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Legume production at Cyrene in the Hellenistic period: epigraphic evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2018

Muna H. Haroun Abdelhamed
Muna H. Haroun Abdelhamed*
Affiliation:
PhD candidate at University of Leicester.
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Abstract

Legumes seem to have been cultivated and to have formed an essential part of the human diet during the Greek and Roman periods. This paper examines the cultivation of pulses in Cyrenaica during the Hellenistic era. It considers the regional production capacity for legumes to meet local needs and argues the involvement of different kinds of pulses in interregional commerce alongside cereals and other dry grains. This study has been implemented via investigating Hellenistic epigraphic evidence from Cyrene. It has traced the cost of pulses mentioned in inscriptions of the fourth and third/second centuries BC and compared them with that of wheat and barley. Pulses and cereal costs indicated by Diocletian's ‘Edict on Maximum Prices of AD 301’ have also been investigated to assess the general trend of their prices over time. The examination demonstrates that varieties of pulses were produced in Cyrenaica during the Hellenistic era and were likely as significant as wheat and barley. It also indicates that they were probably traded from the region alongside other dry commodities.

يبدو أن البُقول كانت قد زُرعت في الفترتين الإغريقية والرومانية وشكلت جزء أساسي من النظام الغذائي البشري . تتناول هذه الورقة زراعة البُقوليات في كيرينايكي (إقليم المدن الخمس ) خلال العصر الهللينستي. إذ تعتبر أن قدرة الإقليم الإنتاجية للبُقول كانت تغطي الاستهلاك المحلي كما تناقش أنه تم الاتجار بأنواع مختلفة منها بين الأقاليم إلى جانب أنواع متعددة من الحبوب بما فيها القمح والشعير. بُني هذا العمل على دراسة محتوى نقوش هللينيستية من مدينة كيريني، حيث تم تتبع أسعار البُقول المذكورة في نقوش القرن الرابع ق .م ثم في نقوش القرنين الثالث والثاني ق .م . ولتتبع النمط العام لأسعار البُقول مقارنة بأسعار القمح والشعر عبر فترات مختلفة تم كذلك دراسة أسعار البقول والحبوب الواردة في مرسوم الأمبراطور دقلديانوس لسنة 301 ميلادي . لقد أظهر البحث أن كيرينايكي كانت قد أنتجت أنواعاً مختلفة من البُقول في الفترة الهللينيستية وأنها قد لا تقل أهمية عن القمح والشعير، كما بين هذا العمل أن البقوليات ربما كانت من بين السلع التي صُدرت من الإقليم إلى جانب منتجات جافة أخرى.

Type
Part 2: Research Notes
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 49 , November 2018 , pp. 159 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2018 

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