6. Account of Tax Payments P. Vindob. G 42360 verso 13 ¥ 12. 6 cm mid- to late III century bc meris of Polemon, Arsinoites Plate 3 This text is found on the verso of 4

P.Vindob. G 42360 verso 13 ¥ 12.6 cm mid- to late III century BC

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2 ^*ι^*δ Πετεῦρις Ὥ̣ρ̣[ου (?)

3 Ἐσορχῆς κα̣ὶ Σι̣σ̣ο̣[ῦχος (?)

4a ̣ ̣α ̣ς Π̣άσιτ̣[ος

4 ι^*ζ Παεῦς Μαν̣ρέ̣[ου]ς ̣[

5 Τεῶς Πε̣τείσιος [

6 Ψενοβάστις Πυρρίου [

7 κ Αρωυς Τοτοῆτος ̣ κρ̣ε̣[οπωλῶν (?)

8 Ἐσορχῆς καὶ Σισοῦχος Ὀξ̣υρύ̣[γχων (?)

9 Τεῶς Π̣ε̣τείσιος σιτοποιῶν ̣ο ̣[

10 Πασῶυς Θοτομ̣οῦτος κ̣ ̣ε ̣ ̣[

11 εἰς Με̣σ̣ορή [

12 καὶ Παχρ̣άτης Α ̣ω[

13 Πετευ ̣ϲοω̣ ̣[ ̣] ̣ ̣[

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2 14th Peteyris son of (?) Hor[os (?)

3 Esorches and Siso[uchos (?)

4a ..a.s son of (?) Pasis (?)[

4 17th Paeus son of Manres [

5 Teos son of Peteisis [

6 Psenobastis son of Pyrrias [

7 20th Aroys son of Totoes . mea[t-sellers' (tax) (?)

8 Esorches and Sisouchos of Oxyrhy[ncha (?)

9 Teos son of Peteisis: millers' (tax) ...[

10 Pasoys son of Thotomous .....[

11 for Mesore [

12 and Pachrates son of (?) A.o[-

13 27th Petey... son of (?) ...[-

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For the provenance of this fragment, the place name Ὀξ̣υρύ̣[γχων (?), if correctly read, at the end of line 8 suggests the meris of Polemon of the Arsinoite nome, which is confirmed by the geographical information provided by 3 and 5.

In terms of its content, this fragmentary text is closely related to 5 to the extent that these two texts appear to come from the same document or, at least, from two documents which were closely associated with one another. A general description of the content of these two texts is provided under 5 above. Only individual features of 6 will, therefore, be discussed here.

In line 11 of this text, between day 20 and day 27 of a month the name of which has not survived, the entry εἰς Με̣σ̣ορή is found, which probably refers to a payment made for this month. This suggests that the month for which this list of tax payments was drawn up was probably not Mesore but presumably one of the immediately preceding or following months and that this entry contained an advance or late payment.

Finally, this brief text also has some significance from an onomastic perspective in that it preserves an apparently new (Αρωυς in line 7) or otherwise very rare (Πασῶυς in line 10 and Πετεῖσις in lines 5 and 9) variants of some Egyptian personal names.

1.  Π̣α̣σῶ̣[υς: Cf. line 10 below.

Ὥ̣ρ̣[ου (?): After the personal name in the nominative, a patronymic in the genitive or, less likely, καί followed by another personal name in the nominative is expected from the context. Despite the damage it has suffered, the ω looks probable. It was followed by a letter which had a long vertical stroke protruding deep below the line (a κ, a ρ, a φ or a ψ). The supplement of the patronymic is merely hypothetical. However, it is important to observe that the tiny speck of ink preserved from the bottom of this letter is exactly at the level at which the bottom of the ρ in the preceding name ends. Although there is a wide variety of personal names beginning with an ω followed by one of these four letters (see above) (cf. NB 495-98, Onomasticon 350-53, WL 125 and NB Dem. Index 115-16), by far the most frequent of these is Ὧρος and, in addition, the position of the speck of ink surviving from the bottom of the second letter also seems to suggest a ρ. Another, albeit statistically less likely, alternative would be the very common Ὡρίων.

There is a diagonal stroke rising to the top right above the second half of the ω, the meaning of which is not clear to me; it might be a mere mistake, might perhaps signify an abbreviation or might be a symbol ('γίνεται' or 'γίνονται').
3.  Cf. line 8 below where probably the same two individuals appear.

