A new discovery made by scientists has unearthed a court document dating back to the Roman Empire. It was stated that the document, which was examined by researchers and dated to the 2nd century, reveals the details of a major tax fraud case that took place in the Judean desert.
An ancient papyrus found in the Judean desert has unearthed an important tax fraud case dating back to the Roman Empire after 1,900 years. The text consists of 133 lines and tells the story of the crimes committed by two Jewish men. One of the defendants is said to have a past of violence, rebellion and banditry. It is also stated that the other accomplice produced counterfeit money. However, large sections of the papyrus are missing or torn. MORE THAN 10 YEARS OF WORK Dr. Anna Dolganov, a historian at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, stated that the text was “very damaged.” It was also emphasized that this tax evasion case was the most important Roman legal case recorded after the trial of Jesus. Discovered in 2014, the A4-sized reddish-brown papyrus was begun to be examined by researchers from the Hebrew University in 2015. This research covered a period of more than a decade. INTERESTING DETAILS FROM THE TRIAL OF THE CRIMINALS The case in question concerns an incident in which two defendants, Gedaliah and Saul, sold slaves using fraudulent means and then released them. In the Roman Empire, forging documents and tax evasion were considered serious crimes, and the offenders were given severe punishments. The defendants are said to have had a deep knowledge of Roman law and administration, and used this to their own advantage. The case in question took place before the major revolts in Judea. Researchers note that Roman authorities were particularly careful during this period, as there were violent Diaspora Revolts in Egypt, Libya and Cyprus, followed by the Bar Kokhba Revolt. These revolts had a serious impact on the Roman Empire, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. The trial may have been interrupted by the outbreak of the Bar Kokhba revolt.
