I am full professor at the Department of Classical Studies, Tel-Aviv University. I teach Latin and Greek. My research focuses on the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman World, Legal History, Formulaic History, History of Ancient Economy, Greek Language, Edition and Interpretation of Documentary Papyri. I am the founder of the Research Group "Legal Documents in Ancient Society" (2007), and more recently of the Group elenchus documentorum (2018). Both groups aim at promoting our understanding of Ancient Documentary text, aiming at this context at bridging departmental and disciplinary gaps. My forthcoming monographyThe Taxonomy of the Legal Document. An Account of the Language and Terminology of Clauses in Greek Legal Documents from Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt, Liège, Presses Unviersitaires de Liège, in press (= RIDA Hors-série), offers a comprehensive analysis of the language of Greek legal texts on papyrus from Egypt. It is supported by the website synallagma.tau.ac.il. I currently undertake a comparative analysis of parallel documentation from neigbouring civilizations.  

Name:          Uri          Yiftach            Ph.D. Phil

                   (first)          (last)         (Acad. degree)

No. ID Card    022956759

Faculty: Humanities, Tel Aviv University: Classical Studies, Greece and Rome 

Home Address: 22 Refidim St., 69982 Tel Aviv 

Cellular phone no.      9722-7239048                         e-mail: uiftach@tauex.tau.ac.il

Date and place of birth: September 12, 1967, Israel

ZAHAL (Israeli) Military Service: enlisted February 6, 1986. Discharged: February 1, 1989

Marital Status: married          No. of children: 3

1992                       Bachelor of Arts Tel Aviv University, Department of the Classics and Department of History

2001                       Ph.D. (direct track): Tel Aviv University, Department of History Topic of dissertation: Marriage and Marital Arrangements. A History of the Greek Marriage Document in Egypt. 4th Century BCE—4th Century CE.

                               Supervisors: Professors Ze’ev Rubin and Ranon Katzoff

Further Studies:

2000–2001             Post-Doctoral Fellow at Columbia University Department of the Classics. Host: Professor Roger S. Bagnall

2001–2002             Golda Meir Fellow at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of the Classics. Host: Professor Hannah M. Cotton

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

1994–1998             Research Associate, Corpus of Jewish Inscriptions of the Near East ( Professor  Jonathan Price, Tel Aviv University)

1996–1997             Research Associate, Greek Papyri from the Judean Desert (Professor  Ranon Katzoff, Bar-Ilan University)

1997                       Co-Lecturer: Law and Family in Greco-Roman Egypt, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich

1999                       Teacher, part-time: Achva Academic College, Beer Tuvia, Israel

2001–2002             Teacher, part–time: Achva Academic College, Beer Tuvia, Israel

2001–2003             Research Associate, Corpus Inscriptionum Judaeae/Palaestinae (Professor Hannah M. Cotton, Hebrew University; Professor Benjamin Isaac, Tel Aviv University)

2002                       Teacher, part-time: Tel Aviv Academic College

2002–2003             Research Associate, Greek Papyri from the Judean Desert (Professor Ranon Katzoff, Bar-Ilan University)

2002–2003             Research Associate, Continuity and Change in the Formulary of Legal Documents in the Greek East (Avshalom Laniado, Tel Aviv University)

2003–2005             Lecturer in Classics and Law, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2005–2010             Lecturer in Classics, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2010–2014             Senior Lecturer in Classics with tenure, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2013–2014             Head of the Department of Classics, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

2014–                     Associate Professor, Department of Classical Studies, Tel Aviv University

2022–                     Head of the Department of Classical Studies, Tel Aviv University

2023-                     Full Professor, Department of Classical Studies, Tel Aviv University

Greek Papyrology, Law. Greek Language, Ptolemaic and Roman Administration, Comparative Law, Law of Contract, Digital Humanities.

A.        MONOGRAPHS

1. U. Yiftach-Firanko, Marriage and Marital Arrangements. A History of the Greek Marriage Document in Egypt. 4th Century BCE—4th Century CE, Münchener Beiträge zur Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte  93 (Munich 2003), 387 pp..

Accepted:.

1. U. Yiftach, The Taxonomy of Legal Documents. An Account of the Language and Terminology of Clauses in Greek Legal Documents From Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt, RIDA Hors série 1 (Liège).

