ATTI DEL COLLOQUIO INTERNAZIONALE Bologna, 31 agosto - 2 settembre 1987 EGITTO E STORIA ANTICA DALL’ELLENISMO ALL’ETA ARABA BILANCIO DI UN CONFRONTO. a cura di Lucia Criscuolo e Giovanni Geraci Estratto aivice QLEB sotogne 1989MOHAMED E, ABD-EL-GHANY THE ARABS IN PTOLEMAIC AND ROMAN EGYPT THROUGH PAPYRI AND INSCRIPTIONS Introduction In this paper I am trying to throw some light on the Arab existence in Egypt in the Greco-Roman period through the material available in papyri and inscriptions. Before dealing with the material, I think it is necessary to summarize the early attempts of the Greco-Roman rulers of Egypt to get in touch with Arabia, : Alexander the Great, and Ptolemy II Philadelphus after him, ordered their explorers to sail round Arabia from Babylonia to Heroopolis (the Gulf of Suez) and vice-versa. These explorers could not circumnavigate Arabia and turned back to the starting-point after some distance: from Heroopolis, Anaxicrates, in the reign of Alexander, reached Bab El-Mandab, and Ariston was sent, during the reign of Philadelphus, to explore the Arabian coasts of the Red Sea and he explored the coast of Sinai Peninsula to the head of the Gulf of Akaba, Nabatea and southward along the western coast of Arabia until he reached the kingdom of Minaea'), Ptolemy I Philadelphus launched two successive expeditions against Nabatea and Arabia in turn. The expedition against Nabatea is dated 278 B.C. and its purpose was to repudiate the Nabatean Arabs, who were then reputed for raiding and piracy and attacked and annoyed the Egyptian traders as they were provoked by the appearence of Ariston, the explorer of Philadephus, in Nabatea. The second expedition against Arabia was launched in the following year 277 B.C. for economic purposes as «the mainspring of the actions of Philadelphus was frequently economic»), He (1) WW. Tarn, Prolemy II and Arabia, JEM», 15 (1929), pp. 9-25, pp. 13-14. (2) Dbid., p. 16.234 Mohamed E. Abd-El-Gkany wanted to divert to Egypt part of the traffic of the incense route going from south west Arabia northward to Nabatea. That was also exactly the object of the campaign of Aelius Gallus, the Roman prefect of Egypt under Augustus, against Arabia”). One of the results of the expedition of Philadephus was the establish- ment of good relations with the Minaean kingdom which increased after this expedition as is shown by some evidence, In fact the Minaeans had long been known in Egypt before the Ptolemaic reign and there is a famous inscription referring to the trade between Minaea and Egypt in the fourth century B.C.0), Another result of that expedition was the establishment, probably by Philadelphus, of the city of Ampelone which he applied to Miletus to colonize for him in Arabia between 277-260 B.C. on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea to compete the Seleucids who maintained good relations with the wealthy Gerrhaeans on the Arabian Gulf on the eastern side of Arabia. As Gerrha supplied Seleucia with incense, it was through Ampelone that South Arabian and Indian products coming to Al ‘Ula, belonging to Minaea, over the incense, route were exported to Egypt'®. In spite of the hostilities between the Ptolemies and Nabatea in the reign of Philadelphus”, Philopator® and Cleopatra”), there were trade relations between the two kingdoms by sea between Heroopolis and Aclana (Nabatea’s port on the Akaba Gulf) round Sinai, and the Nabateans’ existence in Egypt is attested through epigraphic evidence") The Arab merchants of Arabia Proper were conveying part of the Arabian products as well as those of India and Ethiopia such as the aromatics, perfumes, wild beasts and their leather... etc. to Egypt. They used either the incense route along the west coast of Arabia to Petra and thence towards Gaza to Alexandria, whether by sea or by the triangular river way around the Delta‘), or through the Red Sea to the Egyptian ports on the (3) Cl. Préaux, Sur les communications de U'Ethiopie avec I'Egypie hellénistique, «Chron, d’Eg.», 35 (1952), pp. 257-281, p. 278. (4) Tarn, art, cit., pp. 20-21, and notes. (5) Ibid, pp. 16-17 and notes; Préaux, pp. 20-21 and notes. (6) Tarn, art. cit,, pp. 21-22 and notes. (7) Ibid, pp. 15-16. (8) In 218 B.C. the Arabs cast of Jordan joined Antiochus IIT against Ptolemy Philopator. Polybius, V, 71. (9) About the existence of the Nabateans in Egypt see: Clermont-Ganneau, Les Nabatéens en Egypte, «Revue de l'Histoire des Religions», 80 (1919), pp. 1-29. On the relations of the Arab Nabateans with Pompey, Caesar, Cleopatra and Antony see pp. 22-23. (10) Ibid. the whole erticle; Tarn, loc. cit; Cl. Préaux, art. cit. pp. 278-279. (11) Cl. Préaux, art. cit., pp. 258, 270-278.