Conventio nuptialis : BGU IV, 1052, 1-34 ( DDBDP )

CONVENTIO NUPTIALIS

Marriage contract or prenuptial agreement between Thermion and Apollonius

( April 17, 13 BC )

BGU IV, 1052, 1-34 = Sel. Pap. I, 3 ( Duke Data Bank of Documentary Papyri ).

(ἔτους) ιζ Καίσαρος Φαρμοῦθι κ

English translation ( A. S. Hunt & C. C. Edgar, Cambridge, 1932 ).

To : Protarchus
From : Thermion, daughter of Apion, along with her guardian Apollonius, son of Chaereas ; and from Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus

Thermion and Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus agree that they have come together to share a common life. And the said Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus, acknowledges that he has received from Thermion by hand from the house a dowry of a pair of gold earrings weighing three quarters and [- - -] silver drachmai.

And from now on, Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus, shall provide Thermion as his wife all necessaries and clothing in proportion to his means and shall not mistreat her, nor throw her out, nor bring in another wife, or he shall directly forfeit the dowry increased by half with right of execution upon both the person of Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus, and all his property as if by legal decision.

And Thermion shall fulfill her duties towards her husband and their common life and shall not leave the house for a night or a day without the consent of Apollonius, son of Ptolemaeus, nor dishonor, nor injure their common home, nor consort with another man, or she—if guilty of any of these deeds—shall after trial, forfeit the dowry, and in addition the guilty party shall be liable to the prescribed fine.

17h year of Caesar, Pharmouthi 20.

► Bibliography

BGU IV, 1052, 1-34 (1912) ; Hunt & Edgar, Select Papyri, I, London, 1932, n. 3 ; Johnson in Frank, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome, II, Baltimore, 1936, p. 293, n. 182 ; Post, CP, 34, 1939, pp. 193-208 ; Pestman, Marriage and Matrimonial Property in Ancient Egypt : Contribution to Establishing the Legal Position of the Woman, Leiden, 1961 ; Rabinowitz, The Harvard Theological Review, 57, 1964, pp. 55-56 ; Lewis, Life in Egypt under Roman Rule, Oxford, 1983, p. 55 ; Christiansen, ZPE, 54, 1984, pp. 271-299 ; Sherk, The Roman Empire : Augustus to Hadrian, Cambridge, 1988, p. 243 ; Winter, Tyndale Bulletin, 39, 1988, p. 84 ; Goody, The Oriental, the Ancient and the Primitive : Systems of Marriage and the Family in the Pre-Industrial Societies of Eurasia, Cambridge, 1990 ; Hanson, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 19, 1989, pp. 142-151 / 20, 1990, pp. 10-21 ; Migliardi Zingale, Vita privata e vita pubblica nei papiri d'Egitto : Silloge di documenti greci e latini dal I al IV secolo d.C., Torino, 1992, 16 ; Uri Yiftach, ZPE, 115, 1997, p. 178 ; Peterman, Tyndale Bulletin, 50, 1999, pp. 164, 166-167 and 169 ; Zimmermann, Geschlechtermetaphorik und Gottesverhältnis : Traditionsgeschichte und Theologie eines Bildfelds in Urchristentum und antiker Umwelt, Tübingen, 2001, p. 249 ; Pestman & Rupprecht, Berichtigungsliste der griechischen Papyrusurkunden aus Aegypten, XI, Leiden, 2002, p. 24 ; Sánchez-Moreno Ellart, RIDA, 50, 2003, pp. 28-30.

► Source : Papyrus from Alexandria, published in 1912.