C.a.      REFEREED ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

1. U. Yiftach, “The Role of the Syngraphe ‘compiled through the Hierothytai’—A Reconsideration of W. Schubart’s Theory in Light of a recently published Alexandrian Marriage Contract {P.Berol.inv 25423},” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 115 (1997), 178–182. H-Index 20.
2. U. Yiftach, “ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΗ ΟΜΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ – ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΗ ΣΥΝΟΙΚΙΣΙΟΥ—A Problem Reconsidered,” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 29 (1999), 139–149. Q4; H-Index 8.
3. U. Yiftach, “Deeds of Last Will in Greco-Roman Egypt: A Case-Study in Regionalism,” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 39 (2002), 149–164. Q4; H-Index 9.
4. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Regionalism and Legal Documents: The Case of Oxyrhynchos,” in H.-A. Rupprecht (ed.), Symposion 2003, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Rauischholzhausen, 30. September–3. Oktober 2003) (Vienna 2006), 347–365.
5. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Spouses in Wills: A Diachronic Survey (III BC-IV AD),” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 36 (2006), 153–166. Q4; H-Index 8.
6. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Who Killed the Double Document in Ptolemaic Egypt?,” Archiv für Papyrusforschung 54/2 (2008), 203–218.
7. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “The Cheirographon and the Privatization of Scribal Activity in Early Roman Oxyrhynchos,” in E. Harris, G. Thuer (eds.), Symposion 2007, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Durham, September 2–6, 2007) (Vienna 2008), 325–340.
8. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “A Gymnasial Registration Report from Oxyrhynchus,” Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 47 (2010), 45–65. Q4; H-Index 9.
9. U. Yiftach-Firanko, Comments on Andrea Jördens, “Nochmals zur Bibliotheke Enkteseon,” in G. Thür (ed.), Symposion 2009, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Seggau, August 25–30, 2009) (Vienna 2010(, 291–299.
10. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “P.Col. inv. 131 Recto: A Loan Contract with Paramonê Provision from mid-first-century CE Theadelphia,” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 40 (2010), 267-282. Q4; H-Index 8.
11. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “The Death of the Surety,” in B. Legras, G. Thür (ed.), Symposion 2011, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Paris, September 7–10, 2010) (Vienna 2013), 365–382.
12. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “The Genesis of Bzyantine Bilingual Reports of Proceedings: A Response to Bernhard Palme,” in M.Gagarin, A. Lanni (ed.), Symposion 2013, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte (Cambridge MA, 26.-29. August 2013) (Vienna 2014), 429–438.
13. U. Yiftach, “Family Cooperation in Contracts: Patterns and Trends,” Dike. Rivista di storia del diritto greco ed ellenistico 18 (2015), 97–141.
14. U. Yiftach,  “From Arsinoe to Alexandria and Beyond: Taxation and Information in Early Roman Egypt,” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 45 (2015), 291–312. Q4; H-Index 8.
15. U. Yiftach, “The Carrot and the Stick – Provincial Agrarian Policies in the Light of P.Col. inv. 116b recto: Response to Thomas Kruse,” in: G. Thür, U. Yiftach, R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, Symposion 2017: Akten der Gesellschaft für griechische und hellenistische Rechtsgeschichte (Vienna 2018), 333–342.
16. U. Yiftach, “Dikai in the chôra: Another Perspective of Mélèze-Modrzejewski’s Politikoi Nomoi,” G.Thür,U. Yiftach, R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, Symposion 2017: Akten der Gesellschaft für griechische und hellenistische Rechtsgeschichte (Vienna 2018), 17–30.
17. U. Yiftach,  “P. Col. inv. 53^e: a Declaration of Sheep and Goats from the Oxyrhynchite Nome,” Aegyptus: Rivista italiana di Egittologia e di Papirologia 100 (2020), 231–247. Q4; H-Index 6.
18. U. Yiftach, “A Petition to the Iuridicus from the Archive of Ptolemaios Son of Diodoros (147 CE, Theadelphia),” Tyche:  Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte Papyrologie und Epigraphik 35 (2020), 195–214. Q4; H-Index 4.
19. U. Yiftach,  “Experimenting Security: P.Col. inv. 497 and the Mortgage Regime in Early Second Century Oxyrhynchos,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 219 (2021), 167–182. Q3; H-Index 20.
20. U. Yiftach, “Olim Tradita Fuerunt: On the Obsoleteness of the sollemina verba in Inst. 3.15pr,” Journal of Juristic Papyrology 51 (2021), 169–187. Q4; H-Index 8.

Accepted:

1. U. Yiftach, “The Impact of the Stipulatio: On the Reception of Digest. 19.2.54.1 in Byzantine Oxyrhynchos,” in: Ph. Scheibelreiter (ed.), Symposion 2022, Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte. Gmunden, August 21–24, 2022 (Vienna).
2. U. Yiftach, “Politikoi Nomoi Again,” Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, romanistische Abteilung, Ϙ3; H-Index 8.
3. U. Yiftach, “P.Col. inv. 84 (7): A Special Report (Prosphonesis) by Sitologoi (98 CE, Oxyrhynchites?),” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Q3; H-Index 20.
4. U. Yiftach, “P.Col. inv. 536a: A Petition to the Governor regarding Representation in Court (214/5 CE, Antinoopolis?),” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Q3; H-Index 20.

