Ostraka and Other Inscribed Material from Bir Shawish, Small Oasis: Excavation Seasons 2005 and 2007

Dospel, Marek

doi:doi:10.3998/mpub.11614525

Ostraka and Other Inscribed Material from Bir Shawish, Small Oasis: Excavation Seasons 2005 and 2007

Marek Dospel

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Informal documents and remains of material culture, when analyzed properly, offer a unique window into the daily lives and workings of ancient civilizations. Published here in their archaeological context and with any relevant artifacts, the documents and inscriptions excavated recently in Egypt's Western Desert represent a valuable addition to our meager documentation of the Bahriya Oasis in the first centuries CE.

This is the first comprehensive treatment of an archaeological dataset from the archaeological exploration of Bīr Shawīsh. Dating to around 400 CE, these primary historical sources include documentary texts written on ostraka, informal inscriptions on various ceramic objects, plus a group of incised lids. The core of the volume consists of an annotated edition and analytical indices. This is prefaced by the historical and archaeological context and is followed by a synthesis of selected issues inherent to the published material. The book includes appendices and pictures of all published objects. Doubling the number of texts and inscriptions published to date from the Small Oasis, this new corpus furthers our understanding of the economic, administrative, and social history of Late Antique Egypt.

Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Table of Ostraka (O. Bir Shawish)
Table of Inscriptions (I. Bir Shawish)
List of Illustrations
1. Introduction
2. Bīr Shawīsh in the el-Ḥāyz Oasis
- 2.1. Baḥrīya, or the Small Oasis
- 2.2. The el-Ḥāyz Oasis: The Sites
- 2.3. Western Travelers and Early Scholars in el-Ḥāyz
- 2.4. Recent Exploration of el-Ḥāyz
- 2.5. Bīr Shawīsh
  - 2.5.1. Topography of the site
  - 2.5.2. Dating of the site and House 3
3. Inscribed Material from Bīr Shawīsh
- 3.1. Archaeological Context of the Inscribed Material
- 3.2. Notes on Editorial Procedure
- 3.3. Ostraka
  - I. Accounts (1–2)
  - II. Certificate (3)
  - III. Receipts (4–33)
  - IV. Orders and notes (34–36)
  - V. Letter (37)
  - VI. Uncertain texts (38–50)
- 3.4. Other Inscribed Material
  - 3.4.1. Dipinti (1–2)
  - 3.4.2. Graffiti (3–10)
  - 3.4.3. Opercula (11–36)
    - I. Opercula with alphabetical notations (11–12)
    - II. Opercula with vegetative motifs (13–18)
    - III. Opercula with geometric motifs (19–29)
    - IV. Operculum with a human figure (30)
    - V. Opercula with uncertain decoration (31–36)
4. Selected Aspects of the Documentation
- 4.1. Dating
  - 4.1.1. Regnal or era years
  - 4.1.2. Indiction years
  - 4.1.3. Egyptian civil calendar
- 4.2. Commodities and Measures
  - 4.2.1. Grains
  - 4.2.2. Chaff
  - 4.2.3. Legumes and other vegetables
  - 4.2.4. Dates
  - 4.2.5. Wine and other vine products
  - 4.2.6. Oil
  - 4.2.7. Cotton and dress
  - 4.2.8. Livestock and other animals
  - 4.2.9. Chickens and eggs
  - 4.2.10. Money and monetary economy
- 4.3. Administration and Management
  - 4.3.1. State administration
  - 4.3.2. Local oikos management
  - 4.3.3. Agrophylax, the field-guard
- 4.4. Personal Names
- 4.5. Religion
- 4.6. Military Presence in el-Ḥāyz
  - 4.6.1. Archaeological remains of the Roman army
  - 4.6.2. Papyrological evidence for the Roman army
5. Late Antique Bīr Shawīsh from a Papyrological Perspective: A Conclusion
Appendices
- 1. Concordance of Ostraka by Object Number
- 2. Concordance of Ostraka by Publication Number
- 3. Concordance of Inscriptions by Object Number
- 4. Concordance of Inscriptions by Publication Number
- 5. Table of All Presented Material according to Archaeological Context
Bibliography
Index of Papyri, Ostraka, and Inscriptions
General Index
Indices to the Edition
- 1. Chronology
- 2. Personal Names
- 3. Toponyms
- 4. Official and Μilitary Τerms
- 5. Professions, Occupations, and Statuses
- 6. Religion
- 7. Payments and Taxation
- 8. Money, Weights, and Measures
- 9. General Index of Greek and Coptic Words
- 10. Decorative Elements (I. Bir Shawish)

