Meet the neighbours: Tithoes I, Ploutogenes, and Horos son of Mersis .1 Tithoes son of Petesis .1 Tithoes son of Petesis

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pkgr.11, Tithoes’ son Samoun is asked to send two artaba barley or their worth in jujubes, a letter probably belonging to the 370s.³⁸⁴

The find of carpentry tools in House 2 makes it likely that Tithoes, like the Pamour family, at one point inhabited the space in which his documents were found. Hope noted the discovery of carpentry tools fas well as weaving implementsor the main part of House 2: ‘We would seem to have here amongst this selection tools and materials, in various stages of working, of a carpenter, and evidence for the manufacture of yarn to be used in weaving.’³⁸⁵ If Tithoes used this space we would expect a close relationship between the documents of Tithoes and those of the Pamour family, as indicated by Boozer’s analysis of the archaeology (see section 3.4.2). This also seems to be the case. The name Tithoes occurs several times in the Pamour letters. Unfortunately, the popularity of the name means that an identification of Tithoes I – or his grandson, Tithoes II – with the Tithoes in the Pamour letters cannot be taken for granted.³⁸⁶ But one instance does in fact appear to relate to this man: a ‘father’ Tithoes greeted by a Tapsais writing to Psais III (pkc.116) should in all likelihood be identified with Tithoes I, considering that Samoun’s ‘sister’ Tapsais is found with Tithoes I in pkc.12.

There are moreover plenty of other prosopographic links between Tithoes and House 3.³⁸⁷ Some names were probably borne by several persons, but it is highly unlikely that the high overlap can be explained purely by chance. One important tie is the couple Psenpnouthes and Kyria, who send greetings together as ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ of Samoun (pkc.12). They are greeted as ‘brethren’ by Makarios in his letters, and recur as ‘father’ and ‘mother’ in the Pamour circle and the Coptic accounts. This would indicate that Samoun was of an age with

384 No date is preserved, but Samoun is now recipient, and there has been a large increase in prices between these documents: from 800 T. to 2000 T. for one art. barley: much higher than that found in the KAB from the 360s (see Table 2). This document, then, probably belongs in the late 370s (or 380s?). For the price inflation documented for this later period, see Bagnall, Currency and inflation, 46–47.

385 Colin A. Hope, ‘The find context of the Kellis Agricultural Account Book’, in The Kellis Agricultural Account Book, ed. Roger S. Bagnall (Oxford: Oxbow, 1997), 9.

386 The name occurs in pkc.70, pkc.72, pkc.77, and pkc.116. Perhaps one may note the sale of a ‘girl’ by Tithoes

‘of Peiaune’, mentioned in Pekysis’ letter pkc.77 (ll.14–15); similarly, Tithoes I buys a slave girl in pkgr.8, perhaps relating to the same ‘girl’ at different times. However, Tithoes I is described as ‘from Kellis’ (pkgr.8, ll.2–3), while Tithoes of Peiaune is located in the Nile Valley, and Peiaune – if it is not a patronym – could well be a toponym near Aphrodito. Gardner, Alcock, and Funk, CDT II, 104, pkc.77, l.14n.

387 Of the 14 relatives/associates in the letters of Tithoes I (pkgr.10–12, pkc.12), ten recur in the House 3 circles:

Tithoes, Tehat, Tbeke, Pebok, Psenpnouthes, Kyria, Andreas, Tapsais, Makarios, and Ammon. However, the absence of Samoun himself is puzzling.

