Hands and Authorship

In general, the hands in the agoranomic documents do not differ from one another much. For example, the hand in the notarial contracts from the Memnoneia is quite similar to those from the Pathyris office. However, certain individual characteristics can be found. For example, the hand in the documents of Paniskos is much smaller and neater than the hands in the documents of Ammonios or Hermias. The verbal descriptions of hands in the editions are not helpful in identifying different writers.

The agoranomic hands are usually described as "medium-sized cursive." It is more helpful when editors give a direct reference (document x is written by the same hand as document y), but these are rare cases, and even then one should check, if possible.

My discussion is limited in some cases where I have not been able to check the originals (autopsy) or the photographs (this is pointed out in the footnotes).

Documents of Heliodoros

Heliodoros was the notary in Krokodilon polis in the period 124–112 BCE. He appears as agoranomos1 in documents from Krokodilon polis and Pathyris. As we saw earlier, the documents written under his name introduce a problem about the role of agoranomos1, because three of the documents written in Pathyris are also signed by Heliodoros, and there are several documents without a signature (see Table 7). There is only one document written in Krokodilon polis and signed by Heliodoros (24).⁷⁴ The agoranomos2 under Heliodoros in Pathyris was first Areios (131–113) and then Ammonios (113–109). Some documents written when Areios was the agoranomos2 are, however, said to be Ammonios' handwriting (this question is discussed further under the sections concerning Areios and Ammonios). What interests us here are the documents written under Heliodoros' name in Pathyris but without a signature. Were they written by Heliodoros or by the staff of the Pathyris office: Areios or his apprentice (Ammonios) or Ammonios or his apprentice (Hermias) or, yet someone else? It is not impossible that the agoranomoi had more than one apprentice/scribe at one time.

74 The edition (P. Ryl. 4 581) states that the "present text appears to be a (later?) copy of the original sale," but this statement is not discussed in any way. The document consists of scriptura interior and exterior and it has a signature. It has no receipt of the sales tax, but sometimes these receipts are found separately. Without further evidence, I would consider the text to be original.

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Notarial signature Written in Krokodilon polis

Written in Pathyris

Heliodoros 24 20, 40, 41

No signature 23, 28, 30, 35, 39

Not preserved 141, 25, 27, 31, 33, 50

Areios 21, 22, 34

Ammonios 36, 38, 42, 43, 44

Table 7. Documents in which Heliodoros is agoranomos1

The handwriting in the documents that have Heliodoros' signature is similar in 24, written in Krokodilon polis, and in 40 and 41, written in Pathyris (cf. above, n. 42).

Document 20 (copy), however, is clearly written by a different hand. It is difficult to say whether the hand in 24, 40 and 41 is a distinctive hand, possibly of Heliodoros himself, or the hand of some other scribe in the office. The hand resembles very much that of Areios (see below) and also the A-hand in the register from the Pathyris office.

It is possible that Heliodoros was present in the Pathyris office when documents 40 and 41 were drawn up and that is why his signature was used (Areios had used his own name in the signatures much earlier, for example, in 21, 124 BCE). The documents date to 113 BCE,⁷⁵ the period of transition from Areios to Ammonios in the Pathyris office. Thus, the responsible agoranomos1 was perhaps occasionally present in Pathyris, perhaps also when document 20 was drawn up. Although the copy which is preserved is by a different hand, it still has the signature of Heliodoros, that is, he must have been involved in drawing up the document.

Documents without a signature from Pathyris seem to be in the same hands as the ones with the signature of Areios or Ammonios.⁷⁶ The documents where the signature is not preserved also seem to be written by Areios or Ammonios. (See further below on Areios and Ammonios.)

75 The dating of papyrus 40 is problematic. The only date in the papyrus is year 11, Phaophi 5 (= Oct 23, 107), and according to MESSERI SAVORELLI 1980, 216 n. 56, the reading is certain. However the text is signed by Heliodoros, who was no longer in office in 107. The name of Heliodoros in the protocol and in the signature, I believe, was the main reason for Pestman to suggest that 40 is a provisory sale, written as a pledge for 41 (year 5, Hathyr = Nov/Dec 113), a loan of wheat from Namesesis, d. of Spemminis, to Patseous, s. of Sales. In the sale 40, Namesesis buys a house from the son and daughter of Patseous (see P^ESTMAN 1985 "Ventes provisoires," 48). Pestman's idea was that Heliodoros, or someone under his name, already drew up the contract 40 in 113 and then later, in 107, when the sale was carried out, someone filled in the date in the protocol. It is noteworthy that the sellers in 40 are the children of Patseous and their guardian is not their father. The father pawned the house of his underaged children in 113? The handwriting is the same throughout the document.

