3 - The Late Period

Summary

Translated texts preserved on stone, papyrus, leather, and ostraca (pieces of broken pot) in Egyptian and Aramaic illustrate dependence and slavery from the Late Period of pharaonic Egypt, which included over a century of Persian rule. Despite army garrisons and immigrant officials, many earlier Egyptian practices continued. At the same time, under the Persians immigrants brought in practices of slavery from their homeland and, alongside their purchase and sale, the marking of slaves with their owners’ names became well-documented. The terminology of slavery and dependence in both Egyptian and Aramaic texts, new sources for the acquisition of slaves, the relationship of names to ethnicity, and ways in which slaves could gain their freedom are all topics raised in this chapter, as finally is the difficult question of discerning the experience of being a slave.