These documents were written for an important family of funerary officials in Memphis, whose activities can be tracked across many generations. These two documents on their own make it possible to construct an extensive family tree. For a discussion of the family and its documents, see D. Thompson, "Memphis under the Ptolemies", pp. 161-165 & app. B-C ( Google Books ).
A (pictured below) is one of the longest demotic contracts ever found; it is 3.7m long, and the text is written in 13 lines. Only the start and the finish of the text are translated here, which will give some idea of its repetitive character. There is a French translation of the entire document by F. de Cenival, "Un acte de renonciation consécutif à un partage de revenus liturgiques memphites" ( BIFAO 71 ).
[A] In year 8, the 4th month of the peret season {Pharmouthi}, of king Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy and of Arsinoē, the gods Philopatores; when the priest of Alexander and of the gods Adelphoi of the gods Euergetai, of the gods Philopatores and of king Ptolemy, the master of trophies (?), was Demetrios son of Sitalkes; and Areia, daughter of Diogenes, was athlophoros of Berenike Euergetis; and Nesias, daughter of Apelles, was kanephoros of Arsinoē Philadelphos; and Eirene, daughter of Ptolemy, was priestess of Arsinoē Philopator.
The chancellor of the god, Imhotep, son of Ptahmaakheru, whose mother is Tawe, has declared to the lady Shemti, daughter of Tchanakawenimu, whose mother is Tawe, his half-sister:
I am far from you with regard to your third of the three funerary monuments of the [choachyte] Pa-... , son of Hepmen, the father of the mother of the father of your mother, who is also my mother,
and your quarter of the enclosure which is at their entrance and which forms their eastern boundary,
and your quarter of the three storerooms built in this enclosure, located on the necropolis of Memphis, of which I own a quarter,
and your third of the outhouse of the aforementioned enclosures, which forms their eastern boundary, of which I own a third,
forming part of all the property concerning which the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, whose mother is Shemti, my mother, your mother, made me a deed of conveyance in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king, while you made a deed of addition on the document in question, and I have rights over you by virtue of the act of addition that you made on the document in question and by virtue of its legal content. Adjacent to the property are: to the south the funerary monument of the divine father Imhotep, son of Nesdenitptah; to the north the funerary monument of Padiusir, son of Iahmes; to the west the mountain; to the east the . . . of Imhotep, son of Ptah, [the] great [god];
and your share of a third of the income from the endowment fund of the choachyte Pa- ... , son of Hepmen, the father of the mother of the father of your mother, who is also my mother, named above, who is in charge (?) of the necropolis of Memphis. Their enumeration:
one-third of the revenues of the revenue-villages of the inhabitants of the [Sanctuary] of the Crocodile's Tail and of the "Northern Guard," which makes two villages, in the district of Wenkhem
[2] [and your] third of the wab priests of Thoth, the great god, and of the scribes of the temple (?) . . ., and (?) of the temple of the holy place of Thoth, and of the Akhi-of-the-birth-of-Thoth-the-ibis, the (?) . . ., which are in the two aforementioned villages;
and your third of the servants of the ibises, and of the servants of the falcon;
and your third of their soldiers, and of their peasants,
and your third of their ....., of their merchants,
and your third of their singers, of their dancers, and of their Anubis men,
and your third of the families (?) of all the inhabitants of the two aforementioned villages,
and your third of all the people who will be added to them,
and your third of all the people and all the goods who will come in their name,
and your third of their husbands and wives, of their children, their brothers, their parents-in-law, their wet nurses, of their servants, [of their young] servants, and of their workers,
and your third of all their households,
and your third of their hwh-t-[revenue], of their šmʿȝ-revenue, and of their individual revenue,
and your third of all the people who come in their name,
and your third of all goods and all [things] that will be added to them,
and your third of their šdj-revenue and of their ỉḫj-revenue,
and your third of everything that derives from them,
and your third of everything that will be added to them,
and your third of everything that comes in their name,
and your third of . . .
