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The Petra Papyri III . Antti Arjava, Matias Buchholz, and Traianos Gagos.

Article  in  Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research · August 2008

DOI: 10.1086/BASOR25609292

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The Petra Papyri III by Antti Arjava; Matias Buchholz; Traianos Gagos
Review by: Michael Decker
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 351 (Aug., 2008), pp. 97-99
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25609292 .
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 2008 BOOK REVIEWS 97

this is the phase at the church when all the floors, includ report, none large enough to have been mistaken for a

ing mosaics, were again raised and an altar platform con smashed vessel.
structed. It was also the period when a substantial, A finalminor quibble is thatRobert Stieglitzmight have
fortified

building was erected inArea A2; and thewater reservoir been better identifiedas editor of thevolume, ratherthan
inArea B2 was not thoughttogo out of use until theeighth apparently the author, thus avoiding the slightly patroniz
century. Since substantial burning is associated with all ing description of the work of others as "contributions."
destruction levels, perhaps the 749 earthquake may have It is a shame that these problems detract from the use
been the cause, even if by then the settlement was much fulness of the report and the hard work that must have
reduced in size. been involved inpublishing so quickly.A substantialbody
We might also query the characterization of the Ab of material is presented here, adding significantly to our
basid to Fatimid period as a phase at the site. Even if the knowledge of settlements of the Byzantine/Umayyad pe
undoubted wall robbing that occurred could be dated to riod, since Tanninim was a small site, a coastal site, a sub
this period, should that constitute a phase, or should a sec urb of a major city and, if the excavators' interpretations
ond gap in occupation be recorded? The picture is compli are correct, a monastic site catering to Holy Land pilgrims.
cated by claims in some sections that there was no Abbasid

occupation, contrasting with the existence of some Abbasid Kate da Costa

pottery and at least one coin. University of Sydney
These issues cannot be resolved because basic conven
kate.da.costa@arts.usyd.edu.au
tionsof archaeological publishinghave not been followed
in this report. There is no locus list, describing each con
text and allowing the reader to recreate the material from The Petra Papyri III,edited by Antti Arjava, Matias
each deposit. The plans and section drawings are inade Buchholz, and Traianos Gagos. American Center
quate, making it impossible to find each wall, let alone of Oriental Research Publications, No. 5. Amman:
each important locus, on a plan or section. Many loci are American Center of Oriental Research, 2007. xxii +
totally undocumented. 217 pp., 87 plates. Cloth. $100.00.
There are also almost no statistics available for the
artifacts. The exceptions are some basic for the Considerable excitement the
figures scholarly accompanied
laterpottery (Arnon, p. 149) and glass (Pollak, p. 155). discovery of the carbonized
papyrus archive in the Byzan

Only Pollak discussed material based on sealed tine church in Petra, Jordan, in 1993. The find is certainly
deposits.
The only listingof material by findspot is for the lamps a significant one for historians of the late antique Levant,
(Arnon, table 1, p. 196), and there is no comment there especially those interestedindaily lifeoutside thebig cities
on the statistically significantdistributionpatternof the and those seeking texts not focused on political or eccle

Byzantine lamps by area. The small finds report mentions siastical affairs. This volume, the second to be published,
93 coins, but 102 are listed in the appendix, with no expla contains 19 documents printed on fine, high-gloss paper and
nation for the extra ones. Space a detailed II has yet to
precludes list, accompanied by good-quality plates. Volume
but random checks
of parallels cited for the Byzantine pot appear, due to the ill health of its editor, Koenen.
Ludwig
tery showed numerous misidentifications. The dates given Therefore, the editorial staff of the project decided to press
for vessels made of Islamic Cream Ware, and of the Type on with the publication of the third volume. Upon comple
Bb lampsmight be debated. tion, the five volumes of the Petra Papyri will contain about