76 23 (123 BCE); seems to be similar to 11 and 12 (see below, Areios); 27 could be the same hand as 34; Pestman proposed that 28 (116 BCE) was written by Ammonios,PESTMAN,"A Greek Testament"

1969, 139.

NOTARIES AT WORK

93 Documents of Paniskos

Ten documents were written in Krokodilon polis under the name of Paniskos, agoranomos in 108–98 BCE.⁷⁷ The handwriting in them is clear and neat (that is, tidy and even). At least texts 69, (77?), 107, 127 are written by the same hand. Document 65 is signed by Paniskos and Sosos (Πάνισκος ὁ σὺν Σώσ(ωι)) and the hand in that document and in document 66 is not quite as neat, but could still be the same hand. A noteworthy feature of Paniskos' hand is the abundant use of ligatures. Document 119, which is a copy, does not seem to be written in the same neat hand, and the signature is also a bit different. Perhaps that copy was done by some other scribe in the office.

Some letterforms are similar to those of "Hermias-hand" (for example, delta, nu, tau), so it may be possible that these two scribes learned from the same teacher.

Documents of Areios

Thirteen documents under the name of Areios, notary in Pathyris 131–113 BCE, have been preserved.⁷⁸ As I said above, some of the documents written in the Pathyris office that preserve only the name of Heliodoros have most likely been drawn up by Areios.

One of the documents is a private copy of a will (18B) and was written by the beneficiary, Esthladas, son of Dryton.⁷⁹ As regards the other texts under Areios' name, it is not easy to decide whether the differences between hands fall under individual variation or are a sign of writing by different persons. G. Messeri divided Areios' hands into three groups.⁸⁰ However, this grouping is problematic. First, some hands could be placed differently.⁸¹ And secondly, the hands are quite similar with each other and there can be wide range of variant forms of one letter (for example, four different types of upsilon) in one document but in some documents only a few of these variants are present (size of document/fragment also limits our knowledge of how many variants are used).

It seems likely that some documents in Areios' term and under his name were written by his son and apprentice Ammonios. For example, documents 22 and 28 are such candidates. Document 22 is an agoranomic copy of a will made in 123 BCE

77 66 (autopsy), 67, 68 (facsimile), 69 (autopsy), 75 (photo), 77 (autopsy), 107 (photo), 116, 119 (photo), [127] (autopsy).

78 I have seen photographs of eight them and of the remaining five, I have seen the originals of four.

79 His hand is skilled but somewhat more cursive than those of the agoranomoi.

80 M^ESSERI 1982,276–277,n. 5: group A) "corsiva minuta e serrata": 10 (year 131), 11 (not dated);

group B) "corsiva molto accurata, di modulo piuttosto grande": 12 (129 BCE), 16 (127 BCE), 22 (123 BCE), and possibly 17 (127 BCE); group C): 34 (113 BCE). Documents 18A, 21, 27, 141, 142 are not included in her groups for various reasons.

81 For example, group A has 10 and 11, but the letter upsilon is of a different form in these two texts, eta is more angular in 11 and the enclosed epsilon is present in 10 but not in 11. As for group B, 12 and 16 are very close to each other, but again, the upsilon has different types. A "flying nu" is present in at least 10, 16, 17, 34 (and among Heliodoros' unsigned documents in 25, 27, (35).

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when Areios was the notary in Pathyris. The witness statements are written in the same hand as the document, and in fact, Ammonios appears as one of the witnesses.

Therefore, Ammonios could not have been the official notary, but he may have been practicing his future occupation and copying the agoranomic documents.⁸² For 28, see below, on Ammonios. It seems that the handwriting of Areios and Ammonios are much alike, and it is quite difficult to distinguish between them. Vandorpe points out that the hands of 18A and 22 show many similarities.⁸³ To me, the hand of 18A and 22 seem similar to, for example, 23, 31 (no signatures) and tentatively also 33 and 35 (the "Ammonios-hand"). If Ammonios already wrote 22, he was an apprentice for a long time, already starting ten years before his official period.

