A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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concerning the “gift to a wife” (“p n ̇m.t) is drawn up.^84 Stage two

was the entrance of the woman into the house of the husband.

5.1.2.1 Contractual Relationship

The basic concept in marriage law, as in every other area of the

law, is that acknowledgement of receipt of a purchase price, whether

nominal or real, had to occur before legal ownership passed to the

purchaser.^85 The Demotic marriage “contracts” specify two basic

types of arrangement between the man and woman.^86 These were

very often drawn up some time after the marriage and served to

confirm the wife’s future interest on behalf of the children produced

by the union. In type 1, a man provides, nominally, a gift to the

woman and promises to her an annual maintenance.^87 In the sec-

ond type of marriage arrangement, the woman provides a “gift” to

the husband in exchange for his promise to provide an annual main-

tenance.^88 In this arrangement, two types of texts are needed: the

first is a “document concerning money” (s§[n] ≈b3 ̇≈) in which the

woman’s gift to the husband is recorded, and the second is an

“endowment deed” (s§n s'n¢) which records the annuity guaranteed

by the husband. In most cases, it is the husband who makes the

declaration to the wife.^89

5.1.3 Divorce^90

5.1.3.1 Form

In theory, either party to a marriage could dissolve the marriage by

simple declaration or by leaving. In practice, it was the woman who

normally left. The terms used were “expulsion” or “repudiation”

(^84) It is likely that by the Ptolemaic period this “gift” was a legal fiction, and no
actual sum of money changed hands.
(^85) The term used is “notwendige Entgeltlichkeit.” For the literature, see Mélèze-
Modrzejewski, “Bibliographie.. .,” 107.
(^86) The distinctions between these types of agreements may be based solely on
regional traditions in Egypt, that is, between the Fayyum and the Nile Valley.
Demotic texts from the Delta have only recently been discovered. See Chauveau
and Devauchelle, “Rapport...”
(^87) The “gift” is referred to as the “wife’s gift,” “p n ̇m.tand the document which
records this type of arrangement is known as the “woman’s document,” s§n s ̇m.t.
(^88) This “gift” was the dowry provided by the father of the bride and was termed
the “money to become a wife” ( ̇≈n fir ̇m.t). In one unusual case from Early
Demotic (Persian period) described by Martin, “ ‘Marriage Contract’ from Saqqara,”
this phrase was used to describe the gift from husband to wife.
(^89) For the three exceptions, see Martin, “ ‘Marriage Contract’ from Saqqara,”
197, n. g.
(^90) Pestman, Marriage.. ., 58–79.
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