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The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Vol. 3, edited by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt (London: Egypt Exploration Fund, 1903)
Wills: Nos. 489-495 (AD 117 - 189 ) [1] [2]
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No. 489. Will of Dionysius. 35.5 x 24.2 cm. AD 117 (p.187)
Will of Dionysius son of Harpocration. The testator bequeaths to his
wife Diogenis an apartment rent-free in a house belonging to him,
together with the furniture of the whole house and his slaves. After
the death of Diogenis the whole property is vested in their son, who
presumably was to inherit during his mother’s lifetime whatever was not
expressly reserved for her, though this is not definitely stated. The
papyrus is dated in the reign of Trajan, and the number of the year,
which is lost, can be fixed by the occurrence of the title Parthicus,
which was assumed by that emperor in his 2oth year. On Aug. 27, when
the papyrus was written, Trajan had, as a matter of fact, been dead
about three weeks. This and the following wills, except 494, are
written across the fibres of the papyrus ; cf. 588, 684, and 646-52.
The seals of the testator and witnesses were attached to the outside of
the roll, but these have not been preserved ; cf. P. Tebt. I. 104
introd.
Translation from Greek: (pp.189-190)
"The 20th year of the Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajanus Optimus Augustus
Germanicus Dacicus Parthicus, the 4th intercalary day, dies Augustus,
of the month Caesareus, at the city of Oxyrhynchus in the Thebaid, for
good fortune. This is the will, made in the street, by me, Dionysius
son of Harpocration son of Sarapion, my mother being Esorsois, of
Oxyrhynchus, being sane and in my right mind. So long as I survive I am
to have power over my own property, to use it and make any arrangements
or other dispositions concerning it in any manner I choose. But after
my death I concede to my wife Diogenis daughter of Ptolemaeus, of the
same city, for her lifetime the right to dwell (p.190) in and use
free of rent any one abode which she herself may choose in the stone
house belonging to me in the North Quay quarter with exit and
entrance. She shall also have the use for her lifetime of the
effects and furniture left by me in the said abode and in the house and
the service of and the profits from my female slave Ilarous and
her children who are to be fed and clothed by the said
Diogenis. After her dath all my property shall belong solely to
our children, which children shall not have the power to alienate what
is inherited by them from me except only to their several families; nor
shall any one be permitted under any circumstances to proceed against
my wife Diogenis concerning any of the provisions of the will, and the
person who does so shall forfeit a fine of 1000 drachmae and to
the Treasury an equal sum. This will is valid."
There follows 1) the signature of the testator givinga nearly verbal
recapitulation of the substance of the will, and written for him by
Heracles son of Apion, 2) the signatures of six witnesses who add a
usual particulars as to their ages, personal descriptions and seals, 3)
the docket of the record office at Oxyrhynchus, and 4) on the verso the
title off the will.
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No. 490. Will of Tastraton. Height 16.6 cm. AD 124 (p.190)
Will of a woman named Tastraton, who bequeaths her property, consisting
chiefly of a share of a house, to the son of a freedman. In the
event of his dying childless and intestate, the property was to revert
to the family of the testatrix.
The right hand part of the papyrus is missing, but the amount lost at
the ends of lines can be approximately derermined, and though the
lacunae are large they are mostly capable of satisfactory restoration.
The supplement in L.16 is practially certain, and on this basis the
number of letters lost at the ends of Lines 2-7, where the hand is much
smaller, is about sixty-five., the tear down the papyrus being, as far
as line 19, in a nearly straight vertical line.
Translation from Greek: (p.192)
"The 9th year of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus,
Choiach 5, at the city of Oxyrhynchus in the Thebaid, for good fortune.
