food tradition and change in hellenistic egypt

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Food: Tradition and Change in Hellenistic EgyptAuthor(s): Dorothy J. CrawfordSource: World Archaeology, Vol. 11, No. 2, Food and Nutrition (Oct., 1979), pp. 136-146Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/124356 .

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Food:

radition

and

change

n

HellenisticEgypt

Dorothy

J.

Crawford

When

he visited

Egypt

in the mid fifth

century

B.C.

Herodotus,

the Greek

historian

from

Halicarnassus,

was struck

by

the

good

health of the

Egyptians

which he ascribed

to the consistent climate of the country, connecting it closely with their diet:

They

eat

loaves

made from emmer

wheat

(olyra)

which

they

call

kyllestis.

The

beverage

they

drink is made of

barley;

for there are

no

vines

in their

country. They

eat raw

fish,

dried

in

the sun or

salted,

and also

quail,

duck and

small

birds,

pickled

in

brine;

other birds and

fish,

apart

from

those

held

sacred,

they

eat

either roast

or

boiled.

(II

77-

3-5)

The balanced diet

of the

Egyptians

came

from bread

and beer

('wine

made

from

barley'

is Herodotus'

description)

supplemented

by

the

wild

life

of

the

countryside,

and fish

and fowl

which

would,

even

after

pickling,

provide

ready protein

to

supplement

the

cereals.

To

a

Greek

the

natural

resources

of the

land

of

Egypt,

the

Nile,

its

annual

flood

and

the

regular

and

plentiful

harvest

this

produced,

were

something

of a miracle.

Commenting

on

the

large population

of

Egypt

in

the

first

century

B.C. Diodorus

Siculus

describes

the

use

of other wild

products

which

provided

a

cheap

source

of

nourishment:

They

bring

their

children

up

with

incredible ease and little

expense;

they

feed them with

plenty

of

raw

vegetables

which are

in

ready

and

cheap

supply;

they give

them those

papyrus

stems

which can be crushed

for flour and

the

tops

of

the

marsh

plants,

sometimes

raw,

some-

times

boiled

and sometimes roasted.

(I

80.

5-6)

In detail

such accounts

may

be

over-simplified

but

the

main

point

is

surely

correct.

There were available in Egypt, in the crops raised in the fields, in the palms, carob and

other

fruit trees which

grew

in

the

countryside,

and

the wild

plants,

fish and fowl of

the Nile and the

Nile

marshes,

the

constituents

necessary

for a balanced

and

healthy

diet.

The

extent,

however,

to

which such

a

diet was

actually

enjoyed by

the inhabitants

of

the

country

is

worth

investigation,

even if

only partial

answers

and

preliminary

conclusions are

possible.

To what extent

did this diet differ over

the

long periods

of

Egyptian history?

How far were there

regional

differences in diet? Herodotus

for

instance

described

the

cheap

and

plentiful Egyptian

diet summarized

by

Diodorus

as

especially

typical

of the inhabitants

of

the marshes

of the northern

Delta:

World

Archaeology

Volume

iI

Number

2

Food

and

nutrition

?

R.K.P.

1979 0043-8243/1102-0136

1.50/1



Food:

tradition

and

change

in

Hellenistic

Egypt 137

Those

who live in the

marshes.

.

. collect

the

water-lilies,

called

lotus

by

the

Egyptians,

which

grow

in

large

numbers

when the

river s

swollen

and

floods

out

over the

plains,

and

they

dry

them in

the

sun;

then

they pound up

the

centre of

the

lotus

which is

like a

poppy-head

and

make

loaves

from it baked

with the

flour.

The root

of

this

plant

is also

edible;

it is

round,

about

the size of an

apple,

and tastes

reasonably

sweet

....

They

harvest the

papyrus

reeds

which

grow

each

year

in the marshes

and,

cutting

off

the

upper

part

for other

purposes,

they

sell

and eat

the lower

part

left to about

a

cubit's

length.

Those

who

wish

to eat the

papyrus

at its best bake

it first

in

a red-hot

covered

pan.