C.b. REFEREED ARTICLES IN BOOKS:

1. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Judean Desert Marriage Documents and Ekdosis in the Greek Law of the Roman Period,” in R. Katzoff, D. Schaps (eds.), Law in the Documents of the Judean Desert (Leiden-Boston 2005), 67-84.
2. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Law in Greco-Roman Egypt: Hellenization, Fusion, Romanization,” in R.S. Bagnall (ed.), Oxford Handbook of Papyrology (Oxford 2009), 541–560.
3. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “P.Col. inv. 33r and the Processing of Data in Early Roman Egypt,” in R. Ast, H. Cuvigny, T.M. Hickey, J. Lougovaya (eds.), Papyrological Texts in Honor of Roger S. Bagnall (Durham NC 2012), 349–354.
4. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Did BGU XIV 2367 Work?,” in M. Depauw, S. Coussement (eds.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies III: Identifiers and Identification Methods in the Ancient World (Leuven-Paris-Walpole MA 2014), 103–118.
5. J.J. Keenan, J.G. Manning, U. Yiftach-Firanko, T.S. Richter, “Introduction and Historical Framework,” in J.G. Keenan, J.G. Manning, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest.  A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary (Cambridge 2014), 1–30.
6. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Evolution of Forms of Greek Documents of the Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Periods,” in J.G. Keenan, J.G. Manning, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest.  A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary (Cambridge 2014), 35–53.
7. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “State Registration of Sales, the Katagraphê ,” in J.G. Keenan, J.G. Manning, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest.  A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary (Cambridge 2014), 314–325.
8. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “The Grammatikon: Some Considerations on the Feeing Policies of Legal Documents in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods,” in D.M. Kehoe, D. Ratzan,U. Yiftach-Firanko (eds.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies II:  Transaction Costs in the Ancient World, Proceedings of a Colloquium Held at the Center for Hellenic Studies of the Harvard Trustees, 27-29.7.2009 (Ann Arbor MI 2015), 162–180.
9. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Quantifying Literacy in the Early Roman Arsinoitês: the Case of the Grapheion Document,” in D. Schaps, U. Yiftach-Firanko (eds.), When West Met East: The Encounter of Greece and Rome with the Jews, Egyptians, and Others. Studies Presented to Ranon Katzoff in Honor of his 75th Birthday (Trieste 2016), 269–281.
10. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Metepigraphê: Ptolemaic and Roman Policies on the Conveyance of Allotment Land,” in E. Jakab (ed.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies V: Sale and Community in the Ancient World (Trieste 2015), 133–152.
11. U. Yiftach, “The Rise of the Flexible Template: Patterns of Change in Identification Methods between the Ptolemaic and the Roman Period,” in: R. Guicharrousse et al. (eds.), L’identification des personnes dans les mondes grecs (Paris 2019), 77–89.
12. U. Yiftach, “A Handbook of Greek Formulae in Legal Documents from Ptolemaic, Roman and Byzantine Egypt: A Pilot,” in: S. Démare-Lafont (ed.), Debt in ancient Mediterranean societies: A documentary approach, Legal Documents in Ancient Societies VII, Paris, August 27–29, 2015 (Geneva 2019), 153–175.
13. U. Yiftach, “Order and Chaos in Roman Administrative Terminology,” in: K. Czajkowski, B. Eckhardt, and M. Strothmann (eds.), Law in the Roman Provinces (Cambridge 2020), 32-43.
14. U. Yiftach, “Reconstructing Karanis: Tax Collection and Administrative Innovation in an Arsinoite Town of the Second Century CE,” in: A. Jördens, U. Yiftach (eds.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies (LDAS) 8: Accounts and Bookkeeping in the Ancient World (Wiesbaden 2020), 239–251.
15. U. Yiftach, “Horiodeiktes,” in: A. Dimopoulou et al. (eds.), Ioulian Velissaropoulou Epaenesai: Studies in Ancient Greek and Roman Law (Athens 2020), 331–342.
16. U. Yiftach, “P. Col. inv. 84[1], a Deed of Representation (Systasis) from 331 CE Oxyrhynchos,” in: L. Berkes, Papyrologische und althistorische Studien zum 65. Geburtstag von Andrea Jördens (Philippika—Altertumswissenschaftliche Abhandlungen 167) (Wiesbaden 2023), 413–428.

Accepted:

1. U. Yiftach, “The Gnomon in Context: Status Designations and Bureaucratic Compartmentalization in Roman Egypt,” in 3. Internationales Wiener Kolloquium zur Antiken Rechtsgeschichte:  in Th. Kruse (ed.), Dienst nach Vorschrift? Vergleichende Studien zum “Gnomon des Idios Logos” (Vienna) (in press).
2. U. Yiftach, “Tὸ ὡρισμένον κατὰ τῶν παρασυγγραφούντων ἐπίτιμον: An Abnormal Penalty Clause in Herakleopolite Acts of Sale,” in: J.L. Fournet et al. (eds.), Actes du XXXe Congrès International de Papyrologie,  lundi 25 juillet au samedi 30 juillet (Paris).

