Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
Chapterone
Sourcesandresourcesforthestudyofoleoculture
CopenhagenandsaidtocomefromUmm
el-KAmed,southofTyre,belongedtoBa’alyaton,
sonofBa’alyatonKlechefdespressoirs’,as
interpretedbyMauriceDunand.Thismention
wouldcoincidewithafewoilpressesexcavated
onthesitearoundtheMilk’ashtartsanctuary
anddatedbroadlytotheHellenisticperiod
(Dunand,Duru1962:187).However,amore
carefulreadingoftheinscriptionsuggests
thatthelastwordindicating,accordingto
DunandBa’alyaton’sprofession,canbereadas
H
.DRorH
.RB,twoversionsattheveryleast,
andhasnothingtodowithoil.22Ba’alyaton
wearsamodiusonhisheadandhisdressalso
suggeststhathewaspartofthesanctuary
personnel.Innowaydoesitchangethefact
thatimportantoliveoilproductionwasindeed
takingplaceinUmmel-KAmed,perhapseven
duringhislifetime.
Scantyepigraphicevidencecomesalso
fromPalmyra,animportantgo-between
inthetradebetweentheEastandthe
Mediterranean.AGreco-Aramaicinscription
fromAD130/131,leftinthesanctuaryof
Baalshaminafterthevisitoftheemperor
Hadrianinthecity,praisedacertainMale,
calledAgrippa,sonofIarhai,whosupplied
oiltothecityresidents.Thewordalimma
usedintheinscriptionhasaverygeneral
meaningofanythingforanointing,eitherfat
oroil,andcannotbeuseddirectlyasproof
foroliveoiluseinthecity(IGLSXVII.1:No.
145,153–155;forthemeaningoftheGreek
wordaleimma,seeLSJ,s.v.,61–62).
AlsothefamoustaxlawfromPalmyra,
datedtoAprilAD137,containsinformation
ofsomeimportanceforoursubject.The
SenateofPalmyrahadpromulgatedanewlaw
completingtheoldone;thetextisinGreekand
Palmyreneandenumeratesmunicipaltaxes
imposedonimportedandexportedgoods.
Lines23–28ofthePalmyreniantextand
32–40oftheGreektextrefertooilinterpreted
correctlybyscholarsasoliveoil.23Thetax
lawrevealsthatthemerchantsweretaxed
accordingtowhethertheircamelsordonkeys
carriedtwoorfourgoatskinsofoil.Also,not
allofthemwereforprovisioningthecity,the
tariffsuggeststhepossibilityofexport.Infavor
oftheinterpretationofthispassageasreferring
tooliveoilisthefactthattheinscription
enumeratesalsoaromaticoiltransportedin
alabastervesselsandanimalfatcontainedin
goatskins(lines19–29and43–49intheGreek
text).Distinguishingbetweenproductscarried
toandfromthevillagesaroundPalmyra,and
productsbroughtinfromoutsideofthecity’s
territory,thelawwasareflectionoftheregional
economy,strengtheningtheimpressionthat
oliveoilwasindeedlocallymade.
Threeinscriptions,allinGreekandcoming
fromtheLimestoneMassifofNorthernSyria,
shedsomelightontheterminologyoftheoil
presses,theirconstructionandownership.The
firstinscription,asimpledateinJune324,was
engravedonthewallofanoilinstallationin
thevillageofKhirbetSheikhBarakat(Callot
1984:101,Pl.137b).24Thesecondtext,
illustratingtheconstructionofanoilpress
byaprivateowner,wasfoundinBrad,to
thewestoftheChurchofJulianos.Itread:
KOnegodwhohelpsArgyriosandhishouse.
(Argyrios)hasconstructed,and(thisbuilding)
wasfoundedwiththepress(eleotribion)inthe
month”(Seyrig1958:5,No.5).Asnodate
wasgiven,thisapparentlypaganinscription
shouldbeattributedperhapstothe3rdor4th
century,whenthewholeregionflourishedand
whenChristianityhadnotyetgainedground
inthevillages.Thethirdinscriptionwasfound
inthevillageofKafrNabo(JebelSem’an),
inscribedonthelintelofadoor.Itreadsthat
theoilpress(elaiotropion)wasconstructed
withalltheequipment(kataskeuē,seeLSJ:
²²IamindebtedtoAleksandraKubiak-Schneiderforhercommentsontheinscription.H
.DRmeansburialchamber,H
.RBmeans
dry,devastated,seeHoftijzer,Jongeling1995/1:350,402–403.
²³Eleerosinl.32andelaierosinl.36,whichLSJ:527translatesasoforforoil).InthetranslationproposedbyJ.F
.Matthews(1984:
176:PanelIIIa):K32.Foraloadofoliveoilimportedbycamelinfourgoatskins,hewillexact13den./exported,1[3]den./36.
Foraloadofoliveoilimportedbycamelintwogoatskins,hewillexact[?7]den./exported,[?7]den./40.Foraloadofoliveoil
importedbydonkey,hewillexact7den./exported,[7]den.”.Teixidor1983wasalsoinfavorofoliveoil.
²4Thefourthinscription,ofcommemorativecharacter,foundinasubterraneanoilpressinKafrNabo,mentionsHermas,probably
inchargeofitsconstruction,Callot1984:94–95.
PAMMonographSeries6
55
