might donate land ( ̇nk) from his estates for a variety of reasons, for
example, to support a statue cult.^375 Soldiers would receive land in
return for military service, also a later Ptolemaic practice.^376
The soldiers might well have been able to lease or perhaps even
alienate some of their land so long as they were available for mili-
tary service.
Helck maintains that while in the Old and Middle Kingdoms we
hear only of “assigned” fields, towns, people, or herds, in the New
Kingdom fields given m ̇s.t, “in favor,” from the king are the true
and complete property of the new owner.^377
The impressive cadastral records or land surveys, such as the
Wilbour^378 or later Reinhardt^379 papyri, do not generally illuminate
the status of the individual named or the relationship between that
person and the field in question.^380
It is not clear how statistically significant private holdings were
in the New Kingdom. It may have been possible, for example, to
purchase land at Deir el-Medina, although the evidence is not very
plentiful.^381
Claims for the ownership of land might be documented over a
considerable period. In the Mes inscription, for example,^382 Mes him-
self lived during the reign of Ramesses II (1279–1213), but the key
ancestor is Neshi who, having fought with King Kamose (1557–1552)
against the Hyksos,^383 later received land. It is this allotment whiching that temple officials were responsible for lands and were expected to guaran-
tee a quota of grain production, using gangs of three men and one boy. The field
laborers were assigned to the official for this purpose (Eyre, “Peasants.. .,” 379).
On P. Bologna 1086, see Théodoridès, “Parler.. .,” 88–90. In the New Kingdom,
some portions of the Amun Domain were cultivated by foreigners or prisoners
(Kruchten, Horemheb.. ., 324).(^375) Hoverstreydt, “A Letter.. .,” 116. On temple land, Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte...,
239–43.
(^376) See, e.g., Lichtheim, AEL2, 67.
(^377) Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 235. See also Hoverstreydt, “A Letter.. .,” 120.
(^378) Katary, Land Tenure...
(^379) Vleeming, Papyrus Reinhardt.. ., 71–75. Cf. also Janssen, Communications.. ., 45.
(^380) Quirke, Review.. ., 243. See also Eyre, “Peasants.. .,” 371–72, 380–81;
Castle, “Shipping.. .,” 248; Kruchten, “Gestion.. .,” 523; Gasse, Données.. ., 38,
214–17; Katary, Land Tenure.. ., 16.
(^381) O. Gardiner 165 suggests that “fields could be bought by members of the
community” (McDowell, “Agricultural Activity...,” 197, 205).
(^382) Eyre, “Feudal Tenure.. .,” 116–17, 131–32. See also Katary, Land Tenure...,
220–22.
(^383) See Eyre, “Feudal Tenure.. .,” 116.
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