Language Encounters in Graeco- Roman Egypt Mar6 Leiwo University of Helsinki Tampere 9.3.2016
Act of the Scribe: Transmi3ng Linguis7c Knowledge and Scribal Prac7ces in Graeco- Roman An7quity Funded by the Academy of Finland 1.9.2015-31.8.2019 hmp://blogs.helsinki.fi/actofscribe Principal InvesSgator: Mar6 Leiwo Researchers: Hilla Halla- aho LaSn material Marja Vierros Greek material Sonja Dahlgren Greek and CopSc material
QuesSons to be answered What was the nature of local mulslingualism? When and how different languages were used? Did various ethnic groups ever define their idensty with a language? Was language a cause for violence or hossle a6tude?
Case study 1
Peace? Rome had control over the Empire. There were only minor external threats. What did this mean for an individual? Can we tackle the life of an average so and so, for example in Egypt?
Egypt before the Romans? There was some kind of mark of idensty, though the ethnicity quesson is complicated. There is evidence that both main populasons, EgypSans and Greek, kept their idensses for a long Sme. It seems that, for the most, they did not like each other.
LinguisScally: αἰγυπτιάζειν to act in an EgypSan way, i.e. to be a shrewd crook. Cf. Aristophanes of ByzanSon, fr. 24.: ἐθνῶν μὲν οἷον κιλικίζειν καὶ αἰγυπτιάζειν τὸ πονηρεύεσθαι, καὶ κρητίζειν τὸ ψεύδεσθαι Of ethnic names, for example cilicize and egypsanize mean to be a crook, and cressize is to lie.
Revolts and despise There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn The Ptolemies to whatever never language bothered she pleased, so to that learn in her interviews EgypSan with except Cleopatra VII, whose knowledge of languages was Barbarians she very seldom had need of an interpreter, but made legendary (Plutarchus, Vita Antonii 27) her replies to most of them herself and unassisted, whether they καὶ τὴν were γλῶτταν Ethiopians, ὥσπερ Troglodytes, ὄργανόν Hebrews, τι Arabians, πολύχορδον Syrians, Medes εὐπετῶς τρέπουσα καθ ἣν βούλοιτο διάλεκτον, or Parthians. [4] Nay, it is said that she knew the speech of many ὀλίγοις παντάπασι δι ἑρμηνέως ἐνετύγχανε other peoples also, although the kings of Egypt before her had not βαρβάροις, τοῖς δὲ πλείστοις αὐτὴδι αὑτῆς ἀπεδίδου even made an effort to learn the nasve language, and some τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, οἷον Αἰθίοψι Τρωγλοδύταις Ἑβραίοις Ἄραψι actually Σύροις gave Μήδοις up their Macedonian Παρθυαίοις. dialect. (Transl. (5.) πολλῶν B.Perrin, 1920) δὲ λέγεται καὶ ἄλλων ἐκμαθεῖν γλώττας, τῶν πρὸαὐτῆς βασιλέων οὐδὲ τὴν Αἰγυπτίαν ἀνασχομένων παραλαβεῖν διάλεκτον, ἐνίων δὲ καὶ τὸ μακεδονίζειν ἐκλιπόντων.
Egypt was not peaceful, and foreigners were treated badly and with contempt, as we can learn from several papyri. It seems that non- standard command of language combined with looks were reasons for discriminason in the HellenisSc period. There were also several revolts and cruelses. The vicsm could seek for jussce from local authorises or patrons, but the results are usually difficult to be seen as the sources seldom menson them.
P.Col. 4.66
P. Col. 4, 66 is wrimen by a non- Greek (Date 256 BC): Well, they have treated me with scorn because I am a foreigner (ὅτι εἰμὶ βάρβαρος). I beg you therefore, if it seems good to you, to give them orders that I am to obtain what is owing and that in future they pay me in full, in order that I may not perish of hunger because I do not know how to act the Hellene (ὅτι οὐκ ἐπίστ αμαι ἑλληνίζειν). You, therefore, kindly cause a change in a6tude toward me.
The Romans The Ptolemies used slaves to accomplish many necessary public services, but their police was a paid professional force organized along military lines. The Romans abandoned this tradison. They accomplished public tasks by making them temporary and compulsory, rather than paying enough for them to amract permanent personnel. The populason was systemascally catalogued and rotated through guard duty over a period of Sme. All ethnic groups were equal in this respect.
Security systems and huge mining acsvity from ca. 100 to ca. 170 CE Roman Egypt had a large measure of both violence and the means to control it. The principal external threat was not any foreign power, but internal violence as well as various groups of non- EgypSan nomads in the deserts to the east and west of the Nile valley. In the empire such mamers were le«to local authorises. The Romans began to develop what in fact became the dominant security system outside the cises.
Myos Hormos Mons Claudianus Koptos
Koptos Maximianon Myos Hormos Krokodilo
Praesidium Iovis (Dios) E. BoMe, J.- P. Brun, A. Bülow- Jacobsen, L. Cavassa, H. Cuvigny, M. Reddé
Well- forsfied garrison points Over 10 000 wrimen pot- sherds have been found in these Roman forts (praesidia, πραισίδια). Most of them are lemers and wrimen in Greek. LaSn was seldom used. The writers were of various ethnicity, especially from the Middle East, but for the local administrason this was a normal state of affairs. Gold mines, mines of precious stones and quarries for granite.
In the data we will find both first language (L1) and second language Greek (L2). Some lemer writers were speakers of a language that was not wrimen at all, and thus they corresponded with each other in Greek, as LaSn was not widely known or used. Even the Roman army communicated for the most in Greek in its unofficial correspondence, as proved by the ostraca.
