OPES – Oslo Papyri Electronic System

Background and Physical Properties

Material:

Papyrus

Connections:

–

Size:

16.5 x 8.5 cm

Lines:

4

Publication side:

Verso (Recto: P. Oslo II 42)

Palaeographic description:

Practiced semi-cursive hand of the Roman period, written along the fibres (transversa charta).

State of preservation:

Medium brown papyrus. Rather well preserved, although some tape was applied to the surface of the recto during conservation in order to strengthen some of the gaps. The lower right quadrant is completely detached from the rest of the papyrus, and is missing a horizontal strip (3 x 0.5 cm) in its upper left corner, and a rectangular piece (4 x 2 cm) in its lower left corner, both immediately adjacent to the lines of detachment. The four edges are mostly preserved. Top margin: 0.5 - 1 cm. Left margin: 1.3 cm. Bottom margin: 5 cm. The lines reach up to the right edge leaving no right margin. Three horizontal fold lines at 3, 5 and 6.7 cm from the top, and one vertical fold line at the midline indicate that the fragment was folded three times horizontally from the bottom up, then one time vertically. No discernible kollesis. Recto: see description of P. Oslo II 42.

Content

Date:

2nd half of the IIIrd century A.D.

Origin:

Unknown, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt

Language:

Greek

Genre:

Documentary

Author:

–

Title / Type of text:

Order for arrest / Summons

Content:

A “thiefcatcher” in Karanis is asked to produce either an individual, presumably accused of tax evasion, or a sum of money, presumably the amount of tax due.

Subjects:

Order Arrest Warrant Summons Tax Tax evasion Debt

Named people:

Atisis son of Hakialis (= Hakiaris)

Named places:

Karanis Philopator alias Theogenous

English translation:

To the leader of the thief catchers of the village of Karanis. Send up Atisis, son of Hakialis, accused by the tax collector of the village of Philopator, either him or 160 drachmas, (drachmas) 160 .

Provenance:

Possibly Karanis, Arsinoite nome, province of Egypt

Acquisition:

Purchased by Samson Eitrem in Egypt, 1920

Acquisition year:

1920

Editions

• Eitrem, S., & Amundsen L, P.Oslo II, 1931, p. 40 (no. 20)

Further Literature

Catalogues

TM 31630

Discussions

• Schmidt, K.F.W. (1932). [Review of Papyri Osloenses, Fasc. II, edited by S. Eitrem & L. Amundsen]. Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen, 194, 279-286. Discusses the addressee of l. 1, and the meaning of Ἀτῖσις l. 2; see p. 280.
• Youtie, H. C. (1932). [Review of Papyri Osloenses, Fasc. II, ed. by S. Eitrem and L. Amundsen]. Classical Philology, 27(1), 86–95. https://doi.org/10.1086/361437. Suggests προεστῶτος l. 1; see pp. 92-93.
• Turner, E.G. & M.-Th. Lenger (Eds.). (1955). The Hibeh papyri, Part 2 [= P.Hib. II]. Egypt Exploration Society. Compares the liability of the λῃστοπιαστής in P.Oslo II 20 in executing arrests, and the conviction of policemen who fail to arrest culprits in the royal ordinance P.Hib II 198; see p. 99 commentary to l. 90.
• Hagedorn, U. (1979). Das Formular der Überstellungsbefehle im Römischen Ägypten. The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 16(1/2), 61–74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24518796. Suggests dating to the 2nd half of the 3rd century CE on account of the late attestation of the office of λῃστοπιαστής l.1; see p. 64.
• Battaglia, E. (1982). Philopator Kome. Aegyptus, 62(1/2), 124–147. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41216601. On the village of Φιλοπάτωρ ἡ καὶ Θεογένους; see pp. 137-138, 139n6, and p. 146.
• Krause, J. U. (1996). Gefängnisse im römischen Reich. Franz Steiner Verlag. On the λῃστοπιασταί of Egypt, see p. 35 n. 55; on warrants/Überstellungsbefehle w/ list of published papyri, see p. 35-36 n. 57; on tax issues in warrants, see p. 166 n. 77.
• McGing, B. C. (1998). Bandits, real and imagined, in Greco-Roman Egypt. The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 35(3/4), 159–183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24518982. On social bonds between bandits and their communities, as well as with establishment interests, in Roman Egypt; relates tax evasion to banditry and bandit catchers in P.Oslo II 20; see p. 172.
• Lewis, N. (2000). Brief footnotes on banditry in the papyri. The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 37(1/4), 95–96. Rebuttal to McGing (1998); see p. 96.
• Kramer, B. (2002). Urkundenreferat 2001. Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete, 48(2), 267-348. Identifies the office of λῃστοπιαστής l.1 in BGU XVII 2701; see p. 273.
• Maehler, H. (Ed.). (2005). Ägyptische Urkunden aus den Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden, XIX. Band. Urkunden aus Hermupolis [= BGU XIX]. On the personal name Κιαλε and variants in BGU XIX 2773 (= Ἀκιαλεως l. 20), see p. 44, commentary to l. 20.
• Azzarello, G. (2009). 5. Ordine di comparizione da parte del προκουράτωρ Taurinos. Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete, 55(2), 199-214. https://doi.org/10.1515/APF.2009.199. On the function of λῃστοπιατής l.1 in SPP XX 76; see p. 211.
• Kelly, B. (2011). Petitions, litigation, and social control in Roman Egypt. Oxford University Press.** On the summonsing of individuals to court in the adjudicative process in Roman Egypt, see p. 98 n. 5.**
• Mountford, M. (2012). Documentary papyri from Roman and Byzantine Oxyrhynchus [Doctoral dissertation, University College London]. UCL Discovery. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1348496. Introduction to summonses on papyri; see p. 40.
• Bekken, P. J. (2014). The Lawsuit Motif in John’s Gospel from New Perspectives. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004278684. On the course of legal proceedings according to the papyri, see p. 83 n. 41.