Ostraca of Krokodilô II. The private correspondence and personal networks of Philokles, Apollos and Ischyras. FIFAO 81.
IFAO| N° d'inventaire | 21863 |
| Format | 24.5 x 32.5 |
| Détails | 304 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Cairo, 2019 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782724707359 |
The fort of Krokodilo, excavated in 1996 and 1997 by the French Mission of the Eastern Desert, is located on the road linking Coptos, in the Nile Valley, to Myos Hormos, on the Red Sea. Its midden, formed during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, yielded more than 800 ostraca, 189 of which are published in this volume. After a first volume of the Krokodilo Ostraca devoted to military correspondence, the present work focuses on the private correspondence exchanged between the inhabitants of Krokodilo and the neighboring forts, Phoinikôn and Persu. The letters were written by three very different personalities: Philokles, the supper-keeper and pimp, played a central role in supplying the inhabitants of the desert forts, and in the trade in prostitutes, of which he made a specialty; Ischyras, the quarryman, was an acquaintance of Philokles; his letters are full of expressions of friendship while also revealing some unkind confidences, indications of sometimes brutal human relationships; Apollos, finally, in addition to apparently being a soldier, played the role of scribe within a group whose concerns concerned almost exclusively supplies. The richness of this corpus makes it possible to reconstruct the life of the small societies populating the desert garrisons at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, and to highlight the strength of the networks that linked the approximately 200 characters who appear in the ostraca. We discover the importance of bonds of solidarity in a hostile environment and the essential place of civilians, particularly women, in the life of the forts.
The fort of Krokodilo, excavated in 1996 and 1997 by the French Mission of the Eastern Desert, is located on the road linking Coptos, in the Nile Valley, to Myos Hormos, on the Red Sea. Its midden, formed during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian, yielded more than 800 ostraca, 189 of which are published in this volume. After a first volume of the Krokodilo Ostraca devoted to military correspondence, the present work focuses on the private correspondence exchanged between the inhabitants of Krokodilo and the neighboring forts, Phoinikôn and Persu. The letters were written by three very different personalities: Philokles, the supper-keeper and pimp, played a central role in supplying the inhabitants of the desert forts, and in the trade in prostitutes, of which he made a specialty; Ischyras, the quarryman, was an acquaintance of Philokles; his letters are full of expressions of friendship while also revealing some unkind confidences, indications of sometimes brutal human relationships; Apollos, finally, in addition to apparently being a soldier, played the role of scribe within a group whose concerns concerned almost exclusively supplies. The richness of this corpus makes it possible to reconstruct the life of the small societies populating the desert garrisons at the beginning of the 2nd century AD, and to highlight the strength of the networks that linked the approximately 200 characters who appear in the ostraca. We discover the importance of bonds of solidarity in a hostile environment and the essential place of civilians, particularly women, in the life of the forts.