- C
The term ¢tmis used for “contract” (lit. “what has been sealed”).^296
7.1 Sale and Transfer Documents
Despite the rarity of true sale documents, some scholars do believe
that already in the Old Kingdom there was a standard sale contract
in use.^297 The main Egyptian instrument of transfer in the Old and
Middle Kingdoms was the fimy.t-pr, literally, “what-is-in-the-house
(document),”^298 but these are not apparently instruments of sale in
the Old Kingdom. Johnson defines the fimyet-pras “(a document) used
to transfer property to someone other thanthe person(s) who would
inherit said property if the owner died intestate (i.e., without a will).”^299
The fimy.t-pris mentioned already in Metjen (Urk. 1, 2/10), where a
woman has made one on behalf of her grandchildren concerning
fifty arouras of land.^300 Théodoridès observes that this type of docu-
ment was in the Old Kingdom a deed of transfer by gift but came
in the Middle Kingdom to refer to all types of conveyances (i.e.,
exchange for money).^301 Already in the Old Kingdom there exist
property transfers, deeds of conveyance, implying that people could
dispose of their property as they wished. The state could apparently
confirm such transfers through registration and the depositing of
copies.^302(^296) See Boochs, “¢tm.” On “sales,” see Pirenne, Histoire.. ., 2, 293–97; Goedicke,
Rechtsinschriften.. ., 202–3; Müller-Wöllerman, “Warenaustausch.. .,” 148–50. On
sale transactions, see Harari, “Exchange.. .” Pestman, Marriage.. ., 18, defines Seidl’s
principle of notwendige Entgeltlichkeit, prominent in discussions of Egyptian sale trans-
actions, as the doctrine that “no title can pass to another without a corresponding
consideration being given.” On contracts, see Goedicke, Rechtsinschriften.. ., 197.
(^297) Römer, “Der Handel.. .,” 258.
(^298) Théodoridès, “Concept of Law.. .,” 304–6. On the fimy.t-pras a “unilateral”
contract, which differs from the format used in a true sale, see Théodoridès,
“Contrat.. .,” 373, and 393 for a concise statement on the fimy.t-pr. See also Mrsich,
Untersuchungen.. .; idem, “Gehört”; Harari and Menu, “Notions.. .,” 145.
(^299) Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 177.
(^300) Gödecken, Meten.. ., 211–18.
(^301) See Théodoridès, “Concept of Law.. .,” 304. Seidl, Einführung.. ., 47, seems
to state that there were two ways of alienating property: “through the fimyet-pror
through sale.” See also Seidl, Einführung, 61. On the fimy.t-pr, see now Logan, “The
fimy.t-pr Document...”
(^302) Theodorides, “The state guaranteed the execution of deeds by conveyance by
registering them, as is shown for example by the document called ‘the contract for
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