Documents of Ammonios

Ammonios stepped into the office of the notary in Pathyris after his father. He acted in the period 113–109 BCE (and perhaps also in 98–97 BCE). It seems that we have again several different hands, some of which maybe just different stages of one person's handwriting. However, one certain hand is responsible for many documents written in the period of Ammonios. It is the same hand as the B-hand in the register from Pathyris' notarial office.⁸⁴ I shall now call this hand the "Ammonios-hand." One distinctive feature of that hand is the kappa that has high vertical stroke and the second stroke continues up from that with a loop. The hand writes other types of kappas as well, but this kappa prevails. Another feature is the quite abundant ligaturing. Other documents written by that hand are, for example, 28, 33, 35, 47, 48, 52, and also a document written under Hermias' name, 63. Document 28 (116 BCE) was written in the period of Areios, but Pestman suggested that it was actually written by Ammonios. He also combined 28 with 32 and 36 (I agree as regards 36).⁸⁵

82 Messeri placed document 22 among the group B. However, Grenfell and Hunt identified P. Cairo Invs. 10389 and 10388 (=22) as being by the same hand (Grenfell & Hunt, Catalogue Général [1903]

1972, 50); P. Cairo Inv. 10389 is signed by Ammonios, but the contract is not published, after examining the photograph (for which I thank K. Vandorpe), it can be said that the hand is similar to that of 22, but 10389 is clearly written by the "Ammonios-hand" with one typical kappa of that hand (see below), which is missing in 22. However, they can still be by the same hand. See also M^ESSERI S^AVORELLI 1980, 210–211 n. 44 and 47; P^ESTMAN 1978, 207.

83 According to her, the writer of 18A was probably Areios, as in 22 (APF 1 (1901), p. 63-65), VANDORPE,P. Dryton, p. 71. She refers to P.W. Pestman in P.L.Bat. 19 p. 36, who speaks about the small number of people capable of writing Greek in Pathyris, and who does not, in fact, mention handwriting.

84 VANDORPE 2004, 165; the register from Ammonios' period presents two hands. Vandorpe described hand A as more rounded and more compact, whereas hand B is more angular and broad. The letters χ and κ are written differently. Vandorpe cautiously suggested that the B-hand could be that of

Ammonios.

85 PESTMAN,"A Greek Testament"1969, 139: "This Ammonios is apparently the one who wrote our text, seeing that the writing is the same as in other texts drawn up by him, and certain characteristic elements again appear in it." And in note 8: "see in particular P. Strassb. 2 84 [=32]: the arrangement of text, the year which is placed in an open space (…). The way of writing ἐλάσσω is found in P. Strassb.

2 85 [=36], 11 (…). Both texts were drawn up by Ammonios."

NOTARIES AT WORK

95 Two documents, 57 and 58, written on the same day in 109 BCE, were written by two different hands, although they both have the signature of Ammonios. The hand of document 57 is somewhat like the "Ammonios-hand," but does not seem to be the same. It seems that the hand of 58 is the "Hermias-hand" (see below). In the year 109, Hermias started as notary in Pathyris.

The documents from the second period of an agoranomos named Ammonios seem to be written by the "Ammonios-hand."⁸⁶ They are written in uneven script and the hand has some features that are not present in the earlier period, especially the tail curves of the taus (and upsilons) always bending to the right.

Documents of Hermias

The majority of the texts in the corpus were written under the name of Hermias, notary in 109–98 BCE. One distinct hand wrote most of the documents under Hermias' name (and also at least 58 under Ammonios' name). This "Hermias-hand"

has some clearly characteristic features: an epsilon that joins the upper stroke to the middle one from the right, nu with the second stroke coming higher than the first one, kappa's vertical stroke high and ligaturing the kappa from the upper stroke instead of the downstroke to the next letter,⁸⁷ eta often soft, h-like, (or sharp, but not H-like), delta open from the lower right corner, not from the top corner as is common with some other scribes. In the catalogue of the London and Grenfell papyri, this

"Hermias-hand" was also recognized and described as "medium-sized cursive."⁸⁸ The ligaturing is done in a way that makes me consider that the scribe of the

"Hermias-hand" was left-handed. It seems that the writing tool was held in a position which tries to prevent the writing hand from smudging the previous letters. Often the lines curve upwards at the end of the line, which can also suggest that the left hand was used for writing. The writing is quite often also thick, looking almost as if it was written with a brush-like instrument rather than with a sharp kalamos (for example, 122). With a brush, it would be easier to write with the left hand from left to right without smudging the letters since the grip of a brush is naturally higher than that of a pen. In comparison, demotic, written from right to left, was normally written with a

