Subtitle: Papyrus details spectacular criminal case in Roman Judea
LAW AND ORDER: The Greek papyrus discovered in the Judean Desert.
Courtesy Shai Halevi, IAA.
Posted on 04/15/2026 5:29:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The papyrus, which contains 133 lines of preserved text, is the longest Greek papyrus ever uncovered in the Judean Desert, although for decades it had been misclassified as a Nabatean text and practically lost in the archives of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA)...
Upon translation, the team that Cotton Paltiel put together realized the papyrus preserves an incredible snapshot into the Roman legal system and life between two Jewish revolts against the Romans: the Diaspora Revolt (c. 115–117 CE) and the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (c. 132–136 CE). The papyrus, which pertains to a legal case brought before a Roman court, contains the prosecutor's trial notes and a rapidly drafted transcript of the judicial hearing itself.
The case consists of charges of corrupt dealings against two Jewish men, Gadalias and Saulos. Gadalias had a criminal history involving violence, extortion, counterfeiting, and inciting rebellion. Saulos, his collaborator, orchestrated the fictitious sale and manumission of slaves without paying the requisite Roman taxes. To conceal their activities, the defendants forged documents... It is unclear what the purpose of freeing the slaves was or exactly who the slaves were, but it could have involved human trafficking or possibly reflected the biblical duty to redeem enslaved Jews. As pointed out by Ecker, "freeing slaves does not appear to be a profitable business model."
(Excerpt) Read more at biblicalarchaeology.org ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Subtitle: Papyrus details spectacular criminal case in Roman Judea
LAW AND ORDER: The Greek papyrus discovered in the Judean Desert.
Courtesy Shai Halevi, IAA.
“freeing slaves does not appear to be a profitable business model.”
That was all explained. Smack dab in the middle of the document, with plenty of detail.
It’s signed, The Judean Peoples Front.
Signed, Abrahamo Lincolni
(if you get the reference)
Splitter !!
I came here for this comment.
Huh. I always thought you were more aligned with the Peoples Front of Judea.
Babylon 5.
No! It’s the People’s Front of Judea!
😁📜
What does Loretta think of this?
🤔
😄
Dang! Just could not get into the thread quickly enough!
Long before the Holocaust the Romans did what they could to wipe out the Jewish people. It took 2000 years but they came back!
The Romans leveled Jerusalem and renamed it. But up to 10% of the Empire was Jewish (depending on the era) and they wound up having to spread out after the Roman War (a.k.a. the Jewish War).
😕
What the heck?
Cleese’s detailed rip on “ transgender “ crap is brilliant
😆
Splitter!
“ Signed, Abrahamo Lincolni (if you get the reference)”
Nope. Didn’t get it. Too subtle for me.
Signed, Alexandria Ocasia Cortecia
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