Regrettably, other discrepancies occur between reports, 60 texts thatspan the final two-thirdsof the sixthcentury.
including examples of number transpositions?e.g., the These documents a keyhole view, not the wide
present
Phase 2 east wall of the church is labeledW1042 on page open vista over thehistorical fields of Late Antiquity that
28, butW1024 on theplan in figure 16. The most serious many hoped for when the scrolls were initially unearthed.
of these is the hoard associated with the church. In Phase Nevertheless, the body of tax transfers, sales records, settle
3 of the church, a "pit hoard" "about" 30 coins, ments, and similar material offer a certain amount of valu
containing
"12-15 lamps," half a Gaza
oil amphora, a smashed
glass able historical information for the Petra region and the late
vessel, and the two shells with writing was buried beneath Levant
antique generally.
the floor of the area outside the apse, not identified by a The brief introductionby Antti Arjava (pp. 1-5) dis
locus number (pp. 34-35). This hoard is nowhere else cusses aspects of thephysicalmorphology of thepapyri.A
discussed, although in the small findsreportStieglitz says number of the vertical Petra rolls are quite long (several in
thatLocus 1127 contained the shells, the amphora sherd thisvolume, 29-31 and 36, are about 400 cm in length)and
with dipinto, and "no less than nine lamps" and "twenty one, P.Petra 2 written inGaza and previously published in
one" coins (p. 201). The lamp report lists 11 lamps from PPetra I, is about 850 cm in
length. One of the reasons for
LI 127, although lamp no. 017, described as Roman in the this is
obviously theirnarrowwidth, possibly as much as
stratigraphyreport,and listed as a Roman type in table 1 4-5 cm narrower than rolls common in Byzantine Egypt,
(p. 196), is illustratedinfigure 154.11 as a Byzantine lamp. but ultimatelythereasons formaking rollswith thispeculiar
Only five fragmentsare listedfromLocus 1127 in theglass character are not understood. The documents discussed here

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 BOOK REVIEWS BASOR 351

were produced by local notaries, their scribes, or some nor are we certain of the assessment rate that pre
(iuga);
times private individuals, and served as semi-public or, in vailed (see Duncan-Jones 1990).
locally
certain instances, private records. were wit P.Petra a tax docu
Typically they 22, edited by M. Buchholz, is also
nessed by at least three individuals and dated by regnal ment dated to the reign of Justinian. It records
the receipt

year; Arjava links both of these features to Justinianic leg of funds by three brothers, Patrikios, Ailianos, and Nikias,
islation that required such standards. Other introductory sons of Monaxios, to cover a tax liability from Theodoros,
matter (pp. 7-11) includes calendars used in the papyri son of Obodianos. The men who received these funds were
an updated
(M. Buchholz), chronological table (A. Arjava apparently once again interlocutors, who would themselves
and M. Lehtinen), and astemma of the family of The pay forward the money owed to imperial officials. This text

odoras, a son of a Obodianos. This Theodoros, the main is quite and its precise function is uncertain;
fragmentary,
figure in the collection, was bom sometime around 512 and Buchholz notes that it is a document probably intendedas
died after 582. surety to avoid further disagreement. PPetra 23 is another
RPetra 18 (20 July-18 August 539) is a fairly long request for a transfer of tax responsibilities from Dusarios

document, with 94 lines that record a change

intact in the to Theodoros, son of Obodianos. Whatever the case, the
contract of P. Petra 1, a dowry agreement between Patro mention of Ammatha (unlocalized) as a kastron is interest

philos, son of Bassos, and Theodoros, son of Obodianos, ing; it lacks thisdesignation inboth theNotitia Dignitatum
regarding the property of Stephanous, daughter of Patrophi ("Admatha": 34.31). Ammatha is probably the place men

los, Theodoros's bride. At issue is a portion of the dowry tioned (possibly a kastron) in Stephanos (see Billerbeck
and the parapherna, probably the personal possessions of 2006 ).
the bride. The total amount of these is six and a half pounds The next three documents are considered by the editors
of gold. It is unclear why this transaction is taking place, T. Gaianos and L. Koenen as a group. P.Petra 25 (30 Jan
but it seems that Theodoros is trying to raise cash to clear uary 559) is another request for a transfer of tax liability,
debts, a possibility that the editors (T. Gagos and R. Cald while 26 and 27 are fragmentary
P Petra letters that origi
no. 25. In
well) cautiously suggest. The amount of gold, six and a half nally formed wrappers for the main document,
is a noteworthy feature of this text, as is the pres it, Theodoros, son of Obodianos, writes to Flavius Valens,
pounds,
ence of Dusarios, father-in-law of Patrophilos, an imperial son of Auxolaos, hypodektes (a tax collector). Theodoros
officialwho appears in otherof thepapyri. Six and a half has sold a small plot of arable land to Philoumenos, a pres
a church
pounds of gold, as noted in the commentary, is not a large byter of an ecclesiastical establishment, perhaps
amount for dowries, but neither is it insignificant. It thus or monastery of St. Theodore located inAmmatha. The land