86 There is no photograph of 132, but at least the hand in 133, 134 and 136 appears to me the same.

87 As pointed out by Vandorpe in V^ANDORPE 2004,165.

88 P.Lond. 3, p. xxiii: "Papp. 657–663, 674, 675, 680 relate to the affairs of a single family, consisting of the four sons of Panobchounis. Papp. 659–663, 673–677, 679 are all written in the same hand, that of Hermias, the representative at Pathyris of the agoranomus Paniscus." This means that documents 89, 91, 92, 93, 95, 81, 94, 99, 112, 113, 128 are said to be written in hand of Hermias. However, in the description of Pap. 673 (=81) it is erroneously stated that it would be the same hand as Papp. 657–663, when obviously 659–663 is meant. 657 (=69) and 658 (=77) were written in Krokodilon polis and possibly by Paniskos.

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brush. There are examples of Egyptian scribes writing Greek with a brush in the earlier part of the Ptolemaic period.⁸⁹

The documents written by the "Hermias-hand" are 71, 72, 79, 81, 83A, 84(?), 85, 87, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 99⁹⁰, 102A+B⁹¹, 103, 112, 113, 114, 117, 118, 122, 123, 125, 128. Furthermore 108 (BGU 6 1259) can be added to the list since it is said by the editor to be the same hand as 117 (P. Lond. 3 1206)⁹² With this hand, we can also see a development over time; the hand has become more cursive in the later documents.

All documents under the name of Hermias are not written by the "Hermias-hand." Document 60, the earliest document officially by Hermias (November 109), is written with a thick pen, or maybe even a brush. The handwriting has similar epsilons to the "Hermias-hand," but otherwise it is different, for example, there are many very cursive letterforms. Other documents that are not written by the "Hermias-hand," are at least 63, 83B, 109 and 126; they resemble the "Ammonios-hand." Among those documents, 83B is a copy (most likely an official one, see below), but as for the others, we do not know whether they were written in the office of the agoranomos or if they were private copies.⁹³

The "Hermias-hand" is also known to us from a private letter from a military campaign sent by Petesouchos, hegemon, from Pelousion in April 102 BCE.⁹⁴ From 102 BCE, only two agoranomic documents survive (from November and December), and they are written by the "Hermias-hand." We know that Hermias was also a soldier. It is probable that Hermias himself was actually the "owner" of the "Hermias-hand" and that he was taking part in the campaign during the Judean-Syrian-Egyptian conflict.⁹⁵

Documents of Hermias II

The three last agoranomic documents from the whole Theban area were written under the name of a Hermias, but not by the "Hermias-hand." Document 137 is written with

89 C^LARYSSE,"Egyptian Scribes" 1993.

90 More cursive and fluid than the previous ones.

91 102B shows the "Hermias-hand" and apparently 102A (provisory sale) is written by the same hand, but the editors of BGU do not indicate that the hand changes in col. II=102B.

92 It is possible that 90, 102A, 121, 131 (all published in BGU) can also be added to the list with 108 and 117, since 108 has been compared with other BGU texts and then said to be by the same hand as 117. At least Pestman, P.L.Bat.19, p. 59 and 65 says that BGU 3 998 (=102A+B) and 999 (=121) present the same hand as P.L.Bat. 7B (=58="Hermias-hand").

93 Document 104 has been suggested to be from Hermias' period (M^ARTIN 2001), but it is written by a different hand than the other documents under Hermias' name. It could, of course, be a private copy or a writing exercise. There are empty spaces between words that would suggest that the writer is not a professional.

94 SB 24 16069 = P.Grenf. 1 32. It is said to be written in the same hand as P.Grenf. I 29 (= P.Dryton 29 = 80): The introduction of the papyrus P. Grenf. 1 29: "The papyrus is written in a medium-sized semi-uncial hand, the writer being the same as writer of pap. 32" (=Brit. Mus. 628).

95 For the conflict, see VAN'T DACK & AL.1989,see also 3.3.

NOTARIES AT WORK

97 a blurry pen and the hand is slightly different than that of 138 and 139.

Typographically, 137 differs from 138 and 139, where the protocol is written in longer lines, separated from the document proper, but in 137 no typographic means are used; all the text is in the same block. The hand of 138 and 139 resembles much the one that has written documents 133, 134, and 136, the later part of the period of Ammonios.

Documents of Apollonios

Six documents survive from the office of Memnoneia 110–105 BCE (55, 56, 61, 70, 73, 78). The only photograph I have had access to is of 78.⁹⁶ The handwriting shows similar letterforms with the other agoranomic hands from Pathyris and Krokodilon polis. It is obvious that there was a common model for the writing in the area.