‘The Arabs in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt 235 African side of the Red Sea, established by the Ptolemies'?), such as Myos Hormos, Philotera, Albus Portus, Nechesia, and Berenice and inward to Coptos'») across the Nile to Alexandria, The caravan peoples of Arabia had adopted the money minted on the Hellenistic style”, obviously through their trade relations with the Hellenistic kingdoms of Egypt and Syria woe oe After this historical background of the Arab relations with Egypt, we come to deal with the Arabs «in» Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt as they appear in papyri and inscriptions. The first point in this concern is about the Eastern Desert of Egypt which was called «Arabia» and which Alexander the Great assigned to Cleomenes of Naucratis to administer after his departure to the East to pursue the Persian king Darius the third. The word «Arabia» recurrs many times in the papyri but with two meanings, one broader referring to the whole eastern desert of Egypt'’', and another narrower referring to just one of the nomes of that eastern desert). As for the first of the two meanings it clearly meant the parts on the eastern side of the Nile of the Egyptian nomes such as the Pathyrite nome(”?) for example. Sometimes an interruption of communications (Guia) could happen between the Arabian part of the nome east of the Nile and the western part, and such a breach would result the hinderance of the interests of the people®) on the western side who owned a property on the eastern side. As for the specific or narrow sense of the word Arabia in papyri, the most clear- cut document is P.Oxy. 709 in which a high official, probably the prefect, was to make a tour of inspection throughout the country and was to go first to Pelusium, thence through the nomes situated along the eastern side of the (12) About the Egyptian ports on the Red Sea see: G.W. Murray, The Roman Roads and Stations in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, !) in an allusion to his Egyptian hostile, Crispinus who was influential under Domitian®2) and who might perhaps have held the office of ‘AgaPGyng as might be understood from Juvenal’s allusion What about the etymology of the word ’AgaBdéoxne and was it derived from ‘Aoafia. (referring to the Eastern desert of Egypt) or from Aga which means an Arab’??? It seems that it is derived from both of the two words at (26) Seeck, «Panly.Witsowa», Alabarches, Col. 1271. (27) Exp. Cod. Theod., IV, 12, 9 = Cod. Just., IV, 61, 9, where the dAaBégyns is mentioned as a fiscal official responsible for the farming of the taxes and particularly those imposed on the traffic of cattle in Lower-Egypt, perhaps on the eastern side of the Delta included in the Arabian district. (28) Hogarth, in Petrie, Kopios, 189, pp. 26-35 (Chapter 6 by Hogarth), p. 28; Lesquier, op. cit., p. 99. (29) Cicero, ad Atticum, Ul, 17, 3: velim ex Theophane expiscere, quonam in me animo sit Arabarches. (30) Lesquier, op. cit. p. 97. (31) Juvenal, I, 130: atgue miumphales, inter quas ausus habere nescio quis titulos Aegyptins atque Arabarches. (32) Lesquier, loc. cit. (33) Ibid., pp. 98-99 where Lesquier concluded that it is derived from “Agay to mean a chief or commander of the Arabs.238 Mohamed E. Abd-El-Ghany the same time as his sphere of jurisdiction was the Arabian district as we have seen it associated with him in the inscriptions and as we shall soon discuss, and, on the other hand, the ‘Agafégyn¢ might have often been chosen by the Egyptian administration among the inhabitants of Arabian origin in the Eastern Desert and Red Sea coasts of Egypt. The nominated person for the office must have been powerful, influential, and a well-to-do person, as the object of his appointment was pethaps primarily to guard the eastern frontier of Egypt against their fellows the Nabatean Arabs as the dealings of the powerful Nabateans with Egypt in the time of Caesar and Cleopatra might indicate. This policy of enlisting the Arabs against their fellows would be adopted by Rome against the Goths. Later, when the tension with Nabateans became less than before and after Trajan annexed Nabatea to the Roman Empire in 106 A.D.