the attic stelai - The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

310 W. KENDRICK PRITCHETT
effect that several handfuls of barley (-sheaves) were bound together into a single
desme.8 Similarly, Athenaeus elsewhere refers to a desme of split wood;' Alexis
refers to 'bundles' of thyme;'10 and Dionysios of Halikarnassos (III, 61) to a
'bundle' of rods. Hesychius defines d7KaAX8Es, 'armfuls,' as desmai of firewood."
The word was widely used in Egypt for 'bundles' of hay and straw; see the papyrological
references in A. C. Johnson,, "Roman Egypt," Economic Survey, II, pp.
470-471.
In II, 151, the word desme is followed by a sigma. The remaining letters of the
word are lost, and the item was left uncompleted in Part I. Since there are references
to desmai of coriander, of wheat, of barley,'2 one likely restoration would be the word
o- ['iyrao6ov]. The entry would presumably refer to sesame-sheaves. Another possibility
might be the word a-[aKKiV]. [Demosthenes] XXXV, Against Lakritos, 34, contains
a reference to desmai of skins, and by analogy desme of sakkoi would refer to a bundle
of cloth bags or sacks.
4. EKXaXK&jta (VI, 86). Bronze objects. The word occurs only in our inscription.
The first five letters are preserved; the remainder has been completed according
to the suggestion of Tod in Hermcathena, LIX, 1942, p. 82. The simplex is used for
any bronze vessel or instrument, including bronze tablets for treaties 13 and a metal
breastplate."4 The diminutive of the simplex, chalkomation, is used in Insc. Delos,
1417, A, col. I, line 104, for ten objects which were contained in a small box. The
reference in our inscription may well be to similar small objects, for the price is given
as 52 drachmas, approximately one fourth of the value of the bronze obelos of I, 95.
5. EITLKapMatJ (I, 20, 22, 29; II, 81, 97, 178; VIII, 5; X, 11, 31[?]). Crop. A
precise definition of this word in our context is difficult. It first occurs in the Gortyniani
Laws (ca. 450 B.C.)"5 in connection with the rights of heiresses and bears the general
meaning of ' revenue ' or ' income ' of all the property. This seems to be the meaning
also in its earliest literary use, in 'Andokides I, 92. However, Holleaux, in publishing
an inscription from Thespiai, noted that the meaning of epikarpia was there " recolte
sur pied dans le moment oiu la vente a lieu."'y He gave references to the Attic
Stelai for a similar meaning. The definition of 'crops not yet reaped' has subsequently
been accepted for epikarpia in our inscriptions, for example, by Kirchner,"
8 XIV, 618d (== F.H.G., IV, 495).
9XV, 700 b.
10 Frag. 117: Kock, C.A.F., II, p. 339.
11 Cf. Pollux, II, 139.
12
See Thesaurus Graecae Linguae, s.v.
'3 Polybios, III, 26, 1.
14
Polybios, VI, 23, 14.
15 InscriPtiones Creticae, IV, Rome, 1950, 70, col. VII, line 33.
"6 R.E.G., X, 1897, p. 36. Cf. also Ziebarth, Wochenschr. klass. Phil., XIV, 1897, 1026.
17 Ad Syll.3, 96, note.