In 2014, a researcher noted that the longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Jewish desert was not what it seemed. The newly translated move reveals extraordinary details of a court hearing involving two men accused of crimes, including inciting an uprising before the massive uprising.
Researchers in Austria and Israel translated the longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Jewish desert. Previously discovered, misidentified, and then almost forgotten, Hannah Cotton Paltiel from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem rediscovered the papyrus in 2014. Now, Paltiel and her colleagues translated the text, revealing that it is notes of prosecutors for an ancient Roman process of the early second century. The artifact gives a unique understanding of a case that addressed tax fraud, forgery, and the fraudulent sale and release of enslaved people during a period of tension in the Roman province of Judea.
“I volunteered to organize a documentation Papyri in Israel Antiquities Authority’s Scrolls Laboratory, and when I saw it, marked” Nabataean “, I exclaimed,” It’s Greek to me! “Paltiel explained at Hebrew University of Jerusalem Statement. The Nabataeans It was an ancient people who lived in northern Arabia and a southern lift as early as 312 BC the researchers called the Papyrus “P. cotton” acknowledging her re-discovery.
“This is the best documented Roman court of Iudaea except Jesus’ trial,” said Avner Ecker, also co -author of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Iudaea is another spelling for Judea.
As in detail in January 20th Study Published in the magazine TycheThe papyrus includes over 133 lines of text, and includes the notes of prosecutors for litigation before Roman officials as well as a transcription of the consistent court hearing. The notes include comments from one prosecutor to another about the strength of specific evidence and how to foresee counterattacks. Although the prosecutors’ identities are unknown, the researchers suggest that they were officials of the Roman fiscal administration.
“This papyrus is extraordinary because it gives direct understanding of tentative preparations in this part of the Roman Empire,” said Anna Dolganov of the Austrian Academy of Sciences who participated in the study.
The primary defendants were two men named Saulos and Gadalias, both charged with corruption. Saulos has been accused of coordinating the false sale and emancipation of enslaved people without paying necessary taxes. His co -worker, Gadalias, was the son of a notary with a history of violence, forgery, extinction and inciting rebellion (sounds like a friendly hat). Both were charged with forging documents.
“Falconry and tax -fraud carried severe penalties under Roman law, including hard work or even death penalty,” Dolganov explained.
Saulos and Gadalias were also accused of rebellious activities during the visit of Emperor Hadrian, which took place around 129 CE. Interestingly, the judicial hearing took place on the day before the Bar Kokhba Rebellion (132 to 136 CE), a Jewish uprising against Roman rule in Judea. In fact, the text mentions Tineius Rufus, who ruled Judah at the beginning of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The Jewish people previously rebelled against the Roman Empire from 115 to 117 CE (the Jewish diaspora uprising).
“Whether they were actually involved in rebellion remains an open question, but the hint speaks of the loaded atmosphere of time,” Dolganov said. What’s more, releasing enslaved people “doesn’t seem to be a profitable business model,” Ecker added. It is unclear who the enslaved individuals are.
While we may never know the best fate of Saulos and Gadalias, the P. Cotton Papyrus offers a rare glimpse of the legal proceedings of the Greek-speaking novel near East. It also captures a tense period between rebellious disorders and the ongoing bad attitude towards taxes, Common human frustration for thousands of years.