A marriage contract in which Aurelius Heron acknowledges receiving a dowry of gold jewellery, clothing and other items from Aurelia of Neilopolis, with whom he had already been living without a written contract. It sets out mutual obligations and the return of the dowry in case of divorce, and was drawn up probably at Ptolemais Euergetis (Arsinoite nome) in AD 223-224.
In English machine translation
[Year 3 of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Alex]ander Pius Felix Augustus, [month …] […] [at Ptolemais Euergetis in the Arsinoite]
[nome. Aurelius Heron …] […] registered in the quarter of […] [aged about …] [with a scar …] [acknowledges to his former]
[and present wife, living with him without a written contract, Aurelia …] [from the vil]lage of Neilopolis in the Herakleides division [of the Arsinoite nome, aged about …] [with a scar …] [with]
[her guardian …] [that he has received from her, for herself, together with] the cohabitation of marriage, as dowry, from hand to hand, [8 minas of pure gold in jewellery, namely …]
[…] … of the remaining 2 minas, and [clothing valued at … drachmas of silver …]
[…] scarlet, a tunic and a cloak of sapphire blue […]
[…], namely an Aphrodite (figure), a double mirror […] [Let the married couple therefore live together blamelessly, as]
[before, Aurelius Heron supplying Aurelia] […] with all necessities and clothing and [all else that befits a wedded wife according to his means, and Aure]lia […] [conducting herself blamelessly and beyond reproach in the] married life, on condition that Aurelius Heron […]
[…] and maintenance, for as long as their life together continues, […]
[…] [But if, a quarrel arising between them,] they separate from each other, let Aur[elius Heron] return [to Aurelia] […] [both the dowry and the extra goods, the gold in the same jewellery and of equal weight, and the clothing, she] having the choice either to take the clothing and its deficiency [or their stated valuation] […]
[…] [in case of dismissal at once, in case of voluntary] separation within 60 days, [Aurelia having the right of execution upon Aurelius Heron and all his property, as if by legal judgment.] Concerning these things being thus rightly and properly [done, Aurelius Heron, having been asked, agreed.]
[I, Aurelius Heron, acknowledge that I have received from Aurelia] […] 8 minas of pure gold in … […]
[…] I will return upon the divorce, and having been asked [I agreed.]
[I, Aurelius] Didymos, registered it, Year 3 […]
The document turns an 'unwritten marriage' (agraphos gamos), already existing cohabitation, into a written one. Much of the text is restored from standard formulas of such contracts.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Heiratsvertrag: Umwandlung eines ΑΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΓΑΜΟΣ in einen ΕΓΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΓΑΜΟΣ). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.