provides additional detail of the financial means of the mid lieswithin the limitsof an estate village (Gk. epoikion) but
tier local provincial elites and, alongside the documents is controlled by the Patrimonium; thus it owed its tax lia
from Nessana (see Kraemer 1958), offers a view into the bility to the crown and not to the polis in whose territory
finances of moderately well-off landowners who also had it lay, Augustopolis (unlocalized). This papyrus has a

familial ties to the local imperial administration. number of interesting features for the historian. It shows

Like P. Petra 3-5 in volume I, P. Petra 19 is a the insertion and balancing of imperial claims in cases of
published
for the transfer of taxation tou s? local self-interest, the presence of the cult of a popular
request (Gk. epistalma
It comprises three separate texts (belonging to martyr saint, Theodore, and a hitherto un
matismou). Syro-Palestinian
1 September539-31 August 540). The documentadjusts the known church, shrine, or monastery. It further mentions

situation in which Theodoros, son of Obodi and thus intensively farmed and valuable land
longstanding irrigated
anos, paid taxes to Leontios, son of Valens, who in tum paid (described by the rather odd Gk. term epirrutos).
the imperial authorities. With this document Theodoros now P. Petra 28 (January-March 559) is a division of prop

assumes that liability himself, and is part of his taking erty (G diamerismos) between Patrophilos, the son of

control of his own financial responsibilities following his Bassos, the widow
and Elaphia, daughter of Sabinos. This

The that accompanies P.Petra document is of particular note because it contains one of
attaining majority. receipt
19, RPetra 20, affirms that Theodoros had paid taxes for the rare occurrences of women of the Petra Papyri actively

more than a decade on a vineyard called al-Abla (Mai Ouda) managing their own affairs. Elaphia has three small children

in the village of Baith el-Alkeb. rather standard, and, as the editors (A. Arjava and M. Vesterinen) point out,
Though
with specific regard to thePetra
the transferis interesting must have been considerably younger than Patrophilos,

region, where archaeological data already support viticul who theeditors consider to have been at least 60 years old
tural production on some scale. Following the Diocletianic at the time the diamerismos was made. Patrophilos and

tax reforms and cadastral surveys, such wine-producing land Elaphia divided two slave boys who had previously been
would have been assessed at an even higher rate than first jointly owned by Patrophilos and Elaphia's deceased hus
class arable, possibly at therateof 5 iugera per iugum (see band Elias.

Vo?bus or higher. Unfortunately, the documents Of the remaining documents, P.Petra 29 is a long docu
1982-1983)
from Petra are as yet opaque as to whether the fractional ment (311 lines?edited by A. Arjava and M. Mikkola)

units contained in them deal with units of land measure produced at some point during the span of 582-592 during
ment or the fiscal unit assigned to blocks of land the reign of Maurice, whose name survives at the heading
(iugerum)

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 2008 BOOK REVIEWS 99

of the papyrus. Here we again meet a now aged Patrophi REFERENCES

los, son of Bassos and Theodoros, son of Obodianos. Pat

rophilos was over 80 at this time, and the other protagonist Billerbeck, M.
of RPetra, Theodoros, was in his late 60s. Patrophilos had 2006 Byzantii Ethnica, Vol. 1: A~r. Cor
Stephani
made pledges and deposited propertywith Theodoros in pus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 43. Berlin:

exchange fora loan ofmoney (33 1/3solidi less 34 keratia), de Gruyter.

