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Letter from Gemellus to Epagathos on olive groves and harvest TM 10777Euhemeria (Arsinoites, Ägypten)21. Mai 99

The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 2 records across 2 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →

A letter from the landowner Lucius Bellenus Gemellus to his estate manager Epagathos, ordering him to speed up digging and hoeing in the olive groves, scolding him for leaving a field at Apias half harvested, and telling him to delay threshing. It was written on 21 May AD 99 in the Arsinoite nome.

In English machine translation

Lucius Bellenus Gemellus to his own Epagathos, greeting. Please hurry on the diggers of the olive groves and the ditching (?) and double-hoeing of the olive groves, and ditch and double-hoe the fallow plots, pressing the ox-driver so that he completes the work each day, and do not attach a number of oxen to those [...]. The swath of Apias you have not harvested to this day but have neglected it, and up to now you have harvested only half of it, holding back for the measurer Zoilos so that you would not put him out; you have left it unharvested to this day. For this I blame you greatly. Find out whether the olive grove of Dionysias has been dug; if not, hurry on its digging within two days. For it is advantageous [...] that it be dug. Let them not hurry to thresh [...] and the land of Sentheus until I write. Do not thresh all the threshing floors for the present. So do not do otherwise. Farewell. Greet Heron and Orsenouphis and all those in the house. Year 2 of Imperator Caesar Nerva Traianus Augustus Germanicus, Pachon 26.

Several agricultural terms (hyposchismos, dibolétos) are rare and their exact meaning is uncertain; 'ogmos' is a row or swath of crop being reaped. The words 'ταλομμινα' and parts of a few lines remain unclear.

Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Letter from Gemellus to Epagathus). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.

DDbDP-text Full record →

p.fay.112

Papyri.info — DDbDP (Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri) — text · 21. Mai 99 · Euhemeria (Arsinoites, Ägypten)

Λούκιος Βελλῆνος Γέμελλος Ἐπαγαθῶι τῶι ἰδίωι χαίρειν. εὖ ποιήσεις διῶξαι τοὺς σκαφήτρους τῶν ἐλαιώνων καὶ τοὺς ὑποσχεισμοὺς καὶ διβολήτους τῶν ἐλαιώνων, καὶ τὰ ἀναπαύματα ὑπόσχεισον καὶ διβόλησον, ἐπιτείνας τὸν ζευγηλάτην ἵνα ἑκάστης ἡμέρας τὸ ἔργον ἀποδοῖ, καὶ μὴ τοῖς κει[…]ασι …