Contracts of ancient city written about "rental slave" etc. are discovered

By«М Ħ ж» SONGS

An ancient city in TurkeyTeos"There are many stone monuments and stone plates engraved with documents and it is said to be an archeological dollar box. With this excavation, contracts on slave rental, lease of land, etc. made by a new elite youth group were discovered.

Centuries-old rental agreement unearthed in Turkey's İzmir - ARCHAEOLOGY
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/centuries-old-rental-agreement-unearthed-in-turkeys-izmir.aspx?pageID=238&nID=104520


2,200 ago in Turkey, this disturbing rental agreement was inscribed in stone | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/10/2200-years-ago-in-turkey-this-insane-rental-agreement-was-inscribed-in-stone/

Teos is one of the cities that existed in the Ionian region's coastal area about 2200 years ago. In addition to not only the temples, the amphitheater and the archaeological sites of big buildings, there are many stone monuments, stone boards, etc. with documents engraved on the thesis, how bureaucracy politics that dominated the city for centuries It is thought that there is a key to unraveling what it was.

Mr. Mustafa Adak, archaeologist at the University of Academy of Turkey, is one of the people unearthing the remains of Teos. In the newly discovered stone monument made of marble 1.5 meters in length, newly discovered by Adak, there was written an ancient agreement consisting of 58 lines. The agreement documents how to handle leases of land and rental slaves, which made the cultures of the day a reality.

A stone monument where this was found.


Characters are written carefully, but since the stone monument has no major damage, we can check the contents.


The land excavated by Adak et al. Was given to a group of young people in their 20s and 30s who belonged to the city's gymnasium called "Neos". Gymnasium (gymnasium) means gymnasium or stadium in English, but in ancient Greece it was not simply a place to exercise but a function as a wealthy citizen facility that combines university and vocational training school It was. And according to the wording written on the stone monument, the land found was a donation from wealthy citizen of Teos to Neos. At this time, the temple was included in the given land, it was written that tax was halved as it was "holy place", and that not only land but also facilities and slaves were also attached It was.

Men belonging to Neos are basically rich origins, but with the students who attended the university, they were temporary but did not have the money. So, those who did not have enough money to maintain luxurious houses or slaves will lease conditionally donated land. Conditions presented by Neos include "they can use the temple three days a year", "Neos can enter the land at any time so that the borrower can use the facility correctly" can be included It was.

According to Prof. Adak, much of the content of the contract is written about penalties when the borrower breaks the contract, and the borrower does not damage the land, does not pay the rent, does not repair the building It seems that penalties have been given when you are.

The rental of the land was done in auction form, the fact that the guarantor was necessary to borrow the land, the fact that the name of the borrower's father and senior officials of the city were consecutive in the contract was also found in the monument found this time It was clarified by. The name of the senior official was said to indicate that the administrative side was paying attention to what the Neos members planned to become elite in the future are doing.

It was the first time that the agreement at the time clearly stated so far was discovered. In the contract there are two legal terms whose meanings are unknown as of 2016, and it seems to be a big key to clarifying the ancient culture in the future.