"Some Coptic Documents Dealing with the Poll-Tax", P. E. Husselman, "Chronique d'Egypte", XXXI, fasc. 2 : [recenzja]

SURVEY OF PAPYRI 1951 ",2 _{3 2 1}

v a n c e against him b u t were d r u n k a n d felt secure f r o m punishe-m e n t b y reason of t h e i r wealth. I n t o x i c a t i o n w a s in t h e P t o l e punishe-m a i c period (cf. m y Strafrecht p . 15) an a g g r a v a t i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e , in t h e R o m a n period an e x t e n u a t i n g one (cf. Μ о m m s e n , Strafrecht p . 1043). I n our t e x t t h i s seems to be t h e case. I n t h e second peti-t i o n (lapeti-te I I I cenpeti-t, e a r l y I V cenpeti-t. A. D.) d i r e c peti-t e d peti-t o peti-t h e beneficiarius (στατίζων) Taesis charges an uncle a n d his f a m i l y w i t h f r a u d a n d assault. H e r p a r e n t s h a d died while she was still an i n f a n t a n d her f a t h e r ' s b r o t h e r Chaeremon h a d a p p r o p r i a t e d her p a t e r n a l inheri-t a n c e . D u r i n g her legal m i n o r i inheri-t y (v. 12) ετι την καταδεη ήλικίαν άγουσα, (cf. m y a r t . Sav. Ζ. X X X V I I p. 180; Law I p. 125) she m a d e no a t t e m p t t o assert her r i g h t t o t h e i n h e r i t a n c e b u t a f t e r coming of age she p r e s e n t e d two successive p e t i t i o n s t o t h e benefi-ciarius t h e n holding t h e d e c a d a r c h y . W h e n t h e l a t t e r ordered C h a r e m o n t o m a k e r e s t i t u t i o n , his i n s t r u c t i o n s were ignored (cf. O x y 37, B G U 168 a n d W e n g e r, Rechtshist. Papyrusstudien p. 140; Gen. 31) — t h e i n s t r u c t i o n s were provisional orders (cf. m y a r t . J o u r n . J u r . P a p . V p. 152).

P A P Y R I F R O M T H E A R A B P E R I O D

H . I. B e l l , A Requisitioning order for Taxes in Kind ( A e g y p t u s X X X I fasc. 2 (1951) p. 307 f f ) .

T h e d o c u m e n t is, as it is called in t h e t e x t itself, an έπίσταλμα a n d belongs t o t h e same class as the e n t a g i a p r e s e r v e d in t h e A p h r o d i t o p a p y r i regularly r e f e r r e d to in the letters of t h e A r a b governor K u r r a h b. S h a r i k , e x c e p t t h a t t h e y are bilingual. T h e p r e s e n t re-quisitioning order is addressed b y a Copt p a g a r c h of t h e Arsinoite n o m e t o a Copt.

P . Ε . Η u s s e 1 m a n, Some Coptic Documents Dealing with the Poll-Tax. (Chronique d ' E g y p t e X X X I fasc. 2 p. 332).

T h e s e d o c u m e n t s a t t e s t i n g t h e existence of t h e p o l l - t a x in t h e A r a b period do yield one or two p o i n t s of i n t e r e s t on t h e m a n n e r of t h e collection of t h e t a x . W e h a v e here t h e a c t u a l p a y m e n t of a m o n e y t a x in goods. Clearly this t a k e s place in w h a t we m a y call t h e collecting agency. T h e Michigan p a p y r i are not receipts b u t are orders w r i t t e n b y t h e a b b o t t o t h e „ b r o t h e r of t h e p o l l - t a x " dire-cting t h e m t o receive t h e commodities offered in p a y m e n t of t h e

322 J O U R N A L OF P A P Y R O L O G Y

t a x a n d t o issue t h e p r o p e r receipt t h e r e f o r e oil t h e basis of t h e i r v a l u a t i o n . I t seems a n a t u r a l conclusion t h a t , , t h e b r o t h e r s of t h e p o l l - t a x " f o r m a specially c o n s t i t u t e d b o d y w i t h i n t h e m o n a s t e r y c h a r g e d w i t h t h e responsibility of collecting t h e poll-taxes f r o m t h e entire m o n a s t i c c o m m u n i t y , a n d p e r h a p s of c o n v e r t i n g i n t o m o n e y for t h e p a y m e n t t h o s e articles supplied b y those u n a b l e t o p a y in cash.

L I T E R A R Y T E X T S

E . L o b e 1, T h e O x y r h y n c h u s P a p y r i , p a r t X X I L o n d o n , E g y p t E x p l o r a t i o n Society (1951).

This v o l u m e consists entirely of l i t e r a r y t e x t s . T h e e d i t o r h a s p u t t o g e t h e r all t h e f r a g m e n t s of S a p p h o a n d Alcaeus a n d comm e n t a r i e s on their p o e comm s w h i c h he h a s i d e n t i f i e d in t h e O x y r h y n -chos collection; no r e a d e r is likely t o u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e skill a n d p a t i e n c e this h a s r e q u i r e d .

[ W a r s a w U n i v e r s i t y ] Raphael Taubenschlag

Т К Т Т Т П Е ! WARSZAWSKI