ï~~A Lease of Urban Property
113
Based upon the formulae reconstructed to the left of the surviving text,
around sixteen characters have been lost to the left, with more in lines 6-8,
where the damage extends for another two to three characters.
1 [ ]..[ ]VT[ ]. i[.]
2 [ ] qotv yOtK[OVO KCt' Froc
3 [dpyupiov ]TaXvTwv rc]vraKtoXtXcwov OTp VO[KLOV
4 [daro&bo'w iv np6p].f ty KkATou ETOUV caVVrcp(OÂ~Twc)
5 [Ki 6c6rctv povXnOf]" cXc[V rTapawo ow b4iv
6 [ obv].6.p uai KXt6' yitg cb Tap7 [ciXicpa v ov&&vi KaTac]XcvtactÂ~ rc Xv g6vr Tf
8 [xpgV wcc,. r jioOwotc] Kupict Ka xPcaia Ka' ircp(wT'Ocioca)
cboX(6yict).
9 (m.2) [ ] u poK(~t~tvq) ciywkYOw1cL uq arcp6K( trrc).
10 [ d]r6 'Ep(iouvn6X c) dkt(w6 -') ypgctua b 5rp catfi
11 [ypapctara qi e6vigg.] vacat
2 toq: sigma continues to line end 4 ctvVrcp/ 5 i4yv 8 eip/
w ioX/ 9 pOK/; TrEpOK/ 10 ~p/ ct at/; ircp
"... for my use and occupation (?) for a rent of 5000 silver talents each year,
which rent I will pay to you at the end of each year without delay, and whenever
you wish to have it back, I will hand over to you... with one door and one key
just as I received it without any damage save wear and tear alone. The lease is
valid and secure and, having been questioned, I agreed.
(m. 2) I, Aurelia (?)..., the aforementioned, have leased as aforementioned.
I... from Hermopolis, wrote on her behalf at her request, because she does not
know how to."
1 At the end of the line we expect the end of the designation of the
property (presumed to be urban) in Hermopolis. The current reconstruction of
line 2 fills the lacuna with sixteen letters. The traditional formula ( p6 Xpflotv
f Kc v K I o' gOLv) does not fit there, but reading FA{uv at the end of line 1 and
shifting rp6c Xpflotv before this in line 1 would make for an unaccountably
short second line. Further, the letter preceding q cannot really be epsilon. In
no other case does Fy{uv precede npc Xpfiov, and this question is more safely
left unanswered than solved by hypothesizing an otherwise unattested scribal
innovation. It is extremely likely that the phrase was something akin to rp6c
o'KgcOLV Ku Xplotv, which formula does appear twice in Hermopolitan leases
0
