Sale of a Slave
Subscription to a contract by which Herodes, also called Herakleides, son of Lysimachos, sells a female slave named Thaisarion to Eudaimonis, daughter of Herakles
One text, 3 sources · Trismegistos-Text 25176
Subscription to the sale of the slave woman Thaeisarion to Eudaimonis TM 25176Tebtynis, Polemonos meris, Arsinoite nome, province of EgyptIst century A.D.
The same ancient text or artifact as recorded by 3 records across 3 independent projects, recognised as one entity by its TM-Text identifier. View on Trismegistos →
This is the seller's subscription to a contract of sale, in which Herodes, also called Herakleides, son of Lysimachos, sells to Eudaimonis a slave woman named Thaeisarion, about 32 years old, whom he had inherited from his mother. He acknowledges payment in full and guarantees the sale, excepting only certain diseases and running away. It dates from the 1st century AD, from Tebtynis in the Arsinoite nome.
In English machine translation
I, Herodes also called Herakleides, son of Lysimachos, acknowledge that I have ceded to Eudaimonis daughter of Herodes, in accordance with this agreement, from the present day for all time, the slave girl belonging to me from my mother's estate, named Thaeisarion, about 32 years old, of medium height, honey-coloured complexion, long-faced, straight-nosed, with a scar on the face, this slave such as she is, not subject to return except for epaphe (leprosy?) and the sacred disease (epilepsy).
And I have received from Eudaimonis the agreed price in full, by hand, from the house, and I will guarantee the sale with every guarantee except for flight, and I will do everything as stated above.
The buyer's father is Herodes in the Greek text but Herakles in the object description. Epaphe is a skin disease, perhaps leprosy, and the 'sacred disease' is epilepsy, standard exclusions in slave sales.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Sale of a Slave). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.
p.mich.5.281
Ἡρώδης ὃς καὶ Ἡρακλείδης Λυσιμάχου ὁμολογῶ παρακεχωρηκέναι Εὐδαιμονίδι Ἡρώδου κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁμολογίαν ταύτην ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνεστώσης ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον τὴν ὑπάρχουσάν μοι μητρικὴν παιδίσκην δούλην ᾗ ὄνομα Θαεισάριον, ὡς ἐτῶν τριάκοντα δύο , μέσην μελίχροῦν μακροπρόσωπον εὐθυρίν…