Petition [ca 341-342 AD?]
Petition from Valerius that the horiodiktes registered all his land as arable, even if half was not irrigated; the papyrus breaks off after some remarks about land owned by Tapaeis
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 10526
Petition about land wrongly registered as arable at Karanis TM 10526Karanis (Arsinoites)341 CE – 342 CE
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 3 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
Petition to the prefect from Aurelius Valerius of Karanis, complaining that the boundary-surveyor Palemon maliciously registered all 80 arouras he and his brothers held as sown land, though half was uncultivated and sand-covered, contrary to an earlier fair survey by the geometer Porphyrios. It goes on to mention land of his kinswoman Tapaeis, who had fled, before breaking off.
In English machine translation
[To …] most perfect prefect (?), […] greetings.
From Aurelius Valerius […]antiourios (?), from the village of Karanis of the Arsinoite nome. I and my brothers pay taxes for 80 arouras, of which half is sown, while the remaining half is uncultivated. Since, when the land was being remeasured, the boundary-surveyor of the district, Palemon, out of malice registered all the arouras as sown, and moreover those that were moderate […] Since there is also a watering channel through which our plots are irrigated, the same boundary-surveyor Palemon registered them in the category of sown land, although everyone draws water from it and not even […] were sown. I beseech your Excellency, since when Porphyrios the geometer remeasured, he acted justly and reported the sown land as sown and the dry land covered with sand as dry land, but Palemon the boundary-surveyor registered all the arouras as sown; and since Tapaeis daughter of Heras, my kinswoman, took flight, owning 23 arouras, which, being of the best quality, they assigned to her, having two […] […] so that, if it please you, you may order […] of that boundary-surveyor […]
[…]
The horiodeiktes (boundary-surveyor) was a village official who identified plots during land surveys for tax assessment; land classed as sown paid full tax. The date is only approximate.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Petition about Land). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.col.7.172
[…]…διασημοτάτῳ ἡγεμόνι […]χαίρειν· παρὰ Αὐρηλίου Οὐαλερίου αντιουρίου ἀπὸ κώμης Καρανίδος τοῦ Ἀρσινοίτου νομοῦ. τελῶ ἐγὼ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐμοῦ ὑπὲρ ἀρουρῶν ὀγδοήκοντα ἀφʼ ὧν σπείρεται τὸ ἥμισυ μέρος, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἥμισυ μέρος ἀγεώργητόν ἐστιν. ἐπειδὴ[…] ἀναμετρουμένης τῆς γῆς ὁ ὁρι…