Brooklyn Museum 47.218.95a-b
Sale of Abandoned Property
TAD B.3.04 ERC 307767
Metadata
- Collection
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA | Brook (Public)
- Genres
-
- Legal (Content)
- Contract
- deed
- ספר בי זי זבנ (Ancient)
- Language
- Aramaic
- Script
- Aramaic
- Find Type
- Unprovenanced: Explorer Aquisition
- Acquired
- Charles Wilbour [1893]
- Created by
- James D. Moore
- Material
- papyrus
- Text Direction Side 1
- perpendicular (⟂) to the material's lines
- Updated by
- James D. Moore, 2026-01-18
- Date (Other date in text)
- Egyptian 9.x Art 28 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Metadata)
- Gregorian 14.09.-437 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Composition in text)
- Babylonian 7.vi Art 28 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- References
-
- Lepper, Verena M. et al. . ERC 307767.
- Porten, Bezalel and Yardeni, Ada 1986. TAD B.03.04.
“Localizing 4,000 Years of Cultural History. Texts and Scripts from Elephantine Island in Egypt. ERC Grant ID: 637692,” n.d. TBA.
Porten, Bezalel, and Ada Yardeni. Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt. 4 vols. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1986.
Textual Notes
TAD
ב 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘 לאלול הו יומ 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘𐡘𐡘 לירח פאוני שנת 𐡜 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘𐡘 ארתחשסש מלכא אמר
בגזשת בר בזו כספי לדגל נמסו ונשנ וב/י\ל ברת שתבר כספיה זי סונ לדגל נמסו
כל /גבר 𐡘\ נשנ 𐡘 לענניה בר עזריה לחנ ליהו אלהא לאמר אנחנ זבנ ויהבנ
לכ ביתה זי אפולי בר מסדי זי ביב ברתא זי אגרוה קימנ ותרבצה
ארע הי ולא בניה וכוינ בה וגשרנ לא אחד אנחנ זבנהי לכ ויהבת
לנ דמוהי כספ כרש 𐡘 שקלנ 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘 באבני מלכא כספ זוז לכרש 𐡘 וטיב לבבנ
בדמיא זי יהבת לנ והא אלה תחמי ביתא זכ זי אנחנ זבנ לכ לעליה
לה בית שתבר לתחתיה לה תמי זי חנומ אלהא ושוק מלכא ביניהמ
מועה שמש לה אוצרא זי מלכא דבק לה למערב שמש /לה\ אגור
יהו /אלהא\ ושוק מלכא ביניהמ אנה בגזשת ואובל כל 𐡘𐡘 אנחנ זבנ ויהבנ
לכ ורחקנ מנה מנ יומא זנה ועד עלמנ אנת ענניה בר עזריה שליט
בביתא /זכ\ ובניכ מנ אחריכ ולמנ די צבית למנתנ אנחנ לא נכל נגרנכ דינ
ודבב בשמ ביתא זנה זי אנחנ זבנ ויהבנ לכ ורחקנ מנה ולא נכהל
נגרה לבר לכ וברה ולמנ זי צבית למנתנ הנ גרינכ דינ ודבב וגרינ
לבר בברה לכ ולמנ זי צבית למנתנ אנחנ ננתנ לכ כספ כרשנ 𐡜 כספ זוז
לעשרתא וביתא זילכ אמ וזי בניכ מנ אחריכ ולמנ זי צבית למנתנ ולא
יכהל בר וברה לנ יגרנכ זינ וזבב בשמ ביתא זנה זי תחמוהי כתבנ
מנעל הנ גרוכ וגרו לבר וברה לכ ינתנונ לכ כספ כרשנ 𐡜 כספ זוז ל 𐡛
וביתא זילכ אמ וזי בניכ מנ אחריכ והנ גבר אחרנ יגרנכ ויגרה
לבר וברה לכ אנחנ נקומ ונפצל וננתנ לכ בינ יומנ 𐡜 𐡛 והנ לא פצלנ
אנחנ ובנינ ננתנ לכ בית לדמות ביתכ ומשחתה ברמנ בר זי אפולי /זכר ונקבה\
או ברה /לה יתה\ ולא כהלנ פצלנ ננתנ לכ כספכ כרש 𐡘 שקלנ 𐡘𐡘𐡘 𐡘 ובנינא זי תבנה בה
וכל אשרנ זי יהכנ על ביתא זכ /כתב חגי בר שמעיה כפמ בגזשת ואבל ושהדי<א> בגו\ מתרדת בר מתריזנ שהד חי⸣רו⸢ בר אתרלי כספי
בית ו⸣יז⸢בל כספי שהד איסכ בר זמספ
ספר בי זי זבנ בגזשת ויבל לענניה לחנ ליה ביב
On the 7th of Elul, that is day 9 of the month of Payni, year 28 of Artaxerxes the king, said
Bagazushta son of Bazu, a Caspian of the detachment of Namasava, and lady Wb^y^l daughter of Shatibara, a Caspian of Syene of the detachment of Namasava,
all (told) 1 (ERASURE: 1) ^1 man^ lady to Ananiah son of Azariah, a servitor to YHW the God, saying: We sold and gave
you the house of ʾpwly son of Misdaya which is in Elephantine the fortress, whose walls are standing but (who)se courtyard
is (barren) land and not built; and windows are in it but beams it does not contain. We sold it to you and you gave
us its payment (in) silver, 1 karsh, 4 (ERASURE: [+]1) shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king, silver zuz to 1 karsh, and our heart was satisfied
with the payment which you gave us. And behold these are the boundaries of that house which we sold you: above
it is the house of Shatibara; below it is the town/way of Khnum the god and the street of the king is between them;
east of it the treasury of the king adjoins it; to the west ^of it^ is the Temple of
YHW ^the God^ and the street of the king is between them. I, Bagazushta and ʾwbl, all (told) 2, we sold and gave (it)
to you and withdrew from it from this day and forever. You, Ananiah son of Azariah, have right
to ^that^ house and (so do) your children after you and anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. We shall not be able to institute against you suit
or process in the name of this house which we sold and gave you and from which we withdrew. And (ERASURE : he) we shall not be able
to institute (suit) against son of yours or daughter or anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. If we institute against you suit or process or institute (suit)
against son in/with (SCRIBAL ERROR FOR: or) daughter of yours or anyone whom you desire to give (it) to, we shall give you silver, 20 karsh, silver zuz
to the ten, and the house is yours likewise and your children's after you and anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. And
