S .-. _  Marten Stol Women in the Ancient Near East  Marten Stol Women in the Ancient Near East Translated by Helen and Mervyn Richardson DE GRUYTER ISBN 978-1-61451-323-0 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-61451-263-9 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0021-3 (cc) F BY-NC-ND This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/3.0/ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. Original edition: Vrouwen van Babylon. Prinsessen, priesteressen, prostituees in de bakermat van de cultuur. Uitgeverij Kok, Utrecht (2012). Translated by Helen and Mervyn Richardson © 2016 Walter de Gruyter Inc., Boston/Berlin Cover Image: Marten Stol Typesetting: Dbrlemann Satz GmbH & Co. IKG, Lemf6rde Printing and binding: cpi books GmbH, Leck O Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Table of Contents Introduction -1 Map-5 1 Her outward appearance -7 1.1 Phases of life --7 1.2 The girl-10 1.3 Thevirgin--13 1.4 Women's clothing-17 1.5 Cosmetics and beauty-47 1.6 The language of women -56 1.7 Women's names-58 2 Marriage - 60 2.1 Preparations - 62 2.2 Age for marrying-66 2.3 Regulations-67 2.4 The betrothal-72 2.5 The wedding-93 2.6 Marriage and magic-110 3 The marriage gifts -112 3.1 General remarks-112 3.2 The bride-price-117 3.3 The dowry-134 3.4 Gifts from the man -145 4 The family-147 4.1 Impotence-148 4.2 Children-152 4.3 The mother --155 4.4 Bereavement-159 4.5 Childlessness-160 4.6 Repudiation of a childless wife -163 5 A second wife -165 5.1 A slave-girl -168 5.2 Initiating the transaction -170 VI - Table of Contents 5.3 The second wife in the Old Assyrian period -182 5.4 The second wife in later periods -188 5.5 The position of the second wife when the first wife is ill-191 6 Concubines-193 7 Marriage between equals - 200 8 Marriage to a slave - 205 9 Divorce-209 9.1 In Babylonia-210 9.2 In Assyria-216 9.3 In the Neo-Babylonian period -220 9.4 In Syria-223 9.5 Motives for divorce -223 9.6 Predictions-230 9.7 Reconciliation - 232 10 Adultery-234 10.1 Women who initiate adultery-235 10.2 Were both lovers treated equally? -239 10.3 Caught in the act-243 10.4 Punishment-244 10.5 Accusations of adultery-245 10.6 The Mother of Sin-250 10.7 An adulterous princess?-250 11 Rape-254 11.1 Slave-girl - 255 11.2 Unmarried girl-258 11.3 Married woman - 261 11.4 The locations-263 11.5 In myths-264 11.6 The right of the first night-265 12 Incest-268 12.1 Promiscuity-268 12.2 Incest-270 Table of Contents - VII 13 The widow-275 13.1 Poor widows-278 13.2 Arrangements made for widows in wills -282 13.3 Powerful widows - 284 13.4 Remarrying-288 13.5 Cohabiting-290 13.6 Widows with children -292 14 Levirate marriage - 296 15 Women's rights of inheritance -300 16 Women-trafficking under the guise of adoption -304 16.1 The Old Babylonian period-304 16.2 Nuzi-306 17 Women robbed of their freedom -311 17.1 Security for a man's debts -311 17.2 The woman as guarantor-319 17.3 Imprisoned for murder-323 17.4 The sale of children in time of need -324 17.5 Dedicated to a temple-326 17.6 Prisoners of war-331 18 Women and work-339 18.1 Working outside the home-341 18.2 Weavers-344 18.3 Grinding flour-350 18.4 Women as musicians and singers-353 18.5 The female innkeeper-363 18.6 Scribes-367 18.7 The female doctor-371 18.8 Wailing women -372 18.9 Women involved in childbirth-375 18.10 Business women -381 18.11 Women's seals -387 18.12 Women as witnesses -389 19 The witch-391 VIII - Table of Contents 20 Prostitution -399 20.1 Where she worked -399 20.2 Dressed for work-405 20.3 Slave-girls-409 20.4 The risk of pregnancy-410 20.5 Forced into prostitution - 413 20.6 Marriage-414 20.7 Social esteem - 416 21 Temple prostitution -419 21.1 Internal evidence-419 21.2 The kezertu -422 21.3 Devaluing old titles - 426 21.4 Income-426 21.5 Goddess and whore -427 21.6 A wild celebration - 435 22 Her physical life - 436 22.1 Physiology-436 22.2 Menstruation - 438 22.3 Diseases-441 22.4 The old woman -451 22.5 Dead and buried -456 23 The court and the harem before 1500 BC - 459 23.1 The Sumerians -461 23.2 Ebla-464 23.3 Funerals-471 23.4 The Old Akkadian period -475 23.5 The kingdom of Ur III-476 23.6 The Old Babylonian period - 487 24 The court and the harem after 1500 BC - 512 24.1 Babylonia-512 24.2 Assyria-514 24.3 Nuzi-518 24.4 The Hittites and Egypt-519 24.5 Ugarit-526 24.6 The Neo-Assyrian period-529 24.7 The Neo-Babylonian period-548 Table of Contents - IX 24.8 The Persian period and later-552 24.9 Arab queens-554 25 Priestesses - 555 25.1 The high priestesses-555 25.2 Priestesses in Mari -578 25.3 Priestesses in the Old Assyrian period - 580 25.4 Priestesses after the Old Babylonian period -581 26 Old Babylonian convents-584 26.1 Words for a 'nun' -586 26.2 The naditu-587 26.3 Inauguration -590 26.4 High status-594 26.5 Duties-597 26.6 Care in old age -600 26.7 The demise of the convent-601 27 Married holy women - 605 27.1 The naditu of Marduk the god of Babylon -605 27.2 The holy woman, the qadistu -608 27.3 The kulmasitu - 615 28 Soothsaying- 617 28.1 Dreams, prophecy and ecstasy in Mari - 620 28.2 Prophecy in Assyria -623 29 Women and worship - 627 29.1 Offerings for the dead - 628 29.2 Making intercession - 631 29.3 The woman and her goddess -638 29.4 The mourning for Tammuz-640 30 The Sacred Marriage - 645 30.1 Poetry-647 30.2 The reality of the situation - 650 30.3 The function of the ritual-652 30.4 The Assyrian period and later-655 30.5 The demise of goddesses-657 X - Table of Contents 31 The Middle Assyrian law-book about women - 662 32 The value placed on women - 683 32.1 Positive views - 683 32.2 Negative views - 685 32.3 Women compared with men - 690 Bibliography - 692 Indexes - 693 Introduction We are about to see a long line of very different women passing before our eyes. One of them is shuffling along, but another is sashaying around across stage. They are all to be found in the pages of this book, from the lowliest slave to the powerful queen. They are linked primarily by their distinctive biology, by what sociologists call their 'sex' rather than their 'gender' which indicates their place in society. So we have chosen 'Women', not 'Woman' of the Ancient Near East as our title, for their roles are far too diverse to use a singular noun. The richest sources of the Ancient Near East are found in Babylonia, Mesopotamia, so we we will concentrate on them. Babylon was the most important town of what used to be called the land of Mesopotamia. That name is derived from Greek to signify a land 'between two rivers', those being the Tigris and the Euphrates. This area corresponds to pres- ent-day Iraq and the eastern part of Syria. It was here that we find the first evi- dence of cuneiform script, developed first by the Sumerians, and perpetuated from around 3100 BC until far into the Greek period, which began in 330 BC. Scribes normally used a reed to impress cuneiform signs on tablets of soft clay. We also have royal inscriptions, where the achievements of the ancient kings were recorded for posterity by being chiselled out in the same script on stone monu- ments. The material adduced in this book relies on that vast body of documents from thousands of years ago. They themselves were written over a period of almost three thousand years. Scholars have published hundreds of thousands of them already, and tens of thousands of others are waiting in museum drawers for the attention of today's specialist researchers. And we know that there are countless more still underground waiting to see the light of day. A recent survey, limited to the published archival texts, estimated that at present we have available for study 246,000 texts from Babylon and Assyria containing some 10,000,000 words. This amounts to twice as many known for ancient Egyptian. Only in ancient Greek has more writing survived, most of it coming from thousands of Greek papyri recov- ered from the sands of Egypt.' As for cuneiform, we have still 100,000 more texts from archives, earlier and written in Sumerian, containing up to three million words. That makes the 305,500 words in the Hebrew Bible sound no more than a handful of mustard seeds. In ancient Mespotamia the cuneiform script was the standard mode for trans- mitting the culture of the time, a culture which remained relatively stable. In the 1 M. P. Streck, 'GroBes Fach Altorientalistik: Der Umfang des keilschriftlichen Textkorpus', Mit- teilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 142 (2010) 35-58. C- B-C- ©2 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 2 - Introduction earliest period, from 3100 to 1000 BC, it wielded great influence in neigbouring countries. In this way script and language played a similar role then to that played by English today. One famous example is how the Epic of Gilgamesh became widely known internationally. Scribes, such as those at Meggido in Israel and at Boghazkoy, the capital city of the Hittites in central Turkey, copied out the text on clay tablets in distant scribal centres far removed from one another. In this book we shall cite cuneiform sources from the heartland as well as from the peripheries of Mesopotamia, and show how material from the Bible can some- times complete the picture we draw. From 1000 BC Aramaic became more impor- tant as a language of communication. But what we know from Aramaic is rel- atively little because Aramaic documents were written on wood, parchment or paper. Unlike clay they are all perishable materials and they have vanished into oblivion. Sumerian was written in cuneiform script until it more or less died out in 2000 BC. It persisted only as a literary language to record Sumerian traditional culture, as Latin did in Europe in the Middle Ages. From 2000 BC onwards Akka- dian was used. This is a Semitic language closely related in form but not in time to Classical Hebrew and Classical Arabic, as well as to Aramaic and Phoenician. Akkadian can be divided into two dialects: Babylonian was spoken in the south of the land and Assyrian was spoken in the north. When writing Akkadian the scribes continued to use the Sumerian cuneiform signs, much as Japanese texts today use Chinese characters. Akkadian eventually slowly died out itself under pressure from Aramaic and Greek. The last vestiges of Sumerian and Akkadian and of the cuneiform script are scholarly tablets written by astronomers or priests towards the end of the era. The light was extinguished; darkness and silence pre- vailed, until 'in our time', from the middle of the nineteenth century, excavations started in Mesopotamia. They gave us the keys to decipher cuneiform and Assyri- ology assumed a place in the humanities. In ancient Mesopotamia there was a social separation of the sexes, just as often happens today. Men were considered very differently from women, and women from men. Virtually all the documents that survive were written by men, and many of them concern only men. But in family archives we discover the names of actual women and learn about when they were married, and widowed, and how they fared in everyday family crises. Marriage is an important theme in this book. In archives from the palaces we find references to queens and prin- cesses surrounded by servants, but women of lower status did ordinary work themselves. There were women from just about every rank and position, and nothing could be done about this. A Sumerian proverb goes: Introduction - 3 At the time of the harvest, at the most precious time, Glean like a slave girl, eat like a queen. My son, 'Glean like a slave girl, but eat like a queen', That is how it should be indeed!2 Sometimes women get to speak for themselves. Very occasionally we find a longish text in which a woman talks about her private life. There is an account by the mother of King Nabonidus about her experiences. But this was written after her death, and the words attributed to her are traditional, so that text is described as a 'pious deception'. A few literary-minded women composed poetry about their lives but these examples are rare. Inscriptions naming women who offered gifts to the gods were short and formal in style and were written by men. We come closer to real life when reading statements made by women during proceedings in court cases. There are some wonderfully fluent letters written by women, but here we must take into account the conventions of a professional letter writer who would have written down neatly what the woman told him. We learn also about women and their attributes from art and iconography. We broach a sensitive subject which has enjoyed different phases of develop- ment in modern times3. The first feminist phase in writing women's history restricted itself to collecting and presenting material about women. Until that moment that was a forgotten element of history, indeed an element forgotten from half the history of humanity. The second phase was more explicitly critical, focus- sing attention on the various ways in which patriarchy has become entrenched in human societies past and present and has informed the basic assumptions of those societies. How had a patriarchal society emerged? Had there not been long ago a tradition of matriarchy embodied in the gentle mother goddess? Should not Assyriologists, dealing with the oldest known strata of history, be able to shed light on these questions? The third phase questioned all our ideas, saying at best they were based on reconstructions, so that even an 'objective' observation of 'facts' was to be doubted. That was a wise insight and marked the beginning of what is an ongoing progress.4 The reader will soon discover that everything in this book aims to collect facts, which are of basic importance to feminist historical criticism no matter which of these frameworks inform their work. This is not a wrong approach, for 2 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 79, The Instructions of Suruppak, 131-133. 