D.        BOOK CHAPTERS:

1. U. Yiftach, “Kontinuität und Zäsuren im ägyptischen Eherecht—Die Ekdosis als Eheschließungsmodalität in der Ptolemäer- und Kaiserzeit (4. Jhd. v.  - 2 Jhd. n. Chr.),” in A. Thier et al. (eds.), Kontinuität und Zäsuren in der europäischen Rechtsgeschichte - Europäisches Forum junger Rechtshistorikerinnen und Historiker, Munich, 22.-24 Juli 1998, Rechtshistorishe Reihe 196 (Frankfurt 1999), 49–62.
2. U. Yiftach, “Was there a ‘Divorce Procedure’ among Greeks in early Roman Egypt?” in M. Manfredi, I. Andorlini & G. Menci (eds.), Atti del XXII Congresso Internazionale di Papirologia - Firenze 23-29 Agosto 1998 (Florence 2001), vol. II, 1331–1339.
3. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “The Rise of the Hypomnêma as a Lease Contract,” in J. Frösén, T. Purola, E. Salmenkivi (eds.), Proceedings of the 24th International Congress of Papyrology, Helsinki, 1–7 August 2004 (Helsinki 2007), vol. II, 1051–1061.
4. A. Trachsel, U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Sixth-Century Greek Palimpsest of the Geneva Genizah,” in D. Rosenthal (ed.), The Cairo Genizah Collection in Geneva, Catalogue and Studies (Jerusalem 2010), 280–282 ( 'פלימפססט יווני מהמאה השישית').
5. A. Trachsel, U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Genizah ms. 17 : une séquence narrative de coloration juive ou chrétienne provenant du contexte des récits martyrologiques,” in P. Schubert (ed.), Actes du 26e Congrès International de Papyrologie, Genève, 16–21 août 2010 (Geneva 2012), 781–791.
6. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Conclusions,” in L. Boffo, M. Faraguna (eds.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies IV: Archivi e documenti d’archivio nelle società antiche, Trieste, 30.9–1.10.2011 (Trieste 2013), 351–359.
7. U. Yiftach-Firanko, “Foreword” and “Introduction,” in U. Yiftach-Firanko (ed.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies I: The Letter. Law, State, Society and Epistolary Format in the Ancient World. Proceedings of a Colloquium held at the American Academy in Rome 28-30.9.2008 (Wiesbaden 2013), 11–27.
8. U. Yiftach-Firanko, K. Vandorpe, “Immigration, Globalization, and the Impact on Private Law. The Case of Legal Documents,” in. K. Vandorpe (ed.), A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt (Malden MA, 2019), 179–198.
9. U. Yiftach, “Law in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt,” in M. Canevaro, E.M. Harris, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Greek Law (Oxford 2020), online publication: https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199599257.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199599257-e-11

F.         EDITING:

1. U. Yiftach-Firanko, Legal Documents in Ancient Societies I: The Letter: Law, State, Society and the Epistolary Format in the Ancient World, Proceedings of a Colloquium held at the American Academy in Rome, 28–30.9.2008 (Wiesbaden 2013).
2. J.G. Keenan, J.G. Manning, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Law and Legal Practice in Egypt from Alexander to the Arab Conquest. A Selection of Papyrological Sources in Translation, with Introductions and Commentary (Cambridge 2014).
3. D.M. Kehoe, D. Ratzan, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Legal Documents in Ancient Societies II: Transaction Costs in the Ancient World, Proceedings of a Colloquium held at the Center for Hellenic Studies of the Harvard Trustees, 27-29.7.2009 (Ann Arbor, MI 2015).
4. D. Dueck, D. Schaps, U. Yiftach-Firanko, When West Met East: The Encounter of Greece and Rome with the Jews, Egyptians, and Others (Trieste 2016).
5. M. Faraguna, U. Yiftach-Firanko, Legal Documents in Ancient Societies VI: Ancient Guardianship: Legal Incapacities in the Ancient World, Proceedings of a Colloquium held at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 4–5.11.2013 (Trieste 2016).
6. G. Thür, U. Yiftach, R. Zelnick-Abramovitz, Symposion 2017: Akten der Gesellschaft für griechische und hellenistische Rechtsgeschichte (Vienna 2018).
7. A. Jördens, U. Yiftach (eds.), Legal Documents in Ancient Societies (LDAS) 8: Accounts and Bookkeeping in the Ancient World (Wiesbaden 2020).