Brooklyn Museum 47.218.150 + 47.218.97 + 47.218.155 frags.
Document of Wifehood
TAD B.3.08
Metadata
- Collection
- Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, USA | Brook (Public)
- Genres
-
- Marriage Contract
- ספר אנתו זי כתב PN (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
- Text Direction Side 2
- parallel (∥) to the material's lines
- Updated by
- James D. Moore, 2026-01-18
- Date (Metadata)
- Gregorian 30-2.10.-420 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Composition in text)
- Babylonian 0.vii Dar 4 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Other date in text)
- Egyptian 0.xi Dar 4 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- References
-
- Lepper, Verena M. et al. . ERC 308116.
- Porten, Bezalel and Yardeni, Ada 1986. TAD B.03.08.
General Notes
Height = 47.218.150 (68.7 cm) + 47.218.97 (11.2 cm)
“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.
Text and Translation
Choose alternative texts and translations from the filter. Click individual words in a text for more details.
James Moore
James Moore
In the month of Tishri, that is Epiph, [y]ear [4] of Darius the [king, then] in Fort Elephantine, said ˁAnanî son of Ḥaggay,
an Aramean of Fort Elephantine [of] the detachment of [ˀIddin]nabû, to Zakkûr son of Me[šullam, an Ara]mean of Syene of the same detachment, saying:
I came ⸢to y⸣[ou in] your [hou]se and asked from you for the lady named Yahôyišmaˁ, your sister, for wifehood and you gave her
to me. She is my wife and I am [her] husband from this day until forever. And I gave to you (m.s.) the mohar of your sister Yahôyišm\aˁ/,
silver, [1] kar[š]. It came into you [and] your [heart was satis]fied herein. Yahôyišmaˁ your sister brought to me into my house: jewelry
of silver two karš, 2 ⸢še⸣[qe]⸢ls⸣, 5 ḥallûrs; 1 [n]ew garment of wool, at 7 cubits, 3 handbreadths (by a) width of
4 cubits, 2 q(uarters) equal (in) silver, 1 karš, 2 šeqels; 1 new wool gemîd-garment, at 6 cubits by 4, striped (garment)
han[d]-dyed, (at) 1 handbreadth on each edge, equal (in) silver (to) 1 karš; 1 new fringed(?) garment, [at] 6 cubits by 4 (with) a value of silver
(at) 7 shekels, [1] new woo[l] shawl, at 6 cubits by ⸢5⸣, 2 q(uarters), [striped (garment) hand-dyed (at)]
2 fingerbreadths on each edge, equal (in) silver 8 še[qe]ls; [1] worn out garme[nt], equal [(in) silver (to) 1 šeqel, 20 ḥallûrs];
1 new linen šnṭˀ-garment, length of [6 cubits by 4], equal (in) silver (to) [1] šeq[el; 1 new linen (garment)],
,length 6 cubits by 3, equal (in) silv[er] (to) 1 [šeqel]; 1 worn linen (garment) and [... a va]lue of silver, 1 šeqel.
Total garments of wool and linen: 12. Bronze vessels: 1 mirror (with) a valu[e] (of) silv[er] (at) 1 [šeqel], 1 bronze tmsˀ-bowl (with)
a value of silver (at) 1 šeqel, 10 ḥ(allûrs), 1 bronze cup (with) a value of silver (at) [1] šeqel, [10 ḥ(allûrs), 1] cup (with) a value] of silver (at) 20 ḥallûrs,
1 jug (with) a value of silver (at) 20 ḥ(allûrs). Total bronze \⸢v⸣essel[s]/: [5. Total garments and br]onz[e vessels] and the jew[e]lry and the mohar:
silver seven karš, that is [7], eight [še]qe[l]s, that is 8, 5 ḥallûrs by the stone(-weight)s of
the king, silver-rate zuz to the ten. 1 qpp-chest of palm-leaves under her garments; 1 new papyrus-reed T◦[...] on it/her
stone alabaster vials ⸢6⸣ [◦(◦)]◦MYN, 2 jugs; 2 ⸢standing⸣ trays(?) herein: 1 {[◦(◦)]◦DH | [◦(◦)]◦RH}, 1 standing pomegranate-container,
2 [...] saucers to ladle out oil, 2 of wood, 1 of stone. Total: 5. 1 wooden qp-chest for her beads,
leather Persian sandals, oil--2 [hand]⸢fuls⸣, 4 olive oil--4 handfuls, ba[l]sam oil--1 handful, caster oil--
5 handfuls. Should tomorrow or another day, ˁAnanyah stand up in an assembly and say: “I hated my wife Yahôyišmaˁ;
she shall not be to me a wife,” the silver of a ha[t]er (fem.) / hatred is on his head. All that she brought in into his house he shall give to her — her jewelry
and her garments, (with) a value of silver (at) seven karš, [eight] š[eqels, ]⸢5⸣ [ḥallûrs], and the rest of the goods which are written.
