A labour contract from the Hermopolite nome in which a group of harvesters agree with Eudaimon to reap 54 arouras, 6 arouras each, for a wage of 5/6 artaba of wheat per aroura, plus drinking water and a jar of beer on the last day. Reaping was to begin on Pharmouthi 30 of a tenth regnal year.
In English machine translation
[…] […]
of Caesar the lord, 54 arouras; total 54 arouras, 6 arouras each; and you shall give us as wages for reaping, for each aroura, 1/2 1/3 artaba of wheat; total for each aroura 1/2 1/3 artaba of wheat; and you shall measure out to us after the reaping of the aforesaid arouras the aforesaid wages, on condition that you, Eudaimon, gather up the sheaves; and you shall supply us with water to drink until we finish the reaping of the same arouras; on condition that, if one of us is ever idle, we must put a substitute in his place on the same day. You shall measure out the aforesaid wheat to us by the Athenian sixth-measure, and you shall give us on the last day one jar of beer. We must begin the reaping on the 30th of the current month Pharmouthi of the current tenth year. For any (land) found additionally under crop you shall measure out to us, as aforesaid, 1/2 1/3 artaba of wheat for each aroura. Year 10
of Imperator Caesar […] month Neroneios
Sebastos 25 (?) … Theon […]
The month name Neroneios Sebastos points to the 1st century AD, probably the reign of Nero or a later emperor using that calendar name. The 'Athenian sixth-measure' (hektemoron) is a specific grain measure with no exact English equivalent.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Locazione d’opera (mietitori)). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.