This is the will made in the street by me, Tastraton daughter of
Psenosiris son of Atreus, my mother being Penuris, of Oxyrhynchus,
while sane and in my right mind, with my guardian my cousin. . his
mother being Taamois daughter of Zoilus, of the same city. So long as I
survive I am to have power over my own property, to make any further
provisions or new dispositions and to revoke this will. But if I die
with this will unaltered I leave on account of his affection towards me
to Dionysius son of Panechotes, freedman of Petosiris ..- his mother
being Ammonous, of the same city, who is now a minor, if he live, and
if not to his family, the ... share belonging to me jointly with my
father Psenosiris son of Atreus and Spokis in the village of Kriethuris
in the ...toparchy, of a house and court with entrances and exits, and
all else that I leave in any manner whatsoever. If Dionysius happen to
die childless and intestate the property devolving upon him from me
shall be sent to my nearest relations; but to no one else do I leave
any of my property. This will is valid."
There follow the signatures (1) of the testatrix and her guardian,
written for them by a third party, (2) of the usual six witnesses with
details of their ages, distinguishing marks, and seals.
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No. 491. Will of Eudaemon. 22.7 x 39 cm. AD 126. (p.193)
Will of Eudaemon son of Thonasuchis bequeathing his property to his
three sons. Two of the sons, who were at the date of the will not yet
20 years old, are placed under tutelage until they attained that age
(cf. note on 1. 6), and are also prohibited from disposing in any way
of their inheritance before meecne 25 years.
Translation from Greek: (pp.195-196)
"The 10th year of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus, the
sth inter-calary day of the month Caesareus, at Oxyrhynchus in the
Thebaid, for good fortune. This is the will made in the street by
Eudaemon son of Thonasuchis son of Thonis, his mother being Thaésis, of
Oxyrhynchus, shrine-bearer of the most great goddess Thoéris and of
Isis ... and the other gods of the temple at the village Mouchinor,
being sane and in his right mind. So long as I survive I am to have
power over my own property, to make any further provisions or new
dispositions I choose and to revoke this will, and any such provisions
shall be valid. But if I die with this will unaltered I leave my sons
Thonis and Horus and Eudaemon, all three sons of Ta... daughter of
Harpaésis also called Horus, each of them, if he lives, and if not, his
children, as co-equal heirs of all the buildings, estates and slaves
that I may leave, but Thonis alone of all... what-ever that he chooses
on condition that the said Thonis pays any debts which may be proved
against me and gives to his brothers Horus and Eudaemon, if they have
at the time of my death completed 20 years [1], one year after my
death, and if they are not so old, then to each of them when he has
completed the 20 years, 500 drachmae, making for both of them together
rooo drachmae ; and it shall not be lawful for the said Horus and
Eudaemon nor for any one of them to sell, mortgage or otherwise dispose
of what will come to them from me until each of them has completed 25
years. And if I die before the said Horus and Eudaemon have completed
20 years, their brother Thonis and their maternal grandfather Harpaésis
also called Horus son of Thonis shall be guardians of each of them
until he completes 20 years. If any of the three sons happen to die
childless his share shall belong to his surviving brothers equally;
beyond this no one at all shall have power to disobey these provisions
and any person so doing O (p.196) shall forfeit to the party abiding by
them the damages and a fine of 1000 drachmae of silver and to the
Treasury an equal sum, and the foregoing provisions shall none the less
remain valid. This will is valid.’ Signatures of Eudaemon and six
witnesses with details of their ages, distinguishing marks, and seals,
and docket of the record office at Oxyrhynchus.
notes:
1. But though Horus and Eudaemon were to enter on possession of their
inheritance on reaching 20 years they were not to alienate any part of
it until 5 years more had elapsed. There is, however, a discrepancy
here between the body of the will and the signature, where it is stated
(line 16) that the brothers were to remain under tutelage till the age
of 25. .... 20 is the age when the period of tutelage terminated in
another case (No. 495), but in No. 487 we find a guardian being
appointed for youths of 25.
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No. 492. Will of Thatres. 23.8 x 38.5 cm. AD 130. (p.196)
In this will Thatres daughter of Ammonius leaves as her heirs two
half-brothers, whose relationship, if any, to herself, is not stated.