and your third of everything that is received there, of which I have a third, forming part of all the property for which the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, wrote me a payment document in year 8, 4th month of peret of the eternally living king, while you made an deed of addition on the document in question, and I have rights over you, by virtue of the deed of addition that you made on this document and by virtue of its legal content;
and your third of the revenue of the inhabitants of "Akhi-of-Heriatum",
and your third of the revenue of the inhabitants of the village "the Arsenal" - which makes two villages located on the island of Ptah, the . . . of the centre of Memphis;
and your third of their wab priests, their scribes, their pastophoroi, their soldiers, their peasants, their . . ., and of their merchants,
and your third of their ibis servants, of their falcon servants, of their dancers, and of their Anubis men,
and your third of the families (?) of all the inhabitants of the two aforementioned villages,
and your third of all the people who will be added to them,
and your third of all the people and all the goods which come in their name,
and your third of their husbands, of their wives, of their children, of their brothers, of their parents-in-law, of their nurses, [3] [of their domestic servants], of their young servants, and of their workers,
and your third of all their households,
and your third [of everything in the world] that comes in their name,
and your third of their hwh-t-[revenue], of their šmʿȝ-revenue, and of their individual revenue,
and your third of all the people who come in their name,
and your third of everything that is added to them,
and your third of their šdj-revenue and of their ỉḫj-revenue,
and your third of everything that derives from them,
and your third of everything that is received therein,
and your third of everything that comes in their name,
and your third of everything that will be given in their name,
and your third of everything that will be added thereto, of which I have a third, forming part of all the goods concerning which the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, made me a payment document in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king, while you made an deed of addition on the document in question, and I have rights over you by virtue of the deed of addition that you made on this document, and by virtue of its legal content;
* * *
[12] . . .
You have rights over me by virtue of the cession document [that I made in your favour, in] year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king, and rights over the share of all the property belonging to the lady Tawe, [daughter of Padimhotep], my mother, your mother and by virtue of its legal content.
You have rights over me by virtue of the deed of addition that I made upon the cession document (?) that the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, made in my favour] (?) in year [8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king], with regard to your share of all the property belonging to her and that which she will acquire, and by virtue of its legal content.
You have rights over me by virtue of the other cession document that I made in your favour in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king, with regard to (?) the chapels, revenue, endowment fund and all property belonging to the chancellor of the god Tchanakawenimu son of Psheren-Ptah, whose mother is Herankh, your father, since he made a deed of endowment in favour of the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, whose mother is Shemti, my mother, your mother, and by virtue of the legal content of this writing.
I have rights over you, by virtue of the cession document that you made in my favour in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the [eternally-living] king . . . with regard to (?) all the property belonging to the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, whose mother is Shemti, my mother, your mother, and by virtue of its legal content.
I have rights over the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, by virtue of the deed of addition she made on the document in question and by virtue of its legal content.
I have rights over you by virtue of the deed of addition you made on the payment document that the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, made [in my favour] in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king, and rights over my share of all the property that belongs to her and all that she will acquire, and by virtue of the legal content of this deed of addition.
I have rights over you [13] [by virtue of the document (?)] . . . that you made in my favour in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king . . . regarding (?) the income, endowment fund, and all the property belonging to [Ptahmaakheru] my father, and by virtue of the legal content of this document, when the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, my mother, your mother, has signed the document (?) . . . in question.
You have no right to challenge me to ensure that the ššt-revenue of the aforementioned outhouse is paid, from this day forward and forever.
I have no right to challenge you to ensure that the ššt-revenue of the aforementioned outhouse is paid, from this day forward and forever.
Then the lady Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, whose mother is Shemti, mother of the lady Shemti, daughter of Tchanakawenimu, and of Imhotep, son of Ptahmaakheru, her half-brother, the two aforementioned persons, declared:
I will act in accordance with all the above words; my heart is satisfied with them. I am far from you with regard to all the above-mentioned goods, in accordance with all that is written above.
I will act in accordance with all the words written above. My heart is satisfied with them. I am far from you with regard to all the above-mentioned goods, in accordance with all that is written above.
They are yours . . . (?) from this day and forever. Whoever would initiate an action against you concerning [them] in my(?) name, I will ensure that he is removed from you, necessarily and without delay; while Imhotep, son of Ptahmaakheru and the lady Shemti, daughter of Tchanakawenimu, his half-sister, my children, have rights over me by virtue of the payment document [that I made in year 8, 4th month of the peret season] of the eternally-living king, and by virtue of its [legal content], and of the deed of addition that I made in the document . . . in year 8, 4th month of the peret season, of the eternally-living king; and I will act towards you [in accordance with it (?)] . . .
Written by . . . son of . . .
