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[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt The plough…

[German version] The Archive of Nicanor consists of a group of ostraca found in Coptus (O.Petr. 220-304; O.Bodl. II 1968-1971; O.Brux.Berl. 7; Ostrakon), which are dated between AD 6 and AD 62. These are receipts for transport services provided by the καμηλίτης/ kamēlítēs (O.Petr. 225) Nicanor and his family or partner by camel between Coptus and Myos Hormos and Berenice [9] on the instruction of various people. This was also the route by which trade was carried on between the Roman Empire and Arabia, Africa and India (Plin. HN 6,102-103). The goods mentioned in the archive are, however, primarily for everyday consumption, e.g. grain, wine and oil, mostly serving for the provision of the two harbour cities. The texts also provide an important insight into the org…

[German version] The two Sasernae, who were probably members of the  gens Hostilia and are described in Columella as pater et filius (Columella 1,1,12), w…

[German version] The scythe ( falx faenaria; Greek: χορτοδρέπανον/ chortodrépanon) was regarded in Antiquity as a kind of sickle and distinguished from it terminologically only by means of an adjective. Its use remained limited to Italy and the northern and western parts of the ancient world; in Greece, by contrast, it was unknown in Antiquity. Scythes were used for mowing grass and hay (Varro Rust. 1,49,1). Plinius distinguishes a shorter Italian type and a longer Gaulish one (Plin. HN 18,261: “falcium …

[German version] The importance of the stabling of livestock (SOL) in Graeco-Roman Antiquity is currently supposed by scholars to have been rather low, and it is assumed that it was mostly restricted to working animals. As the Homeric epics show, cattle were mostly kept on grazing land in early Greece. There were stables for the saddle horses of the Athenian elite in the Classical period (Xen. Eq. 4,1; Horsemanship). The Roman agrarian writers provide important information on the SOL: Cato recommends anyone building a …

[German version] I. The Near East and Egypt (Sumerian udu, sheep, u8, ewe, udu.nita, fat-tailed sheep; Akkadian immeru (culture word) [4]; Egyptian zr ( wp.t). The Near East lies in the natural range of the Asiatic mouflon ( Ovis orientalis), which was apparently used in various locations for the breeding of wool sheep; the earliest examples for this important step [8] come from the area of south-eastern Asia Minor/northern Levant/northern Mesopotamia in the 7th millennium BC [7. 73]. From the 7th/6th millennia BC on, the sheep played a prominent role in all times and all regions of the Near East. This is reflected in numerous pictorial depictions -- although these scarcely permit internal differentiation -- and above all in the written sources. Sheep are frequently mentioned from the beginning of the written record in Mesopotamia (end of the 4th millennium BC) [6]. Besides the importance of sheep as the primary sacrificial animal (Sacrifice) and as a supplier of milk, meat and manure, textiles made from their wool (in many different qualities) mainly represented the most important export for Mesopotamia in all times [5]. The prominent economic significance of the sheep is paralleled by a strongly differentiated terminology according to species, sex, age group, nature, breeding, keeping and use [4.…

(* Mgn = ‘(god's) gift’; Greek Μάγων; Mágōn). [German version] [1] Carthaginian king (?), 2nd half 6th cent. BC Carthaginian, leading figure (king?) in the 2nd half of the 6th cent. BC; successor of Malchus [1], efficient promoter of Carthaginian power (Iust. 18,7,19; 19,1,1; [1. 173f.; 2. 475f.]), to whom a great army reform with the goal of the deployment of mercenaries is erroneously attributed [3. 184-187]. As father (?) of Hamilcar [1] and Hasdrubal (Iust. 19,1,2), M. is considered the ancestor of the Magonids (see stemma); since, however, according to Herodotus (7,165), Hamilcar was the son of a Hanno, and Iustinus (Prol. 19) refers to Hanno [2] Sabellus rather than to M., the possibility of a misstatement by Iustinus is worth considering, s…

[German version] The extent and type …

[German version] VG was as significant as the cultivation of grain, wine and olives (Olive oil), the so-called Mediterranean triad, to which in recent times legumes have been …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient and Egypt The sickle is a classic harvesting tool with a largely unaltered basic form: a curved blade with its edge on the inside, made of wood, ceramic, copper/bronze or iron. The earliest evidence of sickles in Egypt and the Near East is from the 8th/7th millennia BC: flint or obsidian blades with traces of use on one side (bright 'polish') and remains of bitumen on the end with which the blades were fixed to the inner side of a curved piece of wood, less often to a…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East See horticulture Ruffing, Kai (Münster) [German version] II. Classical Antiquity The cultivation of fruit trees (ἀκρόδρυα/ akródrya; Lat. pomi, poma) in antiquity was regarded as an integral part of horticulture; however, fruit trees were also often planted as intercrops in viticulture (Wine); there were also some separate orchard plantations (παράδεισος/ …

[German version] I Greek (Παλλάδιος; Palládios). [German version] [I 1] Greek rhetor, 4th cent. Greek rhetor of the first half of the 4th cent. AD (Suda s.v. P. gives his prime as under Constantinus [1] I) from Methone (probably the Messenian one). According to the Suda, in addition to declamations he wrote in all three rhetorical genres ( genera dicendi ) and also an antiquarian work on the festivals of the Romans (FGrH F 837). Whether P. is identical with one of the numerous Palladii mentioned in the letters of Libanius and if …

