Bequest of a House to a Daughter
On the 21st of Kislev, that is day 21 of Mesore, year 6 of Artaxerxes the king, Mahseiah son of Jedaniah, a Jew, hereditary-property-holder in Elephantine the fortress of the detachment of Haumadata, said to lady Mibtahiah his daughter, saying:
I gave you in my lifetime and at my death my house and my land.
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Mahseiah gives his daughter Mibtahiah, perhaps as part of her dowry, a house to possess and pass on within the family to whichever heir she chooses. The document includes elaborate guarantees against claims on the house by others. This document is from 459 BCE.
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Related Guide
The Ancient Near Eastern Background of Biblical Law
Biblical Period
Biblical law was influenced by the legal collections of its powerful neighbors, especially the Babylonians and Assyrians.
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