Papyrus 604

Roll of papyrus, formed by the conjunction of two distinct documents, the texts of which run in opposite directions:-

A. Return compiled by Besas, also named Soter, of Crocodilopolis and the associated villages, of arable land irrigated by the inundation in the 7th year of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus [= A.D. 46-47], giving the names of the owners (or occupiers) and the amount of land held by each of them, the land being classified in three categories, as , or . Portions of nine columns are preserved, four being perfeet; the end is wanting. 1 ft. 2 in. X 4 ft. Written in a mediumsized cursive hand. B. Return of land, apparently that for which seed-corn has been advanced for sowing; arranged under various headings, the principal divisions being and . The holders of royal land had apparently to repay an artaba and a quarter per aroura, and the holders of private land two artabas. Twelve columns are preserved, but both the beginning and end of the return are wanting. Middle of the 1st cent. 1 ft. 2 in. X 4 ft. 6 in. Written in a hand similar to that of A, perhaps identical, but rather more compact. On the verso is an Egyptian romance, in demotic. Cf. F. Ll. Griffith, Stories of the High Priests of Memphis (Oxford, l900). It was evidently for the purpose of receiving this text that the two documents forming the recto were fastened together.