°, the functions of the *AgaBGoyns were to control the caravan trade, collect the customs” dues at the Red Sea ports and the taxes imposed on the Eastern Desert roads as is clear from the famous Tariff inscription), This inscription is a slab on which it is inscribed a scale (yvOpwv) of the dues of the transport service (dsoat6hov) in Coptos which is subject to the Arabian command, Agapagyia. This scale of dues is issued at the instance of Lucius Antistius Asiaticus, prefect of the Berenice Mountain, and ought to be levied by the lessees of the dues), In this scale the dues are imposed on persons coming for trade from the Red Sea ports across the Eastern Desert to Coptos, shipyard attendants, prostitutes, immigrant women, wives of soldiers, as well as the tariffs of the services on the road such as baggage animals, wagons, funerals, in addition to a few «res venales» such as the ship’s mast and yard. There is no mention in the inscription of customs on the goods entering the Eastern Desert. The explanation can be that the customs’ duties on the merchandi- ses are collected at the Red Sea ports, while the entrance fees on the persons and various fees of the facilities of transport on the roads leading to Coptos on the Nile were levied in Coptos. These transport fees inscribed by this gnomon» were used for the upkeep and maintainance of the roads”. The (34) Tarn, art. cit, p. 16; Clermont-Ganneau, art. cit, p. 24, (35) P. Michigan 466 is « letter from an Egyptian legionnaire who participated in the organization of the province of Arabia in 107 which was recently conquered by Trajan in 106 AD. (36) OGIS 674, AD. 90 (37) Ibid,, ll. 2-8:"Ooa dei todg wodw-|raig tod év Kéxtor brome(atoy-| tos Tit “‘AgaBagyian dxootohou xoaa-| ety xara TV yVGuova TOE THe] oUHANL Eveexdowurar da Aovxtov | “Aytuotion ‘Antamxod éégxov|"Ogovs Begeveiuns. (38) Dittenberger, OGIS 674, Commentary. Cf. also Lesquier, op. cit, p. 98 and note 1.The Anubs in Piolemaic and Roman Egypt 239 prefect of Mons Berenice was, I suppose, a subordinate official to the Arabarch who was responsible for the whole trading activity on the Red Sea ports and caravan routes, and who was sometimes an epistrategos of the Thebaid at the same time", i.c., he was a high official, while the sphere of the prefect of Mons Berenice was that port on the southern-most coast of Egypt on the Red Sea and the road leading from there to Coptos. The office of Arabarch continued to exist during the Byzantine period as is obvious from a document dating the Sixth century A.D. in which an employee in the office of the oaBéoyns in Antinoopolis acknowledges that he paid back a debt he owed to someone else“. Lesquier, followed by others”, considered the Arabarch the commander in chief of the Arab guards of the custom-houses who appear in papyri as Arab-archers (AgaPoto&6ta). I think that the connection between the Arabarch and the’Agafioto§état is not right, as I will explain through the discussion of the information available about the Arab-archers. First, the employment of foreign mercenaries in the police was not without precedents whether in Egypt or in Greece. It was habitual in Pharaonic Egypt‘) and also in Athens in the Classical period where they employed Scytian slaves from the northern parts of Greece in the police so that the word ZxGfat in Athens was a synonyme to oi to&6to which meant «police». What is interesting is to find the formation Zxvio-toEGme'! in Athens, an analogy of ‘AgaPoto&6rys in Egypt. In fact it seems that the Ptolemies began to use the Arabs as guards as early as the reign of Ptolemy IL Philadelphus, whence there is an account of payments from Philadelphia dated B.C. 250 in which we find an account of the salaries to be paid to ten village guards and the Arabs at ten rate of six drachmae per month which makes out 1440 drachmae as an annual salary for the twenty guards'“", The salary of the guards of the prison was also six drachmae per month, while that of the watchmen on the canal banks was only two and a half drachmae per month'“’), This