Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Calendars
- List of abbreviations
- Maps
- Chapter 1 Introduction and historical framework
- Chapter 2 The historical development of the form, content, and administration of legal documents
- Chapter 3 The languages of law
- Chapter 4 The family
- Chapter 5 Capital
- Chapter 6 Sale
- Chapter 7 Leases
- Chapter 8 Labor
- Chapter 9 Slavery in Greco-Roman Egypt
- Chapter 10 The judicial system in theory and practice
- Concordance
- Suggested reading for introductions to papyrology in English
- Glossary of technical terms
- Works cited
Chapter 4 - The family
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Calendars
- List of abbreviations
- Maps
- Chapter 1 Introduction and historical framework
- Chapter 2 The historical development of the form, content, and administration of legal documents
- Chapter 3 The languages of law
- Chapter 4 The family
- Chapter 5 Capital
- Chapter 6 Sale
- Chapter 7 Leases
- Chapter 8 Labor
- Chapter 9 Slavery in Greco-Roman Egypt
- Chapter 10 The judicial system in theory and practice
- Concordance
- Suggested reading for introductions to papyrology in English
- Glossary of technical terms
- Works cited
Summary
Introduction
The fact that papyrus documents are often associated with family archives shows us that the family was an important factor behind the production of private contracts. That is immediately clear in marriage contracts (4.1), for example, and in disputes over inherited property, as well as conflicts over broken marriage promises and outright resistance to an arranged marriage (10.5.4). Underlying the conveyance of property, wills, and often sales of property lay family relationships and their expectations. Among the strongest of these was the expectation that children would inherit the property of their parents.
In the previous chapter we have seen the extent to which the language of law was bound up with the various and diverse ethnic groups living in Egypt. One of the key issues in studying the papyri is the presence of Roman law found in the Egyptian documentation (3.3). Indeed Roman law had an important impact on family life, not only in the structure of particular texts such as wills but also in the realm of behavior. The reader may wish to start with 4.3 to gain a sense of the impact of Roman law on the family as it is reflected in the papyri.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab ConquestA Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary, pp. 145 - 225Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014