The father of one of the brothers is expressly excluded from a house
which formed the principal item in the property.
Translation from Greek: (pp. 198-199)
"The 14th year of the Emperor Caesar Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus,
Mecheir 28, at Oxyrhynchus in the Thebaid, for good fortune. This is
the will made in the street by Thatres daughter of Ammonius son of
Sarapion, her mother being Tsenthotoumis, from Ision Tryphonis in the
lower toparchy, now living at Oxyrhynchus, being sane and in her right
mind, with her guardian the son of Thatres’ cousin Heraclous daughter
of Sarapion son of Sarapion, her mother being Tauseiris also called
Sarapous, Horion also called Theon, son of Sarapion son of ..., from
Ibion Ammonii in the same lower toparghy. So long as I survive I am to
have power over my own property, to make any further provisions or new
dispositions I choose and to revoke this will, and any such provisions
shall be valid. But if I die with this will unaltered and no further
provisions made I leave on account of their affection towards me
Ptollion son of Theon son of Ptollion, his mother being Isareus
daughter of Theon, and his brother on the mother’s side Theon
(p.199)son of Theon son of Theon also called Apollonius son of Theon,
both of Oxyrhynchus, if they live, and if not, their children, as joint
and equal heirs of the house, court, yard and fixtures belonging to me
at Oxyrhynchus in the Knight’s Camp quarter, and any slaves which I may
leave and all other property of any kind whatever; and it shall nowise
be lawful for my said heirs to receive into my house aforesaid the
father of the second Theon, namely Theon son of Theon also called
Apollonius son of Theon, his mother being Helene, for the whole of his
life under any pretext, nor for any one else to disobey any of my
dispositions, and the person attempting to set aside aught of them
shall, while not disturbing their validity, forfeit a fine of rooo
drachmae and to the Treasury an equal sum and none the less (shall
these provisions hold good); and I leave none of my property to any one
else."
Signatures of Thatres written for her by her guardian Horion, and of
six witnesses in the usual style, and docket of the record office.
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No. 493. Will of Pasion and Berenice. 11.3 x 25.9 cm. Early 2nd c. AD (p.199)
The following will is peculiar in being a joint deed by a husband and
wife, who both have property to dispose of. The beginning is lost, but
the remaining clauses suffice to show that the survivor of the two was
constituted the heir of the other, with power to divide the whole
property among the four children of the marriage; but the wife is, in
the event of her outliving her husband, expressly authorized to retain
the ownership if she chose to do so. The papyrus was probably written
in the reign of Trajan or Hadrian.
Translation from Greek: (p.201)
"... shall have the ownership of the estates and right of domicile in
the buildings, the survivor of us, if he pleases, having the power to
sell all or any of the slaves belonging to himself or to the one of us
who first dies, and with the purchase money to defray the expenses of
the funeral and burial of the body and pay the debts of the deceased,
and the survivor of us shall similarly be permitted to devise to the
children that have been born to us, Sarapas and Apollonius and Diogenes
and... ., the last two being minors, the estates, unsold slaves and
other effects belonging to himself or to the one who first dies in such
manner as the survivor thinks fit and with any division he chooses, but
the wife Berenice if she survives shall if she will have the
undisturbed ownership, and no one at all shall be permitted to set
aside aught of these provisions or to do anything opposed to them, but
the aggression shall be invalid and the person attempting to disobey
them in any respect or making aggression upon the survivor of us shall
forfeit for each aggression the damages and a fine of 2000 drachmae of
silver and to the Treasury an equal sum, the foregoing provisions at
the same time remaining valid. This will is valid. The witnesses are
Lochus son of Lochus son of Sarapion, Sarapion son of Sarapion son of
Pasion, Plution son of Cratinus son of Demetrius, Eudaemon also called
Amois, son of Amois son of Sarapion, Apollon son of Diogenes son of
Theon, Diophantus son of Diophantus son of Aulius, all six of the said
city, in the said street." Signature of Pasion the testator.