Some of them live on

fish

alone;

they

catch

the

fish,

gut

them,

dry

them

in the

sun

and

eat

them

prepared

n this

way. (II 92. 2-5)

Cattle

too were

more

common

in the

Delta

regions

than

elsewhere

(Butzer I976: 95),

while

the

doum-palm

grew

only

in the

south

(Theophrastus,

Enquiry

into

Plants,

II

6.

io).

Such

regional

factors will

have

influenced the available diet. The

individual's diet

is also likely to have varied accordingly to his more precise location, rural or urban,

close to

the river which served as an

artery

for

the

transport

of

all

commodities, or,

perhaps,

in one of

the oases.

Status

too

is

relevant in such

an

inquiry.

In Herodotus'

day

the

priests

ate

rather well:

They

have no

expense

or trouble in

everyday

life.

The

sacred

grain

is

ground

up

for

them

and

they

enjoy

a

plentiful

daily supply

of

beef and

goose;

they

also have

proper

wine.

(II

37.

4)

At

different

periods

other

members

of

the

community might profit

from their

position,

as

high

official or

powerful

police-officer.

The small

peasant

farmer

was

always

under

threat:

Rememberyou not the conditionof the cultivator aced with the registrationof the harvest-tax,

when

the snake has

carried

off half

the

corn

and the

hippopotamus

has devoured

the

rest?

The

mice abound

in

the

fields. The

locusts descend.

The

cattle

devour.

The

sparrows

bring

disaster

upon

the

cultivator.

(Gardiner

I941:

I9)

Or later

in

the

second

century

B.C.:

Petesouchos

son

of

Marres,

cultivator

from

Kerkesephis,

to Marres son of

Petosiris

his

brother,

greetings.

You

know how our lands

have been flooded over

and

that we

do

not even

have food for

the

animals.

It would be much

appreciated

f

you

would

first

offer

prayers

to

the

gods

and then save

many

lives

by

searching

out

five

arouras*

f land at

your

village

to

feed

andmaintainus. If you can do this you will earnmy undyinggratitude.Farewell.(P. Tebt.56)

Besides

social status

nationality

too

might play

a

part

in

affecting

the

individual's

diet.

In

a

third

century

B.C.

account of

grain

allowances

made

to workers

on a

Fayum

agricultural

estate

the

usual

payments

were in wheat. A

group

of

Syrians,

however,

working

on

the

estate,

received their allowance

in

barley,

the

cereal

normally

fed to

animals

(P.

Cairo

Zen.

59292.

464--8,

470-2).

The

effect

of invasion and

conquest

on a national diet

forms

a

fascinating

if

subsidiary study

to the more

central

changes

which such

conquest brings.

It

is

the

conquest

of

Egypt

in

332

B.C.

by

Alexander

the

Great,

king

of

Macedon,

which

may provide

a

starting point

for such an

enquiry.

The evidence

:for

food and

diet in Pharaonic

Egypt

is

extensive;

both tomb

paintings

and actual

foodstuffs,

well-

preserved

in the

dry

climate

of

Egypt,

have been

the

subject

of

various studies

(e.g.

One aroura

=

0.25

hectare.



138

Dorothy.

J.

Crawford

Brothwell

i969; Darby

et

al.

1977).

This

evidence,

however,

strongly

funerary

in

nature,

has a

marked

upper-class

bias;

it

is

hardly

likely

to

be

typical

of the

everyday

diet of the majority of Egyptian peasants. The magnificent meal of a second dynasty

noblewoman buried at

Saqqara

(Tomb

3477),

excavated

and

described

by Emery

(1962),

provides

an

excellent

indication

of

the

enormous

variety

of foodstuffs

available. The

meal to

greet

her

in

the next world consisted

of:

a

triangular

oaf

of

bread of

emmer

wheat

(Triticum

dicoccum

f.

Dixon

I969);

an

unidentified

liquid

containing

some

sort of

fatty

substance;

cooked

fish;

pigeon

stew;

cooked

quail,

dressed

with

its head

under

one

wing;

two

cooked

kidneys;

the ribs

and

legs

of

beef;

a dish

containing

cut

beef;

stewed

figs;

fresh

nabk

berries;

small

round

cakes

sweetened with

honey;

three

jars

of some form

of

cheese;

wine.

