History and find spot:
Unfortunately, nothing is known about the history and origin of the P. Rylands Dem.10. James Ludovic Lindsay, 26^th Earl of Crawford and 9^th Earl of Balcarres (1847-1913) acquired the demotic papyri for the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, the largest private library in the world at the time, headquartered in Haigh Hall, Lancashire, during a visit to Egypt in the winter of 1898-1899, when he also spent some time in Luxor. The entire family of the Earls of Crawford were passionate collectors and James Ludovic Lindsay's father had already acquired a large number of Coptic and Greek papyri. The entire collection of Oriental, Egyptian, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Chinese manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana was sold in 1901 by the 26^th Earl of Crawford and 9^th Earl of Balcarres to Enriqueta Augustina Rylands, who founded the John Rylands Library in Manchester in 1899 in memory of her husband (Choat, M.,, 'Lord Crawford’s search for papyri: on the origin of the Rylands papyrus collection', in: Actes du 26e Congrès International de Papyrologie, Genève, 16–21 août 2010 (Recherches et rencontres 30; Geneve 2012), 141-147; Hagen / Ryholt, Antiquities TradeHagen, F. / Ryholt, K., The Antiquities Trade in Egypt 1880-1930. The H.O. Lange Papers (Scientia Danica:Series H, Humanistica, 4.8; Copenhagen, 1962)., 116, 165,188, 215, 230, 258).
The papyrus that belongs to the archive of Teianteus (TM Arch 233) certainly originates from Thebes, but no further information can be given (Griffith, Rylands I-IIIGriffith, F. L., Catalogue of the Demotic Papyri in the John Rylands Library Manchester - with Facsimiles and Complete Translations I-III (Descriptive catalogues or guides to the collection of Oriental and Western manuscripts in the John Rylands Library I-III; Manchester, 1909)., III. 11-12).
Materiality:
None of the publications available to date provide any information about the dimensions or the state of preservation of the papyrus. P. Rylands Dem. 10 has also not yet been included in the online papyrus database of the John Rylands University Library.
Text summary and date:
This papyrus shows on its recto a marriage contract and on its verso the names of 16 witnesses.
The short formulated marriage contract type A (Pestman, MarriagePestman, P.W., Marriage and Matrimonial Property in Ancient Egypt. A Contribution to Establishing the Legal Position of the Women (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 9; Lugdunum batavorum 1961)., 30-32; Lippert, Rechtsgeschichte²Lippert, S., Einführung in die altägyptische Rechtsgeschichte (Einführung und Quellentexte zur Ägyptologie 5; Berlin / Münster, 2012²)., 166-169) dates on the 3^rd month of Achet season of the 2^nd regnal year of Alexander'IV (315 BC, January 9 - February 7). The scribe was Psammetich-sa-neithes (TM Pers 12522), son of Ososeris (TM Pers 65487). The marriage was concluded between Petechonsis (TM Pers 12233), son of Tjaou-achi (TM Pers 42453) and Taesis (TM Pers 42276), daughter of Petamenophis (TM Pers 42473).