tombs and sell them as they please.^282 The Legal Text of Mes shows
that law courts acknowledged women’s rights to tenure of land, and
illustrates the ability of a woman to initiate a court case. Women
probably acquired property chiefly by inheritance but could extend
their holdings by purchase. The Wilbour Papyrus shows that women
also were liable to the same taxes and rent as men.^283 P. Cairo CG
58056 indicates that a woman could represent her husband in official
or financial matters.^284 Nevertheless, despite such clear evidence that
women enjoyed some legal and economic independence, Egyptian
society as a whole was basically patriarchal in structure and domi-
nated by men.^285
Since women had legal responsibilities, they also sometimes appear
as defendants in court regarding transactions which they had con-
cluded^286 or possible involvement in criminal activities. The wives of
the tomb robbers were brutally questioned. Their feet were twisted
or they were beaten with the stick. They were compelled to swear
an “oath by the lord” not to lie. Questioned as to how they came
to acquire such possessions as silver or slaves, the women deny all
knowledge of wrongdoing. As Johnson observes:(a) The women state that their husbands did not inform them of details
as to how they acquired the slaves.
(b) A wife of a gold-worker claims that she got the slave with money
earned from garden produce or weaving cloth.(^282) In a trial at Thebes, a soldier accuses a woman of using the property of
another lady to purchase two slaves. A tomb is said to belong to a woman (=
Gardiner, “Lawsuit.. .”). On women trafficking in slaves, see ibid., 140. In O. DeM
235, a woman successfully contends with three men concerning “the places” of her
husband (Allam, Hieratische Ostraka.. ., 109). See also Allam, “Familie.. .,” 27. On
women active in transactions and as sellers, McDowell, “Agricultural Activity...,”
- On women in the marketplace, see Eyre, “Market.. .,” and “Work.. .,” 200.
(^283) In P. Wilbour, about 10 percent of the land belongs to women (228 plots out
of a total of 2110); see Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 178. It should be emphasized
that it is by no means clear just what the amounts mentioned in P. Wilbour are—
taxes or yields—and to whom the amounts are to be given; see Vleeming, Papyrus
Reinhardt.. ., 73.
(^284) Allam, “Trois lettres.. .,” 22. Cf. Allam, “Implications.. .,” on a husband
consulting his wife.
(^285) Menu, “Business.. .,” 205. See further, Whale, Family.. ., 273, on the prac-
tical difficulties of a woman exercising her own will in economic and legal matters,
(^286) Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 176, 178, but cf. Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 35.
In O. Berlin 12630, a man seeks to recover from the wife a debt incurred by a
husband; see Allam, Hieratische Ostraka.. ., 35, 106, and Verfahrensrecht.. ., 22.
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