not an inconsiderable sum. RPetra 30 is a badly fragmented Duncan-Jones, R. R

papyrus (less than one-fifth of the text is preserved) record 1990 Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy.
the division of an estate in Petra
ing (September-October Cambridge: Cambridge University.
579-581). In RPetra 31, Theodoros, son of Obodianos, Kraemer, C. J.
makes a donation to his cousin Hierios, the son of Patro 1958 Excavations at Nessana, Vol. 3: Non-literary

philos. The precise nature of the gift and its exact contents Papyri. Princeton. Princeton University.
are unclear, though it seems to have involved land and Vo?bus, A.
houses in Petra and Augustopolis. Included are several 1982- The Syro-Roman Lawbook: The Syriac Text of
Arabic toponyms (el-Chobi, Ain Tolla(?)). RPetra 32-34 1983 the Recently Discovered Manuscripts Accom
are tax receipts son of Pa
recording payments by Hierios, panied by a Facsimile Edition and Furnished

trophilos, during the reign of Maurice. These receipts be with an Introduction and Conclusion. 2 vols.

long to lands in thejurisdictionof thecityofAugustopolis Papers of theEstonian Theological Society in

(unlocalized) near Petra, where we see the curiales still Exile 36, 39. Stockholm: ETSE.
functioning in their traditional tax-collection role in the
sixth century. Sadly, few particulars survive on the exact
nature ofthe holdings and the specific tax assessment of
each. A payment of taxes on two separate plots of land in
Connectivity in Antiquity: Globalization as Long
RPetra 35 preserves the number of iuga assessed by tax Term Historical Process, edited by Oystein S. La
administrators, but, as noted above, we remain uncertain of Bianca and Sandra Arnold Scham. London: Equi
the corresponding number of iugera per iugum, and this nox Publishing Ltd., 2006. viii + 175 pp., 26 figures,
document does not get us much closer to the answer of 6 tables. Cloth. $87.50. [Distributed inNorth Amer
specific questions regarding tax rates. RPetra 36 is a draft ica by The David Brown Book Company]
of division of property between two lamprotatoi, Patrikios,
son of Diphilos and Panolbios Globalization is all therage, and theeditorsof thisslim
(patronymic unknown).
As the editors (M. Buchholz andM. Mustonen) suggest, volume have jumped aboard to ask the altogetherappro
the diverse of property
range exchanged (slaves, land, oil priate question, is any of thisnew? Taking Berkeley soci
presses, trees) indicates that a fully equipped estate is ologist Manuel Castells's concept of a "network society"
changing hands. Once more, the size of the holdings is lost, as a loose
departure point, the editors have assembled a
but some of the locations of individual plots, which bear series of papers (drawn from presentations at meetings of
Arabic toponyms (Ain Borakon, Ain Moelois), survive. the American Schools of Oriental Research and the Ameri
While the contents of the Petra yet to ful
papyri have can
Anthropological Association) aspectson ofvarious
fill the hopes of many scholars, and probably never will the ancient Middle East, broadly defined. The answer to
meet these lofty expectations, we should the
recognize whether any of this is new is yes, no, and maybe.
potential of these texts. Although the documents are far Castells is well known to sociologists,
geographers, and
from a cross section of life in Byzantine Petra and its sur urban planners, but not to archaeologists, much less the
roundings, they nevertheless contain some quality of ono his voluminous
general public. Characterizing work is dif
mastic interest and a number of rare words of philological ficult, a task not attempted by the editors. Briefly, Castells
interest. In addition, the Petra continue to support views the present "network
papyri society" as comprised of glo
the notion that the fiscal apparatus and framework bal information
legal networks through which economies are
seen in theEgyptian papyri are not unique. This should
largely structured. In Castells's "space of flows" (three lev
further undermine the position of those who would maintain els comprising
technology, networks of nodes and hubs,
the "special place" of Egypt in the Roman and Byzantine and societal elites) are various elements of the integrated
world. We can look forward to the final three volumes with
global network,which operate indistinctionto thefamiliar
thehope thattheyclarify the finerpoints of land taxation of places," and which condition both production
"space and
raised so far, and that they shed further light on the fa
consumption. Using communications and transportation
milial and physical environmentof Petra and its immediate modern elites are attached to flows
technologies, rather than
neighbors in the sixth century.
places. Technology, identity, modernity, and much more are
discussed by Castells, giving various authors ample grist.
Michael Decker The editors state in their introduction that, in fact, the
University of South Florida papers demonstratedthatnone of thisglobalization stuffis
mdecker@cas.usf.edu
really very new at all. At one level, this makes the entire

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