Elephantine papyri

E657282

The Elephantine papyri are a collection of ancient Jewish and administrative documents from a Persian-period garrison community on Elephantine Island in Egypt, offering key insights into daily life, religion, and law in the 5th century BCE.

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Statements (59)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Aramaic papyri
ancient manuscript collection
historical document corpus
associatedWith Elephantine Jewish community NERFINISHED
Persian military garrison at Elephantine
contains divorce documents
loan agreements
manumission documents
marriage contracts
military pay records
property deeds
temple correspondence
country Egypt
creator Jewish community of Elephantine NERFINISHED
discoveredAt Elephantine Island archaeological sites NERFINISHED
discoveredIn 19th century
documents Jewish temple at Elephantine NERFINISHED
appeals to Persian officials for temple rebuilding
destruction of the Elephantine temple
inheritance practices
mixed marriages
oaths and legal formulas
slavery and servitude
genre administrative documents
contracts
legal documents
letters
petitions
religious texts
historicalImportance evidence for early Jewish law outside Judah
key source for Achaemenid administration in Egypt
key source for social history of Jews in the diaspora
language Aramaic
Imperial Aramaic NERFINISHED
locatedIn Aswan NERFINISHED
Egypt
Elephantine Island NERFINISHED
mainSubject Jewish community in Egypt NERFINISHED
daily life in a Persian-period garrison community
interactions between Jews and Egyptians
law and legal practice in 5th century BCE
relations between Jews and Persian authorities
religious practice in Elephantine
material papyrus
presentLocation Berlin State Museums NERFINISHED
Brooklyn Museum NERFINISHED
Egyptian Museum in Cairo NERFINISHED
other major museum and library collections
religionDocumented Judaism NERFINISHED
Yahwism NERFINISHED
polytheistic practices among Jews of Elephantine
script Aramaic script
studiedInField Jewish studies
ancient Near Eastern history
biblical studies
papyrology
timePeriod 5th century BCE
Achaemenid period NERFINISHED
Persian period in Egypt

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Elephantine knownFor Elephantine papyri
Imperial Aramaic notableCorpus Elephantine papyri