Fragment of a marriage contract from the Oxyrhynchite nome, 2nd century AD, apparently between Tbekis and Herakleides. The surviving clauses deal with the dowry, its return to the wife or her nearest kin, and provisions for children of the marriage.
In English machine translation
[...]
[...] epim[...]
[...]
[...] ...keim[...]
[...] ... [...] ndepoun [...]
[...] with every right of the dowry ... [...]
[...] on alienation [...]
[...] ... to the young children [...]
[...] if she is alive, but if not, to those who are her [nearest of kin, the dowry] [...]
[...] of the [children to be born to them from one another] [...]
[...] [with] Tbekis until [they come of] age [...]
[...] [if there are] no [children to them] from one another [...]
[...] concerning Tbekis [...] from ... [...]
[...] of those who will be left behind [...]
[...] [to Tb]ekis and to whomever else ... [...]
[...] [the] demand for the dowry ... [...]
[...] [Her]akleides, nor those [acting for him] [...]
[...] [according as] they have agreed with one another [...]
[...] ... if he/she abstains ... [...]
[...] ... aged 16 and ... [...]
[...] thirty [...]
[...] four ... [...]
[...]
[...]
The beginning of the text is lost and the lines are broken on both sides; many clause wordings are editorial restorations based on standard marriage contract formulas.
Working translation of the DDbDP edition, made with Claude Opus 5.5 from the edition and the catalogue records shown below (catalogued as Contrat de mariage). It has not been reviewed by a papyrologist: check the edition before citing. Restorations follow the edition; […] marks lost text and (?) an uncertain reading.