Status of Unmarried Woman in Late Egypt According to Aramean Texts of the 5th Century ВС from Tshetres District
Temerev А. N.
The history of the «Jewish military colony» in Southern Egypt is attested in documents from family archives for the whole of the 5th century ВС. In the late 6th century ВС it included some dozens of families. According to C22 in the early 4th century ВС it consisted of 150 small family organizations. For certain reasons about a dozen of such organizations were headed by women. According to the then existing norms, after the death of a husband, the widow was supported by the community (either military or civil). In the early 5th century ВС this support consisted in a pension granted to the woman. If she got married or died, the pension (mnt') was withdrawn, and it could not be inherited. By the end of the 5th century ВС in case of the father's death the eldest unmarried woman had the right to receive warrior's salary in silver or in kind (ptp'). C43 shows that women without husbands would find a way to hand such salary down to their children. Irrespective of their sex or status, all the members of the colony were free people.