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5.3 Adoption
Adoption of children is attested, as is the self-sale “to act as eldest
son,” on the model of self-sales into slavery.^96 It is presumed that in
both cases the practice fulfilled the need to establish a line of suc-
cession to property, as well as to secure burial and maintain a pri-
vate mortuary endowment.- P I
6.1 Types of Property
Demotic law made the distinction between real and movable property.
Real property consisted of land, houses, and gardens/orchards; mov-
able property consisted of priestly offices, income from endowments/
mummies^97 (choachytes), and animals. Both movable and immovable
property could be divided into shares. In both cases, it was often the
division of income rather than a physical division which was effected.6.2 Land Tenure
The private holding of land, the extent of which is still debated,
existed in all periods of ancient Egyptian history. The king may have
retained nominal control of all land, but this is never explicitly
expressed in the land-sale documents and is mentioned only in the
context of state harvest tax in leases. Arguments about ownership
and amount of land based on the written evidence are misleading
since many of the conveyance records within a family tend to record
special cases rather than the norm. The general assumption of the
private ownership of real property is indicated in the general phrase
in marriage agreements.^98 Most plots in conveyances were small.(^96) Self sale as eldest son: P. Louvre 7832 (Thebes, 539 B.C.E.), published by
Donker van Heel, Abnormal Hieratic.. ., text 13. For adoption, see Allam, “Papyrus
Turin 2021.”
(^97) The mummification of animals and humans formed an important source of
income for priests in charge of funerary rituals. See Pestman, Archive of the Theban
Choachytes...
(^98) The husband pledges the security of all of his property to his wife in order
to guarantee the eldest son as heir. He promises “everything I possess and shall
acquire (nty nb nty mtw=y ̇n'n3 nty fiw=y r dfi.t ¢pr.w), or “everything that I pos-
sess and that I shall acquire in the field, in the temple domain and in the town:
house, waste land, arable land, wall?, garden, male and female slave, every [office],
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