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No. 494. Will of Acusilaus. 39 x 23.2 cm. AD 156. (p.201)
This long papyrus, which is in an excellent state of preservation,
gives a copy of an elaborate and more than usually interesting will.
The testator, Acusilaus, after conferring freedom upon five of his
slaves, ‘in consequence of their goodwill and affection,’ leaves his
son Dius heir to his property, subject to a life-interest reserved for
Aristous, the wife of Acusilaus. The document is not the original will,
but an official copy made at a later date....
Translation from Greek: (pp.204-105)
"Copy. Inthe 19th year of the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus
Augustus Pius, the 30th of the month Germaniceus, at Oxyrhynchus in the Thebaid
for good fortune. This is the will made in the street by me, Acusilaus
son of Dius son of Dionysius also called Acusilaus and of Dionysia
daughter of Theon, of the city of Oxyrhynchus, being sane and in my
right mind. So long as I survive I am to have power over my own
property, to make any further provisions and alterations I please and
to revoke this will, and any such provisions shall be valid. But if I
die with this will unchanged, I set free under sanction of Zeus, Earth
and Sun, for their goodwill and affection towards me, my slaves [1]
Psenamounis also called Ammonius and Hermas and Apollonous also called
Demetria and her daughter Diogenis and Diogenis, another female slave
of mine. I bequeath to my wife and cousin Aristous also called
Apollonarion, daughter of Heraclides son of Dionysius also called
Acusilaus and of Herais daughter of Alexandrus, being well-disposed and
showing entire faithfulness towards me, all that I may leave in the way
of furniture, effects, objects of gold, clothing, ornaments, wheat,
pulse, produce, and all my household stock, and my debts, recorded and
unrecorded. I leave my son Dius by my aforesaid wife Aristous also
called Apollqnarion, if he lives, and if not, his children, heir to all
the property that I leave and to my other slaves and the offspring that
may hereafter be born to the female slaves aforesaid; but my said wife
Aristous also called Apollonarion shall have during her lifetime, after
the taxes are paid, the use of and all the revenues from the whole
property, together with the service of and (p.205) profits from those
of them who are to receive their freedom after my death. My said wife
shall supply to my son Dius every month at Oxyrhynchus for his
sustenance and other expenses two artabae of wheat by the measure used
for payment...and 60 drachmae and for clothing 200 drachmae yearly. My
said wife Aristous also called Apollonarion shall have the right to
sell and mortgage on her own authority anything she chooses of what I
leave to my son Dius in property and slaves and to use for her personal
requirements the money accruing from the sale or mortgage. My said wife
Aristous also called Apollonarion shall pay all the debts that may be
proved against me; and my wife, and after her death my son Dius, shall
give to my slaves and freedmen for a feast which they shall celebrate
at my tomb on my birthday every year 100 drachmae of silver to be
spent. Anything that I append to the official copy of the will [2],
whether
cancelling or supplementing or making bequests to other persons or with
any other purpose shall also be valid as if contained in the actual
will; beyond this no one shall have power to disobey it, and anybody
who does so shall forfeit to the party abiding by it the damages and a
fine of 2 talents of silver and to the Treasury an equal sum, the above
provisions remaining none the less valid. This will is valid. I,
Acusilaus son of Dius the aforesaid, have made this will, the whole of
which with all the above provisions is in my own writing. I am 48 years
of age and have a scar on my right foot, and my seal is an image of
Thonis [3]. I, Didymus son of Onnophris also called Chaeremon son of
Herodes, of Oxyrhynchus, one of the witnesses to the above will,
recognized my own seal which is a figure of Hermes and sealed with the
said seal."
There follow similar signatures of three other witnesses, whose seals represented respectively Sarapis, Apollo, and Heracles.
