“This remarkable instrument is witnessed by two scribes, with an attestation clause that might almost have been drafted yesterday. The papyrus is a valuable contribution to the study of ancient law, and shows, with a graphic realism, what a pitch of civilization the ancient Egyptians had reached,—at least from a lawyer’s point of view. It has hitherto been believed that, in the infancy of the human race, wills were practically unknown. There probably never was a time when testaments, in some form or other, did not exist; but, in the earliest ages, it has so far been assumed that they were never written, but were nuncupatory, or delivered orally, probably at the deathbed of the testator. Among the Hindus to this day the law of succession hinges upon the due solemnization of fixed ceremonies at the dead man’s funeral, not upon any written will. And it is because early wills were verbal only that their history is so obscure. It has been asserted that among the barbarian races the bare conception of a will was unknown; that we must search for the infancy of testamentary dispositions in the early Roman law. Indeed, until the ecclesiastical power assumed the prerogative of intervening at every break in the succession of the family, wills did not come into vogue in the West. But Mr. Petrie’s papyrus seems to show that the system of settlement or disposition by deed or will was long antecedently practised in the East.”
Will of Sennacherib
(681 B.C.)
The will of the Assyrian monarch is the next earliest written will which can be cited. It was found in the royal library of Konyunjik, where we read that to his favorite son, Esarhaddon, not being yet heir-presumptive, he bequeaths “certain bracelets, coronets, and other precious objects of gold, ivory, and precious stones, deposited for safe-keeping in the temple of Nebo.”
Sennacherib was assassinated in the year 681 B.C. by two of his sons; he was succeeded by Esarhaddon.
The Will of Plato
(348 B.C.)
We give this will, handed down to us by Diogenes Laertius, being of interest, not from anything it contains, but curious, whether from its antiquity or as an illustration of the very simple form employed by the Greeks three hundred and fifty years before the Christian era. Of its intrinsic value as coming from the mind and the hand of Plato we need say nothing.
“These things hath Plato left and bequeathed: The farm of Hephæstiades bounded, etc. It is forbidden to sell or alienate it; but it shall belong to my son Adimantes, who shall enjoy the sole proprietorship thereof. I give him likewise the farm of Hereusiades, situated, etc. It is the one I acquired by purchase.
“Further, I give to my son Adimantes, three mines in cash, a silver vase weighing one hundred and sixty-five drachmæ, a cup of the same metal weighing sixty-five, a ring and pendant in gold weighing together four drachmæ, with three mines due to me from Euclid the gem-engraver.
“I free from slavery, Diana; but for Tychon, Bietas, Dionysius, and Apolloniades, I will they continue the slaves of my son Adimantes, to whom I bequeath also all my chattels as specified in an inventory held and possessed by Demetrius.
“I have no debts; and I appoint as executors and administrators of these bequests Speusippus, Demetrius, Hegias, Eurymedon, Callimachus, and Thrasippus.”