisma, or bezant was originally a relatively pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire. Under Constantine, who introduced it on a wide scale, it had a weight of about 4.5 grams. It was largely replaced in Western Europe by Pepin the Short's currency reform, which introduced the silver-based pound/shilling/penny system, under which the shilling functioned as a unit of account equivalent to 12 pence, eventually developing into the French sou. In Eastern Europe, the nomisma was gradually debased by the Byzantine emperors until it was abolished by Alexius I in 1092, who replaced it with the hyperpyron, which also came to be known as a "bezant". The Byzantine solidus also inspired the originally slightly less pure Arab dinar.

It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898. [2]

Arthur Surridge Hunt English papyrologist

Arthur Surridge Hunt, FBA was an English papyrologist.

Excerpt from verso side

Given to Andronicus the sailor 70 artabae, and to Anoup and John, lawyers (?) and contractors of the racecourse, as payment for the 11th indiction, 60 artabae of wheat, remainder ​482 3⁄4 artabae, 1 choenix of wheat. This, at 1 solidus less 4 carats on the private standard for every 10 artabae, is equivalent to ​48 9⁄32solidi less 193 carats on the private standard, that is, less ​289 1⁄2 carats or ​12 3⁄48solidi on the public standard, making ​36 7⁄32 pure solidi on the public standard, which are equivalent to ​36 15⁄32solidi on the Alexandrian standard. [3]

To the banker ​12 1⁄8solidi on the Alexandrian standard, also 1 solidus less 4 carats on the private standard, which is equivalent to ​ 87⁄96solidus on the standard of Alexandria, total ​13 1⁄32solidi on the Alexandrian standard, leaving ​23 7⁄16solidi on the Alexandrian standard. [4] [2]

See also

Oxyrhynchus Papyri Manuscript fragments from 32BC–640AD found in an Egyptian rubbish dump

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 144 is a receipt, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 22 November 580. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10017) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 153 is a receipt, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 20 May 618. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10044) in Cairo.

Related Research Articles

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 62 is a letter from a centurion, written in Greek. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 6 January 222. Currently it is housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 69 is a complaint about a robbery, written in Greek. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It was discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in 1897 in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 21 November 190. Currently it is housed in the Haskell Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (2061). The text was published by Grenfell and Hunt in 1898.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 88 is an order for payment of wheat, written in Greek. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 31 October 179. Currently it is housed in the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 89

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 89 is a receipt for the payment of wheat, written in Greek. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 29 July 140. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

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Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 93 is an order for payment, written in Greek. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The document was written on 16 January 362. Currently it is housed in the British Museum (762) in London.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 99 concerns the sale of half a house, written in Greek. It was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet The document was written on 4 September 55. Currently it is housed at the British Museum (756) in London.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 101 is a document concerning the lease of some land, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 2 October 142. Currently it is housed at the Haskell Oriental Institute (2064) at the University of Chicago.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 127 is an account of contributions of wheat sent annually to Alexandria and Constantinople, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the late 6th century. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10084) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 132 is a memorandum concerning the division of a bequest, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the late 6th or early 7th century. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10133) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 134 is the second in a series of Oxyrhynchus papyri (133–139) concerning the family affairs of Flavius Apion, his heirs, or his son. This one is a receipt from a stonemason given to Flavius. It is written in Greek and was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 9 June 569. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10053) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 138 is the sixth in a series of Oxyrhynchus papyri (133–139) concerning the family affairs of Flavius Apion, his heirs, or his son. This one is a contract for the care of a stable, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written between 610 and 611. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10100) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 139 is the seventh in a series of Oxyrhynchus papyri (133–139) concerning the family affairs of Flavius Apion, his heirs, or his son. This one is a promise by the head watchman of the estate to Flavius Apion the younger to be honest and outlining the penalties the watchman agrees to should he fail. It is written in Greek and was discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 26 October 612. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10049) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 140 is a contract with a horse trainer, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 26 April 550. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10057) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 145 is a receipt, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 15 March 552. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10066) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 149 is a receipt, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written on 22 September 572. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10045) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 151 is a receipt, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written between 28 September and 27 October 612. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10094) in Cairo.

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 156 is a letter, written in Greek and discovered in Oxyrhynchus. The manuscript was written on papyrus in the form of a sheet. The document was written in the 6th century. Currently it is housed in the Egyptian Museum (10035) in Cairo.

References

  1. ↑ P. Oxy. 154 at the Oxyrhynchus Online
  2. 1 2 3 Grenfell, B. P.; Hunt, A. S. (1898). Oxyrhynchus Papyri I. London: Egypt Exploration Fund. pp. 234–6.
  3. ↑ According to Grenfell and Hunt, the ratios between the solidi of the three standards (private, public, and Alexandrian) are roughly 161:145:146. The equivalences listed here match these ratios.
  4. ↑ According to Grenfell and Hunt there is probably an error in this calculation. As stated above, a solidus on the private standard was worth ​ 146⁄161 of a solidus on the Alexandrian standard. Here 1 solidus less 4 carats, i.e. ​ 5⁄6solidus on the private standard is equivalent to ​ 87⁄96 of a solidus on the Alexandrian standard. They note that it is possible although unlikely that there was a large variation in the exchange rate. They think it much more likely, based on evidence from other papyri, that the discrepancy is due to an arithmetic error.

PD-icon.svg  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: B. P. Grenfell; A. S. Hunt (1898). Oxyrhynchus Papyri I. London: Egypt Exploration Fund. 

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