their daughter, who has acted as a “staffof old age” (for the wife
and mother).6.3.8 Texts occasionally illuminate the mechanisms of land trans-
fer. In a letter from the Late Egyptian Miscellanies, the chief archivist
of the Treasury of the Pharaoh gives orders to his subordinates to
transfer several fields from the royal domain to a certain stallmas-
ter. He also instructs them: “Let us bring in a (special) document,
containing a copy of everything which you have done, and this
should be preserved in writing in the office of the Granary of the
Pharaoh.”^435
P. Turin cat. 2070/154 II, lines 1–9 is apparently an inventory
of property, the items being registered with a view to a division.^436- C
The economic conditions of the New Kingdom were rather more
conducive to the use of written contracts than earlier times.^437
Numerous contracts or written agreements between parties survive
from the New Kingdom. Unfortunately, even well-preserved texts
sometimes pose almost insurmountable obstacles, obscuring the legal
relationship of the parties to each other or the legal framework in
which the transaction is conducted.^438
There are provisions or contractual oaths regarding future per-
formance, with a penalty of (usually) double for breach. The penal-
ties for nonperformance may also include a physical punishment.^439165; Théodoridès, “La Stèle juridique d’Amarah”; McDowell, “Legal Aspects...,”
220–21.(^435) Caminos, Late-Egyptian Miscellanies.. ., 326.
(^436) Harari, “Capacité.. .,” 47–48.
(^437) Warburton, Economy.. .; Janssen, “Economic History.. .”, and “Gift-giving.. .”;
Eyre, “Market.. .”; Eichler, “Polyani.. .,” 27; Gutgesell, “Struktur.. .”; Helck,
Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 259–60; Römer, “Der Handel.. .”; Vittmann, Elephantine...,
48; Castle, “Shipping.. .,” 250–53, 270.
(^438) See the example of O. DeM 433, discussed by McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 7–8,
and Eyre, “Work.. .,” 199, 200.
(^439) Lurje, Studien.. ., 164–66.
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