Go to:
 Annual Meeting page
 List of sessions at the Meeting (includes links to paper abstracts)
 

Scrolls Show Family Life in Ancient Egypt
Not so Different From Family Life Today
(For immediate release,11/6/03)

    
    On a visit to Elephantine Island in Egypt in 1896 the American Egyptologist Charles Edwin Wilbour was approached by a local woman who offered to show him some scrolls. As soon as he saw them, Wilbour realized that the crumbling papyri she held in her hand were indeed old. To his eye, they were also quite mysterious. Rather than being written in hieroglyphs, the usual language of Egyptian papyri, they were written in Aramaic, later the language of Jesus. And rather than extolling the virtues of kings or courtiers, they told the story of Ananiah, an official in the Jewish temple, and of his wife, an Egyptian slave named Tamut.
    On Thursday, Nov. 20, Dr. Edward Bleiberg, curator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, will discuss these ancient scrolls in a free public lecture cosponsored by Emory University, the Carlos Museum, and the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR). Dr. Bleiberg's talk will begin at 7 p.m. in the Woodruff Health Sciences Admin. Building(see carlos.emory.edu for directions), and will be followed by a complementary tour of the Carlos Museum exhibit, "Jewish Life in Ancient Egypt," which showcases the Elephantine scrolls.
     As the curator of this exhibit, both in Atlanta and earlier at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Dr. Bleiberg has become something of an expert on Ananiah and Tamut, as well as on the cosmopolitan society of Elephantine Island during the Persian Period (525 - 402 BC).
     "I'm interested in ordinary people," says Bleiberg, explaining that the scrolls offer surprising insights not only into the lives of Ananiah and Tamut, but also into the customs and attitudes of the people of Elephantine Island some 2500 years ago.
     To cite just one example, scrolls referring to Tamut's status as a slave go far to illustrate the institution of slavery at that time. While one document seems to indicate that her father sold her into slavery to pay his debts, another notes that, although still in bondage, Tamut was able to bring Ananiah a dowry of seven shekels (another reference says 15 shekels), though it must be said that seven shekels was a meager sum even at the time.
     The prevailing attitude toward marriage is seen in the couple's marriage contract, prepared when their firstborn, a son, was about 6 or 7 years old. Ever practical, it appears it was typical for the ancients "to wait until after a child was born to write down their marriage contract," explains Bleiberg.
     More worldly considerations are found in papyri that document gifts of real estate -- mostly different rooms of their own house - that Ananiah and Tamut gave to each other or to their children, possibly as a device to reduce their taxes.
     And the importance of family prestige can be seen in the elaborate wedding the couple give their daughter, including the gift of their own house "so that she and her husband would have a place to live." In these documents, it appears that in this family at least it was common for the woman to own the house and this might have been an Egyptian custom.
     "I think the thing that is so striking is that, in some ways, families have not changed at all in 2500 years," says Bleiberg.
     "Ananiah and Tamut are worried about buying a house, and taking care of it. They make elaborate preparations for their daughter's wedding. And towards the end of their lives they try to make arrangements for themselves when they became old and sick."
     Even their marriage has a modern twist. Given the meager size of Tamut's dowry, Bleiberg says that he at least is led to believe that, like most couples today, Ananiah and Tamut "married for love."
     Additional information regarding the Bleiberg slide presentation can be found at the Carlos Museum website.
     

     ASOR was founded in 1900 by a consortium of 21 universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Columbia. Today it counts more than 100 institutions in its membership roster. This list includes universities, seminaries, museums, foundations and libraries. Emory University and the Fernbank Museum of Natural History are both corporate members of ASOR.
     ASOR's stated objectives are to initiate, encourage and support research into the cultures of the Near East from the earliest times, and to help the public understand these findings. ASOR fosters such original research as archaeological excavations and explorations, and encourages scholarship in the basic languages, cultural histories and traditions of the ancient Near East. ASOR also offers educational opportunities in Near Eastern history and archaeology to students in North American colleges and universities, and, through outreach activities, to the public.
     The November 20 talk by Edward Bleiberg is one example of ASOR's extensive outreach program.

Read more about ASOR's:
    Annual Meeting, its mission, and members of its consortium

Last updated 11/6/02