Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement addressed to the heirs of Fl. Apion by an antekdikos, of the receipt of a large windlass. The title antekdikos should mean deputy defensor but the man is called aidesimos. Subscription on the verso.
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 →
A formal receipt in which Phoibammon, an antekdikos, acknowledges to the heirs of the patrician Apion that he has received from their estate, through the mechanic Zacharias, a new large windlass for the water-wheel under his charge. It was written at Oxyrhynchus on Mecheir 23 of the fifth indiction (17 February 587), for irrigating the next season's crops.
The 'large worker' (megas ergates) is a technical term for a windlass or axle component of the water-wheel (mechane). The title antekdikos normally means a deputy defender of the city, yet the man is called 'reverend', which is unusual.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Receipt for a Windlass). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
Acknowledgement addressed to the heirs of Fl. Apion by an antekdikos, of the receipt of a large windlass. The title antekdikos should mean deputy defensor but the man is called aidesimos. Subscription on the verso.
[r] † βασιλείας τοῦ θειοτάτου καὶ εὐσεβεστάτου ἡμῶν δεσπότου μεγίστου εὐεργέτου Φλαουίου Τιβερίου Μαυρικίου τοῦ αἰωνίου Αὐγούστου καὶ Αὐτοκράτορος ἔτους ε, ὑπατείας τοῦ αὐτοῦ εὐσεβεστάτου ἡμῶν δεσπότου ἔτους δ, Μεχεὶρ κγ, ἰνδικτίωνος ε. τοῖς ὑπερφυεστάτοις διαδόχοις τοῦ τῆς εὐκλε…
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