son or daughter of ours shall (16) not (17) be able to institute against you suit or process in the name of this house whose boundaries are written
above. If they institute (suit) against you or institute (suit) against son or daughter of yours, they shall give you silver, 20 karsh, silver zuz to the 10,
and the house is yours likewise and your children's after you. And if another person institute (suit) against you or institute (suit)
against son or daughter of yours, we shall stand up and cleanse (it) and give (it) to you within 30 days. And if we do not cleanse (it),
we or our children shall give you a house in the likeness of your house and its measurements, unless a son of ^male or female^ of ʾpwly
or a daughter ^of his should come^ and we not be able to cleanse (it. Then) we shall give you your silver, 1 karsh, 4 shekels and (the value of) the building (improvements) which you will have built in it
and all the FITTINGS that will have gone into that house. \Haggai son of Shemaiah wrote at the instruction of Bagazushta and ʾbl./ (2nd hand) Mithradata son of Mithrayazna; (3rd hand) witness Ḥyḥ/Ḥyrw son of ʾtrly, a Caspian;
(4th hand) house of Vyzbl, a Caspian; (5th hand) witness Aisaka son of Zamaspa.
Document (sealing) of a house which Bagazushta and Ybl sold to Ananiah, a servitor to YH in Elephantine.
Text and Translation
Choose alternative texts and translations from the filter. Click individual words in a text for more details.
James Moore
James Moore
On the 7th of Elul, that is day 9 of the month of Payni, year 28 of Artaxerxes the king, said
Bagazushta son of Bazu, a Caspian of the detachment of Namasava, and lady Wb^y^l daughter of Šatibara, a Caspian of Syene of the detachment of Namasava,
total: 1 (ERASURE: 1) ^1 man^ lady to Ananiah son of Azariah, a servitor to YHW the God, saying: We sold and gave
you the house of ʾpwly son of Misdaya which is in Elephantine the fortress, whose walls are standing but (who)se courtyard
is (barren) land and not built; and windows are in it but beams it does not contain. We sold it to you and you gave
us its payment (in) silver, 1 karsh, 4 (ERASURE: [+]1) shekels by the stone(-weight)s of the king, silver zuz to 1 karsh, and our heart was satisfied
with the payment which you gave us. And behold these are the boundaries of that house which we sold you: above
it is the house of Shatibara; below it is the town/way of Khnum the god and the street of the king is between them;
east of it the treasury of the king adjoins it; to the west ^of it^ is the Temple of
YHW ^the God^ and the street of the king is between them. I, Bagazushta and ʾwbl, all (told) 2, we sold and gave (it)
to you and withdrew from it from this day and forever. You, Ananiah son of Azariah, have right
to ^that^ house and (so do) your children after you and anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. We shall not be able to institute against you suit
or process in the name of this house which we sold and gave you and from which we withdrew. And (ERASURE : he) we shall not be able
to institute (suit) against son of yours or daughter or anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. If we institute against you suit or process or institute (suit)
against son in/with (SCRIBAL ERROR FOR: or) daughter of yours or anyone whom you desire to give (it) to, we shall give you silver, 20 karsh, silver zuz
to the ten, and the house is yours likewise and your children's after you and anyone whom you desire to give (it) to. And
son or daughter of ours shall (16) not (17) be able to institute against you suit or process in the name of this house whose boundaries are written
above. If they institute (suit) against you or institute (suit) against son or daughter of yours, they shall give you silver, 20 karsh, silver zuz to the 10,
and the house is yours likewise and your children's after you. And if another person institute (suit) against you or institute (suit)
against son or daughter of yours, we shall stand up and cleanse (it) and give (it) to you within 30 days. And if we do not cleanse (it),
we or our children shall give you a house in the likeness of your house and its measurements, unless a son of ^male or female^ of ʾpwly
or a daughter ^of his should come^ and we not be able to cleanse (it. Then) we shall give you your silver, 1 karsh, 4 shekels and (the value of) the building (improvements) which you will have built in it
and all the FITTINGS that will have gone into that house. \Haggai son of Shemaiah wrote at the instruction of Bagazushta and ʾbl./ (2nd hand) Mithradata son of Mithrayazna; (3rd hand) witness Ḥyḥ/Ḥyrw son of ʾtrly, a Caspian;
(4th hand) house of Vyzbl, a Caspian; (5th hand) witness Aisaka son of Zamaspa.
Document (sealing) of a house which Bagazushta and Ybl sold to Ananiah, a servitor to YH in Elephantine.
Moore, James D.. 'Brooklyn Museum 47.218.95a-b.' DEAPS. 12 Dec, 2025. https://deaps.osu.edu/text_objects/11901. Accessed: 20 Jan, 2026.