His/Her Story: A landed woman"Mibtahiah" was one of the short-identification questions in the midterm for my Old Testament Intro class a few weeks ago.
By RENÉE LEVINE MELAMMED (Jerusalem Post)
04/01/2011 14:09
From the Elephantine archives, the first historical documentation of a Jewish woman.
[...]
In the late 19th century, various archives from Elephantine were discovered, transcribed and translated from the original Aramaic. When property was passed on or decisions were made in court that concerned property, the papyri upon which these legal activities were recorded were retained by the owner. The Jewish woman Mibtahiah’s archive contains 10 documents found in superb condition; they reveal surprising details concerning her life and the options available to Jewish women in this settlement.
[...]
UPDATE (7 April): Another media reference to the Elephantine papyri in the same week is noted here. The post also collects related earlier posts.