This article examines the appearance of the Aramaic hnṣl clause in the Elephantine legal corpus in order to establish the specific legal function of the clause and explore its origins in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian legal material. In the end, a Demotic equivalent to hnṣl reveals a strong parallel in legal function, which is to protect property from being reclaimed by former owners or those who may have a claim to ownership, especially between those of unequal status in society. It is concluded that the equivalent terms, the Aramaic hnṣl and the Demotic ṯꜣy, demonstrate the local development of a technical legal term at Elephantine, illustrating how locally prevailing law was able to thrive in Persian Egypt.
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Tamet is an Egyptian name: W. Kornfeld, Onomastica Aramaica aus Ägypten (Philosophisch-Historische Klasse Sitzungberichte, Band 333, Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1978) p. 96.
Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, p. 80; compared to Tamet’s dowry valued at 7.19 shekels! Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, p. 62.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, p. 139; the date is suggested based on the relationship between these parties and those in Jehohen’s document of wifehood (TADB3.1, which is dated 456 BCE). Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, p. 54.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
Porten and Yardeni, Textbook of Aramaic Documents, pp. 124–125; to date the text, Porten also notes similarities in scribal tendencies to Nathan b. Anani, the mid-century scribe of several other Elephantine documents. B. Porten, ‘Fragmentary Aramaic Deeds of Obligation and Conveyance: New Collations and Restorations’, JNES 48.3 (1989), pp. 161–183 (173).
J.B. Segal, Aramaic Texts from North Saqqarah (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1983) pp. 27–29, 62–64.
Segal, Aramaic Texts from North Saqqarah, pp. 45–47, 49–51, 83–84.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
Szubin and Porten, ‘Testamentary Succession at Elephantine’, p. 36.
T. Fish, Letters of the First Babylonian Dynasty in the John Rylands Library (Manchester: The Manchester University Press, 1936) p. 9.
W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1985) p. 755.
A. Falkenstein, ‘Inschriftenfunde Uruk-Warka 1960–1961’, Baghdader Mitteilungen 2 (1963), pp. 1–82 [69].
Botta, The Aramaic and Egyptian Legal Traditions at Elephantine, p. 44.
W. Erichsen, Eine demotische Schenkungsurkunde aus der Zeit der Darius (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse, Mainz: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1962) p. 346.
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This article examines the appearance of the Aramaic hnṣl clause in the Elephantine legal corpus in order to establish the specific legal function of the clause and explore its origins in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian legal material. In the end, a Demotic equivalent to hnṣl reveals a strong parallel in legal function, which is to protect property from being reclaimed by former owners or those who may have a claim to ownership, especially between those of unequal status in society. It is concluded that the equivalent terms, the Aramaic hnṣl and the Demotic ṯꜣy, demonstrate the local development of a technical legal term at Elephantine, illustrating how locally prevailing law was able to thrive in Persian Egypt.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 283 | 34 | 5 |
Full Text Views | 203 | 1 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 58 | 5 | 1 |