Ἐσορχῆς: For this good Egyptian female personal name (= Is.t-i.ir-rfih-s, 'Isis ist wissend'), see NB Dem. 133, addendum on p. 75, P.Count 35 col. III.44 = CPR XIII 14 col. III.44 (Arsinoites, 254-231), P.Count 49 fr. 2 col. I.64, 90 (Oxyrhyncha?, Arsinoites, II c.) and P.Count p. 506, n. 64. See also the variant Ἐσερχ̣ῆς in BGU X 1988 fr. A.1 (prov. unknown, 2nd half of III c.).

For the supplement and on the personal name Σισοῦχος, see line 8 below. The ι is probably corrected from a small and almost semi-circular stroke, perhaps an ο.
4a.  This line was inserted subsequently by the same scribe but in smaller characters. Although the first few letters are difficult to read because of their being badly smudged, the context suggests that in this line too we should expect a personal name followed by a patronymic. The first letter seems to be a small and round character, perhaps an ο. The second might be a μ or a π or, possibly, a δ or a λ. The third is clearly a 'Haken-Alpha', while the next is uncertain.

The first letter of the patronymic could be a μ, a π or, possibly, a λ. The last surviving traces after the ι suggest a σ, a τ or a slightly larger than normal ο. A variety of possibilities exist for reconstructing this patronymic from the surviving letters. The rare Λᾶσις (cf. NB 193 and Onomasticon 177) and the hitherto unique Μάσις (O.Ont.Mus. II 252.3 [Thebes, I-IV c. AD]) and Λασίων (P.Athen. 45.4 [prov. unknown, I-IV c. AD], assuming a genitive with an ο) are unlikely here because of their rarity. Of the numerous personal names which start with Πασι- (cf. NB 282-83, Onomasticon 237, WL 82-83 and NB Dem. Index 97¹), statistically the likeliest alternatives appear to be Πασίων (assuming a genitive with ο), Πᾶσις (gen. Πάσιος and Πάσιτος) and Πάσιος (gen. Πασίου), all of which are attested in the Hellenistic period, the first two also from the Fayyum. I have reconstructed Π̣άσιτ̣[ος in the main text above as this name appears to be the most likely of all available alternatives.

Μαν̣ρέ̣[ου]ς̣ [: The first letter of the patronymic could be read as a μ, a π or, possibly, as a λ (for interpreting it as a μ, cf. the shape of this letter in lines 10 and 11). The context of other characters favours a μ here (see further below). The third letter of the patronymic resembles a 'Treppen-Ny' but the angle of the stroke rising above the line is different from that of the 'Treppen-Ny' in the next but one line, which suggests some caution. The damaged character following the ρ could be an ε, a θ or a σ. The most likely reading of these letters seems to me to be Μαν̣ρέ̣[ου]ς̣ [. The name Μανρῆς, a spelling variant of Μαρ(ρ)ῆς = M3ª-Rª (NB 205, 207, Onomasticon 187, 191, WL 65 and NB Dem. 578-79), is typical of the Fayyum (cf., for example, P.L.Bat. XXI p. 363) and would thus suit well the provenance of this papyrus.

The form Πετεῖσις, a spelling variant of the very frequent Egyptian personal name Πετεῆσις = P3-tj-Is.t, 'Der, den Isis gegeben hat', (see NB Dem. 290-91), is rare in the papyrological and epigraphic source-material from Graeco-Roman Egypt with only four attestations known to date: O.Ashm.Shelt. 1.4 (Thebes, 256), O.Mich. IV 1128 col. I.5 = SB XIV 11515 col. I.5 (Karanis, Arsinoites, II-I c.), P.Stras. V 469.5 (Polydeukia, Arsinoites, 210/211 AD) and SB III 7184.2 = SB V 7980.2² (near Dakka, Roman?).

The small trace of ink at the right edge of the papyrus may belong either to the right branch of the final υ of Πυρρίου or perhaps to the first letter of the following word.

The name Τοτοῆς = Twtw, together with its spelling variants, is extremely common in both the Greek and the Demotic sources from Hellenistic and Roman Egypt. No seller of meat (see below) or worker in a similar trade with such a name or patronymic is, however, known to date from the sources from Hellenistic Egypt (cf. also PP V 12676-12717).

On the tax on sellers of meat (κρεοπωλῶν), see P.Tebt. III 872 col. III.20 (κρεοπωλ[ῶν) with the introduction and Préaux, L'économie, 230, n. 1.