Notes:
1. See Nos. 48 and 49. Another instance of the manumission of slave by will is B.G.U. 326. 17.
2. In the present passage (cf. also No. 495. 15) the phrase "official copy" has the same meaning as ekdosima or official copies of deeds deposited in the archives, as is indicated by the contrast drawn between the ekdosimon and the actual will or diatheke. It is indeed most probable that this papyrus was itself an ekdosimon,
for it is stated to be a copy and yet is signed by witnesses, who state
that they had recognized the seals which they had affixed to the
original document. We must then suppose that testators were permitted
to use such official copies of their wills for the purpose of adding
codicils without being put to the trouble of withdrawing and cancelling
the original deeds. This however was of course sometimes done; cf. Nos.
106-7, which refer to the absolute revocation of wills.
3. Thonis: the mythical guard of the Canopic branch of the Nile; cf. Hdt. i. 114-5. Probably Enkanopou in No. 684 refers to him.
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No. 495. Will of Petoserapis. 9.7 x 34 cm. AD 181-189. (p.206)
This will is much mutilated, but possesses an interest as a specimen
from a somewhat later period than that to which the preceding group
belongs; and its general tenour remains fairly clear. The testator
Petosorapis leaves as his heir in the first instance his son Epinicus,
a minor; and appoints his sister Apollonous to administer the estate,
and take charge of Epinicus until he reached the age of 20 years. It
may be inferred that the mother of the boy was either dead or had
separated from her husband. A certain part of the property is
appropriated to Apollonous herself, who was to pay the testator’s debts
; and the stipulation is made that she should not be asked to render an
account of her trusteeship. A minor legacy was apparently made to a
nephew of Petosorapis.
Footnotes:
1. [Editor's Note:] The original textual commentaries and notes provided by Grenfell and Hunt on
passages in Greek, and on some bibliographic references, have
frequently been abbreviated or omitted, if not essential to
understanding the content of the papyri documents. Any such omissions
are marked with "....", and any added words needed for clarity are
placed between brackets [ ]. These elisions are separate from those
used by Grenfell and Hunt in the translated text, which have not been
altered.
2. [Editor's Note:] References to all other papyri from the Oxyrhynchus
collections are given with their sequential number as "No. xx".
Abbreviations to other papyri collections and standard historical
references used by Grenfell and Hunt include the following:
Archiv.= Archiv fur Papyrusforschung.
B.G.U. = Aeg. Urkunden aus den K. Museum zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden.
C.I.G. = Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum
C.I.L. = Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
Cod. Just.= Codex Justinianus
Cod. Theod.= Codex Theodosianus
C.P.R. = Corpus Papyrorum Raineri, by C. Wessely.
Hdt. = Herodotus, the Greek Historian (484-425 BC) who visited Egypt.
Marcellinus =The late Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (ca. AD 330-400).
P. Amh. = The Amherst Papyri (Greek), Vols. I-II, by B.P.Grenfell and A.S.Hunt.
P. Brit.Mus. = Greek papyri in the British Museum, vol.I-II by F.G. Kenyon.
P. Cairo = Catalog of the Greek Papyri in the Cairo Museum,by Grenfell & Hunt.
P. Fay. = Fayum Towns & Their Papyri by B.P.Grenfell, A.S.Hunt, & D.S.Hogarth
P. Flor. = Papiri Fiorentini, Vol. 1, by G. Vitelli.
P.
Grenf. = Greek Papyri, Ser. 1 by B.P. Grenfell, and Ser. II by Grenfell and Hunt
P. Hibeh = The Hibeh Papyri by B.P Grenfell and A.S. Hunt
P. Leipzig = Griechische Urkunden der Papyrussammlung zu Leipzig by I Mitteis.
P. Leyden = Papyri Graeci Musei Antiquarii Lugduni-Batavi, by C. Leemans.
P. Oxy. = The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, parts I-VI, by B.P. Grenfell and A.S. Hunt.
P. Strassb. = Griech. Papyrus der K.Univ.bibliotheck zu Strassburg by F.Preisigke.
P. Tebt. = The Tebtunis Papyri, by B.P. Grenfell, A.S. Hunt, et al.
Wilcken, Ost. = Griechische Ostraka, by U. Wilcken.
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