Acknowledgement of a loan
Acknowledgement by a steward of a loan of 142 artabae of wheat, repayable at the harvest of the following indiction. In a supplementary clause a further payment is undertaken for 8 artabae, perhaps by way of interest.
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 37900
Acknowledgement of a wheat loan by the steward Serenos to Ammonios TM 37900Oxyrhynchus6th century
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 →
Serenos, a steward, acknowledges to his lord Ammonios that he has received a loan of 142 artabas of wheat, which he promises to repay at the threshing floor at the harvest of the fourth indiction. A later clause adds a further 8 artabas, bringing the total to 150. It was written at Oxyrhynchus in the 6th century AD, on Phamenoth 5 of the third indiction.
In English machine translation
† To my lord Ammonios, from Serenos, steward (pronoetes). I have from your Magnificence […] 142 artabas of wheat by the kankellon measure, total by the kankellon 142 artabas,
and I am ready to provide these to your Magnificence at the threshing floor of the fourth indiction, God willing, without delay and without any dispute. Written in the month of Phamenoth 5, indiction 3. I, Serenos, agree to this holograph as stated above.
I provide to your Magnificence another 8 artabas of wheat, total by the kankellon 150 artabas only.
The kankellon was a standard measure, named after the barred enclosure where grain was measured. The additional 8 artabas may represent interest on the loan.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Loan of Wheat). 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.oxy.16.1977
† τῷ κυρίῳ Ἀμμωνίῳ Σερῆνος προνοητής. ἔχω τῇ σῇ λαμπρότητι ες[…] σίτου καγκέλλου ἀρτάβας ἑκατὸν τεσσαράκοντα δύο, γίνονται ὁμοῦ καγκέλλῳ ἀρτάβαι ρμβ, καὶ ταῦτα ἑτοίμως ἔχω τῇ σῇ λαμπρότητι παρασχεῖν ἐν τῇ ἁλωνίᾳ τῆς σὺν θεῷ τετάρτης ἰνδικτίονος ἀνυπερθέτως καὶ ἄνευ πάσης ἀντιλογί…