In real life our mummy had been able to chew on one side of her mouth onlyo.Her

funerary repast might

perhaps

compensate

to

some

extent

for

deprivation

during

her

life-time

(Emery i962:

8),

though

to

judge

from

tomb-paintings

such elaborate

meals

were

by

no means

atypical.

More

extensive

study

of skeletal remains

might permit

the

identification

of

nutritional deficiencies

as well

as

straightforward physical

disabilities.

And

more extensive

seed

and

pollen analyses

from habitation sites

might

begin

to

balance

the

evidence of the

necropoleis.

In the

Graeco-Roman

Fayurn

town

of

Karanis

for

instance

the

following

foodstuffs

are

recorded:

cereals-

wheat

(Triticum

durum)

and

barley

(Hordeum

vulgare)

-

together

with

date,

fig,

filbert, walnut, pine (yielding pine kernels), olive, peach, Indian medlar, quince, pistachio,

lentils,

radish

and

lotus

(Boak

1933:

87-8).

With

Alexander's

conquest, however,

new and

more extensive

sources of

evidence

become

available to

supplement

the

archaeological

data.

Papyrus

documents are

the

most

important

of

these. With Alexander and

the successor

dynasty

of the

Ptolemies

came

a

new, Greek,

ruling

class

and a new

impetus

to

exploit

the natural wealth of

the

country.

Much

of the

machinery

of

government

remained

unchanged

(though

Greek

was

introduced as the new

administrative

language)

but

under

the

earlier

Ptolemies,

and

especially during

the

long reign

of

Ptolemy

II

Philadelphus

(285-246

B.C.),

significant

innovations

were made in the

agricultural

structure of the

country.

Whether

the

initiative

came from

Philadelphus

himself

or from

his

close

associates,

men such as

Apollonios,

his

finance-minister

or

dioiketes,

extensive

irrigation

and reclamation

works

were

undertaken,

especially

in the

Fayum

basin

(Crawford

1971:

39-42

with

bibliography).

Construction

work at

the El-Lahun

barrage,

together

with

a

network

of

high-level

radial canals

through

the

area,

substantially

increased the cultivable area.

During

the

early years

of Ptolemaic

expansion large gift-estates

were

granted

to the

king's

close

associates

(Apollonios

received

Io,ooo

arouras,

or

2,500

hectares,

around

the new town

of

Philadelphia

in the

Fayum,

together

with land

in the

Memphite

nome),

Greek

soldiers were rewarded

with

plots

of land in what

was

to

become

their

new

homeland,

prisoners-of-war

were set to work on the

land

and

whole

communities

of

native

Egyptians

were resettled

(Rostovtzeff 1922;

Preaux

1947).

The

cultivated area

of the

Fayum

basin,

earlier known

as

The

Marsh

and now

renamed

the Arsinoite

nome

after

Arsinoe,

the

sister-wife

of

Ptolemy

II

Philadelphus,

was as much

as trebled

in this

period

(Butzer



140 Dorothy

J.

Crawford

(P.

Rev.

Laws);

many

of

these were suited to

marginal

land

where

salinity

from

poor

drainage

remained

a

problem

despite

the

extended

canal

system (Crawford

1973:

248)0

Besides the main oil crops, grown as cash-crops under tight governmental control-

sesame,

castor-oil

(kroton

for

kiki-oil), kolokynthos

(gourds),

safflower

and

linseed-

experiments

were made

with

other oil

crops,

poppy

and

lettuce,

grown

on

the estate

of

Apollonios

and

recorded

in

the

accounts

of

Zenon

(P.

Lond. VII

1994;

9

5).

Other

new

strains of

crops

were

introduced,

garlic

from Tlos

in

Lycia (Crawford

1973a)

and

chick-peas

from

Byzantium (P.

Cairo

Zen.

59731

=

P.

Col.

Zetn.