3 M. van de Mieroop, 'Gender and Mesopotamian history', chapter 5 in his book Cuneiform texts and the writing of history (1999) 138-160. 4 More in S. Sv rd, Women and power in Neo -Assyrian palaces (2015), the introductory chapters 1-2. 4 - Introduction when Els Kloek was interviewed about her book, Vrouw des huizes. Een cultuurge- schiedenis van de Hollandse huisvrouw (2009), she said Some people think that I do not do enough theorizing. Women's historians are always busy doing that. But I am more interested in the stories. What is nice about the history of women is that you are revealing the hidden side of the past.' Theorising should not precede facts. Even so we need to remember that it is hard to find narratives in ancient Mesopotamian documents, and therefore our ideas of the reality of that period are necessarily limited. I know of no other such comprehensive treatment of women in Ancient Ba- bylonia and further afield in Mesopotamia. I have presented an outline of what material is available and how it has been interpreted by modern scholars. The sources for the quotations I have presented in the text and relevant scholarly liter- ature for these and other remarks are given in footnotes. A selection of important books for further reading, including monographs or research papers from aca- demic authors can be found at the end of the book. The various chapters of the book were prepared during the time that I was working at the Free University in Amsterdam and in the Netherlands Institute for the Near East in Leiden. I owe much to my wife Roos Stol-van Wijngaarden who transposed the foot- notes from the original edition to this book and helped me out in various ways in preparing the manuscript. Professor Martha T. Roth (Chicago) kindly gave me the permission to reproduce her authorative translation of the Middle Assyrian Laws in Chapter 31. Her translations of other law-books were gratefully adopted. The Dutch version of this book (2012) was translated into English by Helen Richardson-Hewitt and her husband Professor Mervyn Richardson who have been living in the Netherlands since a long time. This has been a considerable task, far exceeding our expectations. Moreover, when they went through the text, they came across opaque passages, inconsistencies, and even errors. They made thoughtful observations and suggestions which led to many revisions. In the edition of the Assyrian laws (Chapter 31) Mervyn took the initiative of introducing every section by a summary. My gratitude to both of them knows no bounds. Finally, I thank Dr. John Whitley, Project Editor at Walter de Gruyter, for his good advice. 5 Historisch Nieuwsblad, February 2010, p. 22. Map-5 .'AT4: LUFA rV.' CYPFRUS O'N3 l AA 5 r Map  1 Her outward appearance 1.1 Phases of life The different phases of a person's life have often been described. One of the seven Greek sages, Solon, wrote a poem dividing human life into ten stages, each of seven years, called 'the ages of life'. Another work, ascribed to the famous Greek expert in medicine Hippocrates, advanced the similar but more elegant theory of 'hebdomads', seven stages of seven years each. After the first stage, when the 'child' had experienced 'the expulsion of teeth', he proceeded in turn to become a boy, a youth, a young man, a man, an older man, and at last an old man. A girl's life after dentation develops in another direction, but the Ancients paid no attention to that.' The Babylonian sages do not seem to have been interested in producing such a scheme. Only once do we find their scholars speculating about the phases of human life. At forty years old, you are in the bloom of life (lalatu); at fifty, your days are 'short', meaning that if you died at fifty your life was short; at sixty, you reached 'manhood' (if we read the word as met-lu-tu) or 'authority' (if we read be-lu-tu); at seventy, your days are 'long'; at eighty, you have reached 'old age' (ibatu); and at ninety, 'advanced old age' (littWtu).2 We find other estimations offered elsewhere in the Ancient Near East. In the Bible, according to the well-known verse of the Psalmist, we are told Seventy years is the span of our life, eighty if our strength holds (Psalm 90:10). The prophet Isaiah predicted a new age when one could expect to live to reach a hundred: He who dies at a hundred is just a youth, and if he does not attain a hundred he is thought accursed (Isaiah 65:20). In an earlier chapter God is said to have fixed a maximum age for mankind: 1 The Jewish theologian Philo summarised both theories; see the translation and commentary by D. T. Runia in his Philo of Alexandria, On the Creation of the Cosmos according to Moses (2001) 74 f. (§104 f.), 278-281. This theory of the hebdomads ('septenaries') was rejected by Salmasius and Thomas Browne; see Sir Thomas Browne's Pseudodoxia Epidemica, ed. Robin Robbins, vol. I (1981) 343 f., vol. II 936. 2 STT 2 400:45-47, with C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 217 f. (see p. 692), and A. Malamat, AfO Beiheft 19 (1982) 215b; B. Bock, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie (2000) 30b. B-C-D© 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 8 - Her outward appearance My Spirit will not remain in a human being forever; because he is mortal flesh he will live only for a hundred and twenty years (Genesis 6:3). We note that this maximum happens to be the same known to the Sumerians, a subject to which we shall return in Chapter 22 when discussing elderly women. From the details in the countless records of workers in temples and large businesses, to whom food was distributed according to their ages, we can see what differentiations were made according to the various stages of a person's life. We can estimate how long people actually lived. Lists dating to the Third Dynasty of Ur (usually referred to as the Ur III period which lasted from 2100 until 2000 BC) record that each month ten litres of barley was given to small children aged 1-5, fifteen litres to those aged 5-10, and twenty litres to adolescents (one girl in this group already had a child) aged 10-15. In some of these texts and also in older ones there are references to suckling infants, literally 'children of the breast'.3 Those over 15 were considered adult. These women received a minimum of thirty litres of barley per month, men sixty litres and a minimum of forty litres, and the elderly twenty litres. So men received twice as much food as women, and that was always the case in Babylonia. This is a huge difference, even allowing for the fact that women need fewer calories than men. In Chapter 18 we shall return to this when discussing women and work.4 In Chagar Bazar in the Old Babylonian period (2000-1500 BC) distinctions were made in the harem between a suckling infant, a small girl (Sumerian munus. tur.tur), a girl (tur.munus), an older girl (munus.tur or tur) and a woman (munus).5 Lists of food for personnel in the Middle Babylonian administration include rations for a suckling infant, a small child (gurus.tur.tur), an adolescent (gurus. tur, Akkadian batulu), an adult who was the head of a family (gurus), and an elderly person. Both men and women appear in those lists.6 A much later account of people who had been deported to the region of Haran in Assyria in about 700 BC lists a suckling infant, a weaned child (pirsu), children as tall as 3, 4, 5 or 6 half-els (= half-cubits), a female adolescent (sahurtu or batussu) and a 'pupil' (talmidu).7 3 H. Waetzoldt in: M. A. Powell, ed., Labor in the Ancient Near East (1987) 132-135; AOF 15 (1988) 34 f., 41. Cf. also L. Milano in: Il pane del re (1989) 80; I. J. Gelb, JNES 24 (1965) 230-243, esp. 238-240. 4 M. Stol, 'Ration', RlA XI/3-4 (2007) 264-269 §3. Old Assyrian documents show that men received at least 30 litres of wheat or barley per month, while women and slave girls received 20 litres; J. G. Dercksen, AOF 35 (2008) 93 n. 11. 5 D. Lacambre, Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III (2008) 256-259. 6 J. A. Brinkman, Studies FR. Kraus (1982) 1-4. 7 F. M. Fales, Censimenti e catasti di epoca neo-assira (1973) 119-122; SAA XI (1995) p. xxx-xxxiv; cf. M. T. Roth, Comparative Studies in Society and History 29 (1987) 732f., 735. Phases of life - 9 The half-el as a measurement of height here is equivalent to 20-25 cm, the same as a span.' The height of child-slaves was also usually measured in half-els.9 Using the word 'pupil' as a category of age is at first sight surprising, but a related word (limmudim) occurs in later Hebrew literature10 also apparently to denote someone about to become an adult. It was, of course, always applied to boys. Apart from this detailed categorisation there were more common words for boy and girl. In Babylonian we have two words derived from the root 'to be little': suhdru for a boy and suhdrtu for a girl. In Assyrian sa/uhurtu and batussu were used." In a letter to his son the king of Assyria wrote: The girls (from the harem) of Yahdun-Lim, whom I gave to you, those girls have grown up ... People have told me, 'They are women'.12 Here we have clear textual evidence that when a girl became a woman, it was something to be noticed in Assyria and Babylonia, just as in our own culture. Later, in the Neo-Babylonian period, Akkadian uses nartu or nu'artu for a girl. These nouns are cognate with comparable Hebrew words: na'ardh, 'girl', and na'ar, 'boy'." Therefore we consider them to be loanwords from West Semitic, the language group to which Hebrew belongs. Girls like this were often married off. They may have had a low social status and it has been suggested that they already had children and were possibly prostitutes. According to a recent study the word essentially describes a woman who is not married. In time this word for someone who was single, perhaps because it had unfavourable overtones, became obso- lete, and batzltu was revived as the normal word for girl.'4 That was the word used for a marriageable virgin, a subject to be discussed later in this chapter. In Babylonian an adult woman is called a sinnistu, a remarkable word, with no cognate in other Semitic languages. In later Assyrian the word issu is used for a 8 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden als Quelle fur Mensch und Umwelt (1997) 131f. 9 In sale contracts from the Middle Babylonian onwards; see H. P.H. Petschow, Or. NS 52 (1983) 144 n. 8. 10 'Pupil' is meant literally; Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 152. Cf. L. Gulkowitsch, Die Bildung von Abstraktbegriffen in der hebruischen Sprachgeschichte (1931) 19 n. 2. 11 Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 149-155. 12 ARM I64:7-12 13 M. T. Roth, Comparative Studies in Society and History (=CSSH) 29 (1987) 739-746; confirmed by W. Farber, Schlaf, Kindchen schlaf! (1989) 55 f. Cf. R. Borger, Mesopotamisches Zeichenlexikon (2004) 371. 14 C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabyloni- schen Archiven (2003) 3-6. 10 - Her outward appearance 'wife"I and this could well be Semitic for it can easily be related to Hebrew 'issdh, 'woman'. In texts from the western periphery of Mesopotamia we occasionally find the word hissd, which could have arisen under West Semitic influence.16 The Akkadian word assatu 'woman' (with a subsidiary form astu) is also related and always has the special meaning 'wife'. Italian moglie, 'wife' is similarly derived from Latin mulier, 'woman'. In Sumerian we have munus, 'woman', with nunus in eme.sal, the women's language." This language raises a most interesting subject to which we shall return at the end of this chapter. According to the book of Genesis the first woman Eve was 'built' from one of Adam's ribs (Genesis 2:21 ff.). Earlier Assyriologists turned to Sumerian to explain this motif. They cited a Sumerian myth in which someone had a problem with his rib (Sumerian ti) and was cured by a goddess Ninti (nin.ti), who was specially created to help. While Sumerian nin means 'lady' Sumerian ti is a homonym, meaning both 'rib' and 'life'. Although nin.ti as the name of the goddess could mean 'the lady of the rib', it is more likely to mean 'the lady who gives life'. We should note that in Hebrew the meaning of the name Eve is connected with the word for 'life', but through Sumerian it can be connected with 'rib' and with 'life'. This was an interesting thought, but one that is not mentioned nowadays.18 An Egyptologist, who was unaware of this idea but had a similar flash of inspira- tion, pointed out that Egyptian imw was a homonym meaning 'rib' and 'clay'. He thought that some confusion had arisen in the tradition, and that Eve should have been made of clay.19 1.2 The girl As a woman grew up her role in society changed. This is illustrated by the way the goddess of healing describes her advance from being a daughter to becoming the wife of a god: I am the daughter, I am the bride (kallatu), I am the first wife (hirtu), I am the head of the household (abarakkatu), the wife (assatu) of the god Pabilsag.20 15 Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 126, with lit.; Borger, Mesopotami- sches Zeichenlexikon (2004) 346-8, is critical of her suggestions. 16 M. Guichard, Florilegium Marianum II(1994) 251, note a. 17 W. H. Ph. Romer, Hymnen und Klagelieder in sumerischer Sprache (2001) 220, on 116. 18 S. N. Kramer, History begins at Sumer (1959) 146. For the myth, see P. Attinger, ZA 74 (1984) 30:265 f. 19 H. Goedicke, 'Adam's rib', in: Studies Samuel Iwry (1985) 73-79. 