Date Plantations in the Economy of Roman Judea

Two documents about date plantations come from the Cave of Letters in the Judean desert. The first is a contract from a cache of documents belonging to a woman named Babatha. The contract, which dates to September 11, 130 CE, concerns the crops from the three date-palm orchards of Babatha’s late husband, over which she assumed control after his death. The document was originally believed to be a bill of sale, but some scholars now understand it as a lease, in which a certain Shim‘on son of Yeshu‘a (called Simon son of Jesus in Greek) agrees to harvest the crop in exchange for a portion of the fruit. Others understand it as some combination of sale and lease. The contract was written in Greek by a scribe named Germanos and signed by Shim‘on and several witnesses in Aramaic.

The second text, which dates to November 9, 129 CE, is one of several documents belonging to a woman named Salome Komaïse. This particular text is a deed in which Salome Komaïse’s mother, Salome Gropte (or Grapte), gives her a gift of real estate, including a date-palm orchard. This document is also written in Greek but appears to be a literal translation from Aramaic.