Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.218.96_PS1.jpg)
Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.47.218.96a-b_wwg8.jpg)
Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.218.96_negC_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.218.96_negD_infra-red_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.218.96_negE_bw_IMLS.jpg)
Aramaic. Aramaic Adoption Contract, October 22, 416 B.C.E. Papyrus, ink, 47.218.96a: Largest Fragment #1: 13/16 × 1 3/4 in. (2 × 4.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Bequest of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 47.218.96a-b (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 47.218.96a-b_NegA_SL1.jpg)
This document originates in the archive of Ananiah and Tamut, members of a Jewish family living on Elephantine Island in the fifth century B.C.. This contract allows a man named Uriah to adopt a boy named Jedaniah and thus free him from slavery. Adoption was one legal method used to free slaves in ancient Egypt.