20 W. G. Lambert, Or. NS 36 (1967) 120:65 f. The girl - 11 There is currently much interest in the attitude to children of former generations. We often assume that in bygone centuries children were seen as tiny adults, but historians now question if childhood was always recognised as such. Sadly we have very little information about the child in the Babylonian world, and abso- lutely nothing about girls. Children played with skipping-ropes, dolls, knuckle-bones, bows and arrows, and practised a sort of hockey,2' while better-off boys went to school. The goddess Ereskigal complained, I never knew the play of maidens, I never knew the romping of children." Here the innocent 'romping' (dakdku) of the little ones is contrasted with the sug- gestive 'playing' of the bigger girls (the verb there has possible erotic overtones). In a love-song Dumuzi, the lover of the goddess Inanna, sings, My girlfriend was dancing with me in the square, she ran around with me, playing the tam- bourine and the recorder. With her sweet chants she sang for me. While rejoicing I passed the day there with her.23 We also know of a young man who played a small lyre (samma) in the town square while a young girl danced (mdlultu) to it.24 In the Gospels, in a poetic passage, which must originally have been heard in Aramaic, a similar scene is evoked: We piped for you and you would not dance. We lamented, and you would not mourn (Matthew 11:17; cf. Luke 7:31).25 Here the children are first playing for 'weddings' and then for 'funerals'.26 In Ba- bylonia the same combination was also well-known:. At the calling ... he can do a dance perfectly. At the song of lamentation he beats his breast.27 21 B. Landsberger, WZKM 56 (1960) 117-129; WZKM 57 (1961) 22 f.; edited by A. Draffkorn Kilmer, AOF 18 (1991) 9-22; Line 16 says: 'I can do the games of girls' (e-le-i mi-lu-la sa ba-tu-la-a-ti) fol- lowed by examples, but these are badly preserved. 22 'Nergal and Ereskigal' V 2-4, 18-20; 0. R. Gurney, AnSt 10 (1960) 122. Childhood play in gen- eral: B. R. Foster in: K. Radner, E. Robson, The Oxford handbook of cuneiform culture (2011) 125. 23 Y. Sefati, Lovesongs in Sumerian literature (1998) 187:15-18. 24 Hulbazizi; dissertation I. L. Finkel (1976) 102 f., lines 125 f. 25 Matthew 11:17; par. Luke 7:32. Cf. Matthew Black, An Aramaic approach to the Gospels and Acts, 3rd edition (1967) 161. 26 J. Jeremias, Die Gleichnisse Jesu, 9th edition (1977) 160 f. 27 A. D. Kilmer, AOF 18 (1991) 10:14-15. 12 - Her outward appearance In Sumerian incantations, a woman (representing Inanna) laments by shouting ilu, and a boy (representing Dumuzi) by shouting ilulamma.28 On the occasion of an outbreak of the plague, a pleading lament was sung to Nergal, the god of plague and death, to spare humankind, animals and specifically the children: Lord, do not tread in the place for playing. Do not drive the children away from the place for playing. Do not come into the place where the strings are playing. Do not drive away the young singer.29 An Old Babylonian oath, apparently referring to teenagers, mentions 'the young man in the street' and 'the young woman playing'.30 A thousand years later the text became garbled as 'the young man at play' and 'the young woman in her bedchamber'.31 It has been observed that teenagers acted without restraint on the streets. In the laws the streets are portrayed as a place where a woman's honour is endangered.32 To describe someone who is marriageable or nubile, Akkadian can use the word mustenu, 'changed'. This change from childhood to adulthood indicated sexual maturity, and this was an important rite of passage in the ancient Semitic world. In Judaism it occurs when a child is twelve years old, when a boy becomes a bar miswdh, 'a son of the law'. Jesus was said to have been able to talk intel- ligently with the leaders in the temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2:40-52). We should note that 'knowledge' can be equated with sexual magturity. Verbs with the basic meaning 'to know', such as Hebrew ydda', Sumerian zu, and Akka- dian idu and lamadu, are all used with both meanings.33 Although some modern English versions of the Bible still translate the Hebrew verb literally, following the Authorized Version (King James Version) of 1611, and describe a man as 'knowing' his wife, the sexual connotations are obvious. In the Gilgamesh epic Enkidu is depicted as a wild creature who only became civilized after he 'knew' a kindly woman intimately. 28 G. Conti, MARI 8 (1997) 254 (YOS 11 47:8 f.), 258:6 f., 260 rev. 1f. (from Nippur). 29 H. Zimmern, ZA 31 (1917-1918) 114 ff., 20-23; SAHG 83 no.15. 30 YOS 1111:8-9, 19:9-10. 31 BAM 6 574 iii 29 with N. Veldhuis, OLP 21(1990) 28, 38. 32 S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 110. 33 M. Malul, Knowledge, control and sex (2002) 233-236. The virgin - 13 1.3 The virgin To show when a young woman is 'ready for a man' a Sumerian song uses rather explicit language, stating that her breasts have enlarged and her pubic hair has grown.34 It was hoped that she was still a 'virgin', a subject which needs much further consideration. It has been suggested that the Akkadian word batultu might not mean a virgin, but rather is an indication of a girl's age, something like a teenager. It has also been suggested that the related Hebrew word betulah, traditionally translated 'virgin', can definitely indicate a virgin in a legal context. That Hebrew betulah can really mean virgin has been demonstrated,35 and the same can be said for Akkadian batultu.36 This is an obvious inference from Bib- lical law, where it is said that an Israelite high priest 'is to marry a woman who is still a virgin' (Leviticus 21:13). A Babylonian woman testified before a temple official 'My husband NN has taken me for his wife as a virgin (batultu)' which in this context means that she was 'pure' (ellu) and that she had entered marriage respectably, as a batultu.37 The same word 'pure' seems to refer to virginity in a letter by King Tusratta to Pharao, when he writes 'The wife of my brother whom I gave is pure, and my brother should know this' (cited in Chapter 24). The word need not mean 'virgin' and ambiguity arises. In daily life the word was carelessly used to mean a young girl who was marriageable, a general indi- cation of a girl's age. In Neo-Babylonian marriage contracts all the 'virgins' who were married off by their parents were young girls, and a different word was used for older women who remarry.38 Similarly, when Assyrian contracts record the sale of a batussu (Sumerian sal.tur) the state of her virginity is certainly not a matter of paramount importance. A modern commentator has remarked that 'the concept recognises only women of a marriageable age'.39 The semantic develop- ment of the Akkadian word may be compared to the German Jungfrau, which lit- erally means a young girl and indicates an adolescent or teenage girl, but which was later used exclusively for 'virgin'.40 In order to specify that a girl has pre- 34 SRT 5:39-45 with Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 242 f. 35 K. Engelken, Frauen im Alten Israel (1990) 5-43. 36 C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau in Israel (1986) 117-192; M. T. Roth, CSSH 29 (1987) 739-743. 37 OIP 122 no. 36:7 with M. Jursa, ZABR 14 (2008) 29. More on this declaration at the end of Chapter 25. 38 M. Roth, CSSH 29, 743 f. 39 B. Faist, StAT 3 (2007) 444, on no.16:5. 40 M. Tsevat, ThWAT 1(1972) 874-877, art. Betld. 14 - Her outward appearance served her virginity we find phrases such as 'the unopened one', 'one who has not known a man' or 'one not known'.41 Modern scholars take this question a step further. They suppose that the tran- sition to motherhood was more important than the loss of one's virginity, and that the loss of virginity was frowned on more from a legal than from a moral standpoint. A girl's future husband had an exclusive right to the one to whom he was betrothed. In this respect it could be concluded that premarital relations between them were allowed.42 But this goes too far and cannot be true. While it is absolutely clear that in the Ancient Near East great value was attached to virginity in itself, we never find this expressed explicitly. There is a passage in the Assyrian Law Book, but one which is only half-preserved, which appears to describe a virgin losing her virginity. This passage will be discussed in Chapter 11 when discussing the rape of an unmarried girl.43 Later we shall also see that it was essential for the lawyers to establish that penetration had actually occurred. In a Babylonian collection of explanations of dreams we find evidence that a girl is expected to be a virgin when she marries. The text states that if a man has dreamt that someone' [...] with his daughter' (the verb is a matter of speculation since the tablet is broken), then 'he shall suffer loss'. The verb is usually restored in such a way to show that the loss the father would suffer was the fact that he would never be able to obtain a bride-price for a daughter who had been deflowered.44 In Sumerian, where ki.sikil means both 'young woman' and 'virgin', we find the same ambiguity. The literal meaning of the Sumerian word is something like 'the pure one'. It occurs simply as sikil in a treaty from Ebla, but later the word 'good' often was added, and so it remained.45 Later in Akkadian texts ki.sikil occurs as a Sumerogram for ardatu 'young woman', but sometimes it clearly has to be interpreted as 'virgin'. Some bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian texts add a description to indicate this specifically.46 In some medical texts a potion is pre- scribed in which the body hair of a young woman is to be included: 41 B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 57 f. 42 E. Cassin, 'Virginit6 et strategie du sexe', in her Le semblable et le diffdrent (1987) 338-357; supported and elaborated by K. van der Toorn, BiOr 46 (1989) 429 f., together with an explana- tion of the Middle Assyrian Laws, §55-6. 43 Middle Assyrian Laws, A §55, with C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau (1986) 128 f.; E. Otto, ZAW 105 (1993) 157-159. 44 DIS LU KI SAL.DUMU (?) ... [...] ZI.GA TU-bi, MDP XIV 55 iii 9 (Pl. VI), with the explanation by J. Bottero, La Mdsopotamie (1987) 151. 45 H. Behrens, Enlil und Ninlil (1978) 117 ff., ad 38 ff. The Old Akkadian Love Charm speaks of two women (dual forms), 'both good wardatums', MAD 5 8:6-7. 46 CAD A/2 242b; Behrens, 117. This may have inspired Landsberger, 58, to translate 'Jungfrau'. The virgin - 15 hair from a young woman (ki.sikil) and hair from a young man (gurus) who has never known a woman.47 Poetic parallelism can be applied here, meaning that the qualifying statement on the second element ('who has never known') also applies to the first element. So we conclude that the hair required had to come from a virgin. Important information is to be found in collections of predictions (or omina) about the future, mostly based on the results of inspections of sheep livers. But dreams and abnormal events were also seen as full of potential significance. One pertinent example involves two consecutive predictions: If a skink is walking about on top of a pregnant woman, that woman will have a male child. If a skink is walking about on top of a young woman, a prominent person will marry that woman.48 The second woman, denoted as sal.gurus.tur, is unlikely to have been anything other than a virgin in view of the high status of her expected husband. Further- more, a parallel passage uses the word ki.sikil instead of 'young woman',49 the same term that is used in threats at the end of the laws of King Lipit-Istar, May the young men of his city be blind, may the young maidens (ki.sikil) of his city be barren.50 Because other texts describe this young woman sal.gurus.tur and ki.sikil as lying in the bosom (Qr, sunu) of her husband, we would translate the Sumerian as a 'young woman' who is not necessarily a virgin. A unique ritual prescribes how the king can remove some taint of sin by making a 'young woman' pregnant. She is taken away beyond the borders of the land and possibly there gives birth to his child. The thought appears to be that in the sperm of the king the slur has been removed far away. It is natural to assume that the girl he impregnated was a virgin.51 In the Gilgamesh epic the hero rather brutally 'does not leave the girl to her husband' (I:76). Perhaps this refers to a sovereign having the right to demand the first intercourse with a girl, presumably again a virgin. With one text reading 'young woman' and a variant from Ugarit 47 STT 157:18; AMT 46, 5:4. Cf. STT 157:25 (cf. also 54). 48 S. M. Freedman, If a city is set on a height II(2006) 212 Tablet 33:110-111. 49 CT 38 39:18 f., with diss. S. M. Moren (1978) p. 262:42. 50 M. Roth, Law collections from Mesopotamia (1995) 39 rev. iii. 51 W. R. Mayer, Or. NS 57 (1988) 145-164, with the explanation by S. M. Maul, Zukunftsbewlti- gung (1994) 78. In the related letter SAA X 209 the same word qualifies the girl. 16 - Her outward appearance reading 'little bride', it appears that the precise meaning of the original Sumerian word was no longer properly understood.52 An exhaustive study by J. S. Cooper has concluded that Sumerian and Akka- dian had no specific word to indicate a virgin.53 What happened in practice was that every girl was supposed to be a virgin before her marriage, and therefore there is some confusion in translating the word batultu, 'marriageable girl'. In this connection it must not be overlooked that there is no word for 'virgin' in ancient Egyptian54 but that does not lead to the conclusion that they attached no value to the idea.55 While seeking to answer the question of why a woman should enter into marriage as a virgin Cooper suggests that there may be two logical motives for such behaviour in a patriarchal society. One would be to prevent young people looking for a partner and experimenting together. The other would be that enforced chastity is good practice for chaste behaviour later in marriage. This in turn ensures that a husband can be sure that the children his wife bears are his own.56 This reasoning is a little far-fetched. According to Cooper (supported by two feminists), there is an oppressive reality behind this, in that the man by his demand for virginity wished to exert his control over the woman.57 More subtly J.