On the occupational designation κρεοπώλης, its meaning and on the meat trade in Graeco-Roman Egypt in general, see, for example, Reil, Beiträge, 158-62, F. Uebel, 'Μονοπωλία φακῆς; Ein bisher unbezeugtes Handelsmonopol frühptolemäischer Zeit in einem Jenaer Papyrus (P. Ien. inv. 900)', in Actes du X^e Congrès International de Papyrologues, Varsovie - Cracovie, 3-9 septembre 1961, ed. J. Wolski (Warsaw 1964) 179-81, G. M. Browne, 'Κρεοπωλικὴ καὶ Ταριχηρά (P. Mich. Inv. 178)', in Proceedings of the Twelfth International Congress of Papyrology, ed. D. H. Samuel, Am.Stud.Pap. VII (Toronto 1970) 66, Casarico, 'Repertorio', 29, H. Harrauer in CPR XIII p. 120, Drexhage, 'Die Komposita', 3 and 11, id., 'Einige Bemerkungen', 97-111 and id., 'Nochmals zu den Komposita', 3, with the previous secondary literature cited in these works. Cf. also Ruffing, 'Die Berufsbezeichnungen', 22, 32, 46-48, 54-55. On occupational designations ending in -πώλης in the papyrological and epigraphic sources, see Casarico, 'Repertorio', 23-37, Drexhage, 'Die Komposita', 1-17, id., 'Nochmals zu den Komposita', 1-14 and Ruffing, 'Die Berufsbezeichnungen', 16-58.
8.  Cf. line 3 above. Because of the Souchos cult's well-known popularity in and close association with the Fayyum, the Egyptian name Σισοῦχος = Sj-Sbk, 'Sohn des Suchos', (NB Dem. 904-05) is common in the Arsinoite nome (see e.g. Otto, Priester, Vol. I 2-6 [cf. also Vol. II 384 Index s.v. 'Suchos-Sobk'], Rübsam, Götter und Kulte, 12-17, 242 Index s.v. 'Suchos', P.L.Bat. XXI p. 417, E. Brovarski, 'Sobek', LÄ V [1984] 995-1031 and VII [1992] 105). This agrees well with the provenance of these fragments deduced from other information (see the introductions to and general commentaries on 3-6 above).

Ὀξ̣υρύ̣[γχων (?): After the second personal name follow letters and traces suggesting five characters in total before the lacuna. They seem to have been corrected from or written over other characters, the identity of which is difficult to establish. The initial ο was corrected from a letter the shape of which resembles a v turned upside down: probably a λ, a μ or a π. The other characters from which the following letters were corrected or were written over are faint and badly smudged, but a χ underneath the first υ seems possible. The small traces of the last letter are difficult to interpret but, assuming that some of the ink peeled off the surface, they do not seem to preclude the reading of an υ. In 5 the name of a tax is usually followed by a place name in the genitive and in P.Petr. III 117h, a text similar to some extent to 5 and 6, payers of various occupational taxes are ordered geographically with the place name in the genitive preceding the name, patronymic and the type of tax paid by the individual concerned. The supplement Ὀξ̣υρύ̣[γχων appears, therefore, attractive, if not entirely certain, here, which would agree well with the origin of this fragment from the meris of Polemon, established from 3 and 5. An alternative would be to read some kind of occupational tax here, which is expected on the pattern of the following line and the general pattern of 5, but I am unable to interpret these letters and traces as any such tax.

σιτοποιῶν: A word for tax, probably the τετάρτη, is to be understood in connection with σιτοποιῶν. On the term σιτοποιός, its meaning and on the occupation designated by it in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, see, for example, Reil, Beiträge, 150-58, San Nicolò, Ägyptisches Vereinswesen², I, 72-73, H. Harrauer in CPR XIII pp. 155-56 and E. Battaglia, 'Artos'. Il lessico della panificazione nei papiri greci (Milan 1989) 42, 160, 171, 176, 180, 201-03. Cf. also Drexhage, 'Nochmals zu den Komposita', 9.

On the τετάρτη σιτοποιῶν, see H. Harrauer in CPR XIII p. 156, K. Maresch in P.Köln VI p. 204, Préaux, L'économie, 152, 336, Wallace, Taxation, 222 and Reil, Beiträge, 19, 151, 154, 162. Reil's assertion (Beiträge, 151) that in P.Hib. I 112.45 (Herakleopolites, about 260) the τετάρτη σιτοποιῶν occurs, though not impossible, is far from certain (cf. P.Hib. I p. 296 and p. 302, note on line 45). See also, more generally, the commentary on line 7 of 11 and the sources and secondary literature cited there.

