4.4.4 Treatment
Bakir has suggested that female slaves could be shorn.^188 An escaped
slave seems to have been captured and condemned to death in a
court.^189 Slaves or servants could be trained in professions, such as
the scribal art.^1904.4.5 Termination
According to one view, P. Berlin 10470 may document emancipa-
tion.^191 The woman mentioned in that text had belonged to a col-
lective (≈.t = “serfs” or “tenants”?) in Elephantine. Her owners are
transferring the woman to the town. Helck thought that she is to
marry one member of the collective, and therefore must be declared
a “citizen” (lit., “a living-one-of-the-town,” 'n¢.t n.t nw.t), that is,
“free,” in a rather complicated court case. This view receives little
support from the text itself. There does, however, seem to be a
change in ownership and perhaps status, all occurring due to the
petition of a man. Significantly, the woman appears to have been
kept informed of every step in the process, even when still a slave
or servant.^192- F
The legal interconnectedness of families is illustrated by the joint
responsibility of the family for individuals fleeing from corvée labor.^1935.1 Marriage
5.1.1 Legal Nature and Conditions
No marriage contracts or agreements are known from the Middle
Kingdom.The very word for a “wife” is not certain; some propose
that ̇bs.wt(lit., “she-who-is-covered” or “clothed female”) may mean
“wife” in the early Middle Kingdom.^194 The common term nb.t-pr(^188) Bakir, Slavery, 68.
(^189) Helck, “Sklaven,” col. 984, quoting Kahun XII.1, 16–40 (Griffith, Kahun, 79).
(^190) Kahun, pl. 35, 10–13, Griffith, Kahun, 79, quoted in Helck, “Sklaven,” col.
- See also Loprieno, “Slaves,” 200.
(^191) Smither, “Report.. .,” 31; cf. Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 154; Quirke, Administration,
203–7; Vittmann, “Hieratic Texts,” 35–40.
(^192) Cf. Loprieno, “Slaves,” 196.
(^193) Allam, “Obligations.. .,” 90.
(^194) Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 217. See also Ward, “Reflections.. .,” 73, and
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