Makarios, and that Tithoes I belonged to an older generation. It may be noted that Tithoes is ordered to give barley for ‘brother’ Makarios by ‘brother’ Ammon in pkgr.10. This could perhaps be Makarios and his co-worker Ammon from the Maria/Makarios letters, although it must be assumed that they at this point were in Kellis, and that they did not regard Tithoes as a senior (he would rather seem to be a social inferior). Makarios also greets a Tapsais, as does Pamour and his circle with some frequency. There were probably two persons by this name, as Maria II once greets two Tapsais’ in pkc.65, in close proximity, and it is unclear which should be taken as the relative of Tithoes/Samoun. However, it is clear from pkc.116 that one of them was the daughter of Tithoes. Finally, Tehat mentions ‘Tapshai’ in pkc.43, while Tehat herself is greeted by Samoun as ‘sister’ with ‘children’ in pkgr.12. A literal familial tie between Tehat and Samoun cannot be shown. Still, strong links between Tithoes, the Pamour family, and the Tehat circle is evident, in agreement with the archaeology of the houses.

One specific venue for interaction between Tithoes and the House 3 people may have been Tithoes’ occupation as a carpenter. Weavers depended on carpenters for their tools,³⁸⁸ which could have given rise to cooperation between these two groups, and weaving utensils were as mentioned above found alongside the carpentry tools. Bagnall wondered whether Tithoes may have made the wooden codex used for the KAB. Similarly, it is perhaps no coincidence that several Manichaean liturgical texts found in neighbouring House 3 were written on wooden boards.³⁸⁹ A Manichaean text, albeit on papyrus (pkc.8), was found in House 2. Altogether, the evidence strongly indicates that the circle of Tithoes belonged to the Pamour family’s orbit of associates and co-religionists (see furthermore section 9.2.1).

4.1.2 Ploutogenes son of Pataias

Tithoes is not the only carpenter known from House 2, however. A carpenter by the name of Gena (i.e. Ploutogenes) is found in letters he exchanged with a certain Pausanias. Their correspondence is only preserved in two House 2 letters: pkgr.5 (by Ploutogenes) and pkgr.6 (by Pausanias). They can be dated ca. 330–340, a few decades prior to the material of Tithoes,

388 See Wipszycka, L'industrie textile, 51–52.

389 For the KAB, see Bagnall, P. Kell. IV, 9–10. For the boards, see e.g. T. Kell. Copt. 1–7 in Gardner, KLT I.

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based on Pausanias’ other documents (below, section 4.2.1). Ploutogenes refers to Pausanias as ‘master’ and ‘your nobility’ (pkgr.5, ll.10–11), and reports on matters he is attending to on Pausanias’ behalf while visiting a nearby hamlet, Pmoun Beri (perhaps modern Ain el-Gedida).³⁹⁰ Pausanias is clearly a social superior, although Ploutogenes’ letter also contains elements of intimacy, as he greets Pausanias’ wife (‘lady’) and children. Pausanias’ side of the exchange, pkgr.6, does not contain such niceties, but he does refer to Ploutogenes as ‘lord brother’. He asks him to order a shared associate, Timotheos, to guarantee for a sizable load of wheat, or alternately to guarantee it himself, implying that Ploutogenes had some means of his own.³⁹¹ Another letter addressed to a Ploutogenes (pkgr.7, d. 340s? See section 4.2.2) was found in close proximity to pkgr.6, and it is probable that the two figures should be identified. Ploutogenes is here called ‘son of Pataias’. The author, Harpokration, should probably be identified with a local grandee and ex-magistrate (see section 2.3.2). He refers to Ploutogenes as ‘brother’, and requests him to send a ‘Dalmatian’ robe that he has previously ordered. Such robes were costly objects,³⁹² and it is notable that Harpokration asks Ploutogenes for his orders in return (pkgr.7, ll.18–19). It would seem that Ploutogenes was a figure of some local standing.³⁹³ At a much later date, Ploutogenes ‘son of Pataias’ is found acting as a witness for Pekysis, son of Psais, in a tax-issue (pkgr.76, House 3), perhaps indicating that his word carried some weight. Furthermore, it shows a tie to the Pamour family. But, like Tithoes and Psais, the name Ploutogenes and its variants is common in Kellis.