(οἶνος/ oînos; Lat. vinum). …

[German version] RM ( vallus, carpentum) are known from the descriptions of Pliny (Plin. HN 18,296) and Palladius (Pall. Agric. 7,2,2-4); there are some pictorial depictions on reliefs from the Gallic and Germanic provinces, while the literary sources indicate only Gaul as the area of distribution. The RM consisted of a box fitted with wheels on both shorter sides; the front was open and fitted with a row of gripping teeth. The rear side had two bars, between which a harnessed ass or ox would push th…

[English version] Das N.-A. besteht aus einer Gruppe von in Koptos gefundenen Ostraka (O.Petr. 220-304; O.Bodl. II 1968-1971; O.Brüss.Berl. 7; Ostrakon), die auf die Jahre zw. 6 und 62 n.Chr. zu datieren sind. Es handelt sich um Quittungen über Transportleistungen, die der καμηλίτης ( kamēlítēs; O.Petr. 225) Nikanor und seine Familie bzw. Partner mit Kamelen zw. Koptos und Myos Hormos sowie Berenike [9] im Auftrag verschiedener Personen durchführten. Über diese Route lief auch der Handel zw. dem Imperium Romanum und Arabien, Afrika und In…

[English version] I. Alter Orient s. Hortikultur Ruffing, Kai (Münster) [English version] II. Klassische Antike Die Kultivation von Obstbäumen (ἀκρόδρυα, akródrya; lat. pomi, poma) wurde in der Ant. als Bestandteil der Hortikultur angesehen; jedoch wurden Obstbäume auch oft als Zwischenkulturen im Weinbau gepflanzt; daneben gab es eigene abgeschlossene Obstbaumpflanzungen (παράδεισος, parádeisos; lat. pometum, pomarium). Die Belege für die Kultur von Obstbäumen, insbesondere der Feige, reichen bis in die myk. Zeit zurück. Der O. ist bei Homer stet…

(* Mgn = “(Gottes)gabe”; griech. Μάγων). [English version] [1] Karthag. König (?) in der 2. H. des 6. Jh. v.Chr. Karthager, führende Persönlichkeit (König?) in der 2. H. des 6. Jh.v.Chr.; Nachfolger des Malchos [1], effizienter Förderer der karthag. Macht (Iust. 18,7,19; 19,1,1; [1. 173f.; 2. 475f.]), dem irrigerweise eine große Heeresreform mit dem Ziel des Einsatzes von Söldnern zugeschrieben wird [3. 184-187]. Als Vater (?) des Hamilkar [1] und Hasdrubal (Iust. 19,1,2) gilt M. als Ahnherr der sog. Magoniden (s. …

[English version] Das M. ( vallus, carpentum) ist aus den Beschreibungen von Plinius (Plin. nat. 18,296) und Palladius (Pall. agric. 7,2,2-4) bekannt; es finden sich bildliche Darstellungen auf einigen Reliefs aus den gallischen und german. Prov., während die lit. Zeugnisse nur Gallien als Verbreitungsgebiet angeben. Das M. bestand aus einem Kasten, der an beiden Schmalseiten mit einem Rad versehen war; die Vorderseite war offen und mit einer Reihe Greifzähnen ausgestattet. An der Rückseite befanden s…

[English version] [1] P. Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Agrarschriftsteller Über das Leben des Agrarschriftstellers P. ist wenig bekannt. Da er in den Hss. als vir illustris bezeichnet wird, war P. wahrscheinlich höherer Beamter gewesen; nach eigener Aussage besaß er in Italien und auf Sardinien Ländereien (Pall. agric. 3,10,24; 3,25,20; 4,10,16). Seine Lebens- und Schaffenszeit wird allgemein in das E. des 4. oder in das 5. Jh.n.Chr. gesetzt. Sein Werk besteht aus dem Opus agriculturae, das 13 B. umfaßt, einem B. über Veterinärmedizin, das jetzt als das 14. B. des ers…

[English version] I. Alter Orient und Ägypten Der Alte Orient und Ägypten (aber auch Indien und China) sind verm. die Herkunftsländer des P. (sumerisch APIN, akkadisch epinnu, äg. hb.w). Der Übergang vom Hack- zum Pflugbau in Äg. mag schon während der Naqada II-Periode (3700/3600-3200 v.Chr.) stattgefunden haben; nachzuweisen ist er erst in frühdyn. Zeit (E. 4. Jt.v.Chr.). Auch im Vorderen Orient ist der P. sicher älter, doch ist der einfache Umbruch-P. in Mesopotamien erst in der Uruk-Zeit (E. des 4. Jt.; Rollsiegel, arch…

[English version] Der G. war ebenso bedeutend wie der Anbau von Getreide, Wein und Oliven (Öl), der sog. mediterranen Trias, der die Leguminosen neuerdings hinzugefügt werden. Seine große Bed. ist auch aus dem breiten Raum ersichtlich, den ihm die ant. Agrarschriftsteller und Mediziner widmeten (Plin. nat. 19,52-189; Colum. 11,3). Die Belege für einen ausgedehnten G. reichen von der späthelladischen bis in die byz. Zeit. Hülsenfrüchte (Bohnen, Erbsen etc.), hauptsächlich enthalten in dem lat. Begriff legumina (griech. ὄσπρια), und Blattgemüse, Knollengewächse und Sala…