Brooklyn Museum: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art: Aramaic Adoption Contract

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Aramaic Adoption Contract

This document originates in the archive of Ananiah and Tamut, members of a Jewish family living on Elephantine Island in the fifth century B.C.. This contract allows a man named Uriah to adopt a boy named Jedaniah and thus free him from slavery. Adoption was one legal method used to free slaves in ancient Egypt.

Culture: Aramaic
Medium: Papyrus, ink
Place Found: Elephantine Island, Egypt
Dates: October 22, 416 B.C.E.
Period: Persian Period
Dimensions: a: Small Box of Fragments: 1 3/4 x 4 1/16 x 4 1/16 in. (4.5 x 10.3 x 10.3 cm) b: Glass: 15 1/2 x 17 1/16 in. (39.3 x 43.3 cm) b: Object: 11 5/8 x 13 3/4 in. (29.5 x 35 cm)
Collections: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art
Museum Location: This item is on view in Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity, 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Accession Number: 47.218.96a-b
Credit Line: Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour
Image: Overall, 47.218.96_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006