Small, inconspicuous figurines discovered in various locations across Egypt have long remained a mystery to archaeologists. Handmade out of clay, they come in various forms, ranging from representations of humans and animals to abstract shapes that are incomprehensible today. Such objects have also been discovered by Polish archaeologists at the Tell el-Retaba site.
In the year 12 CE, a man named Harthotes submitted a census declaration to the local authorities in Roman Egypt. He was a 55-year-old farmer and local priest living with his elderly mother and young son in a house within the temple precinct of Theadelphia. But from other sources we knew that he also had a daughter named Tahaunes, who was about 12 years old at the time. Where was she? Not married off young, as scholars were quick to assume. The truth is more surprising: she was at work!
Continue reading “The Girl at the Olive Press. A Vignette of Peasant Life in Roman Egypt”