-J. Glassner sees that authority is expected from the man and purity from the woman. This is symbolised by her wearing the veil, receiving the death penalty for adultery, and the role of the virgin in magic rituals.58 The Akkadian word ardatu, 'young woman', occurs only in literary texts and cannot be defined precisely. This applies also to the corresponding Hebrew word 'almah.59 In general we find the word gurus, 'young man', linked with ardatu.60 C. Wilcke has surmised that ardatu, an older word, was replaced by batultu in the second millennium.61 If some credence is given to an old Babylonian commen- tary, which distinguishes ardatu as a woman 'who suffers from vaginal bleeding' from sinnistu as a woman 'whose blood is always seen in her pregnancy',62 then 52 D. Arnaud, Corpus des textes de la bibliotheque de Ras Shamra-Ougarit (1936-2000) en sumerien, babylonien et assyrien (2007) 131 no.42:12 (kal-lat se-eh-ra). 53 J. S. Cooper, 'Virginity in ancient Mesopotamia', CRRAI 47/I (2002) 91-112. 54 Likewise B. Groneberg in: Th. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauenwelten in der Antike (2000) 5. 55 Cooper, 105. 56 J.-J. Glassner in: B. S. Lesko, Women's earliest records (1989) 75-77. 57 E. Enresfelder in: B. Schmitz, Waren sie nur schon? (1989) 43; E. Brunner-Traut, Saeculum 38 (1987) 325. 58 K. Engelken, Frauen im Alten Israel (1990) 39 n. 138. 59 About this category of women see Engelken, 44-73. 60 Already in Ebla; ARET 5 3 v 1(7 gurus next to 7 dr-da-du). 61 'Familiengrundung', 216 n. 1. 62 SpbTU I 39:7 f. Women's clothing - 17 ardatu may mean a young woman who has not yet had children. The Old Babylo- nian form of the word is wardatu, with a corresponding masculine noun wardu, 'slave'. So there the word may indicate subservience. In Old Assyrian letters we find three references to a ritual performed by the father of a girl who 'had grown up'. He set her on the knee of the god Assur and 'seized the foot' of his personal god. This is interpreted as a ceremony marking the time when his daughter reached sexual maturity. She has now become ready for a man and perhaps an oath was also sworn.63 The command, 'place the girl on Assur's knee!' in letters exchanged between Pusu-ken and his wife seems to refer to the consecration of their daughter Ahaha. We know that she became a gubabtu, 'priestess',64 which was a vocation for a virgin.65 The role of the woman as a wife, mother, widow and old woman will be covered later. 1.4 Women's clothing 1.4.1 Dress Sumerian literary texts indicate that the difference between women and men can be seen from far away. Women wore their clothing 'to the left', whereas men dressed 'to the right'. In the cult of the goddess of love (Sumerian Inanna, Akka- dian Istar) the roles of men and women could be interchangeable, because she 'made a man into a woman' and 'a woman into a man'. This may allude to dif- ferent forms of dress.66 But wearing the clothing of the opposite sex is strictly prohibited in the Bible: No woman may wear an article of man's clothing, nor may a man put on a woman's dress; for those who do these things are abominable to the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 22:5). It has been suggested that the background to this verse was to prohibit any involvement with the orgiastic heathen cult of the goddess of love, where such 63 BIN 4 9 and CCT 3 20, end (= C. Michel, CMK (= LAPO 19) [2001] nos. 304, 307); see H. Hirsch, AfO Beiheft 13 (1972) 70; K. R. Veenhof, Schrijvend Verleden (1983) 93, on MAH 16209. 64 P. Garelli, RA 59 (1965) 156 f., on MAH 16209. Cf. Veenhof (previous note) and K. Hecker, Or. NS 47 (1978) 406 note 14. 65 K. Balkan does not view this rite as an alternative for marriage, such as being dedicated to the god Assur; K. Balkan, Kanissuwar (1986) 6. 66 A. W. Sjoberg, ZA 65 (1975) 223-225; J.-J. Glassner in: Nippur at the Centennial (1992) 81-83. 18 - Her outward appearance interchange of clothing was required.67 That changing sex was always bad in normal life can be seen from the words of a curse upon someone who may break a contract: May Istar, the great lady, turn his manhood into the state of a woman!68 The Sumerians well knew that it was the prerogative of Istar to accomplish such a thing.69 It was not for nothing that the woman wore her clothing 'to the left'. The left side was always associated with the woman, and right with the man. A man's divine guardian accompanied him on the right, and a woman's on the left. This is alluded to in a wish expressed in a letter: May my Lord and my Mistress not fail to protect you on the right and on the left!70 This fits in with the Babylonian and Greek idea that during pregnancy a boy lies on the right in his mother's womb and a girl on the left,7' which accords with a generally accepted principle that 'right = male = favourable' while 'left = female = unfavourable'.72 Modern physiological studies of the brain show that the rational function can be located to the left and the intuitive to the right. More can be said about dress.73 It is often thought that there was no difference in the clothing of men and women,74 and a study of clothing in Mari in the Old Babylonian period confirms this. Any question about different clothing for men and women amounted only to the matter of size.75 Much later the Persians, though belonging to a very different culture, appear also to have adopted unisex dress- ing.76 For a long time it was assumed that a nahlaptu, 'over-garment' was worn 67 W. H. Ph. Romer, Studies M. A. Beek (1974) 217-222. 68 P.-A. Beaulieu, The pantheon of Uruk during the Neo-Babylonian period (2003) 366:15-17. 69 M. Malul, Aula Orientalis 10 (1992) 53-55. 70 AbB 11106:5-7. 71 M. Stol, Zwangerschap en geboorte in Babylonia en de Bijbel (1983) 79; Birth in Babylonia and the Bible (2000) 274b, 'Right-Left'. In general see R. Needham, Right and Left. Essays on dual symbolic classification (1973). 72 Cf. also Stol, Zwangerschap, 79 n. 476 (lit.); Epilepsy in Babylonia (1993) 36, 'Hand of the Goddess'. 73 In general see C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch, Textile terminologies in the Ancient Near East and Medi- terranean from the third to the first millennium BC (2010). 74 H. Waetzoldt, art. 'Kleidung', §10a, RlA VI/1-2 (1980) 24 f. 75 J.-M. Durand, ARM 30 (2009) 12-14. 76 H. Koch, Es kundet Dareios der K6nig ... Vom Leben im persischen GropSreich (1992) 244, 250. Women's clothing - 19 only by men. But in an Old Assyrian marriage contract a woman who is 'lying and cheeky' is threatened that her nahlaptu will be snatched from her back.77 A text from Nuzi speaks of 'a garment for women'.78 A survey of the clothing depicted in Old Sumerian art shows that men wore one particular costume and women another. For the man there was a type of toga, and for the woman a shoulder garment.79 It was usual for women to wear brooches. In the Early Dynastic period a woman typically wore a shawl over her head.80 Sumerian women could have shoes with special decorations.81 One ritual describes what someone must do to entrust his sins to the ances- tral spirit of his father. A doll was made to represent this spirit, and its head was wrapped in a 'woman's garment'. After the purification was completed he had to replace this garment with a 'clean cloth'. Evidently the 'woman's garment' removed the stain, which could refer to a sanitary towel.82 A woman who only received a small dowry from her father would sometimes be given, two garments with which she could be clothed, two head scarves (parsigu) with which she could be covered.83 Here we are told that the one reason for giving her garments was to clothe her body and the other to cover the head. For this the verb apdru is used, from which the noun (Q)upurtu 'wig' is derived. A comprehensive inventory of items in a dowry also includes underwear, but these items cannot yet be specifically identified, despite persistent efforts of curious modern scholars.84 What we do know is that the very last thing a decent lady would remove was her didu, an item that was possibly secured with a clasp called a silla. Any man who opened that 77 C. Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 223 n. 77. This agrees with J.-M. Durand, ARM 30 (2009) 13 f. In the Neo-Babylonian period this was again a woman's garment; F. Joannes, TEBR (1982) 291 no.78:19. 78 JCS 46 (1994) 106 f., line 4, with SCCNH 8 (1996) 315. 79 E. Strommenger, 'Mesopotamische Gewandtypen von der fruhsumerischen bis zur Larsa- Zeit', Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 2 (1971) 37-55; Typ 8 and 9. Under Typ 6 (Schal), 8 (Schultergewand), 13 (Zweizipfliges Schalgewand), and 14 (Einzipfliges Schalgewand) we have garments for women; and under Typ 7 (Cape) for men. Now see C. E. Suter, 'Who are the women in Mesopotamian art from ca. 2334-1763 BCE?', Kaskal 5 (2008) 1-55. 80 G. Marchesi, Lumma in the onomasticon and literature of ancient Mesopotamia (2006) 21 n. 82. At that time men and women had the chest partly bared. 81 P. Paoletti, 'Footwear in the third millennium BC', Studies P. Attinger (2012) 271-290; CUSAS 6 (2011) 193b. 82 KAR 178 vii 35-41 with R. Labat, HMA (1939) 100. 83 PBS 8/2 252:1 f. 84 S. Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 69 f. The central word is shnu A, 'lap', B (a piece of clothing) (CAD). 20 - Her outward appearance clasp had gone too far, a subject to which we shall return in Chapter 2 where the wedding is discussed. There are several references to women being buried in a special garment, secured with a belt to which little rings from shell or bone were attached.85 To strip a woman of her clothing has always been seen as degrading. It hap- pened to the goddess Istar when she had to descend into the Underworld. The expression 'in her nakedness' was used metaphorically to describe a woman who is destitute and without possessions. For a man the corresponding expression is 'in his emptiness',86 but in Middle Assyrian texts women are also said to 'go away in their emptiness'. In the Bible there is a moving description of the degradation of the 'women of Zion' (Isaiah 3:16-26). This involved stripping them of all their items of adornment, including their clothing. The passage ends by showing that while Zion's gates 'mourn and lament' one of them will be 'stripped bare' and 'sit on the ground' (v. 26). On the fringes of the Babylonian world the expression 'men shall send her away (or she shall go away) in her nakedness' indicated that a woman would be driven away from the house without any possessions. This threat appears in legal texts from Nuzi.87 Marriage contracts from Emar in Syria refer to a man's wife by name with the clause, If my wife goes after a strange man she has to lay her dress on the chair, and then she can go wherever she wants. In Ugarit a similar threat is directed to men: He shall lay down his coat on the door jamb and he shall go off into the street.88 This not only meant that he had to leave without possessions, but that he had to relinquish the family.89 There is a view that saying a woman would have to submit to the disgrace of having to undress was not just a threat but in fact this is what actually happened.90 It is a rash thought, and an unlikely one in the light of the 85 A. Spycket, 'Le role funeraire des ceintures a anneaux de coquille', in: Mdlanges H. Limet (1996) 141-147. 86 The word 'naked' is used in Old Babylonian letters; see CAD E 320 f., eru adj.; AHw 241b, erissi-. In the Hana contract BRM 4 52 we see 'nakedness' (woman) next to 'emptiness' (man). Note that Old Assyrian erum means both 'naked' and 'empty'; AHw s.v. erium. 87 E. Cassin, RA 63 (1969) 136-139. 88 J. Huehnergard, RA 77 (1983) 30 f. 89 M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 93-97; K. van der Toorn, Family religion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel (1996) 45 f. 90 Malul, 122-138. Women's clothing - 21 Emar texts. In the words of a myth, poor women (described as those without hus- bands) possessed only one garment.91 Clear differences between male and female dress appear in rituals.92 In magic texts some prescriptions require male and female dolls to be made, which of course needed to look different. These had various attributes,93 including differ- ent clothing and even different eye colouring.94 The matter of colour also arises in an exhaustive prescription which requires red items for the man, but for the woman they have to be made of wool and so were possibly white.95 Prognoses concerning whether a boy or a girl would be born to a pregnant woman were sometimes based on red or white colourings on the mother's body.96 In one incan- tation an unborn child in its amniotic fluid was compared to an item of a boat's cargo: if it were cornelian it would be red, and therefore a girl; if it were lapis lazuli it would be azure blue, and therefore a boy.97 By way of comparison it has been noted that in Egypt the bodies of men were represented as reddish-brown in colour and those of women yellowish-brown,98 or roughly red and white.99 In ancient Greece, at Corinth, patients who had been cured of an illness offered clay models of body parts to the god Asklepios. For men these were coloured red, and for women white.100 91 'The Descent of Inanna into the Netherworld', 39, 181; TUAT III/3 (1993) 465, 473. 92 I. Winter in Durand, La Femme (1987) 196 n. 33 (half-naked in the third millennium). 93 W. Farber, BID (1977) 213 A iii 3-5.; a man has a golden reed-staff, and a woman two golden earrings. 94 SpbTU II105 no.21 Rs. 15-17; a man has 'a garment of 1 day' and sarriqu-coloured eyes; a woman has a multicoloured garment and teqqu-daubed eyes. For a description of a female pup- pet see D. Schwemer, Akkadische Rituale aus IIattusa (1998) 102 f., with a drawing, p.65; see also W. Farber, ZA 91 (2001) 253-263. For a male puppet with a red garment see J. Scurlock, Magi- co-medical means of treating ghost-induced illnesses in ancient Mesopotamia (2006) 540 no. 230:2. 