DOI Artikel:
Kenyon, Frederic George: Progress of Egyptology, [3]: Greco-Egyptian Literary Discoveries
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10055#0050
36
Progress of Egyptology.
being revealed. The papers of Socnopasi Nesus bring out the little
details of village lile and provincial administration, which are as valuable,
if we are to understand the inner life of the period, as are the wall-
paintings of Beni Hasan for the much earlier age to which they belong.
The Eoman administration in most respects carried on the system of
the Ptolemies, though some of the magistrates existing under the latter
(the 8toiK7]Trj<;, the e7rip.e\r}Ti']<;, the oIkov6[Jo<;, the avTLypa<f>ei<;) are not
mentioned in the Berlin papyri. At the head of the administration of
the whole province stands the ryyeumv or hcapxps, the praefecfcus .^Egypti,
appointed by the Emperor from the circle of his own freedrnen. To him
even the meanest subject has access by way of petition, as he had to the
kings in the days of the Ptolemies. By his side, as chief law officer of
Egypt, stands the StKaioSoTrjv. who also acts as locum tenens for the
prefect in the absence of the latter. Next in the official scale come the
eiricTTpar-nyoi, of whom there would appear to be three, one for Lower
Egypt, one for the Heptanomis and Arsinoe, and one for Upper Egypt.
The real unit of administration was, however, the nome, of which, as
in Ptolemaic times, the strategus was the chief official. With him, and
acting as his lieutenant in case of an interregnum, was the (3aoj\ii<bs
ypa^iJbarev^, or Royal Secretary, whose title proves (what is also
known otherwise) that his office too descends from the time when
there were Greek kings in Egypt. To him, or to him in conjunc-
tion with the strategus, tax and census returns were normally addressed.
The position of the strategus seems to have corresponded generally
to that of a District Magistrate in India. He moves about the
country administering justice and receiving complaints of ill-treatment
or wrong-doing, and to him the tax-collectors report the amounts paid
by them into the State bank. Below him are the village officials,
the Kco/j.oypa/j,jjiaTev<;, the -rrpaKTope-i upyvpLKusv, the aiToXoyoi, and (as
representing the villagers) the 7rpjaj3vTepoi /ca>,u?;?. The KwixoypafjufxcL-
revf, among other duties, is responsible for drawing up in each
year a list of the more well-to-do inhabitants on whom Xeirovpyiai,
or public burdens, may be laid. Some elasticity was allowed in these
lists, as appears from the fact that the priests of the local cult might be
relieved of the secular duties which would normally fall to them, if other
inhabitants volunteered to take their place. The irfxiKTOpe^ apyvpui&v are
tax-collectors, collecting dues of many different descriptions, and assisted
by the iinrr)pi]T7]^ yevijfidrwv. The qvroKgyoi appear to have conducted
the grants of seed-corn by the State to individuals, and to have collected
the share of the produce which the State received in return. Another
Progress of Egyptology.
being revealed. The papers of Socnopasi Nesus bring out the little
details of village lile and provincial administration, which are as valuable,
if we are to understand the inner life of the period, as are the wall-
paintings of Beni Hasan for the much earlier age to which they belong.
The Eoman administration in most respects carried on the system of
the Ptolemies, though some of the magistrates existing under the latter
(the 8toiK7]Trj<;, the e7rip.e\r}Ti']<;, the oIkov6[Jo<;, the avTLypa<f>ei<;) are not
mentioned in the Berlin papyri. At the head of the administration of
the whole province stands the ryyeumv or hcapxps, the praefecfcus .^Egypti,
appointed by the Emperor from the circle of his own freedrnen. To him
even the meanest subject has access by way of petition, as he had to the
kings in the days of the Ptolemies. By his side, as chief law officer of
Egypt, stands the StKaioSoTrjv. who also acts as locum tenens for the
prefect in the absence of the latter. Next in the official scale come the
eiricTTpar-nyoi, of whom there would appear to be three, one for Lower
Egypt, one for the Heptanomis and Arsinoe, and one for Upper Egypt.
The real unit of administration was, however, the nome, of which, as
in Ptolemaic times, the strategus was the chief official. With him, and
acting as his lieutenant in case of an interregnum, was the (3aoj\ii<bs
ypa^iJbarev^, or Royal Secretary, whose title proves (what is also
known otherwise) that his office too descends from the time when
there were Greek kings in Egypt. To him, or to him in conjunc-
tion with the strategus, tax and census returns were normally addressed.
The position of the strategus seems to have corresponded generally
to that of a District Magistrate in India. He moves about the
country administering justice and receiving complaints of ill-treatment
or wrong-doing, and to him the tax-collectors report the amounts paid
by them into the State bank. Below him are the village officials,
the Kco/j.oypa/j,jjiaTev<;, the -rrpaKTope-i upyvpLKusv, the aiToXoyoi, and (as
representing the villagers) the 7rpjaj3vTepoi /ca>,u?;?. The KwixoypafjufxcL-
revf, among other duties, is responsible for drawing up in each
year a list of the more well-to-do inhabitants on whom Xeirovpyiai,
or public burdens, may be laid. Some elasticity was allowed in these
lists, as appears from the fact that the priests of the local cult might be
relieved of the secular duties which would normally fall to them, if other
inhabitants volunteered to take their place. The irfxiKTOpe^ apyvpui&v are
tax-collectors, collecting dues of many different descriptions, and assisted
by the iinrr)pi]T7]^ yevijfidrwv. The qvroKgyoi appear to have conducted
the grants of seed-corn by the State to individuals, and to have collected
the share of the produce which the State received in return. Another