There were multiple people by this name in the Coptic documents of House 3. An identification could perhaps be made with one of the older figures by this name (for a ‘father’ Ploutogenes, see section 3.2.3).³⁹⁴ It is moreover most unclear why his early documents were preserved, or

390 Aravecchia, ‘Christians of the Western Desert’, 257.

391 The amount is 12 cancelli: 1 cancella amount to ca. 0.85 artaba, 12 cancelli being ca. 10.2 artaba, or ca. 300 kg. See Table 1, and Bagnall, P. Kell. IV, 42 n.39.

392 For the cost of Dalmatian robes, see the Diocletian’s edict on prices (Ed. Diocl. XXVI, 49, 54, 59, 72).

393 The name of Ploutogenes’ father, Pataias, is a much rarer name. It is found as a signature in a declaration dating ca. 344/47 (pkgr.3, l.10), and as recipient of dates from Gelasios (pkgr.16, perhaps d. 329/30 or 344/5, see below). Gelasios, a man previously of some importance, is among Ploutogenes son of Pataias’ ‘brothers’ (pkgr.7), showing that this text relates to the same circle. Pataias is perhaps also found among the subscribers in pkgr.24 (l.19). Furthermore, we may note that the two komarchs in the petition pkgr.23 (d.352), in open conflict with Harpokration, are both named Ploutogenes: one is the author, son of Ouonsis, while the other is only referred ti as a colleague. Perhaps the latter could be the son of Pataias, whose relationship with Harpokration had soured?

394 For the very tentative suggestion that he may have been father of Tehat, see section 3.3.1. This might in part explain his link to Tithoes I as well.

how he should be related – if at all – to the later family of Tithoes. Still, his role as a witness for Pekysis in the late pkgr.76, combined with shared interest in textiles and shared ties to Pausanias, suggest some sort of lasting relationship with the House 3 circles and their neighbourhood.

4.1.3 Horos son of Mersis

Horos son of Mersis was a caravan driver active in the early fourth century, as documented in two receipts for freight to the Nile Valley found in House 3 and dated ca. 320 (pkgr.51–52). He owned a camel stall in Kellis: it is mentioned in pkgr.38, dated 333, as located adjacent to the house of Psais II and of Pausanias. He was presumably still alive at this point, although the stall is only used as a reference point for delimiting the boundaries of another structure. The name

‘Horos son of Mersis’ is furthermore found as the owner of an orchard (and father of a grown son) in an ostracon from Trimithis, dated ca. 290–early 300s.³⁹⁵ If this, as seems probable, is the same man he would be quite old by 333. Horos may moreover have been a man of some means; camel stalls were often expensive to maintain (although perhaps less so in Kellis than in cities in the Nile Valley).³⁹⁶ An inheritance contract from House 2 (pkgr.9) names him as uncle-in-law to Tithoes son of Petesis. This could explain the presence of his documents in the block. However, the receipts pkgr.51–52 were found with other documents of the Pamour family in House 3 (room 6), rather than among Tithoes’ documents in House 2. They are contemporary with, and did perhaps belong to, Pamour I: both receipts are for goods that Horos had delivered to Hermopolis, to which can be compared letter pkgr.66, where Pamour I organises transport of clothes to Hermopolis. Although Horos is not mentioned there he may have made other trips on behalf of Pamour I, who received copies of the receipts as evidence for the goods’ safe arrival.³⁹⁷ The location of Horos’ camel stall on property neighbouring the Pamour family would have made good practical sense.

395 See O.Trim.241, and the comments of Bagnall and Ruffini, Ostraka from Trimithis, 30.

396 Adams, Land transport, 89.

397 A contract between a trader and a caravaneer doing trips to the Nile Valley, in which the former agrees to finance the latter, has been preserved from Kellis (P.Genova 2 app.1–2). Considering that Horos must have been well established by 320, he was presumably not dependent on Pamour I, who himself may have sent family

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4.2 Village notables: Pausanias and Gelasios