In the month of Pharmouthi, in year 8 of king Ptolemy, son of Ptolemy and Arsinoē, the gods [Philopatores; when the] priest of Alexander and of the gods Adelphoi and of the gods Euergetai and of the gods Philopatores and of king Ptolemy Eucharistos(?) was Demetrios, son of Sitalkes, and Areia, daughter of Diogenes, was athlophoros for Berenike Euergetis, and Nesias, the daughter of Apelles, 2 was kanephoros for Arsinoē Philadelphus, and Eirene, the daughter of Ptolemy, was priestess of Arsinoē Philopator.
The archentaphiastes Imhotep, the son of Ptahmaakheru, his mother is Tawe, has said to the woman Shemti, the daughter of Tchanakawenimu, her mother is Tawe, his half-sister:
I renounce claim upon you in respect of the foundations, funerary mansions, stipends, endowments, and all the property which once belonged to the God's Sealer Tchanakawenimu, son of Psheren-Ptah, his mother being Herankh, your father, in respect of which he drew up the deed of endowment for the 3 woman Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, her mother being Shemti, my mother, your mother, and in respect of the rights conferred by it.
It is yours. I have no claim on earth upon you in respect of it from today onward. Whosoever shall come to proceed against you on account of them in my name, I will make him to renounce claim upon you voluntarily without delay. You may lay claim upon me in respect of the deed of conveyance and the deed of cession of rights to complete the two deeds which I drew up for you in the year 2 second month of the peret season, of the king living for ever, in respect of the share of the shrine of Ptahmaakheru, son of Imhotep, my father, which is in the Necropolis of Memphis, and in respect of the rights conferred by it.
You may lay claim upon me in respect of the deed of cession of rights which I drew up for you in year 8, fourth month of the peret season, 4 of the king living for ever, in respect of your part share of all the property which belonged to the woman Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, her mother being Shemti, my mother, your mother aforesaid, and in respect of the rights conferred by it, and also in respect of the consent which I gave upon the deed of conveyance which the woman Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, her mother being Shemti, my mother, your mother aforesaid, drew up for you in the year 8, fourth month of the peret season, of the king living for ever, in respect of the part share of all the property which belongs to her, and also that which she will acquire, and in respect of the rights conferred by it.
I may lay claim upon you in respect of the deed of cession of rights which you drew up for me in the year 8, fourth month of the peret season, of the king living for ever in respect of my part share of all the property which belonged to the woman Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, her mother being Shemti, my mother, your mother aforesaid, and in respect of the rights conferred by it, and in respect of the consent which you gave upon the deed of conveyance which the woman Tawe, daughter of Padimhotep, her mother being Shemti, my mother, 5 your mother aforesaid, drew up for me in the year 8, the fourth month of the peret season, of the king living for ever, in respect of my part share of all the property which belonged to her, and that which she will acquire, and also in respect of the rights conferred by it.
And I will act on your behalf according to every provision aforesaid. I may lay claim upon you in respect of the other deed of renunciation of claim which you drew up for me in the year 8, second month of the shemu season {Pauni}, of the king living for ever, in respect of the shrines, funerary mansions, stipends, endowments, and all the property which belonged to the God's Sealer Ptahmaakheru, son of Teōs, the father of the father of my father aforesaid, and in respect of the rights conferred by it, in respect of which deeds were drawn up for me together with the rights conferred by them.
6 The woman Tawe, the daughter of Padimhotep, whose mother is Shemti, the mother of the woman Shemti, [the daughter of] Tchanakawenimu, and of Imhotep, the son of Ptahmaakheru, the two above-mentioned persons, says:
Do every word above. [My heart] is satisfied with it. I am far from you with regard to all that is mentioned above, according to what is written above. They belong to you. I have no[thing on] earth to assert against you in their name from today onwards. Whoever will challenge you on their account in my name, I shall cause him to depart from you without delay; while the woman Shemti, the daughter of Tchanakawenimu, and Imhotep, the son of Ptahmaakheru, her half-brother, my above-mentioned children, shall have a claim against me for the payment document that I issued to them individually in the month of Pharmouthi of the 8th year 7 of the ever-living king, and for the rights conferred by it, and for the deed of addition that I made to the cession document issued . . . in the month of Pharmouthi of the 8th year of the ever-living king, and for the rights conferred by it. And I will continue to act towards you according to all the above words.
Written by Pachrates the son of Harsiesis.
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