7.1 Sale
The basic components of sales documents are the transfer of the
object, the reception of the price, and the guarantee against future
liabilities.^440 The fimy.t-pr or “transfer-document,” well attested for the
Old and Middle Kingdoms, is rarer in the New Kingdom.^441 There are,
however, numerous examples of this genre. The transaction recorded
in the Donation Stela of Ahmose-Nefertari involves a fimy.t-pr, although
the precise nature of that inscription is obscure.^442 O. DeM 108 is
an unusual example of a fimy.t-pr document made by a man on behalf
of his children (donatio in vivos).^443 The Stèle juridique, possibly a fictitious
sale, is another example of the fimy.t-prdocument.^444 The ultimate
purpose of that text was possibly to confirm the inheritance.^4457.1.1 P. Berlin 9784 (reign of Akhenaten) contains possibly the most
ancient Egyptian land sale.^446 The seller states: “Let there be given
to me a cow as the price of 3 acres of field.”^447 The same papyrus
contains the apparent lease (or sale of labor) of a slave woman. In
connection with that transaction there are phrases confirming receipt
of compensation such as, “I am fully and completely paid with the
price of [my] female slave,” which occur also in later sale papyri.^448
Important also is the promissory oath: “As Amun endures, so the
Prince endures! If the two days are hot which I have given to you(^440) Malinine, “Notes juridiques.. .,” 105–6. On Seidl’s principle of “notwendige
Entgeltlichkeit,” i.e., no title passes until “corresponding compensation” is given, see
Pestman, Marriage.. ., 18.
(^441) Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 180–83; Menu, “La Stèle.. .,” 91–93, and
Recherches.. ., 200–15.
(^442) Gitton, “La résiliation.. .,” 73, 79, 87; Harari, “Capacité.. .,” 43; Gitton,
“La résiliation.. .”; Menu, “La Stèle...”
(^443) Allam, Hieratische Ostraka.. ., 89–91, and Verfahrensrecht.. ., 20. A fimy.t-pr of
Pharaoh Seti I is inscribed at Wadi Mia; see Théodoridès, “Mettre.. .,” 402. See
further the discussion of the fimy.t-prin Spalinger, “Will of Senimose.. .,” 632, and
Janssen and Pestman, “Bulaq X.. .,” 150–51.
(^444) Gitton, “La résiliation.. .,” 68. See Allam, “Zwei Schlussklauseln.. .,” 19. See
also Spalinger, “Stèle juridique,” cols. 6–8; Ryholt, Political.. ., 234; Van den Boorn,
Vizier..., 182–83; Théodoridès, “Mise.. .,” 44.
(^445) Spalinger, “Will of Senimose.. .,” 645–46.
(^446) See Allam, “Publizität.. .,” 140. This document is not a fimy.t-pr; see Anagnostou-
Canas, “Colonisation.. .,” 362; Théodoridès, “Procès relatif.. .,” 61ff.
(^447) Gardiner, “Four Papyri.. .,” 31.
(^448) Ibid., 32; the text contains a clear instance of fin, meaning “to buy” (34).
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