69. 14,

i6,

21i)

Viticulture

was much

extended

in this

early period

of

Greek

occupation

and

fruiit

trees

also were introduced in new

orchards and

plantations

-

figs,

walnuts,

peaches,

apricots,

plums

and

olives

(Preaux

1947:

22-7).

Besides

crops,

livestock was reared

on the

estate

both for

regular

use and

for

special

festivals which in the ancient world were always the occasion of meat consumption aind

so

played

a

significant part

in

increasing

the

protein

intake

of the

regular

diet. From

250

B.C. there survives

the record of

expenses

connected with

the

transport,

among

other

livestock,

of five

cages

of wild boar

from

Apollonios'

estate

to

his

residence

in

Alexandria,

as a

present

for the

king

for the festival of

Arsinoe. Some

of

the

boars

died

en route

but

nevertheless were skinned

ready

for

consumption;

meat

could

not

go

wasted

(P.

Lond.

VII

2000).

The

change

which must have

affected the

diet of the

greatest

number

of

people,

however,

was

the

change

in the main cereal

crop

of

Egypt.

All

evidence

up

to

the

Ptolemaic

period

suggests

that besides

barley

(Hordetim

vulgare),

tetraploid

emmer

wheat (a husked wheat, Triticum dicoccum)was the staple cereal crop of the country,

the

grain

referred to as

olyra

by

Herodotus and later in the

papyri

(Dixon 1969;

Darby

et

al.

1977: 461-79).

With

the

Ptolemies a naked

tetraploid

wheat

(Triticum

durum)

was introduced to

Egypt

and soon

completely supplanted

the

earlier emmer

wheat.

From

Triticum

duroum

was

produced

flour

of

two

qualities:

semidalis which

was

top-

quality

flour and

whole-wheat

(autopyros)

flour.

A

choenix of wheat

yielded

either half a

choenix

of

semidalis

(though

this

probably

includes

a

milling charge)

or

one

choenix

of

whole-wheat flour.

Olyra

continued to be

grown

but in

decreasing

quantities

(Schnebel

1925:

94-9).

Besides

coarse

loaves,

a

rough

porridge-like

substance

known as

chondros

was

made

from

olyra,

and

it is

interestinig

that on

Apollonios'

estate

the

daily

food

allowance drawn

by

Zenon,

his brother

Epharmostos

and

Styrax

might

on occasion

come in

this form

(P.

Cairo Zen.

59333. 58-70 (248

B.C.)).

When

chondroswas

available

Zenon forewent

his

normal

bread

allowance,

though

whether

from

choice

or

for the

sake of

convenience

is

unclear. Whether or not

Zenon,

a

Greek

though

from Asia

Minor,

preferred

his

carbohydrates

in fine

quality

semidalis bread

(as

it

was

sometimes

drawn)

or

in.

chondros,

the new

wheat

caught

on

very

quickly,

and

within

one

hundred and

fifty years

the switch

to

Triticum durum was almost

total.

The

only

cause for

surprise

is

the silence

of

the sources. The

change

is

well-documented,

but no

comment

on it

has survived

anywhere

in

the

papyri

or

the

agricultural

writers.

The influx

of

Greeks

to

Egypt

following

Alexander's

conquest

will

have

put

an

increased

demand,

especially

for

cereals,

on the resources of the

country.

Much

of this

demand

will have been met

by

the

extension of the area under

cultivation,

but

attempts

were also made to

augment

cereal

production by

the

introduction

of

a

summer

wheat



Food:

tradition and

change

in

Hellenistic

Egypt

14I

crop

in

areas

irrigated

artificially.

On

27

December

256

B.C.

Apollonios

wrote to

Zenon

as

follows:

The

king

has ordered us to sow the land twice. Thereforeas soon as

you

have harvestedthe

early

grain, immediately

water the land

by

hand. And if this

is

not

possible

set

up

a

series

of shadoofs

[water-lifting

devices

consisting

of a bucket

and

pole]

and

irrigate

in

this

way.

Do not

keep

the water on the land more than

five

days

and as soon

as

it

dries out

sow the

three-month

wheat.

And write to us when

you

are able to harvest it.

(P.

Cairo

Zen.

