A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

from his brother, and this before it goes to their children.^168 There

is some indication for a widow’s guardianship of her young children.^169

4.4 Slavery^170

4.4.1 Terminology and Definition

4.4.1.1 The later common word for “slave,” ̇m, which originally

meant “body,” hardly occurs in the indisputable sense of “slave” in

the Old and Middle Kingdoms.^171 There is evidence for the exis-

tence of classes with limited freedom of activity, and persons pos-

sessing the status of alienable property.^172 In P. Brooklyn 35.1446 a

group of slaves (?) seems to be transferred to a woman,^173 while the

Kahun papyri also suggest that slaves could be bought or inher-

ited.^174 One document (P. Kahun 1.2) seems to deal with the “trans-

fer of servants between brothers.”^175

4.4.1.2 Individuals, mortuary foundations, and religious institutions,

could possess mry.t, “serfs,” acquired by bequest or transaction. They

appear in lists together with cattle and offices. One man declares,

for example: “I have been one who is clever and one who controls

his mr.tuntil the day comes wherein it is well with me (scil. “die”).

I have given them to my son in a conveyance (fimy.t-pr).”^176

4.4.1.3 P. Brooklyn 35.1446 mentions a “Labor-Bureau,” literally,

“an Office of Giving People” (¢3 n dd-rm∆).^177 Hayes suggests that the

“Labor-Bureau” probably co-operated with the prison administration

(¢nr.t wr) and the Office of Fields or Agricultural Office.^178 This same

text contains a list of seventy-six residents, mostly with Asiatic names,

(^168) Ibid.
(^169) Franke, Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen.. ., 269.
(^170) Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 163. See also Helck, “Sklaven,” col. 984; Hayes,
Papyrus.. ., 134.
(^171) Cf. Bakir, Slavery.. ., 30. See, too, Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 154–55.
(^172) Loprieno, “Slaves,” 196.
(^173) Pestman, Marriage.. ., 85. This is Text verso B of P. Brooklyn 35.1446 (Hayes,
Papyrus.. ., 116), discussed in Théodoridès, “Rapport.. .,” 72.
(^174) Griffith, Kahun.. ., pls. 12 and 13; Helck, “Sklaven,” col. 984.
(^175) Quirke, Administration.. ., 168.
(^176) Bakir, Slavery.. ., 22.
(^177) Quirke, Administration.. ., 112–16. See also Franke, “Beititel.. .,” 20.
(^178) Hayes, Papyrus.. ., 136–37.
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