Edomite Wedding Vows

In the sunny month of June, in 176 B.C.E., members of two of Maresha’s rich Edomite families celebrated their marriage. The details of the wedding between QWSRM and his bride, Arsinoe, survive on the oldest marriage contract ever discovered in the Holy Land.¹

Archaeologists at Maresha found seven fragments of the document (photo, right; translation, lower right)—written on a sherd of a pottery jug—among fill that had apparently been dumped into a cave following the destruction of the city by the Hasmoneans in 112 B.C.E.

It may seem odd to find a marriage contract written on a broken piece of pottery—especially when such wealthy families are involved. The bride’s substantial dowry, worth 300 zuµziµn, suggests her family certainly could have afforded papyrus or even parchment. No other marriage contract written on a potsherd has ever been found in Israel. Also peculiar is the absence of signatures: Marriage contracts were usually signed by several witnesses. Thus, we believe the Maresha ostracon is not the original contract but an earlier draft or a copy given to one of the parties. The final word on the contract—“sign” or “signature” (on line 12)—indicates where witnesses should add their names to the actual marriage contract. (Interestingly, this last word is in a different hand from the rest of the document, which was copied by an experienced scribe, who kept his lines neat by using the grooves left by the potter’s wheel as guides.)