By Jennifer Cromwell Families in late antique Egypt regularly fought over property rights. At least, that’s the impression given by the textual record from some villages, among which a common category of legal documents is those that record settlements of disputes. It is not always clear, though, if the disputes were hostile or simply thatContinue reading “Settling Disputes, Casting Lots”
Tag Archives: family
Struggling to Provide
Jennifer Cromwell In early December, one year in the seventh century, a man called Damianos from the Fayum asked for a cash loan and was given it from another man, Shenoute. Short loan contracts such as this one are pretty common, although the amount and type of details provided vary from case to case. WhatContinue reading “Struggling to Provide”
An Army Family at a Time of Revolt
Jennifer Cromwell In 297 CE, the usurper Lucius Domitius Domitianus led a revolt against the emperor Diocletian, proclaiming himself emperor and ruling Egypt for almost a year. From this same time survives an archive from an army family, consisting of nine letters written on papyrus. All nine texts were found at the village Philadelphia inContinue reading “An Army Family at a Time of Revolt”
A Coptic Mother-in-Law’s Curse
Ágnes Mihálykó Adam and Eve were the luckiest couple in the world: neither of them had a mother-in-law! Many of us would heartily agree with this joke – not just in our times, but also in antiquity. Yet, among the many harpies of mother-in-laws, few are as mean as the unnamed Coptic woman who castContinue reading “A Coptic Mother-in-Law’s Curse”
A Brief Account of Marriage
Jennifer Cromwell Marriage in Egyptian villages was a pretty informal affair. Few legal documents were written concerning marriage, and few texts discuss particulars – unless something goes wrong. The most important aspect of marriage was cohabitation. Early periods of Egyptian history refer to the entering and leaving of houses, while Coptic texts typically refer to spousesContinue reading “A Brief Account of Marriage”
“If God saves him from death”: Donation of a boy to a Coptic monastery
Jennifer Cromwell On the 29 August 766 CE, a woman named Tachel daughter of Sophia from Luxor (ancient Apê) donated her son Athanasius to a local monastery, the monastery of Apa Phoibammon at Deir el-Bahri. “In this current 5th indiction year, an infant boy was born to me, the woman and free person Tachel, inContinue reading ““If God saves him from death”: Donation of a boy to a Coptic monastery”
Potential Paternity Problem
Jennifer Cromwell Where in the ancient world could you turn when you had a serious family scandal to talk about? Well, in western Thebes in the early 7th century, one option was to write to local church figures. A papyrus preserves a letter from a man, seeking advice about another man’s paternity problem. The beginningContinue reading “Potential Paternity Problem”
Papyrus Stories 