For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, researchers have successfully deciphered an ancient Greek text from the Roman Empire, detailing a court case of tax fraud involving two Jewish men. Found in the Judean desert, the papyrus contains 133 lines and offers insights into the legal proceedings of the time. Despite damage to the document, historians have reconstructed the narrative, highlighting a rare example of Roman legal documentation in Judea, second only to the trial of Jesus. The case centers on document forgery related to the sale and ownership of slaves.
The document is very damaged at the end... But we still get a clear idea of the criminal case from the perspective of the persecution.
According to the researchers, this is the best-documented Roman legal case from Judea, other than the trial of Jesus.
This papyrus documents a Roman criminal trial involving accusations of tax fraud and forgery by two individuals in the 2nd century AD.
It is described as 'one of the most comprehensive legal documents ever found from the period of Roman rule in the Land of Israel'.
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