The Pamour Family: Familial and Economic Networks

Abstract

Fourth-century Kellis was still a bustling place. Signs of decay might be detected in the blocked doorway of the great temple of Tutu in the west, or the abandoned houses in its eastern part. But just east of the temple, a residential area of flatroofed, mudbrick housing units divided by a series of east-west lanes and narrow alleys was still prospering. Churches were built here, one even exhibiting stained glass panels, and from the papyri we learn that elite families were closely linked to the village. In this area, facing a large administrative complex to its north and with its main entrances facing a wider thoroughfare to the south, lay the group of domestic units designated House 1–3. Here were found nearly all the papyri pertaining to Manichaean presence so far excavated from Kellis. The owners of these papyri are the subject of the present chapter and the next. We introduce the people visible in these texts, tracing prominent individuals and their network of relatives and acquaintances, and we examine their business activities, the trading, weaving, and caravan-driving with which their letters are pre-eminently concerned. In many ways, the House 1–3 complex is unremarkable. Its three separate units were built in the late third century, while occupation continued until at least the 380s, without major structural changes to their layout (for which, see Figure 4).1 They were one-storied houses with roof terraces, whose main doorways faced a street to the south. The walls were mud plastered, with white-plastered areas surrounding niches that, along with palm-rib shelves, were used for storage. Rooms were accessed by way of wooden doorways; roofs were barrel-vaulted or supported by wooden beams. The houses were smaller and plainer than the wealthy residence in Area B, lacking atria and