Rent Receipts for Temple Land in Theadelphia

Abstract

The rent receipts published here pertain to temple-owned land around the Fayum village of Theadelphia and date to the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The issuing authority is identified as the “superintendent of the property belonging to the gods” (ἐπιμελητὴς τῶν τοῖς θεοῖς προσηκόντων), a title that can likely be connected to the great Sobek temple in Arsinoe, whose management was by now in the hands of the metropolite elite. In two receipts, the superintendant is a former agoranomos named Sarapion, while an Alexandros occupies this position in another. All receipts were written in the skilled hand of their assistant (βοηθός) Chairemon and were issued to the same tenant, Isidoros, son of Aphrodisios.