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Tamet (EPEB41:36–37). Violation by either of their pledge resulted
in appropriate penalty or compensation. Unique is the prohibition
upon Jehoishma to another husband. We assume this would
occur in case of Anani’s extended absence (EPEB41:33–34 and n.
47). Finally, there is the prohibition against either party denying the
other “the law of one or two of his/her colleagues’ wives/(husbands),”
a euphemism for conjugal rights (EPEB41:37–40). Violation of these
provisions resulted in invocation of the “law of hatred.”- P I
An archival approach to the study of legal documents allows a three-
dimensional view, enabling us to understand a particular transaction
as part of an ongoing development. This is particularly true with
regards to the disposition of a house. When a house was sold, the
external endorsement read, “Document of a house which PN sold
(to PN)” (EPEB37:25, 45:35); when any part of it was bequeathed,
the endorsement read, “Document of a house which PN wrote for
PN” (EPE B38:25, 43:27, 44:21). Thus we may consider sales and
bequests as two aspects of conveyance.6.1 Considered archivally, the house of one "pwlywas sold by Baga-
zushta and his wife Yblto the Temple official Ananiah in 437 (EPE
B37). Three years later, in 434, a room in that house was bequeathed
by Ananiah to his Egyptian wife Tamet (EPE B38). Three months
prior to the marriage of his daughter Jehoishma in 420, Anani gave
her a room as a life estate of usufruct (EPEB40). In 404, he converted
his gift to a bequest in contemplation of death (EPEB43). Less than
two years later, in 402, he further modified it so that it figured as
a dowry addendum and took effect immediately (EPEB44). Before
year’s end, Anani and Tamet sold the remaining portion of their
house to their son-in-law, also named Anani (EPEB45).6.2 Sales were consummated in exchange for consideration. Anani
paid Bagazushta fourteen shekels (EPEB37:5–6), and son-in-law
Anani paid his in-laws thirteen shekels (EPE B45:5). Whether this
was true value is uncertain, because the house was probably held
by the sellers in adverse condition (EPE B37, n. 1). Moreover, in
446, Mahseiah gave his daughter Mibtahiah a house in exchange
for fifty shekels’ worth of goods she had given him earlier (EPEwestbrook_f24_863-881 8/27/03 1:35 PM Page 877