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Document Details :

Title: cῖτοc/πυρόc in Egypt as Deliberate Mixtures of Wheat and Barley
Author(s): MAYERSON, Philip
Journal: Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists
Volume: 42    Date: 2005   
Pages: 51-62
DOI: 10.2143/BASP.42.0.3275110

Abstract :
From as early as Pharaonic times, Egyptian farmers sowed and reaped 'maslins', mixtures of wheat and barley in which wheat was the dominant grain. In the Greek papyri the product of this practice was called cῖτοc or πυρόc, 'wheat'. The Roman tax collector, however, did not regard Egyptian wheat as pure wheat and insisted that the percentage of barley and non-wheat elements, averaging about 10%, be removed and that the wheat be certified as καϑαρόc. The refining process required labor-intensive sieving to remove the barley and other contaminants, the evidence for which is found in the terms used to qualify καϑαρόc.

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