̣ο ̣[: The letter following the 'Treppen-Ny' could be a μ, a π or, possibly, a λ. After the clear ο tiny and faint traces of one letter remain. In the preceding line what is probably a place name is found after the two personal names and the structure of 5 also suggests a place name here (cf. the commentary on the preceding line). It seems, therefore, logical to expect a place name to follow here in this line and so the supplement π̣όλ̣[εως might be considered (the traces at the edge of the papyrus do not seem to prevent reading a λ). This might be a short way of referring to a settlement lying near Oxyrhyncha (?) (cf. the preceding line) and containing in its name the word πόλις (e.g. Κυνῶν πόλις and Ἀφροδίτης πόλις, both in the meris of Polemon⁶) or, possibly, to Κροκοδίλων πόλις, the capital of the Arsinoite nome. The ambiguity inherent in this method of referring to a settlement, however, argues against this hypothesis. In addition, the fact that the word σιτοποιῶν followed by πόλεως or the names of similar taxes followed by πόλεως are apparently hitherto unattested in the papyrological and epigraphic source-material from post-pharaonic Egypt also suggests caution concerning this hypothesis. Another, similar hypothesis would be to supplement Π̣ολ̣[έμωνος μερίδος here but again the fact that no parallels appear to date to be attested argues against it. A more attractive reading would be Μ̣ού̣[χεως but unfortunately too little of the first and third letters remains to allow any certainty.

Θοτομ̣οῦτος: There is a small and faint vertical trace of ink above the line between the first ο and τ but it is more likely to be a minor scribal error or to be due to smudging, rather than suggesting a letter (a 'Treppen-Ny') here. Although the fifth letter of the patronymic resembles more a λ or, less closely, a π because of the two strokes meeting at an angle at the top of the line, the context of the other letters (see below) and the shape of the μ in Με̣σ̣ορή in the following line and in the patronymic Φαμούνιος (gen.) in 5.6 suggest that a μ is more likely here. The Egyptian personal name Θοτομοῦς = T‹hwtj-m3ª and T‹hwtj-m3ª.w, 'Thot ist wahrhaft', although far from very common, is well attested in both the Greek and the Demotic sources (cf. NB 142, Onomasticon 140, WL 49 and NB Dem. 1302).

κ̣ ̣ε ̣ ̣[: After the patronymic the surface is quite damaged and the writing is, therefore, difficult to read. The first letter was probably a κ, followed by one letter or, at most, two narrow ones. After these a clear ε and what could be a ϲ or a damaged ο can be seen. Finally, a tiny trace at the edge of the break survives. Although it might be tempting to read here κ̣α̣ὶ̣ Ἐσο̣[ρχῆς (cf. lines 3 and 8), against this reading is the fact that, first, in comparison with the other writings of καί (lines 3, 8 and 12) the available space here is shorter and does not seem to allow reading both an α and an ι next to each other. Secondly, where the α and ι meet the ι is always a downward stroke and it never rises above the point where the two letters meet. Here, however, the vertical stroke rises considerably above the point where the two strokes meet. Another alternative would be to read a place name here (cf. line 8 above). However, although there is a variety of place names beginning with the letters Κλεο- (Diz., III, 124-26, Suppl. 1, 173-75, Suppl. 2, 96, Suppl. 3, 61), the traces after the κ do not seem to conform to a λ. A further alternative, which seems to be the most likely of these possibilities, would be to assume that the second letter is a ρ, the loop from the head of which disappeared, and to read κ̣ρ̣εο̣π̣[ωλῶν (or perhaps κ̣ρ̣εω̣[πωλῶν). This word may have occurred at the end of line 7 and, in addition, is probably attested close to σιτοποιῶν (cf. this word in the previous line) in P.Tebt. III 872 col. III.20 (Arsinoites, late III c.). The difficulty with this hypothesis is that, first, there seems to be little room for the head of the ρ and, secondly, that the vertical stroke curves gently whereas the vertical strokes of the rhos tend to be straight in this hand. In spite of these palaeographical difficulties, no better solution for reading the end of this line offers itself. No seller of meat or a worker in a similar trade with such a name and patronymic is, however, known to date from the sources from Ptolemaic Egypt (cf. also PP V 12676-12717).
11.  εἰς Με̣σ̣ορή: Both the meanings 'for' and 'until' appear to be possible for εἰς here in principle (cf. LSJ and WB s.v.), of which 'for' seems more likely in the present context. There is evidence that the τετάρτη (τῶν) σιτοποιῶν and other, similar, taxes were paid in monthly instalments (P.Cair.Zen. II 59206 with the introduction to the text edition, P.Tebt. III 995 with the introduction, P.Tebt. III 840 with the introduction and P.Fay. 15 with the introduction) and so a payment for Mesore agrees well with this evidence (cf. also the end of lines 3 and 4 of 5.
12.  The word καί might suggest that some text was lost at the end of the preceding line. Alternatively, it might simply indicate that the scribe meant subsequently to add Παχρ̣άτης to the list of names between lines 7 and 10.