95 SpbTU III 68 no.69 §32-33. For more passages see CT 23 20 ii 18-20 (TuL 152 f.; J. Scurlock, Magico-medical means [2006] 203 no. 13); KAR 178 left, vi 38 (TuL 155); KAR 227 i 25 f. (TuL 125 f.). Cf. J. Bottero, ZA 73 (1983) 178 and 180 n. 99. 96 M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible (2000) 194, on (2). 97 Stol, 62. 98 G. Robins in: B. S. Lesko, Women's earliest records (1989) 108. 99 E. Brunner-Traut, Saeculum 38 (1987) 314, who explains that 'white' indicated that a woman would live indoors. 100 A. Krug, Heilkunst und Heilkult. Medizin in der Antike (1985) 144. 22 - Her outward appearance 1.4.2 The veil The question sometimes arises about whether women in Babylonia and Assyria wore a veil.11 What is certain is that a girl had a veil put on her head at her mar- riage. In Sumerian lawsuits we encounter the 'covering' of the woman. A cap was laid on her head and this was done shortly before her marriage.102 It was a once- only symbolic act, and the custom was probably that her husband should take it off on their marriage night. The Akkadian expression 'veiled bride' (kallatu kut- tumtu) supports this idea. In one ritual the high priestess of Emar was 'veiled like a bride'.103 All these instances concern veiling for a wedding,104 and they echo similar practices elsewhere. This is why Rebecca 'took her veil and covered herself' (Genesis 24:65) when Isaac her future husband was approaching. In com- menting on the idea that seeing the face of the veiled bride implied attaining a degree of intimacy with her it has been said: The unveiling of the bride ... was a cardinal element of ancient wedding ceremonies, and it has even been suggested that the familiar Biblical use of the word 'know' to denote sexual relations referred originally to the bridegroom's coming to know the features of his bride by lifting her veil before the consummation of the marriage. The Arab bridegroom, we are told, often sees his bride's face for the first time on that occasion, and in Turkey, the present which he then gives her is known explicitly as 'the gift of the seeing-of-the-face'.105 T. Abusch includes these observations in his treatment of a well-known passage from the Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh epic.106 When Gilgamesh meets the barmaid Siduri, who was living on her own, he said to her: 101 K. van der Toorn, 'The significance of the veil in the Ancient Near East', Studies Jacob Mil- grom (1995) 327-339. At the end of this section we shall discuss the opinion of S. Demare-Lafont, 'A cause des anges. Le voile dans la culture juridique du Proche-Orient ancien', in Studies Maryse Carlin (2008). 102 A. Falkenstein, NSGU 2 (1956) 37 no. 23:10; 43 no. 26:7. 103 D. E. Fleming, The installation of the Baal's high priestess at Emar (1992) 23:61, with p.187 f. The text is Emar VI/3 328 no. 369:64. 104 When mourning, Gilgamesh 'covered his face like a bride' (Gilg. VIII 59). The veil was also adopted in mourning rituals, 'covering the head with a cloth'; A. LUhnert, Wie die Sonne tritt her- aus (2009) 311 f. The Sumerogram DUL 'to cover' can be equivalent for the Akkadian verb pasamu 'to veil' and also for katamu 'to cover'. 105 See T. Abusch in: Studies W. W. Hallo (1993) 6a, quoting T. H. Gaster. A. Zgoll, Die Kunst des Betens (2003) 64, draws attention to the fact that this unveiling also occurred in Greece in the fifth century BC, known as anakalapsis. 106 T. Abusch, op. cit., 1-14. Women's clothing - 23 Now, landlady, I have seen your face. These words may indicate an intimate encounter with this mysterious woman. Similarly mysterious was Calypso, the bedfellow of Odysseus, whose name (Greek kalupto 'to cover') could be interpreted as meaning 'the veiled one'. In the Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh epic there is a sinister passage about the sexual misconduct of the hero taking advantage of a bride-to-be in Uruk. Before the king of Uruk, the metropolis, before the lover, the net which men ... is opened, and he impregnates the intended wife. The context of this passage suggests that the 'net' (pzgu) is in fact the veil she was wearing for her marriage night.47 Before the marriage of the king of Mari to a princess from Aleppo there was a veiling procedure. Messengers from Mari went to Aleppo and placed veils (kutummu, plural) on the head of the princess: We have hastened, and the bridal gift (biblu) which our master made us bring we have brought inside, and the veils we have laid on the daughter.108 This historical detail shows that it was the family of the future husband who pro- vided the veil. A veil was also used at a marriage in Ebla in Syria around 2350 BC.109 In the list of expenses when Princess Ma'ud was married off to Ruzi'il, the son of Durdulum, there is a reference to three garments for Ruzi'il. After that we read: Then oil was poured over the head of Ma'ud. Ma'ud received a long garment (peplos), an orange (?) veil. The house of Durdulum. This shows that it was the father of the bridegroom who paid."4 What is new is that here ointments are mentioned together with the veil. The removal of a veil is depicted on a Hittite vase, dating from ca. 1550 BC, found in Turkey at the village of Bitik, near Ankara. A man and a woman are shown seated opposite each other 107 A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic I1(2003) 188. 108 AEM 1/1 106 no.10:12-15. For a succinct comment see F. Abdallah in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 14; for a more detailed one see Durand, AEM 1/1 (1988) 103 f. 109 M. V. Tonietti, in 'Symbolisme et mariage a Ebla. Aspects du rituel pour l'inthronisation du roi', Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff (2005) 251, and J. Pasquali, ibidem, 174. 'Veil' in Ebla: PAD.tdg, gu-du-mu. 110 Pasquali, 175, NABU 2009/11 [3]; Tonietti, 251 n. 33 (TM.75.G.1326; unpublished). 24 - Her outward appearance in a room."' With his right hand just beside her forehead the man lifts up her veil, which may have been orange in colour, and with his left hand he passes a drink to her. The veil appears to be part of the garment which encircles her whole body. The large robe is reminiscent of the Greek peplos, a garment for women well attested at Ebla."2 In these regions it appears that the veiling ceremony formally established a marriage, comparable to a formal engagement."3 But in an Old Assyrian marriage contract a woman is described in precisely the opposite way. It is said that her head was 'open' (qaqqassa pati), therefore not veiled, meaning that the woman was essentially sold off by her family."4 Another possible reason why she was not veiled is the statement that 'her price' had not yet been paid."5 In a letter from that region we read that a paternal uncle had wanted to 'lay the veil' (pussunu) on a difficult girl, which may have been a general expression for marrying the girl off.116 The Akkadian verb katdmu, 'to cover' was used when describing the special rituals for a wedding. But it is important to note that women were veiled in normal everyday life, and then the verb pasdmu was used. It is quite conceivable that women in Assyria, Ebla and Aleppo, that is to say in the north and the north- west, always went around veiled after their marriage. For Assyria this seems most probable because of a long paragraph in the Middle Assyrian Laws (to be trans- lated in Chapter 31) which shows that wearing a veil on the street seems to have been a privilege, and the law set out who was entitled to that privilege and who was not (§40)."7 Those who could wear the veil were free women, a concubine in the company of her mistress, and a priestess who was married. But an unmar- ried priestess, a prostitute or a slave could not wear a veil. They walked bare- headed on the street. If anyone saw a slave or a prostitute wearing a veil, they 111 M. Tsevat, JCS 27 (1975) 239. Photos in J. M. Sasson, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East I (1995) 559; E. Akurgal, Anadolu Kiltfr Tarihi (1997) 131-133. Drawing in W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient (1975) p. 434 fig. 139. See M. Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik (2004) 57 n. 99. 112 J. Pasquali, 173-176. 113 B. Groneberg, 'Haus und Schleier in Mesopotamien', in: T. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauen- welten in der Antike (2000) 1-16. 114 E. Bilgig, AKT I 77:3-4, after J. G. Dercksen, NABU 1991/28, with R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 358. 115 K. van der Toorn, Studies Jacob Milgrom (1995) 333 f.; S. Demare-Lafont, Studies Maryse Car- lin (2008) 241. 116 AKT III 80:22-24 with C. Michel, 'Un temoignage pal6o-assyrien en faveur du port du voile par la femme mariee', NABU 1997/40; RIDA 84 (2006) 161. 117 G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Assyrian Laws (1935) 129; H. Waetzoldt, RlA VI/3-4 (1981) 202, art. 'Kopfbedeckung' §10. Women's clothing - 25 had to report it straight away to the authorities and the punishments were severe. A veiled prostitute was given fifty strokes of the cane. Pitch was also poured on her head in what has been described as a 'mirror punishment', where pitch was applied instead of a veil. The person who brought her for judgement could take possession of her clothes, but no-one could take her jewellery. It is possible that this veiling was practised only in the north, and then perhaps only in a particular period."8 The Hittites were probably familiar with veiling. In §198 of the Hittite Laws we read that a man could grant forgiveness to his adulterous wife: He may spare the life of his wife, but then he must spare the life of her lover also and he shall cover her head. The text actually reads 'his' head, which must be a mistake. The intention was that the woman should be allowed to continue her life, decently veiled.119 It is reminiscent of the Middle Assyrian Law § 41, which shows that a man could make his concubine his lawful wife: He shall assemble five or six witnesses and he shall veil her. Pictures of deported women from countries to the west of Mesopotamia provide further evidence of veiling.'20 Isaiah predicts an ignominious end for the 'daugh- ter of Babylon', when she will suffer various indignities including the removal of her veil: Take the handmill, grind meal, remove your veil, strip off your skirt, bare your thighs, wade through rivers, so that your nakedness may be seen, your shame exposed (Isaiah 47:2f.). The 'women of Zion' who were degraded earlier in the book may have suffered a similar fate: The Lord will smite with baldness the women of Zion, the Lord will make bare their fore- heads' (Isaiah 3:17). 118 See M. Tsevat, JCS 27 (1975) 238, note. This practice was exceptional and just a temporary ruling of the police in Assur (thus P. Koschaker). J. Assante, UF 30 (1998) 32-4, 52f., sees in this veiling 'an anomaly', and thinks that married women could decide for themselves to remain unveiled. S. Lafont, Femmes, 462, suggests that an Assyrian woman was free to veil herself or not; in § 40 no punishment is mentioned for her. 119 M. Tsevat, 'The husband veils a wife (Hittite Laws, §§179-98)', JCS 27 (1975) 235-240. H. A. Hoffner, The laws of the Hittites (1997) 157, 226 is in agreement. 120 J. Reade, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 559 f., 'Veiling'. 26 - Her outward appearance Some other translations suggest worse humiliation. While the wearing of the veil was normal for a decent woman in Israel, Isaiah may have thought that the same was true for Babylon, but this has yet to be proved. There are other indications that women remained veiled. One is in a legend about the victories of Sargon of Akkad, who claims to have humiliated or mal- treated the men of Alasia (Cyprus), saying that 'I covered their head like a woman.'121 Another is in a medical text, written in Assyrian dialect,122 about a woman in labour, stating that 'she is not veiled and has no shame (bustu)'. In a letter from Mari a woman is told, 'Cover your head and leave'. This could mean that women in Mari had to be veiled outside the home,23 which would corre- spond with the statement in the Koran: 0 prophet, say to thy wives, and thy daughters, and the womenfolk of the believers, that they let down part of their mantles (jaldbib) over them; that is more suitable for their being recognised and not insulted. Allah is forgiving, compassionate' (Qur'an 33:59, Richard Bell translation). From the above discussion it can be seen that there was a development in the use of the veil. Originally it was worn only at a marriage ceremony, but later, from the Middle Assyrian period onwards, wearing a veil became the normal dress for a married woman. But in fact we know really very little about veiling, and there appears to be only one text discussing it, the Middle Assyrian law § 40. This sole reference cannot be used as proof that §40 marks a turning-point in the history of veiling.'24 Moreover regional variations need also to be considered. Prostitutes are supposed to have been veiled, and their veil may well have been different from that of respectable women in design or length or colour. But for this there is no proof. As yet we do not know any Sumerian word for veil.'25 Perhaps there were no veiled women in southern Iraq between 3000 and 2000 BC. Similarly for Ba- 121 J. G. Dercksen, JEOL 39 (2005) 109 § 4:53-55. 122 W. G. Lambert, Iraq 31(1969 31:45. 123 ARM 2 113:5 f.; 10 76:8 f., with N. Ziegler, Le Harem de Zimri-Lim (1999) 7 n. 17. See further Batto, Studies on women at Mari, 39, Romer, Frauenbriefe (1971) 48, Tsevat, JCS 27 (1975) 238 n. 12. J.-M. Durand, LAPO 18 (2000) 467 note b, thinks it concerns a marriage. 124 Thus S. Demare-Lafont, 'A cause des Anges. Le voile dans la culture juridique du Proche- Orient ancien', in 0. Vernier, Etudes d'histoire du droit prive en souvenir de Maryse Carlin (2008) 235-253; esp. 236 f., 244, 248. 