Ancient papyrus reveals fascinating corruption story from the Roman period in the Land of Israel

New research reveals a Greek document from the second century AD that documents a sophisticated tax fraud that took place in the years before the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The papyrus provides a rare glimpse into the Roman legal system and political processes that preceded the revolt.

Papyrus, credit: Shai Halevi, courtesy of the Leon Levy Online Library of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Israel Antiquities Authority
Papyrus, credit: Shai Halevi, courtesy of the Leon Levy Online Library of the Judean Desert Scrolls, Israel Antiquities Authority

An international team of researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has uncovered a fascinating corruption case from almost 2,000 years ago, documented in an ancient Greek papyrus found in the Judean Desert. The study, published in the prestigious journal Tyche, presents one of the most comprehensive legal documents ever found from the period of Roman rule in the Land of Israel.

The papyrus, which contains 133 lines of text, was rediscovered in 2014 in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Scroll Laboratory by Professor Emeritus Hannah Kotan-Paltiel, a senior researcher in the Departments of History and Classical Studies at the Hebrew University. “I volunteered to ‘organize’ the papyri found in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Scroll Laboratory, and when I saw it marked as written in ‘Nabataean,’ I burst out exclaiming, ‘It’s Greek to me!’” Professor Kotan-Paltiel recalls the moment of discovery.

The complex decipherment of the papyrus was carried out by an international team, convened by Prof. Cotten-Paltial, which includes Dr. Anna Dolgenow of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Fritz Mitthoff of the University of Vienna, and Dr. Avner Acker of the Department of Archaeology and the Department of Classical Studies at the Hebrew University.

The ancient document reveals fascinating details about a case of sophisticated tax fraud that took place in the years leading up to the Bar-Kochba revolt (132-136 CE). "This is the best-documented Roman legal case from Judea other than the trial of Jesus," explains Dr. Acker. The papyrus tells the fascinating story of two defendants, Gedaliah and Saul, who were accused of forging documents and defrauding the Roman tax authorities. The acts included fictitious sales of slaves and their release without payment of the required taxes. Gedaliah, who was apparently from a respectable family and perhaps even a Roman citizen, was also accused of other crimes such as violence, extortion and incitement to rebellion. "Forging documents and tax evasion were considered serious crimes in the Roman Empire, punishable by hard labor and even execution," emphasizes Dr. Dolganov. According to her, the severity of the penalties indicates the importance the Romans attached to enforcing their tax laws.

The case is recorded in the papyrus from the perspective of Roman prosecutors, preparing for the trial and analyzing the strength of the evidence available to them. "The documentation provides us with a rare glimpse into Roman legal proceedings and how the legal system operated in the eastern provinces of the empire," notes Prof. Mitthoff.

Of particular importance is the historical timing: between the Diaspora Revolt (115-117 CE) and the Bar-Kochba Revolt (130-136). The document mentions key events and figures from the period: Emperor Hadrian's visit to the province of Judea in 130, and the governor of Judea at the beginning of the Bar-Kochba Revolt, Tinnius Rufus, and provides new insights into social and political tensions in the region. The affair indicates that the conspirators were well acquainted with Roman law and administration, which they exploited to their advantage. Tax evasion related to the release of slaves is fascinating in itself; it is possible that this involved the redemption of captives who had been bought from their owners or on the slave market. The Roman authorities, experienced in rebellions, viewed the actions of the accused with great suspicion and feared that they were plotting against the empire.

The papyrus was apparently kept in a cave in the Judean Desert during the Bar Kokhba revolt, but the circumstances of its arrival in the cave remain a mystery: it differs in its content from all the documents left by the refugees in those caves: these included documents from private archives, such as the famous archive of Babta, which included inscriptions and inheritance deeds, and the other of Salome (Shalom) daughter of Levi. The results of the trial are unknown; it is possible that the legal proceedings were interrupted by the outbreak of the revolt.

for the scientific article

More of the topic in Hayadan: (Beresheet is the Hebrew name for the book of Genesis)

2 תגובות

  1. Unless I missed something, "the main point is missing from the book," because the report did not include the summary mentioned in the papyrus. It would be nice if you could complete this.

  2. Two Jews who gave their lives to redeem many brothers who were captured by the cruel, murderous Roman conqueror, and for this he had to find himself in extreme situations, but for the progressive person, even if he is of Jewish descent, he will always like to show that the Jews are corrupt and guilty, this is the ugly face of the new Jew.

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