Material Support for Those Entering into Marriage in Egypt in the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom
Demidchik Arkadiy E.
The author studies the information about material support for Egyptians entering into marriage, contained in 1) the documents on P. University College 32058; 2) the stela of Hetepi from El-Kab, the translation and understanding of the last three lines of which are significantly clarified here; 3) the tomb autobiography of the nomarch Ankhtifi; 4) the inscription on the architrave of Hornakht from Dendera. In tomb autobiographies material support for those entering into marriage is not a separate independent topic and is mentioned there only to prove Hetepi’s extraordinary active longevity and Ankhtifi and Hornakht’s great generosity and paternal care for their subjects. Hornacht’s ‘girls’ and ‘boys’ (Xrdwt, Xrdw) were personally dependent on him, and his inscription is the oldest of the very few reports of masters arranging marriages for their serfs. The valuable assets allocated to the ‘newlyweds’ apparently often remained the property of their parents or masters.
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