Legume production at Cyrene in the Hellenistic period: epigraphic evidence

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.

Searching for Silphium: An Updated Review

“…The locations of these cities are shown in Figure 1. Cyrene and its agricultural hinterland had a favourable climate for agriculture, producing a number of products for export to the wider Greco-Roman world including wheat, a variety of legumes [13], barley, rice, onions, garlic, cumin, saffron, white violet, roses, cucumber, tree moss, grapes, and edible fungus [14,15], while animal-derived exports included livestock such as horses, cattle, sheep, goats, mules, and camels, as well as animal products including hides, ostrich plumes, and murex shells [14,15]. There is ample archaeological evidence for olive oil production in the region, including the remains of hundreds of olive oil presses, which further attest to the agricultural fecundity of this region [10].…”

Digitising Libyan heritage: inscriptions and toponomy

“…For example, before the publication of IGCyr, GVCyr and IRCyr, the teams provided Muna Abdelhamed (co-author of this article, then studying for a PhD at Leicester University) with direct access to the materials. The epigraphic data in these projects was one of the essential sources of information of her thesis which is now available online (Abdelhamed 2018). Thus, these digital publications will be a significant academic source for other historical and archaeological studies in the future; the XML can all be downloaded, and it is to be hoped that it will be reconfigured and reused in many ways.…”