59155)

This three-month

grain

may

have been the

Syrian

wheat first

recorded

under

Philadelphus (Thompson

1930: 213)

and

is

probably

to be identified

as

einkorn;

other

cereal

strains too were introduced

and

the Zenon

papers

record

a wide

variety

of

cereals

grown

on the estate

(e.g.

Persian

wheat,

P.

Ryl.

IV

57I.

4;

native

wheat and

dark

summer wheat (melanaither),P. Cairo Zen. 59731

=

P. Col. Zen. 69. 25-6).

Cereals had

always

been the

staple

food

crop

of

Egypt.

It is not

therefore

surprising

that the

Egyptian peasants

embraced

the

improved

wheat

strains. But

they

were not

enthusiastic about

royal

attempts

to

exploit

the

country

with

new

methods

and

cash

crops.

Various reactions

are

recorded.

Explicit

criticism

of

the

competence

of the

Greeks

is

preserved

in

a

letter from

some native farmers

brought

in to

the Arsinoite

nome:

To

Apollonios

the

dioiketes,

the farmers from the

Heliopolite

nome,

from the

village

of

Philadelphus

in the Arsinoite

nome,

from

your

Io,ooo

arouras,

greetings.

After

you gave

us

1,000

arourasout

of the

io,ooo

which

we

cultivated

and

sowed,

Damis

took

away

from

us

200(?)

arouras,and when we protested, carriedoff three of our elders until he compelled

them to

sign

a deed of

renunciation.And

although

we were

willing

to move from

the

I,ooo

arouras,

and asked

him

to bear with

us

only

until

we had

prepared

he land and

sown

it,

he

still

refused,

and allowed

the

land to remain unsown. There

is

a further

official,

an

Egyptian,

one

of

an

evil

tribe,

who

does not allow the

city

to

be

settled,

but

drives

away

those who

try

to

come here.

A

large

number

of

mistakes

have been made in the

0o,ooo arouras,

since there

is no one

experienced

n

agriculture....

(P.

Lond. VII

1954.

I-8

(257

B.C.))

Alternatively

the native

population

might

show their

disapproval

by

non-co-operation.

From the mid-third

century

B.C.

a

papyrus

from the North-west

Fayum

gives

details,

for four

villages,

of

the

annual

crop

order which

attempted

to

control

centrally

the

crops

sown

throughout

the

country. Figures

are

given

for the distribution of what

actually

had been sown and the official

adjustments

made to the

original

demands in

the

light

of the actual state

of

cultivation

(SB

4369

a-b).

What

is

striking

is

the non-

cultivation

of the commercial oil

crops,

flax,

safflower and

poppy,

as

specified

in

the

crop

order,

and the

preference

of

the

peasants

to

plant

the

subsistence

crops they

knew and

needed,

durum

wheat,

barley,

a little

olyra

and vetch for

fodder

(Vidal-

Naquet I967:

25-36).

The

conflict of interest between

native

and

immigrant

was both

economic and

cultural.

The

intense

experimentation

and

agricultural

activity

of the

North

Fayum

in

the

time of

Philadelphus

did

not,

it

seems, continue,

and a

more

typical

picture

of

agriculture,

and

probably

therefore

of

peasant

diet,

may

be seen from

the

late second

century

B.C.

South

Fayum village

of

Kerkeosiris.

Here

in

i

i6-i

i5

B.C.

crops

sown

in

the

village

were as

follows

(Crawford

I97I: I84-6

with

P. Tebt.

IV):



142

Dorothy

J.

Crawford

crop

arouras

%

wheat

994

55

barley 55 3

lentils I86

i

beans

196

ix

fenugreek 33

2

vetch

(arakos)

178

o

black

cummin 2 o'I

grass

18

0'9

fodder

crops

8I

4

pasturage

60

3

1,803

100

The

pattern

is

similar

for the

ten

years

for which details

survive,

with

wheat

regularly

accounting

for

about

55 per

cent of

the

sown land.

