5.1.5 Remarriage
In several instances, men who have remarried seem to have gone
to court in order to regulate matters of inheritance concerning chil-
dren of the first wife.^355 In the Letter to the Dead P. Leiden I 371,
the man observes that he has not even remarried although a man
in his position should have done so.^3565.1.6 Polygamy
While polygamy was not perhaps impossible, monogamy seems to
have been the rule (except for the pharaohs themselves).^357 The wife
of a tomb robber declares: “I am one of four wives, two being dead
and another still alive.”^358 Concubines are attested in the documen-
tation, although not abundantly.^3595.2 Children^360
The father seems to have controlled the family estate until death,
while the mother may have had such authority only until her chil-
dren came of age. The age of majority is not certainly known.^361
A father could theoretically disinherit a son because of disobedi-
ence or filial neglect.
The Deir el-Medina ostraca well document intrafamilial disputes.
In O. Cairo 25725 + O. Louvre E. 3259, a man accuses his daugh-
ter of not returning a borrowed piece of clothing and of having sold
another piece of clothing for him without giving to him the full
payment.^362
There are also cases in which a father displays a sense of respon-
sibility towards family members. In P. Turin 1880 a man swears not(^355) Allam, “Obligations.. .,” 96.
(^356) Wente, Letters.. ., 217. Cf. the literary topos of the unloving stepmother in
Lichtheim, AEL2, 201.
(^357) But see Spalinger, “Will of Senimose.. .,” 637–38.
(^358) See Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 215. See also Allam, “Familie (Struktur),”
col. 106; Eyre, “Adoption.. .,” 212; Amir, “Monogamy.. .,” 105; Whale, Family...,
247.
(^359) Lorton, “Legal and Social Institutions.. .,” 349. Compare also Théodoridès,
“Dénonciation.. .,” 46. On subordinate wives, slave women who bear children for
a childless couple, see Eyre, “Adoption.. .,” 211–12. Cf. Helck, “Sklaven,” col. 985.
(^360) See Théodoridès, “L’enfant.. .” In general, see now Feucht, Das Kind im alten
Ägypten.
(^361) See Janssen, Growing Up.. ., 99; Théodoridès, “L’Enfant.. .,” 91–93.
(^362) Allam, Hieratische Ostraka.. ., 68–69.
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