means that the Arabs were among the distinguished guards who were getting a comperatively high salary. Although it is clear form the context that those ten Arabs were appointed as guards, probably to police 9) OGIS 685, Il. 1-3: Kieaidioc Téutwos, |'AgaBdoyns zai émorodm|yos Onpatdos. (40) P. Cairo Maspero II, 67166, A.D. 586, Antinopolis. ll. 7:8. (41) Lesquier, op. cit., p. 103; Clermont-Ganneau, art. cit, p. 24, (42) Lesquier, op. cit., p. 102. (43) Xenophon, Anabasis, 3, 4, 1 (44) P. Cairo Zenon 59296, Il. 7-11: eis tos &u u.aded-| [pela qu]raxitac zat ‘Agapias FHOvLoy| [dx M]exeig TOU de L Eos TUpt|[uNVOly iP eis [€x]gorov TOY umvos| [ody cufropetotea F SIZ Aum. (45) Ibid, 1. 8, note.240 Mohamed E, Abd-El-Ghany the desert‘ near the Fayyum, it is not clearly and explicitly stated that they were guards, but they came after the conjunction xat after pudaxitac: sic tog eu Drdadedpetar guaaxitas zai ‘AgGPas t. Their mention in this way imply that they were, at that time, recently used for such a post by the Ptolemaic administration who wanted to make sure of their efficency before granting them the title of @udcxttat. Another point to notice in this concern is that the appointment of 10 Arab guards from 31 guards mentioned in this document is an indication that the Arabs in Philadelphia constituted a considerable proportion of its inhabitants and might have been reputed for their bravery and so were suitable for filling the vacant posts of guards. It is obvious that some of the Arab merchants who came across the Eastern Desert of Egypt spreaded all through the country and settled in groups in some places such as the Eastern Desert and Red Sea coastal towns as we mentioned before, and in places in the Fayyum where we find in the documents villages bearing Arabic names such as Ptolemais Arabon (Trohepais ‘AoGov) as well as quarters or districts in the metropoleis such as that called Gpodog AGB" in Arsinoe which appears in census returns from the second century A.D. It is logical that the majority, at least, of the population in such villages or districts were Arabs. It is quite likely that the Arabs settled in other places in Egypt) but the scarcity of documents from outside the Fayyum does not enable us to offer a lot of positive evidence. Another return to the AgaBotogérat as we find them in documents from the Roman period also in the Fayyum'), From these documents we find those ‘AgaPotoZ6vat working as guards in the custom-houses of the Fayyum such as that of Soknopaiou Nesos. Their function, was to control the revenues of the custom-houses and call the attention of their superiors to any attempt of fraud or misconduct from the side of the custom-house officials), deliver the monthly sums of the revenues of the custom-houses to the headquarters of those custom-houses). One would also suppose that among their responsibilities was to secure the caravans and individuals (46) Tid, Ml. 12-18, (47) Exg, P, Enteuxeis 3, B.C. 222, 1 1; 47, BC. 221, 1. 1. (48) P. Fouad 15, Arsinoe, A.D. 119, Il. 9-10; P. Grenfell II, 49, Arsinoe A.D. 141, IL 4, 89, (49) P. Amb. 77, Soknopaiou Nesos, A.D. 139; P. Lond. III, 1169, pp. 43-47, Fayyum, 2nd century A.D.; P. Lond. V, 1652, pp. 10-11, Fayyum, 4th century A.D. (50) E.g. P. Grenf. I, 33, Thebaid, 103-102 B.C. (51) P. Amb. 7. 652) P. Lond. 1169, Il, 23: tov umvog f go [au] x Steneupiin®|[S]ir Geoytrovos *AfeaPo}toZor. See also Il. 34-35, 61-62, 85, 101.The Arabs in Ptolemaic and Roman Exypt 241 entering or leaving the custom-house against robbers and highway-men in the desert roads. The salaries of the ‘AgaPotok6tat were deducted from the monthly revenues of the custom-house and it was 16 drachmae per month in the second century A.D.'»). All the Arabarchers we have seen were guards in the custom-houses of the Fayyum, ie., their commander in chief was not the “AgaBdgyns whose sphere was the Arabian district in the Eastern Desert and Red Sea coasts. He was necessairly the commander in chief of the Arab- archers in the Eastern Desert, although there is no documentary evidence to prove their existence. What proves that the ’AgaPdoyng was not the commander of the “Agafoto&état of the Fayyum is that when an ’AgoBoto&6m¢ in Soknopaiou Nesos discovered fraud done by two custom- house officials he called the attention of the