The house in the lease agreements of the sacred land in Attica of the IV century BC

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-971-983

For citation

Bulycheva, Elena V. (2024). The house in the lease agreements of the sacred land in Attica of the IV century BC, Herald of an Archivist, no. 4, pp. 971-983, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-971-983

Bulycheva, Elena V., Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

The house in the lease agreements of the sacred land in Attica of the IV century BC

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of the idea of a house in Athens in the IV century BC. This issue is very controversial, since in ancient Greek the word house had different meanings. At the same time, this problem seems to be very relevant, since at all times the ideas about the house were ambiguous. In different eras, not only a dwelling could be called a house, but also entire related communities or individual outbuildings. The problem of the idea of a house in Athens in the IV century BC has not been practically developed in modern historiography. As a rule, researchers turn to the study of this issue, considering an earlier period in the history of Athens or, conversely, the era of Hellenism (III – II centuries BC). This is mainly due to the presence of a certain source base. In particular, in the works of ancient authors, the problem of the concept of a house in the IV century BC is practically not considered. At the same time, this is a very important epoch in the history of Athens, when various socio-economic changes took place in the life of the ancient polis. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to explore the idea of a house in Ancient Attica (Athens region) in the IV century BC. The author of the article drew attention to the fact that, as a rule, temenos included land plots, as well as various buildings designated as houses. In this regard, special attention is paid to the study of the question of what their purpose was. A comparative analysis of the information of epigraphic material from Attica, as well as other areas of the Greek world, suggests that in many texts the word house meant both a dwelling intended for family residence and various buildings with religious and economic purposes. As a result, the author of the article came to the following conclusions. In some cases, the word "house" meant a temple room, which, apparently, was represented by the ancient Greeks as the dwelling of the gods. In addition, this could be the designation of household premises intended for the storage of agricultural equipment and livestock. Studying the content of the text of the inscriptions also makes it possible to imagine that under the terms of the lease agreement, the citizens of Athens were ordered to take care of these buildings, constantly carrying out construction and repair work. Thus, control was exercised over the maintenance of the condition of the property, which has a special, sacred status.

Keywords

Historical sources, house, contract, lease, Attica, polis, ancient Greece, temple, household.

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About authors

Bulycheva Elena V., PhD historical sciences, associate professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, Institute of History and Archives, Faculty of History, Department of General History, associate professor, Moscow, Russia, +7-963-765-52-05, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 24.06.2024, recommended for publication on 20.09.2024.