He shall give to her on 1 day in 1 hand [and] she may go [away from him] wher[ever] she [desires]. And if Yahôyišm[aˁ] should hate her husband
ˁAnanyah and say to him: “I hated you; I will not be to you (m.s.) a wife,” the silver of a hater (fem.) / hatred is on her head. Her mohar will be lost.
She shall return to/ place on the scale and give her husband ˁAnanyah silver, 7 šeqels, [2] q(uarters), and go out from him with the rest of
her jewelry, her goods, and her property, [(with) a value of silver (at) 6 karš, ]⸢8⸣ [šeqels], 5 ḥ(allûrs), and the rest of her goods
which are written (above). He shall give her on [1] da[y] in 1 hand, and she may go to her father's house. And i[f] ˁAnanyah should die (29) without (28) a male (29) or female (28) child,
by [Ya]hô[yi]šmaˁ his wife, Yahôyišmaˁ is his legatee concerning his house, his goods,
his property, [and his jewelry and every]thing [which] h[e has]. And whoever shall arise against [Yahôyišmaˁ] to expel her from the house
[of ˁA]nan[yah, and his] good[s, ] his [property,] and all that [h]e has [shall g]ive he[r the pe]nalty(-payment) of silver,
twenty karš by the stone(-weight)s of the king, silver 2 q(uarters) to (the) 10, and do [to her] the law of this document.(There is) no lawsuit.
But Yahô[yišmaˁ] does not have right [to] ⸢espouse to⸣ another husband be[sides] ˁAnanî. And if she does thus,
a hater (fem.) / hatred is it/she. They shall do to her [the law of ha]tred. And if [Yahôyišmaˁ] should die (35) with (34) out a male or female child,
by ˁAnanî, [her] husba[nd, it is ˁAnanî her husband (who)] shall inherit from her her [jew]l[ery,] her goods, her property, and all
that she has. Moreover, [ˁAnanî shall] n[ot be able to] take anoth[er] woman [besides Yahôyišmaˁ]
for himself for wifehood. If he does [thus, {it is hatred | he is a hater}. H]e [shall d]o to her [the la]w of [ha]tred. And moreover,
ˁAnanyah (37) will not be able. (38) And he shall not engage in law [(with) one] or two of his colleagues' wives as (with) Yahôyišmaˁ his wife. And if
he does not do thus, hatred [it is]. He shall do to her the law of hatred. And moreover, Yahôyišmaˁ shall not be able.
And she shall not engage in law with one or [t]wo as (with) ˁAnanyah her husband. And if she does not do as (with) him, hatr(ed) (it) is. Moreover,
Zakkûr shall (40) not (41) be able to say to his sist[er]: “These go[o]ds in love I gave to Yahôyišmaˁ. Now, I desire
to reclaim them.” If he says thus, he shall not be heard; he is guilty. Wrote Maˁûzyah son of Natan
this (42) document (43) at the instruction of ˁAnanyah son of Haggay [and] Zakkûr son of Mešullam. And the witnesses herein: Ḥaggay son of Šemayah; Yislaḥ son of
Gaddûl; [PN son of PN]; Ḥaggay son of ˀAṣṣûl; Menaḥem son of ˁAzaryah; Yedanyah son of Gemaryah
Document of wifehood which ˁAnanyah son of Mešullam wrote for Yahôyišmaˁ.
Moore, James D.. 'Brooklyn Museum 47.218.150 + 47.218.97 + 47.218.155 frags..' DEAPS. 12 Dec, 2025. https://deaps.osu.edu/text_objects/11906. Accessed: 20 Jan, 2026.