“Localizing 4,000 Years of Cultural History. Texts and Scripts from Elephantine Island in Egypt. ERC Grant ID: 637692,” n.d. TBA.
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)
- Keywords
-
- Marriage Contract
- ספר אנתו זי כתב PN (Ancient)
- Language
- Aramaic
- Script
- Aramaic
- Find Type
- Unprovenanced: Explorer Aquisition
- Acquired
- Charles Wilbour [1893]
- 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, 2026-06-28
- Date (Other date in text)
- Egyptian 0.xi Dar 4 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Composition in text)
- Babylonian 0.vii Dar 4 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
- Date (Metadata)
- Gregorian 30-2.10.-420 [Persian, 5th cent. BCE]
General Notes
Height = 47.218.150 (68.7 cm) + 47.218.97 (11.2 cm)
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 Last updated 07 April, 2026 by James D. Moore
James Moore Last updated 07 April, 2026 by James D. 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: 29 Jun, 2026.