125 Nothing in H. Waetzoldt, 'Kopfbedeckung', RlA VI/3-4 (1981) 202 §10, 'Schleier, Bedeckung des Gesichts'. Women's clothing - 27 bylonia south of Assyria, we have no proof of veiled women there either.126 Only during a wedding did the father of the bride or her brother place a veil on her head, which the bridegroom later ceremonially removed in the bride's room. In Syrian Emar it is possible that a married woman could be recognised by a dis- tinctive hairstyle. An adoption contract envisaged the possibility that an adopted daughter may in the future qaqqada lisbir, 'to style the hair (?) on her head', and then 'become pregnant and bear children'. The meaning of lisbir, a verbal form governing qaqqada, 'head', is uncertain but it is probably to be derived from the verb seperu, 'to style the hair'.27 Some goddesses are said to veiled. 'The veiled one of the goddesses' was an epithet of Nanaya, who was known to be rather erotic.128 The temple where Ulmasitum lived was called 'the Mas-house, the dwelling-place of her veil'.129 This meaning of this expression is still obscure. In Emar, a different cultural region, a ritual states that during a procession the face of the god Dagan was temporarily veiled.130 In the same region the high priestess was veiled (literally 'covered') for her consecration 'like a bride'.'13 In a ritual from Ebla in Syria, much further away in time, a veil was placed on the queen seven times.32 Another item of clothing used in a ceremony to symbolize the arrangement of a marriage is hinted at in a letter from Mari. In the face of divine judgement a slave girl declares: My mistress spoke thus: 'After my lord Zimri-Lim had thrown the flap of his garment over me ...' After this the text is broken.33 Two scholars have been reminded here of Ruth's request to Boaz: 126 See van der Toorn for a different view. J.-M. Durand, AEM 1/1 (1988)103 f., also assumes that the Babylonian woman was veiled but his argumentation is not good. M. Civil, Aula Orientalis 1 (1983) 47: 13, is not clear. Cf. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 283. Veils are not portrayed in art, see Tsevat, 237 n. 11-12. 127 D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis 5 (1987) 233 no.13 (ME 121); we follow his interpretation. 128 R. Borger, Die Inschriften Assarhaddons Konigs von Assyrien (1956) 77 §49:1; now G. Frame, RIMB 2 (1995) 187, and RINAP 4 (2011) 276. More: Waetzoldt, 'Kopfbedeckung', 202. 129 D. R. Frayne, RIME 4 (1990) 673:26. 130 D. E. Fleming, Time at Emar (2000) 92 f., on p. 248-251 (Emar VI/3 no. 373). 131 D. E. Fleming, The installation of Baal's high priestess at Emar (1992) 23:61, with p. 187 f. (Emar VI/3 no. 369:64). 132 J. Pasquali, NABU 2009/11. The word 'veil' is g6'-du-mu, ma-ga-da-ma-tum, in which one recognizes katamu 'to cover'. In Mari the veil was called a kutummu. 133 AEM 1/1 530 no. 251:15-18. 28 - Her outward appearance Spread the skirt of your cloak over me, for you are my next-of-kin (Ruth 3:9). The Hebrew word here translated 'cloak' literally means 'wing' and could refer to a loose flap of garment. It is widely thought that by performing this gesture Boaz would formally express his willingness to marry Ruth. The prophet Ezekiel envis- ages the Lord addressing Jerusalem metaphorically as a mature young woman: I spread the skirt of my robe over you and covered your naked body (Ezekiel 16:8). The Hebrew word 'wing' is used here also, and the expression is used again to symbolize marriage.34 K. van der Toorn sees in the performance of this act a variant of the veiling procedure, and develops the thought that the man, either by applying the veil to her or by enfolding her in his garment, shows that the woman now belongs to him.35 Furthermore, the man now has the responsibility of feeding and clothing his wife.136 So the veiling becomes in the first place a 'symbol of appurtenance', and the woman comes to belong to a new family. Of secondary importance is the fact that the veiling gives her a social status, marks her chastity, and additionally suggests her beauty.37 Men would be very curious to see what was hidden. The accepted view, that the veil was primarily a symbol of modesty and chastity is the one to be preferred and is amply attested. An Assyr- ian woman in labour is described thus: She is not veiled and has no shame (bhstu). Isaiah equates the pulling off of a veil with 'making bare her foreheads' (3:17). When Rebecca saw her future husband Isaac approaching in the distance, 'she took her veil and covered herself' (Genesis 24:65). That was no legal act, but simply one of modesty and decency. 134 S. Lafont, NABU 1989/45; K. van der Toorn, Studies Jacob Milgrom (1995) 334 f., who also refers to Ezekiel 16:8. 135 For a similar identification and explanation see C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung,' 283. 136 Van der Toorn, Family religion in Babylonia, Syria and Israel (1996) 45. The expression 'pro- viding with victuals' (eperu, note 15) is a wrong interpretation of apdru 'to cover the head'. 137 Family religion, 42-45. For a more elaborate discussion see Studies Jacob Milgrom (1995) 327-339. M. V. Tonietti accepts the theory of her 'signe d'appartenance'; Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff (2005) 252. Women's clothing - 29 1.4.3 Symbols Certain symbols in Babylonian literature and art are typical of the woman. In literature the wooden spindle (Sumerian gis.bal, Akkadian pilakku), which was also the emblem of the goddess Istar, and the hair-clasp (gis.kirid, kirissu), both figure in this way.138 Sometimes a siddu (a rug?) is also mentioned together with the spindle and the hair-clasp.139 In a very old incantation from the Fara period (2600 BC) a spindle (bal) and a clasp (tab) are objects used by a woman, while what may be a boomerang (illar, the meaning of this word is very uncertain) and some other wooden weapon (tukul) were for the man.140 The pin used to fasten a garment, a sort of toggle-pin (tudittu), was also an item for women.141 A Sumerian hymn refers to 'a pure hair-clasp, with lapis lazuli stones, a comb in the femi- nine style'.142 In an incantation the female demon Lamastu receives a series of items from different craftsmen: from the smith what may be rings (semeru) for her hands and feet; from the goldsmith a ring (insabtu) for her ears; from the lapidary coral for her neck; from the carpenter a comb, a spindle, a toggle-pin, and a hair-clasp.143 A Canaanite myth describes the goddesses Anat and Asirtu (Asherah) as holding a spindle.144 We also find the spindle as a symbol of the woman along- side the bow as the symbol for the man elsewhere in the Ancient Near East.145 It 138 Spindle: S. Parpola, LAS, Comm. (1983) 315 f., on no. 308:11; J. Oliva, NABU 1993/98. Hair- clasp: A. W. Sjoberg, ZA 65 (1975) 224 f., n. 15; M. Civil, JNES 33 (1974) 333 f.; W. Farber in Studies Erica Reiner (1987) 96-99. 139 AHw s.v. siddu II ('ein Werkzeug'), 'ribbon (?)', CAD S/2 408b. W. Farber: 'Stoffballen'; 'rug' in his final edition Lamastu (2014) 158 f. (1197). In descriptions of male (§32) and female (§33) puppets: SpbTU III 68 no. 69. 140 M. Krebernik, Die Beschwdrungen aus Fara und Ebla (1984) 36, Beschw. 6, (c); with p. 44-46; G. Cunningham, Deliver me from evil (1997) 74. 141 H. Klein, ZA 73 (1983) 272-275, 280. Cf. CT 23 20 ii 18-20 (TuL 152 f., J. Scurlock, Magico-med- ical means, 203 no.13). 142 E. Fluckiger-Hawker, Ur-Namma of Ur in Sumerian literary tradition (1999) 120, Ur-Namma A:111. 143 SpbTU III 118 no.84:72-75, with W. Farber, ZA 79 (1989) 229, and his Lamastu (2014) 270. 144 KTU 4 113 with Textes ougaritiques I(1974) 197. 145 J. C. Greenfield, Erets Israel 14 (1978) 76. For an image of a sitting woman with a spindle (Susa) see E. Porada, Ancient Iran (1965) 68; M. Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (1966) 130; P. Bienkowski, A. R. Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (2000) 320. The so-called 'sceptre' of onyx is a spindle according to E. Vllig; Das Vorderasia- tische Museum. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (1992) 130 no. 68, with MDOG 130 (1998) 197-221. In Palmyra: E. Cussini, Studies F. M. Fales (2012) 163 (n. 5). In general see H. A. Hoffner, 'Symbols for masculinity and femininity', JBL 85 (1966) 326 ff. His translation 'mirror' is wrong. 30 - Her outward appearance Fig. 1: A woman has wound wool round her left arm and is working the spindle with both hands to spin the thread. Behind her stands a servant with a fan. The meaning of this scene, and especially the fish on the table, is not clear. It is said that the woman is spinning the thread of human life. From the acropolis of Susa; 800 BC. Mastic. Height 10 cm. Musse du Louvre, Paris. was the woman who carried the wool to be spun around her left arm or around a stick known as a distaff. After separating a coarse thread with her right hand that held the spindle, with a twirling movement she would set the spindle in motion to begin spinning (Figure 1). In Hittite the distaff and the spindle often typify femininity.'46 Women were often depicted on grave reliefs carrying a spindle and a mirror.'47 A 'soldier's oath' refers contemptuously to female dress, specifically to the spindle and distaff.'48 It should also be noted that two Hittite goddesses of 146 Hoffner, 331, 333; RiA XII/5-6 (2010) 430 §5. M. Ofitsch, StBoT 45 (2001) 478-498: hulali- 'Spinnrocken', Greek elakate, Latin colus plena, next to huesa- 'Spindel', Greek atraktos, Latin fusus. 147 D. Bonatz, Das syro-hethitische Grabdenkmal (2000) 79-82, 'Rocken und Spindel', 82-85, 'Spiegel'. 148 First Oath, § 9; in W. W. Hallo, Context of Scripture I (1997) 166. More in K. van der Toorn, Sin and sanction in Israel and Mesopotamia (1985) 84. Women's clothing - 31 fortune would metaphorically use their spindle to spin 'the years of the king'.'49 This is a clear though little-known parallel motif to the three Greek goddesses of fortune (the Fates, also called the Moirai), Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, who spun the thread of life for every person. In a fictitious Sumerian letter it was a token of peace when the woman holds spindles and needles, wandering on whatever roads they wish.150 In a Phoenician inscription from Asia Minor a sovereign says that his land was safe so that a woman with spindles (plkm) would go out alone with the help of Baal and the gods."' In Turkey, still today (...) women are a feature of the South Anatolian landscape, wandering around with a spindle in their hand. At the same time, with their left hand they twist the threads, which are then to be spun by the spindle in their right hand. This can quite easily be kept in motion by the ring on the top of the spindle. The material to be spun is either slung over their left arm or over a piece of wood, which they carry held securely under their left arm. The thread runs from there over their left hand to the spindle. This piece of wood, a distaff, in Hittite was called a 'hulali-'.152 It was the custom in ancient Rome for girls who were getting married to carry with them colus compta et fusus cum stamina, 'a neatly wound distaff and a spindle with thread' (Pliny VIII 194). In the Bible the virtuous housewife is praised because she holds the distaff (kisor) in her hand, and her fingers grasp the spindle (pelek) (Proverbs 31:19). In the Talmud, Rabbi Eliezer records a Jewish tradition that the wisdom of the woman only lies in the spindle (Bab. Yoma 66b). This was the one sphere where women are seen to show their expertise. As his proof text he cites 'Every woman with the skill spun' (Exodus 35:25, REB), which 149 G. Frantz-Szab6, RlA X/5-6 (2004) 324 'Papaja'; M. Ofitsch, StBoT 45 (2001) 478-498, with explanations of Greek and other parallels. 150 P. Michalowski, The correspondence of the kings of Ur (2011) 370, 374, line 10. 151 Azatiwada, king of Adana. From Karatepe; KAI 26 A 5, with E. Lipinski, in: K. R. Veenhof, Schijvend Verleden (1983) 48. 152 N. Oettinger, StBoT 22 (1976) 65. 32 - Her outward appearance appears in the more literal KJV as 'And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands'. In one of Esarhaddon's treaties those who break trust are cursed in these terms: May the gods, whose names are listed on this clay tablet, whirl you round like a spindle, may they make you like women before the face of your enemies.153 The speed with which a spindle turns is alluded to in a simile: A false accuser rolls his eyes like a spindle.154 Spinning could be done while seated.155 A relief from Susa shows a woman seated at a table (it even had a fish on it) spinning with a spindle and with wool wound around her left arm (Figure 1).156 In the Bible the house of Joab was cursed with horrible illnesses and effem- inate sons: May the house of Joab never be free from running sore or foul disease, nor lack a son fit only to ply the distaff or doomed to die by the sword or beg his bread! (2 Samuel 3:29). The expression 'fit only to ply the distaff' was translated in the KJV as 'leaneth on a staff' which was discussed by M. Malul. He has shown that there is no question of a 'staff' being referred to here, but that the word pelek refers to a 'spindle', and so more modern translations have something like 'holds a spindle' (NRSV). That Joab's household would include effeminate men would not have been unusual. Babylonian lists of personnel sometimes include a man 'who carries the distaff (pilakku)' to indicate homosexuals who had a part to play in cultic rituals.157 The mirror was another distinctive attribute for a woman.158 As early as the Hittite reliefs we see goddesses holding a mirror, and ordinary women do the same 153 SAA II 56 no. 6:616 f. 154 B. Alster, Wisdom of Ancient Sumer (2005) 69 Instr. Sur. 65. 155 E. Porada, Ancient Iran (1965) 68 fig. 43; see also note 146. For a fish lying on a table on a Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal see 0. Keel, C. Uehlinger, Altorientalische Miniaturkunst (1990) 44 Abb. 48. For a woman seated with spindle from 2500 BC, from the temple of Dagan in Mari see M. al-Maqdisi, Schutze des alten Syrien: die Entdeckung des K6nigreichs Qatna (2009) 216. For another woman, an Aramaean, with a spindle see I. Seibert, La femme dans l'Orient ancien (1974) plate 56 (Marash). 