overseers of the nomarchy, and when he was attacked and beaten by those officials he petitioned to the epistrategus and not to the ’AgaBéoynes. As for the new life of the Arabs in the Egyptian society they appear at first dealing with each other (I mean the Arabs among themselves) in their settlements like Ttohepaig “AQGBov. In a document from that village two Axabs appear, one of whom was a barber, xovgetis, who rendered the service of his art to a fellow Arab called Maityos (the Arabic name Malik) and all his family for many years in return for an agrced salary, osvtakis, but the client did not pay the barber for a year. Consequently he petitioned to the king against Malichos after he had sworn an oath at the temple of Athena, that he did not receive the wages for a year. In another document from the same village, but unfortunately mutilated, there was a dispute between two persons, the names of both of whom do not appear because of lacunae, about lamb’s wool and fleeces which they agreed to shear in the presence of both of them, but one of them did not carry out this stipulation, The injured person petitioned to the king. Most probably the two parties were Arabs. Through the time they were adapted to the Egyptian environment, influenced by its customs, habits and beliefs and bearing Egyptian names, although they insisted to define themselves or be defined as Arabs as we shall see from their dealings. In a document from the Latopolite nome in the Thebaid'* a family of the Arabs consisting of Pachnoubis, and his brothers Paspes and Psenchoubis, and his sisters Senchnoubis the elder, Senchnoubis the younger and Tapsais sold 1 1/4 arourae of corn land belonging to them (53) Ibid., Il. 32-34; vow ymvog f tEa = tov" oporiov Oeo;t'| AgaBoroko™ uneg vd dag Advo { ymlAov [erg] aout f Tuy. See also Il. 39-60, 82-84, 98-100. (64) P. Enteux. 47, B.C. 221 (55) P. Ent, 3, 222 BC. (56) P. Grenfell I, 33, Thebaid, 103-102 B.C.242 Mobamed E. Abd-El-Ghany (1 aroura to the brothers, and 1/4, to the sisters) to a certain Paésis the son of Peteuris, at the price of 2800 copper drachmae. In another contract of sale of corn land in the same document an Arab lady sold 1/2 aroura of corn land belonging to her, Tamnoubis the daughter of Philip, with her guardian, an Arab of her relatives called Arsiesis, to the same buyer in the previous contract, Paésis son of Peteuris, for 2800 copper drachmae. The Arab sellers in these contracts define themselves as Arabs in front of the name of each of them using the abbreviation ag which the editor Grenfell could not understand’) and which was explained by Preisigke in the Worterbuch as "Agay , They also describe their features in the contracts as of long face and straight nose, which are the common features among them all, waxoo- mo(6aarov) and ebiig(iwoc). They (the Arabs) also appear in documents presenting census declarations, dtoyoaupai, including the members of family, ‘as is clear from dxoyoaat dated 119 and 141 A.D. from the Gpodov “AodBov in Arsinoe, These two returns probably continue the history of the same family'*), In these declarations we find them subject to the poll-tax (Anoygarpta)®) and the examination required for those who were liable to military service, émtzguog'®). In a document from the Herakleopolite nome, probsbly belonging to Augustan Age, there is a mention that «all the Arabs ‘were put in order and all became in the greatest peace»: néyqas tov 'AgdBov yareotohuévay xo néywwy év tie peyior[t] eigive yeyovotwv'™, ‘This vague mention may imply that the Arabs in that area were a source of disturbances for a time and were finally put in order and checked. Finally, the Arabian breeds of camels, cattle, and sheep were represen- ted in the documents and obviously distinguished from other breeds by the description éafixog, certainly because of the excellence of the Arabian breeds. Mohamed E. Abd-El-Ghany Alexandria (57) Ibid., I. 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 30, 32 and note on |, 6. (58) F. Preisigike, Weérterbuch, Vol. 3, Ab. 14, p. 269. (59) P. Fouad 119. (60) P. Grenf. HL, 49. (61) P. Fouad 119, Introd. (62) Ibid., Il. 15, 19. (63) Ibid., 1. 16; P. Grenf. II, 49, 1. 6. (64) BGU 1192, Il, 5-6. (65) P. Hibch 36, Taloé (Fayyum), B.C. 228; BGU 13, |. 4; 453, 1. 8; 1088 [P. Grenfell 50 (a)] 142 A.D.