Disputes between Babatha and Her Co-Widow, Miriam
Before the attending witnesses who also affixed their signatures, Babathas (sic), a Maozene woman, daughter of Simon, summoned Miriam, an En-gedian woman, daughter of Beianos, to accompany her in person before Haterius Nepos, legatus Augusti pro praetore, wherever his venue may be, [to answer] why you seized everything in the house of Judah son of Eleazar Khthousion my and your late husband . . . and, equally important, to attend before the said Nepos until judgment.
Miriam replied, saying: Before this I summoned you not to go near the possessions of my and your late husband [and according to?] the . . . and prescriptions(?) of Judah my husband you have no claim against the said Judah regarding his estate and . . . Done in Maoza in the district of Zoōra, in the consulship of Laenas Pontianus and Rufinus seven days before the ides of July. Two copies were written.
It was written by Germanos son of Judah.
On the back, individual signatures
Elazar son of Ḥilqiyah, witness
Mattat son of Shim‘on, witness
Yehosef son of Mattat, witness
Yehudah son of _____, witness
Elazar son of Mattat, witness
Notes
Words in brackets indicate broken text that the translator has reconstructed or explanatory text added by the translator. Ellipses indicate broken text.
Credits
P. Yadin 26, from The Documents from the Bar-Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters: Greek Papyri, ed. and trans. Naphtali Lewis, Judean Desert Studies, vol. 2 (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1989), p. 114. Used with permission of the publisher.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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This legal document from the Babatha archive dates to July 9, 131 CE, after the death of Babatha’s husband Judah, when a dispute arose between Babatha and another of Judah’s wives, named Miriam. (It is uncertain whether the two women were married to Judah at the same time.) Summoning Miriam before the governor, Babatha accuses her of having seized everything in Judah’s house. Miriam responds by referring to an earlier summons in which she forbade Babatha from going near Judah’s property.