156 Cf. G. Dalman, Arbeit und Sitte in Palcstina V (1937) 43, 54. 157 M. Malul, Aula Orientalis 10 (1992) 49-67. 158 S. L. MacGregor, Beyond hearth and home. Women in the public sphere in Neo-Assyrian society (= SAAS 21) (2012) 114-116. Women's clothing - 33 in later art from Syria. This can also be seen on Middle Assyrian cylinder seals, where a woman lifts a mirror while seated on a throne.159 Naqi'a, an Assyrian queen of Aramaic descent, is depicted with a mirror, but this symbolism is excep- tional in Assyro-Babylonian art.'60 The goddess Asratum, consort of Amurru, the god of the Western Steppes, is shown holding a comb and a mirror.161 While the mirror may seem to have been a 'western' symbol of femininity, it is probably not. There is a seal from Nuzi, to the east of the Tigris, with a woman with a mirror in each hand.'62 The goddess Istar in Uruk also had a golden mirror which some- times had to be repaired in the workshop.'63 1.4.4 Jewellery Literary texts describe exhaustively the jewels and rings of the goddesses and women. These descriptions have even been called an obsession. Jewellery nat- urally showed off wealth and opulence as well as beauty and attractiveness. Particularly attractive stones were thought to help fertility.'64 But the evidence of literature may have been removed from reality.165 We do know that a woman received jewellery whenever she married, and this had legal implications which will be discussed in Chapter 3. What is interesting here is the nature of the orna- ments. One text states that she received silver rings, for her hands and her feet, weighing twenty or thirty shekels of silver (1 shekel = 8 grams), two shekels of gold 'in her ears', and in addition large toggle-pins for her clothing weighing ten shekels.166 Some records of costly gifts to women summarise the precious items. Two lists summarise the items by weight. 159 T. Ornan, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 471 f. 160 A. Parrot, J. Nougayrol, Syria 33 (1956) 149; Louvre catalogue Babylone (2008) 131; S. C. Mel- ville, The role of Naqia/Zakutu in Sargonid politics (1999) 15 (in note 21 other opinions). 161 A. Livingstone, Mystical and mythological explanatory works of Assyrian and Babylonian scholars (1986) 61 BM. 34035:11; S. Ackerman, JNES 67 (2008) 1-30. 162 Ornan, 472 fig. 16. 163 K. R. Nemet-Nejat, 'A mirror belonging to the Lady-of-Uruk', Studies W. W. Hallo (1993) 163-169, with a survey of mirrors in the Ancient Near East and Egypt. 164 J. G. Westenholz, 'Metaphorical language in the poetry of love in the Ancient Near East', CRRAI 38 (Paris 1992) 381-387. 165 In general see K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, Western Asiatic Jewellery c. 3000-612 B. C. (1971). 166 YOS 8 141:9-12. For another enumeration of rings and gemstones see YOS 12 157:2-10. See the next note. 34 - Her outward appearance 60 shekels: silver ring; 5 shekels of gold: from (?) her ears; 1 shekel: a silver signet ring. 6 shekels of gold: from (?) her ears; 1 shekel of gold for her neck; 2 hand (?) rings of silver, their weight is four shekels; 4 signet rings of silver, their weight is four shekels.167 1.4.4.1 Bracelets and anklets Rings worn on the wrists and ankles are referred to in Sumerian texts as har, and in Babylonian as sewiru (later semeru). Mostly they were of silver and, accord- ing to Ur III texts, often weighed five shekels (40 grams).168 One can assume that this represented a fixed value of silver and so they could have functioned as a fixed means of payment. This was a theory advanced by M. A. Powell, who took as evidence the spiral-formed rings now in museum collections.169 He and his predecessors think that parts of these rings could be broken off. The broken pieces had a standardised silver value so that payments for a desired amount could be made.'70 The texts themselves teach us that the weight was certainly not always exact and it is thought that the rings were not counted but weighed when concluding a transaction. Rings remained a currency until well into the Persian era.'17 There are indications that occasionally other jewellery could be used as payment, such as a signet ring (unqu) or a toggle-pin.72 Silver rings weighing five shekels appear to have been standard, but rings of ten shekels also turn up regularly. Such rings for the hand were once called 'large'.73 Occasionally on special occasions we read of women receiving 'two hand rings - twenty shekels in weight', which suggests that they wore rings each 167 S. Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 69 no. 10:4-6, resp. BE 6/1 84:3-6. Also CT 8 2a:1-3, CT 45 119:3-6, MDP 28 536:6-10. Toggle-pins are rarely inserted in the lists: Maekawa, ASJ 8 (1986) 345, MDP 28 536:10, YOS 8 141:11 (tudittu), YOS 12157:2 (IGI.DU). 168 We also know of golden rings, see ARM 21223:28 f.; ARMT 22313:1, 5; ARMT 23 p. 508 no. 535 iii 9; R. M. Whiting, AS 22 (1987) 39, on line 4; VAS 22 86:12. Photos in the catalogue Sumer-As- sur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) no.80. Others were made of iron with a golden 'opening' (bdbu): H. Limet, MARI 3 (1984) 193f. Of bronze: VAS 22 84:18, DCS 115:13; of stone: ARM 21 223:36 (NA4 tak-ka-si). 169 M. A. Powell, Festschrift L. Matous II (1978) 211-243. Five shekels as the norm: p. 213 f. 170 Powell, 222; W. W. Hallo, BiOr 20 (1963) 138b; E. Sollberger, JCS 10 (1956) 23b; P. Paoletti, Der K6nig und sein Kreis. Das staatliche Schatzarchiv der III. Dynastie von Ur (2012) 139, 307. 171 M. Pfisterer, Ein Silberschatz vom Schwarzen Meer. Beobachtungen zum Geldumlauf im Achaimenidenreich (2000) 73-5, Tafel XVII. 172 TCL 1147:9 (Old Babylonian), resp. H. Klein, ZA 73 (1983) 277 f. (Old Assyrian). 173 Hand rings of 5 and 10 shekels together: Sh. Sanati-Muller, Baghd. Mitt. 21 (1990) 164 no.113:6-9. Two foot-rings, each 7 1/2 shekels: ARM XXI 219:19. 'Large': ARMT 22 p.496 no. 322:27. Women's clothing - 35 weighing ten shekels.74 An Old Babylonian reference to rings possibly concerns a wedding: Two hand rings of silver, their weight twenty shekels of silver, a present for the daughter of Ur-Nanna, who was 'given' to Apil-Kubi.175 When greater weights are mentioned the text refers not to one ring but to the total weight of several rings. The possessions of religious women were often summa- rised by weight. In lists of the gifts they received from their father or someone else, immediately after any fields and slaves, we find what is described as her 'ring silver', with amounts from ten to sixty shekels (60 shekels = 1 mina).176 Such a woman from the convent would often pay with 'her ring silver', which was her private possession.77 The amounts varied greatly and once we find the high amount of ten mines of silver.178 An Old Assyrian text speaks of a number of 'rings for my hand' with a weight of sixty shekels of silver.179 These rings may have been given to women on particular occasions. The so-called 'silver ring texts' from the Ur III period record the giving of rings to high-ranking men and women by the court. They were issued by the royal treasury located in Drehem, 10 km. from Nippur.180 Men received silver rings at all kinds of occasions. The women who were bestowed with gifts (like rings) all lived at the court, but the queen was the only one to receive signet rings made of gold. More will be said in Chapter 23 when we discuss the court of the Ur III empire. 174 'Two' or 'pairs' of rings are often mentioned; Hallo, BiOr 20, 138a. 175 YOS 5 207:47-49, cf. lines 30-33 (two rings, 18 1/2 shekels; again a marriage). More: YOS 12 376:1-2 (almost 10 shekels) (marriage); TCL 10 17:15-17 (after a birth). Cf. G.Th. Ferwerda, SLB 5 (1985) no. 25:5, 26:2 (hand ring of 11 shekels for the daughter). 176 PBS 8/2 105:11 (62 1/2 shekels), ARN 29:2, CT 45 79:16 (60 sh.), CT 47 30:11 (30 sh.), CT 8 5b:6 (30 sh.), CT 6 33a:10 (10 sh.). 177 In sale contracts; in the letter AbB 7 19:20. 178 In SFS 10:22 a girl receives from her father 10 minas of silver which, however, is not qualified as 'her ring silver'. Extremely high is the 'ring silver' in L. Waterman, BDHP 28:13 (10 minas). Other high amounts are 20 shekels (CT 8 35b:7), 30 shekels (CT 6 20a:19). 179 L. Matous, Studies F. R. Kraus (1982) 269 f. 180 P. Michalowski, 'The Neo-Sumerian silver ring texts', SMS 2/3 (April 1978) 6. They were given silim.ma, '(in order to) welcome', E. Sollberger, JCS 10 (1956) 23 no. 10:3, with note; cf. silim in AUCT I 276:11 f. (with C. Wilcke, Studies W. L. Moran [1990] 474 n. 46, who thinks of a positive out- come of a river ordeal), and in inhma islimu, 'after birth', in TCL 10 17:17, Riftin 52:6 (?). For rings for women see Michalowski nos. 6:1-4 [= Sollberger no. 11], 8:1-2. 36 - Her outward appearance We must point out here that on Assyrian reliefs men are shown wearing rings on their wrists. Those with rosettes look like wrist-watches, but those rosettes actually represent Istar, the goddess of war, to be equated with Venus.181 1.4.4.2 Earrings In a letter a girl complains that they have robbed me of my earrings and my silver ring. Later this is referred to collectively as 'the jewellery (sukuttu) of the girl'.182 King Tusratta of Mitanni sent toggle-pins, earrings (all made of gold) and a jar of good oil as a present to his sister in Egypt, who had been married off to the Pharaoh (see Chapter 24).183 Earrings (insabtu) which have been found are made of gold, which confirms the texts which state that gold is used for ear ornaments, such as 'x shekels of gold, from her ears' (Figure 2).184 One earring weighed six shekels.185 In rituals a magic female doll could also be given a golden earring.186 The Israel- ites during the Exodus melted down earrings to make the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:2). In Ugarit the word possibly used for them means 'pendants' (suqallalu).187 Golden dolls represented a guardian angel (lamassu) and these have been found hanging on an earring. A Sumerian text identifies one example weighing two shekels (16 gram) as 'for the earring (with a) lamassu of (King) Amar-Sin'.188 Golden and silver earrings have been found, and some are large golden rings. On one golden, three-lobed earring, measuring 3 by 4 cm, there is an inscription of King Sulgi. He dedicated the ring to his deceased mother, who 181 B. Hrouda, Die Kulturgeschichte des assyrischen Flachbildes (1965) 58, with Tafel 9; B. N. Porter, Studies S. Parpola (2009) 216. 182 ARM 10 114. 183 EA 17:41-45. 184 E. Szlechter, TJAUB (1963) 11 with n. 1; also TLB I 229:12 (2 shekels of gold). For photos of golden earrings see catalogue Sumer-Assur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) no. 89; Das Vorderasia- tische Museum (1992) 158 nos. 99, 100 - J. G. Dercksen, Anatolica 41 (2015) 42 f. (Old Assyrian). 185 1 shekel (BAP 7:9), 2 shekels (PBS 8/2 166 iii 10, TLB 1 229:12, YOS 8 141:12), 4 shekels (Riftin 66), 5 shekels (CT 45 119:3, MDP 28 536:8, Dalley, Iraq 4269 no.10:5), 6 shekels (UMM H 41:10 with Wilcke, Studies F. R. Kraus [1982] 459, BE 6/1 84:3). 186 W. Farber, BID (1977) 212 f., 5; D. Schwemer, Akkadische Rituale aus IIattusa (1998) 146. The male puppet gets a su'ru made of silver. 187 PRU III (1955) 182 RS 16.146+161:2. That list begins with items for the queen's head; her 'city crown' (see below) follows. 188 Catalogue Babylon. Wahrheit (2008) 316 Abb. 235; the text S. Kang, SET II no.119. Women's clothing - 37 Fig. 2: Earrings are mostly made of gold. These come from the rich Middle Assyrian 'Grave 45' in Assur. Height 3 cm, length 4 cm. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. was elevated to divine status posthumously, to be the goddess Gestinanna.'89 In a much earlier period, in Ebla, earrings were used to set a standardised value.190 Men wearing earrings in many different shapes are well-known in Neo-Assyrian art.191 Earrings of a standard weight, like other rings, could be used as currency.192 1.4.4.3 Nose-rings Nose-rings were not known as an ornament in the Babylonian world. The word for them is serretu but it seldom occurs, and when it does it is in texts concerning the 'West', i.e. Syria. In the Old Babylonian period Yasmah-Addu, the Assyrian 189 P. Amiet, M. Lambert, RA 67 (1973) 159-161; H. Steible, FAOS 9,1 (1991) 212 Sulgi 70. 190 A. Archi, Eblaitica 1(1987)116; cf. 69 n. 24 (bu-di); see also H. Waetzoldt apud H. Klein, ZA 73 (1983) 279. For earrings with a fixed value see I. J. Gelb, OIP 104 (1991) 296b s.v. PI. 191 M. E. L. Mallowan, Nimrud and its Remains 1(1966) 65 fig. 28; 100 fig. 45; SAA VII (1992) p. 36, 50, 70; Hrouda, Kulturgeschichte, 55, Tafel 8. The Assyrian word quddsu means 'ring'. In related Semitic languages this is the word for 'earring'. 192 A. Archi, Eblaitica 1 (1987) 116 n. 9. 