A sharecropping lease from the Hermopolite nome, dated 10 January 558, in which the vinedresser Aurelius Phoibammon son of Ioannes leases a vineyard with date palms and olive trees, plus an orchard, from a landowner son of the late Petros of Hermopolis. The landowner takes half the wine and fruit, and the lessee and the water-supplier share the other half; the lessee also agrees to plant an aroura of vines.
In English machine translation
[recto]
In the 16th year after the consulship of Flavius Basilius, the most glorious, Tybi 15, [of the sixth indiction.] […]
To Aurelius [so-and-so] […] son of Petros of blessed memory, from Hermopolis,
from Aurelius Phoibammon son of Ioannes, his mother being Thermouthia, vinedresser, originating
[from] […]. I acknowledge that I have voluntarily and of my own free will leased
[from you for a period of so many years, counted] from the crops of the coming seventh indiction,
[the vineyard belonging to you, of an extent] of however many arouras it is, with date palms and olive groves
[…] for manual and vine-dressing
[work and good cultivation and all care, blamelessly] and irreproachably, on condition that you,
[the landowner, receive the half share of all the] wine produced from the same vineyard
[and of the fruit of all kinds of plants and date palms], and that I together with the water-supplier receive the other
[half share in return for our labours. I will] provide each year by custom at the time of the vintage […] [and I further] agree to plant for you 1 aroura in vines
[…] the vintage of the present sixth indiction
and […]
[…]. I have likewise leased also the orchard sold
to you by Maria […] the whole orchard, except
[…], whose neighbours are: to the south the […], to the east her orchard,
likewise to the west plots of land of E[…], or whoever the neighbours may be on all sides.
The lease is valid [and binding, and] having been asked, I agreed. I, Aurelius Phoibammon son of Ioannes, the aforesaid, have leased
as aforesaid. I, Aurelius Ardabouris son of Ioannes, [from Hermopolis], wrote on his behalf since he does not know letters. †
† I, Flavius Victor son of Isakios, from Hermopolis, [witness] the lease, having heard it from the party.
† I, Aurelius Theodoros son of Petros, [witness] the lease, having heard it from the party. †
† Written through me, Dionysios, with God […] […]
[verso]
[…] from Sa[…] of the Hermopolite nome
The landowner's name and the length of the lease are lost. The date counts years after the consulship of Basilius (541), a common Byzantine dating formula.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Teilpachtvertrag). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.