Παχρ̣άτης: The head of the ρ has almost completely disappeared; only two tiny traces of ink remain in this area, which might suggest this letter. The alternative reading Παχιάτης is only attested in SB XVIII 13644.1 (Memphis, I-VII c. AD), for which a more probable new reading as Παχράτης has been put forward by G. Nachtergael, 'Lecture de quelques noms de métiers dans des inscriptions grecques d'Égypte', CE 74 (1999) 148-50, who suggests a date for this text in the first or second century AD. The Egyptian personal name Pa-‡hr·t, 'Der des Kindes' = Παχράτης is well attested from the Hellenistic period in both the Greek and the Demotic sources (cf. NB 296, Onomasticon 243, WL 85 and NB Dem. 411).

Α ̣ω[: The pattern of the other lines suggests that the name was followed by a patronymic. The first letter after the name is probably a wedge-shaped α. The second could be a μ, a π or, perhaps, a λ. The last surviving letter in the line is probably an ω. There is a wide variety of personal names attested in the papyrological and epigraphic source-material from Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt the genitive forms of which start with Αμω-, Απω- or Αλω- (see NB 21, 29, 43, Onomasticon 27, 31, 45, WL 16, 18, 23, NB Dem. Index 80-81 and the DDBDP). Of these names, the most likely to have stood here in the genitive is the Egyptian Ἀμῶς, which is well attested in the third century BC Arsinoites: see NB 29, Onomasticon 31, P.L.Bat. XXI p. 285 and WL 18.
13.  Πετευ ̣ϲοω̣ ̣[ ̣] ̣ ̣[: The traces after the υ might also belong to two narrow letters written very close to each other. After the ο what might be an ω or possibly two small letters connected to each other are visible. Following this, tiny ink traces of a letter survive at the edge of the papyrus above the line. At approximately a letter's distance after these, in the blank space between this line and the preceding one, survive traces of what seem to be the tops of two diagonal lines rising towards the top right and running parallel with and close to each other. If this is a correct interpretation of the traces, the meaning of this symbol or abbreviation (?) is unclear to me.

On the basis of the preceding lines, a personal name followed by a patronymic in the genitive or, less likely, by the conjunction καί and another personal name in the nominative is expected. As καί cannot be read in the surviving part of the line, the first alternative appears almost certain here. Given the onomastic material from Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt known to date, there seem to be three alternatives for interpreting these letters and traces. First, the name might be read as Πετεῦρ̣ι̣ς, followed by a patronymic beginning with Ο-. Although the space between the υ and the ϲ is tight for two letters, the badly damaged and abraded traces do not seem to rule out such a reading completely. In addition, this common personal name occurs elsewhere in this text (cf. line 2 and the note on this line above). Another alternative would be to read Πετεῦς̣, followed by a patronymic starting with Σο-. However, the traces immediately following the υ do not seem to be entirely compatible with a ς and so some damage, e.g. smudging or abrasion of ink or damage to the fibre structure, would have to be assumed. Finally, the very rare personal name Πέτευρ̣σος̣ (see Πετεύρσ̣ου in CPR XVIIB 8.4 [Panopolis, 184 AD], cf. also Πετευ̣ρσ( ) in BGU VI 1451.3 [prov. unknown, 122]) might be read here but the rarity of the name and the fact that what would be the final ς of the name on this interpretation appears to be connected to the first letter of the patronymic through the lower part of the ς strongly rule out such a reading. Of these alternatives, the first one would seem to be the most likely but, since the second half of the line is so damaged, the question as to how exactly this part of the line should be read has unfortunately to remain open.