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Copyright of Scripta Theologica is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Navarra, S.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper represents a new publication, edition, and interpretation of the selfpresentation of Neshor named Psamtikmenkhib (hereafter Neshor) found on theophorous statue Louvre A 90. Neshor and his statue date to Late Saite Egypt, and the text is rich and unique in content. Neshor's activities at Elephantine, especially his role in the mercenaries' revolt against King Apries early in the king's reign are presented in light of Neshor's related military titles and epithets. Archaeological issues surrounding the statue and text are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possible Egyptian background of the Joseph story has been discussed for decades. While previous research compared the Joseph story to Egyptian texts from the New Kingdom, the present article focuses on material from the 1st millennium BCE. By drawing from the term "diaspora novella," introduced by Arndt Meinhold in 1975, the present article compares the plot of the Joseph story to two texts connected to Egypt: the story of Ahiqar, which was found at Elephantine, and Papyrus Berlin 23071 vs. In light of these texts, the non-priestly literary layer of the Joseph story appears to be a diaspora novella, presenting a concept of identity that can be connected to the "Judahite/Aramaic" diaspora in Egypt during the Persian period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a box of unpublished Aramaic papyri from the 1906-1907 German excavations of Elephantine there is a small fragment (p. 23141) that uses scribal marks in a margin or vacat to identify a textual edit. This is the first example of Aramaic editorial marks of this type from the Persian period, and demonstrates a previously unidentified scribal practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Edition of nine ostraca from Elephantine, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, containing receipts for several money taxes from the 2nd century AD [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual ethnic identity of the Jews of Elephantine (5th century BCE) has long puzzled scholars. In the legal documents, the Jews are sometimes identified as ‘Jew’ and at others as ‘Aramean’. In order to discover the logic that underlies this practice, the author compares the ethnic identity tags of the Jews on the island with those applied to members of the local Caspian community. The comparison demonstrates that ‘Aramean’ did indeed serve as an ethnic designation of the Jews—applied by others and by themselves. The reference is neither to language nor to tribe, but rather to territory. ‘Arameans’ were inhabitants of Aram, that is, Syria. The Jews did have a double identity: They were Syrians since they came from the satrapy of Beyond-the-River, i.e., Syria; they were Jews on account of their more narrow regional and religious identity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the appearance of the Aramaic hnṣl clause in the Elephantine legal corpus in order to establish the specific legal function of the clause and explore its origins in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian legal material. In the end, a Demotic equivalent to hnṣl reveals a strong parallel in legal function, which is to protect property from being reclaimed by former owners or those who may have a claim to ownership, especially between those of unequal status in society. It is concluded that the equivalent terms, the Aramaic hnṣl and the Demotic ṯ...y, demonstrate the local development of a technical legal term at Elephantine, illustrating how locally prevailing law was able to thrive in Persian Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article maps Middle Eastern law in some of the thousand plateaus where it operates/operated: Mesopotamian law, Roman provincial law, Islamic law, and post-colonial law, with layers within each, such as Elephantine law in Egypt and Jewish and Christian law in Islam's classical age, as well as new worlds of law, such as Byzantine and Ethiopian law, in which scholarship about interaction with other layers of Middle Eastern law is either inexistent or just starting. The focus is directed as much as possible to the extant documentation in the legal record that most affects people's lives: court decisions. For the modern period, we survey, from the point of view of the legal practitioner, lawyer, or judge, the various bodies of case law and codes in the everyday practice of the Middle East lawyer. A legal family analogous to the common or civil law traditions, Middle Eastern law has emerged as a coherent and active discipline that is increasingly a subject of inquiry for historians, social scientists, and others outside of the legal profession. This article presents the field for more sustained attention from lawyers, judges, and law professors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Antiguo Oriente is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses an ancient Aramaic text that has been found in Elephantine, Egypt, that discusses the maritime industry at the time the text was written. The way in which this text describes the customs of those who used to live in the area is mentioned. Various types of ships were discussed in the text including larger Ionian ships and Phoenician ships. The location where these ships were found is discussed. According to the article, it is believed that the site at which the ships were found had a connection to royalty at one time.

Knowledge concerning marriage in the fifth century BCE Judaeo-Aramaean community of Elephantine comes mainly from three long. They deal with many points, among them, the dissolution of marriage, which depends on the free will of both spouses. Each may utter a declaration of divorce before a court. In this declaration's formula, the verb employed is In' which means 'to hate'. In this context it can be asked whether we can translate it by 'to divorce' with a technical meaning and whether it is linked to an emotive context. The papyri add two rules concerning the dissolution of the marriage. Firstly the spouse who utters the declaration has to pay the ksp śn', 'money of hatred' and the spouses have to settle financial questions. Secondly the wife has to leave the matrimonial home. Thus although śn' usually means 'to hate', in this particular case it may also mean 'to wish to break an alliance'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the discovery of the Jewish temple at the Elephantine Island. In 1967, a German team started work at the southern end of Elephantine Island with the aim of identifying the town populated by the Jewish community and its Egyptian temples over the centuries. Their excavations uncovered an Aramaic quarter of the 27th Dynasty, which equates to that of the Jewish colony. Eventually in 1997, at the heart of this village, they found a piece of tiled flooring. They identified this as the floor of the Jewish temple. Parts of the walls of the temple and the surrounding courtyard were identified. INSET: The Elephantine Papyri.