IFAO

Édition de deux lettres en grec sur ostraca (iie s. apr. J.-C.) trouvées en 2007 et 2012 lors des fouilles de Dios et de Xèron, praesidia romains qui voisinaient dans le désert Oriental en Égypte. C’est le premier exemple d’une lettre et de sa réponse parvenues chacune à leur destination. Elles concernent un outil appelé mulokopion, mot rare pour lequel un sens est proposé.

Mots-clés : ostraca grecs – correspondance – Égypte romaine – désert Oriental – praesidium – Dios – Xèron – armée romaine – mulokopion – meule.

This article presents two Greek letters written on ostraca which had been found during the excavations recently conducted in the two Roman praesidia of Dios and Xeron, in the Eastern desert of Egypt, in 2007 and 2012. They are a letter and its answer exchanged between the two praesidia in the second century AD concerning a tool called mulokopion. The two ostraca are of notably interesting as being the first examples of letter and reply found in its intended destination. The edition is supplemented by a discussion about the possible meaning of the word mulokopion.

Keywords: Greek ostraca – Correspondance – Roman Egypt – Eastern Desert – Praesidium – Dios – Xeron – Military – mulokopion – Mill.