Citable Link

Published: 2020

Publisher: American Society of Papyrologists

ISBN(s)

978-0-9799758-8-2 (ebook)
978-0-9799758-7-5 (hardcover)

Subject

Resources

9780979975882_fixedlyt.epub

Baḥrīya Oasis

From Chapter 2

Fig. 1. The Baḥrīya Oasis, with its two main areas of occupation and the major roads connecting it to the Sīwa Oasis and Cairo in the north and the Farāfra Oasis in the south. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.)

Main occupation areas of the el-Ḥāyz Oasis

From Chapter 2

Fig. 2. Main occupation areas of the el-Ḥāyz Oasis, with principal sites and monuments. (Base image from Google Earth, February 2016.) 1. Bīr Shawīsh 2. Gard el-Shaykh 3. Umm el-Okhbayn, playa 4. Umm el-Okhbayn, necropolis 5. ʿAyn el-Khabata 6. Mannsaf 7. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, settlement 8. ʿAyn el-Gomaʿa, necropolis 9. Ṭāblimūn, settlement 10. Ṭāblimūn, necropolis 11. El-Rīs 12. Ṭāhūna 13. Qaṣr Masʿūda 14. Bīr ʿAyn Nagaʿ 15. Gard ʿAbyad

Sand dune gradually burying the modern-day village of el-Rīs

From Chapter 2

Fig. 3. Sand dune gradually burying the modern-day village of el-Rīs, November 2006. (Courtesy of Charles University.)

Fig 4: Image taken on February 2014 of village completely inundated by sand dune at Bīr Shawīsh, on the east, with house 3 in the upper left corner and more structures evident at the foot of the dune.

Sand dune and House 3 at Bīr Shawīsh

From Chapter 2

Fig. 4. Sand dune at Bīr Shawīsh viewed to the east, with House 3 in the upper left corner and more structures apparent at the foot of the dune, February 2014. (Courtesy of Charles University.)

Fig 5: Map of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh, where they found architecture, kilns and surface pottery in and around 3 mud brick buildings or individual farmsteads identified as houses 2, 3 and 4 at the site.

Map of Bīr Shawīsh South

From Chapter 2

Fig. 5. Map of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh. (Adapted from Musil and Tomášek 2013a, 83.)

Fig 6: Aerial photograph taken on December 2012 shows the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh, with houses, kilns and other structures apparent under the surface as it was taken after it had rained.

Aerial kite photograph of southern Bīr Shawīsh

From Chapter 2

Fig. 6. Aerial kite photograph of the southern part of Bīr Shawīsh, with houses, kilns, and other structures apparent under the surface, December 2012. By sheer luck, the pictures were taken after it had rained, which made the mudbrick structures more visible. (Courtesy of Charles University.)

Fig 7: Depicts the preliminary ground plan of House 3, with room numbers and indication of niches. Established after the 2005 and 2007 excavation, this layout reflects the uppermost segments of walls as preserved under the current surface.

Preliminary plan of House 3

From Chapter 3

Fig. 7. Preliminary ground plan of House 3, with room numbers and indication of the vaults of the lower floor. (Adapted from Musil et al. 2013, 37, fig. 40.)

Deposition layer in House 3

From Chapter 3

Fig. 8. Illustrative view of a deposition layer in House 3, showing a pottery assemblage by the eastern wall of Room 11; present are three table amphorae, one large storage vessel, a lid, a siga barrel, a cooking pot, two lamps, and a few more pottery fragments. (Courtesy of Charles University.)