E04027: Coptic settlement of a dispute over inheritance, from Jeme (Upper Egypt), recording an oath sworn at a shrine (topos) dedicated to Abba *Viktor (presumably the Egyptian martyr, son of Romanos, S00749); dated 10 September 728.
online resource
posted on 2017-09-15, 00:00authored byBryan
P.KRU 44:
In this document a dispute over inheritance is settled after an oath has been sworn by one of the parties involved, serving as proof of sincerity. The oath was sworn by the power of the altar in the shrine of Abba Viktor.
'You, Phoibammon, inside (the church/shrine of) the gloriously triumphant one and the champion, saint Abba Viktor at this same castron (Jeme), due to the power of the mediation that was arranged for us, you assured us in this way: "By the power of the altar: I know with certainty that …'
At the end of the document, the oath is referred to again and repeated in full. Its introductory formula is recorded in line 140 as follows:
Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet
Documentary texts - Other private document
Language
Coptic
Evidence not before
728
Evidence not after
728
Activity not before
728
Activity not after
728
Place of Evidence - Region
Egypt and Cyrenaica
Place of Evidence - City, village, etc
Jeme
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Jeme
Hermopolis
ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ
Ashmunein
Hermopolis
Cult activities - Places
Cult building - unspecified
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Oath
Source
The papyrus document BM Or. 4884 is housed at the British Museum in London.
Discussion
For a similar procedure used to settle a dispute over inheritance see E04024 where an oath is sworn inside (the church/shrine of) saint Kyriakos at Jeme. For evidence of the same procedure in other provinces, see E03663 (P.Petra IV 39).
Bibliography
Edition and Translation:
Crum, W.E., and Steindorff, G., Koptische Rechtsurkunden des achten Jahrhunderts aus Djeme (Theben) (Leipzig, 1971), 151–157.
Till, W.C., Erbrechtliche Untersuchungen auf Grund der koptischen Urkunden (Vienna, 1954), 136–140 (German Translation).