CopSc During the second century the CopSc alphabet was not yet generally used. However, the first amempts to write EgypSan language with Greek characters date to the first century of our era.
I am especially interested in describing and analysing idiolecsc language use. We always face the problem of who was responsible for the actual syntax, morphology, and orthography? Obviously the scribe was an intermediary, who received instrucsons in varying forms: wrimen, spoken, or both. He then used his social, linguissc and phraseological knowledge in wrisng the lemer.
Ostrakon- kirje. LäheMäjä Patrempabathes (O.Claud. 2.270)
O.Claud.2.270 Red = non- standard II spc Mons Claudianus Πατρεμπαβάθης Ἀπολινάρι τῷ ἀδελφῷ πολλὰ χαίριν καὶ τὼ προσκύνημά σου ποιῶ παρὰ τῇ κυρί- ᾳ Ἴσι. τ ὰ νῦν, ἄδελφε, μὶ μέμψε μαι ὅτι οὐκ ἔπεμψα σου λάχανο. ἠ ὰν γένεται, πέμψο σου. τὰ νῦν περὶ ὧν εἴρικά σου πῦσον αὐτὰ καὶ ἀνδίγραψε μοι εἵνα ἔλθω πρὸς σέ. κώμισον παρὰ Νεμεσίων φαμιλιάρῳ ὀβολὸ\ς/ δεκαέξ. ἠὰν λάβῃ αὐτά, \ἀν/δίγραψε μοι. μὴ ἀμέλη ποίσόν μοι ταῦτα. γράψον μοι παιρὶ τῆς σωτηρί- ας σου. ἐρρῶστέ σε εὔχωμαι.
Transla7on Patrempabathes to his dear Apollinaris, many greesngs and I pray on your behalf to our lady Isis. At the moment, do not blame me that I have not sent you vegetables. If it is possible, I will send to you. At the moment, do those things that I have said and write back to me so that I may come to you. Receive from Nemesion, the familiaris, 16 obols. If he gets them, write back to me. Do not neglect to do these things. Write me about your health. I hope you are well.
What was life like? External peace did not bring easy living for these people, but it created a muls- ethnic populason. The speech communises were not focused on ethnicity or language. Their concerns were all relasve to their daily life and work. It is probable that several languages were spoken, as we find clear traces from language contacts. However, mainly Greek was wrimen Sll the Arabs took control.
PUN = standardista poikkeavia ilmaisuja Διόσκορος Δρακων καὶ Ερεµεσις καὶ Ἀµµωνιανος κουρά τ(ορι) ἀµφοτέροις τοῖς φιλτάτοις πολλὰ χαίρ(ειν). καὶ τὸ προσκύνηµα σου ποιῶ ἡµῶν ποιῶ παρὰ τῇ Τύχῃ τοῦ πρεσιδίου καὶ τῶν ὀρήων ὅπου ἐπιξεν{ι}οῦµαι. ποσάκεις ἔγραψα ὑµῖν οὐδε ενα ὑµῶν {ε}γράψας µοι; κοµισατε παρὰ Εὐτυχ( ) σευτλια δεσµην γ καὶ ἄλλη(ν) δέσµην σερις. διαµερίσατε οἱ τρεῖς. γράψον μοι περὶ τῆς σω- τηρίας ἡμῶν. μὴ ὀγνήσεται ὃ λαμβάνεται γράψον μοι ἵνα καὶ ἐγὼ μάθω ὅτι 'ἐλαβα τὸ ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ.' ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι.
Dioscorus to Dracon and Eremesis and Ammonianos, both (=all) his best friends many greesngs and I pray on your behalf to the Tyche of the fortress and of the mountains where I am. How o«en have I wrimen to you, without one of you wrisng to me? Receive from Eutyches 3 bunches of beets and also a bunch of chicory. Share it, you three. Write to me about your health. Do not hesitate but write to me what you receive so that I, too, may know that I got it from him. I wish you are well.
Sources All papyrological sources can be found in hmp://papyri.info. O.Claud. 1 4 = Mons Claudianus. Ostraca Graeca et La6na. 1. 1992 (1 190), edited and translated by J. Bingen, A. Bülow- Jacobsen, W.E.H. Cockle, Hélène Cuvigny, L. Rubinstein, W. Van Rengen. InsStut français d'archéologie orientale. Documents de fouilles 29. Cairo: InsStut Français d Archéologie Orientale Mons Claudianus. Ostraca Graeca et La6na. 2. 1997 (191 416), edited and translated by J. Bingen, A. Bülow- Jacobsen, W.E.H. Cockle, Hélène Cuvigny, F. Kaiser, W. Van Rengen. InsStut français d'archéologie orientale. Documents de fouilles 32. Cairo: InsStut Français d Archéologie Orientale Mons Claudianus. Ostraca Graeca et La6na. 3. 2000 (417-631), edited and translated by H. Cuvigny. InsStut français d'archéologie orientale. Documents de fouilles 38. Cairo: InsStut Français d Archéologie Orientale
Mons Claudianus. Ostraca graeca et lasna IV. The Quarry Texts. O. Claud. 632 896. edited and translated by A. Bülow- Jacobsen. Documents de Fouilles 47. Cairo: InsStut Français d Archéologie Orientale, 2009. Bülow- Jacobsen, A. 1997. Comments and translasons, in Mons Claudianus. Ostraca Graeca et La6na. 2. (191 416), edited and translated by J. Bingen, A. Bülow- Jacobsen, W.E.H. Cockle, Hélène Cuvigny, F. Kaiser, W. Van Rengen. InsStut français d'archéologie orientale. Documents de fouilles 32. Cairo: InsStut Français d Archéologie Orientale
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