Barley,

used for

brewing

as

well

as

for

food

(chiefly

for

animals),

was

less

important,

but

both

beans and

lentils with

their

high

nutritive

value

(Mottram

and Graham

1956: 301-2)

were

grown

in

significant

quantities.

Fodder

crops (vetches,

grasses

and

fenugreek

for

rapid

fattening)

accounted

for

17

per

cent of

the land and fed

the

donkeys

used for

transport,

the

sheep

which

belonged

to

the

temples (P.

Tebt.

53.

7,

1

B.c.)

and the

cattle of the

village

(P.

Tebt.

66.

75-6,

121-120

B.C.).

The seeds of

fenugreek

were

probably

also

used to

make

broth

still so

popular

in

Egypt

today;

cummin

(and

in

some

years

garlic)

was

also

grown

on

the village land. Besides the naturally irrigated basin of the village where these crops

were

sown,

there

were

in

addition

69-5

arouras

(I7.37 hectares)

designated

as

'land of

the

village

and its

surrounds',

where the

mud-brick

housing

was

located

and also the

pigeon

houses.

Not

only

did

pigeons provide

additional

protein,

but

they

were,

and

still

are,

an

important

source

of

dung

for fertilizer.

It

was also here

in

the

small,

artificially

irrigated gardens

that

were

grown

the

lettuce,

cabbage,

fennel,

figs

and

dates

mentioned

in the

papyri

and

grown

locally

for home

consumption.

The food available at

Kerkeosiris,

therefore,

was both varied and

well-balanced

(for

requirements

see

Carpenter 1969).

Salt would need

to

be

brought

into the

village

(this

was

centrally

controlled with a universal salt

tax),

but

carbohydrate,

protein,

minerals and vitamins were all available in crops grown locally or in livestock fed on

these

crops.

Calcium

might

come from

sheep's

milk and

glucose

from

honey

and from

dates.

As

today

the

many species

of

date were

highly

prized

and

would

always

form

a

suitable

'present'

to

a

patron;

they

are also

rich

in

carbohydrates

and contain

some

protein.

From

a

neighbouring village

in

the second

century

B.C.

some

troops

wrote to

their

army

officer

as

follows:

From

Nekpheros

son of Sentheus and the

division in

Lagis

under

your

command.

We

have

been

placed

under

your

protection

and

you,

in

your

turn,

have

accepted

us;

we

shall

give you,

when

the

time

comes,

ten

measures of dried

dates,

one measure

of

Syrian

dates and

two

jars

of

pickled

olives.

(PSI 13I3)

In

the

countryside

it

was

basically

a

natural

economy

which

prevailed

and

the

village

scribe of

Kerkeosiris secured

his

reappointment

in

this

post

in

19

B.C.

by

the

promise



Food:

tradition and

change

in

Hellenistic

Egypt

143

to

his

superior

of

fifty

measures

of wheat

and

fifty

measures

of

pulses

-

lentils,

bruised

beans,

peas,

mixed

seeds,

mustard

and

parched

pulse (P.

Tebt.

9).

At Kerkeosiris, however, whereas the record of crops is explicit, evidence for the

size

and

spread

of

the

population

is far less certain and

any

detailed

calculation

of

individual diets

is hazardous.

More

specific

evidence for levels of

nutrition

in

Egypt

at

this

period may

perhaps

be obtained from

considering

different

food

allowances.

Food allowances

had

a

long history

in

Egypt.

Their

purpose

was to

allow the

workman

not involved

in

subsistence

agriculture

to subsist

while otherwise

employed,

rather

than

to

reward

services.

Herodotus

(II 168)

records the

daily

allowance of

the

royal

bodyguard

in the

twenty-sixth

dynasty.

Besides a

grant

of three

hectares of

tax-free

land

they

received

a

daily

allowance of five minae

(350

gr.)

of

parched

cereal,

two

minae

(140 gr.)

of

beef

and

four

measures

of wine

-

a not

unreasonable

allowance.

Many

similar examples could be quoted from other periods (e.g. Jannsen I975: 471-93).

Two

Ptolemaic

examples

of food allowances from

the

third

and

second

centuries

B.C.

and from

two

very

different

communities

may

illustrate

the

ranges

possible.

Firstly,

from

the Zenon

papers

of the mid-third

century

B.C. there

survive

numerous

references

to

grain

allowances,

sitometriai.

These

allowances,

made

to

Apollonios'

employees,

were

reckoned

on

a

daily

basis;

they might

be

issued in flour

(e.g.

P.

Cairo

Zen.

59004,

from

Palestine)

or,

more

commonly,

in wheat

(e.g.

P. Cairo

Zen.

59333).

The normal

range

of allowances

was

from

one

to

two

choenikes

a

day (Reekmans

I966

with

Duncan-Jones

1979).

It would be

possible, working

from

these

figures,

to

give

a

daily

allowance

in

terms of calories

(e.g.

Reekmans

1966: 55-7

with

the choenix

at

o098235 litres), but given the variables in such a calculation, the differences in wheat

and

the

uncertainty

in

milling charges

and

extraction rates

(Moritz

I958:

I84-94)

such

figures

lend

a somewhat

misleading

impression

of

precision.

For

purposes

of

com-

parability

calculations in terms of unmilled wheat are

probably

more

reliable.

On

the

basis

therefore

of a

40-choenix

artaba,

reckoning

the choenix at

o-8o8 litres

(Duncan-Jones

1976:

44),

the

annual

allowances

were in

the

range

of

9'I25-I8'25

artabas

or

294-92-

589-85

litres.

Working

from

Pliny's

weight

for

Alexandrian corn

(Natural

History

XVIII

66)

of

2o0-

Roman

pounds (6-812

kg.)

to

a

modius,

making

25-545 kg.

to

the

40-choenix

artaba,

the

equivalent weight

to

these

allowances would

be

233o09-466

19

kg.

of

unmilled wheat

a

year.

Clark and Haswell

in

their

study

of

subsistence diets

reckon

250-300

kg.

as an annual minimum

per person

in units of unmilled

grain

(1970:

62).

The

figure

must

vary

with climate

and

body weight

but

nevertheless

may

serve as

a

standard

against

which to assess the sitometriai of

Apollonios'

estate. It

appears

that

the

grain

allowances made

to his

employees

(233-466

kg.

p.a.)

would be at

least

sufficient

to

satisfy

their basic needs. And

many employees

had

other means of

support,

land

which.

they

rented from

Apollonios

or the

king,

or

commercial

interests.

There was

no reason

for malnutrition

among

this

group

of

workers.

The second

example

is

from

the

very Egyptian

community

of the

Serapeum,

the

cult

complex

of

present-day Saqqara

in

the

desert

west of

Memphis (Ray

I978:

149-57).

When on 6

April

154

B.C.

the

Apis

bull

currently

worshipped

in

the Ptah

temple

in

Memphis

died

and

mummification

proceedings

were

begun,

twins,

the

girls

Taous

and

Thaues,

were

employed

to

take the

parts

of Isis

and

Nephthys

in

these

ceremonies.

Their

predecessors

in

this role

had been

granted

twelve artabas

a

month

of

olyra,



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1976. Early Hydraulic

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in

Egypt:

A

Study

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London:

University

of

Chicago

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61-74 (ed.)

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Dixon,

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Beiheft

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per

la

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2

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Abstract

Crawford, Dorothy

J.

Food:

tradition

and

change

in Hellenistic

Egypt

Given

the

predictable

climate and

annual

flood

of the

Nile,

a

rich and varied

diet was

always

available in

Egypt,

both from

cultivated

crops

and the

wild flora and

fauna

of

the

country.

Evidence for

diet in

the

Pharaonic

period

tends

to

an

upper-class

bias,

being

mainly

funerary

in

nature.

With the

arrival of

the

Ptolemies

and

their

Greek

bureaucracy, documentary

evidence

adds to

the

picture.

New

crops, especially

new strains

of

wheat,

were

introduced for

the

changing

urban

markets;

they

met

with

some

native

resistance. Records of

corn

allowances

permit

a

detailed

consideration

of some

workers' diets.

In

this

respect

the

temples

remained

centres of

conservatism and

privilege.