38 - Her outward appearance viceroy of Mari, married the daughter of the king of Qatna, from further west, situated 50 km north-east of Homs in modern Syria. The father of the bridegroom, the king of 'Assyria', wrote letters to his son about the bride-price (terhatu) which had to be paid, and which had to bear a good relation to the dowry (nidittu) which the family of the bride would contribute. The value of the dowry was fixed at four talents of silver, that is 14,400 shekels.193 It is striking that 7.2 minas (= 470 shekels) had to be spent by the bridegroom on a nose-ring (serretu) and silver rings (sewiru). Evidently that was expected in Qatna. But this is also reminiscent of the Middle Assyrian laws concerning jewellery (dumaqu), when the man 'laid' these on his wife and they became her property (§§25, 26, 38). The woman was then still living in the house of her father. We have established that in Assyria it was the custom for the bridegroom to give jewellery to his bride, which may have consisted of a nose-ring and a silver ring.194 However we never find the nose-ring listed among gifts for a bride in Babylonia or in Mari. It is interesting that we find the combination 'nose-ring and rings' not only in the much later Persian period but also in the patriarchal narratives of the Bible.195 Abraham's servant had to find a wife for his son Isaac. He met Rebecca at the well and meanwhile had taken a gold nose-ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels, also of gold (Genesis 24:22). Rebecca went home with this jewellery on her wrists (see verse 30), for the servant had already put the 'ring in her nose' and 'the bracelets on her wrists' (verse 47, 'al in Hebrew means 'on'). Her brother Laban and her father Bethuel agreed to the match and more presents were given to Rebecca, her brother and her mother. We note that the role of her father Bethuel is minimal, for grammatically it is only her brother Laban who 'replied' (in verse 50). The Hebrew nezem 'ring' evidently means a nose-ring here, like serretu in the Mari letters. The word nezem is also used in a proverb, to refer to a ring in a pig's nose: Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without good sense (Proverbs 11:22).196 193 ARM 1 46:27-31 with J.-M. Durand, MARI 4 (1985) 403-405; LAPO 18 (2000) 171 f. no.1006. 194 Thus also Durand, 405. 195 From the Persian period we have a marriage contract mentioning one nose-ring (karallu) together with two rings (semeru), all in silver, see F. Joannes (NABU 1989/1); for those in the Bible see M. Anbar, UF 6 (1974) 442-444; M. Stol, ZA 76 (1986) 123 n. 7, where he overlooked the work of Anbar. 196 Nezem, however, is a ring in the ear in Genesis 35:4 and Exodus 32:2-3; cf. perhaps Proverbs 25:12. In Ebla: G. Pettinato, MEE 2 (1980) 31 and 83; A. Alberti, OrAnt 20 (1981) 44, on r. III 10; H. Waetzoldt in La lingua di Ebla (1981) 372f. Women's clothing - 39 The word for 'bangles' in Hebrew is semidim, and they are often mentioned in the same breath as nose-rings: I adorned you with jewellery: bracelets on your wrists, a chain around your neck, a ring in your nose, pendants in your ears, and a splendid crown on your head (Ezekiel 16:11-12). Descriptions of Arab women, sometimes from photographs, will include their nose-rings:197 Arabian beauties adorned their ears with earrings ... They often decorated their noses with a large thin nose-ring (khezdm), like the one which Abraham's slave gave to Rebecca when he came to court her for Isaac. These rings are still commonly to be found among the bridal gifts of the Bedouin tribes. As Lady Blunt relates, Arab women liked to play with this ring, pushing them backwards and forwards in their pierced nostrils while they were talking.198 1.4.4.4 Finger-rings In the Old Babylonian period a ring (Akkadian unqu, Sumerian su.gur) was some- times qualified as being 'for the finger', and once we have a much fuller descrip- tion: A signet ring for the finger made of iron; the middle part is mounted in gold and contains a seal made of two pieces of lapis lazuli.199 These rings were used as signet rings. They weighed only one shekel, lighter than bracelets and more often made of gold. Iron was still rare in this period. It is possi- ble that the Old Babylonian finger-ring marked the status of the woman who wore it. Whenever a daughter was dedicated to a deity she received such a ring,200 and two lists of gifts for a girl getting married include that ring.201 It could be likened to the anulus pronubus of ancient Rome, the precursor of the modern engagement 197 G. Jacob, Das Leben der vorisldmischen Beduinen nach den Quellen geschildert (1895) 48. 198 M. von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeerzum Persischen Golf II (1900) 123 f., writes about 'Ohren- und Nasenringe'. Wives of the rich had a 'Nasenbrosche', on the left or right side of the nose. 199 ARMT 23 507 no. 535 i 8, cf. iv 32 ('1 signet ring of the finger, golden, in which 1 pea-shaped ... of lapis lazuli', for a woman'); no.540:4' ('1 lapis lazuli seal of a signet ring of the finger'); CT 45 119:5 with C. Wilcke, ZA 74 (1984) 172 ('1 signet ring of iron which is ... in gold, of her finger'); CT 4 5:23 (signet ring of agate, suba stone). 200 J.-M. Durand in: G. del Olmo Lete, Mythologie et religion des Semites occidentaux I1(2008) 407 f., A. 1186. 201 CT 4 18b:1, read -qd-am; UET 5 636:2 (1 shekel of silver). 40 - Her outward appearance Fig. 3: A toggle-pin can be seen on women's garments Sin the early periods. This /1 i frieze from Mani shows two women wearing toggle-pins, and many such pins with an eye have actually been found. 2500 BC. Mother of pearl, schist, ivory. Height 52,6 cm. National Museum, Damascus. ring. Perhaps a primaeval Mediterranean custom lies behind the presentation of this ring. Originally it would have been used as currency to pay for the marriage, and later it was used symbolically as pignus fidei 'a pledge of good faith'. The church took over this custom.202 The use of the finger ring became much more widespread in the late period in Babylon, and men used their signet rings as seals in legal procedures by impressing them into the soft clay of a tablet. 1.4.4.5 Toggle-pin Now and then we find among the gifts to women a large pin or clasp called a tudittu, which used to be thought of as an item of jewellery to wear on the breast (Figure 3). Now it is clear that it is a pin with a hole in it, known as a toggle-pin. In German it is called a Gewandnadel, or more precisely Knebelnadel 202 Karl Gross, Menschenhand und Gotteshand in Antike und Christentum (1985) 212-219. Women's clothing - 41 or Verschlussnadel, and was to hold together the flaps of an outer garment.203 A thread on the inside of the garment is knotted through the eye of the pin, which locks the pin to the garment. The finding of these pins show that they were used throughout two millennia, until ca. 1000 BC. One or two pins could be attached to a garment and placed crosswise on the breast or on the shoulder. Usually it was a gold or silver pin, and it sometimes had a precious stone on the head. A particularly beautiful example was found at Terqa, one to be compared with an Old Babylonian description of the jewels belonging to a goddess from Qatna, and one mentioned in an Amarna letter. The thread for fastening the pin was some- times decorated with a golden sun, set with lapis lazuli, or with pearls and fruits of alabaster and lapis lazuli.204 A lamentation refers to a 'toggle-pin of gold and silver with a bison on top' (Ur-Nammu A 121). Pendants of pearls, amulets and cylinder seals have been found in excavations. The toggle-pin was used only by women. A Hittite text shows that it could symbolise the woman. An Old Assyrian text mentions it when describing the repudiation of an insolent wife: She will go away when her toggle-pin is snatched off. When that happened, all her clothes would drop to the ground and she would have been symbolically stripped of all her possessions.205 The toggle-pin fell into disuse after 1000 BC, when the fibula, the direct forerunner of our safety pin, became common. It originated in the west, in Cyprus, in the thirteenth century BC and spread to Babylonia in the eighth century BC.206 After its disappearance from regular use the toggle-pin was restricted to rituals and on images of goddesses.207 203 H. Klein, 'Tudittum', ZA 73 (1983) 255-284; W. Farber, Studies Erica Reiner (1987) 96-98. In Ebla bu-di; A. Archi, ZA 92 (2002) 188 (not: earring). 204 Klein, 270 f. (with n. 93), 284. Illustrations: 'Nadel', RlA IX/1-2 (1998) 70; catalogue In Syri. Naar de oorsprong van het schrift (Brussels, n. d.) 63 (on garments), 269 nos. 342-343 (two pins); P. Amiet, Elam (1966) no. 246 (pins). Cf. Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) 147 no.89 'Keulen- kopf und Gewandnadeln' (from Assur). Other pins: catalogue Babylon. Wahrheit (Berlin 2008) 314 (fibula). 205 C. Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 223 n. 76. 206 The articles 'Fibel' in RlA (1957) and the Biblisches Reallexikon (1977). Examples of the fib- ula: I. Seibert, La femme dans l'Orient ancien (1974) plate 58. 207 Klein, 258, cf. R. Sack, ZA 69 (1979) 44 f. 42 - Her outward appearance 1.4.4.6 Necklaces Many necklaces have been found.208 People apparently liked variety: we have no simple strings of beads on a strand, but alternating gemstones, gold medallions, pearls, tiny amulet-like figures and even cylinder seals.209 A necklace from Dilbat has pendants in the form of symbols of the gods and little figures of guardian deities, apparently intended to ward off evil. Perhaps this was the purpose of all necklaces. The chains called 'jewels (dumdqu) of the kings' had the same pur- pose.210 Inventories from Mari describe in detail the items used for this sort of jewellery. 1.4.4.7 Diadems The metal diadems which ladies of distinction sometimes wore on their heads were called 'cities' (Figure 4).211 They represented the city wall with its crenella- tions. We know of one which belonged to an Old Akkadian lady of the court and of others belonging to two Assyrian queens. They will be mentioned later when describing court life in Ugarit and Assyria. This metaphor of a 'city' occurs in the Mishnah when prohibiting a woman from wearing a 'city of gold' on the Sabbath (Sabbat VI.I).212 This arises from the time when the pzrgos was associated with the heathen Syrian goddess Atargatis.213 1.4.4.8 Gifts A man could give his wife a gift of jewellery on any occasion he wished. When the wife of King Su-Sin bore him a child, both of them burst forth in cheerful antipho- 208 See, e. g., the catalogue Sumer-Assur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) nos. 71-78, 90, 92-94. 209 K. R. Maxwell-Hyslop, Jewellery (1971); Klaudia Limper, Uruk. Perlen. Ketten. Anhanger (1988). Illustrations in colour: Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) nos. 17 en 22 (Uruk; simple), 72 (Babylon), 96-98 (Assur, Gruft 45), 123 (Assur); the catalogue Babylon. Wahrheit (2008) p. 250, 315 (Babylon); L. Woolley, Ur of the Chaldees. Revised and updated by P. R. S. Moorey (1982) 172 (Ur, tomb of Pu-abi); Sumer-Assur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) nos. 71, 74. 210 Cf. U. Magen, Assyrische K6nigsdarstellungen (1986) 54 f. 211 P. Calmeyer, 'Mauerkrone', RlA VII/7-8 (1990) 595 f.; J. Borker-Klkhn, 'Mauerkronentrage- rinnen', in: Assyrien im Wandel der Zeiten (1997) 227-234, Tafel 12-16 (she found parallels among the Hittites); SAA VI (1991) p. 70 (on a tile); M. Stol, Studies R. D. Biggs (2007) 233, alum 'city'. Old Akkadian: Borker-Klkhn, p.229 (Aman-Estar). For a photo of Queen Assur-sarrat (= Libbali-sar- rat) of Ashurbanipal with this crown seeP. Bienkowski, A. Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (2000) 237. See Figure 4. 212 S. M. Paul, 'Jerusalem - city of gold', IEJ 17 (1967) 259-263. 213 J. L. Lightfoot, Lucian, On the Syrian Goddess (2003) 22-26. Women's clothing - 43 E (A Fig. 4: Assyrian queens wore a crown shaped like a crenellated city wall, a style of diadem later worn by Aramaean goddesses. Here Libbali-sarrat, the spouse of King Ashurbanipal, as portrayed on her stela from the royal city of Assur, is wearing one. Ca. 650 BC. Limestone. Height 56 cm. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. 44 - Her outward appearance nal singing. She thanked him for his presents of a golden pin, a seal of lapis lazuli (lazurite), a golden ring and a silver ring.214 There are indications that the gold pin was attached to the seal as a single item.15 W. W. Hallo interpreted the golden pin (Sumerian bulug) as 'a characteristic part of the marriage gift'. Agate stones from a necklace were found at Uruk with inscriptions stating that King Su-Sin had given them as presents to Ti'amat-basti and Kubatum, his concubines (lukur).216 1.4.4.9 Jewellery of princesses Queens and other rich women loved necklaces with lapis lazuli beads and requested them as presents.217 Of course any princess would have received a large store of jewels, as we know from the summaries of the contents of a dowry which a princess brought with her to Ebla.218 In Mari the term nidittu, 'gift' was used,219 and the jewels found included gold medallions, strings of pearls with gold fasten- ers, rings, vases and pins. The word for pearls meant literally 'little kidneys' and the word for 'coriander seed' was used for small gold beads. A short summary of the jewels (sukuttu) of the harem-dweller Beltani lists 1 necklace of little kidneys of papardillu stone, having 12 little kidneys of parpardillu stone; 13 scorpions' tails with a golden opening; 1 necklace with cylinder seals with 6 seals; 7 cyl- inder seals with a golden opening; 1 ... of gold; 1 golden medallion; 6 ...- and finger-rings of gold; 6 arm rings ... of gold; 2 pins of gold; 4 ... - and foot-rings of silver.220 There is a long list of gifts which the king of Mitanni sent to the Pharaoh of Egypt (see Chapter 24).221 Then there are the special jewels worn by goddesses, listed on 214 SRT 23:11-12 with B. Alster, 'Sumerian love songs', RA 79 (1985) 140 f.; Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 95; Essays M. H. Pope (1987) 58-60. 215 W. W. Hallo in: L. Gorelick, E. Williams-Forte, Ancient Seals and the Bible (1983) 11. Cf. SRT 31:31 f. (as metaphor), with Alster, 146 (kesda), Jacobsen, 98 resp. 61 (dim 'pillar'); Y. Sefati, Bar- Ilan studies in Assyriology (1990) 52 (not bulug, but dim 'figurine'). 216 IRSA 156, III 4m-n; E. Braun-Holzinger, Mesopotamische Weihgaben (1991) 368 P 16-17. 217 S. Dalley, Mari and Karana (1984) 106-108. 218 P. Fronzaroli, Mdlanges H. Limet (1996) 51-68, attempts to identify the objects. 219 Notably in ARM 21 219 and ARMT 22 322, summarized by B. Lafont in Durand, La Femme (1987) 118 f. Also D. Charpin, 'La dot de la princesse mariote Inbatum', in: Muhibbe Darga armagan (2008) 159-172 (the objects in ARM 9 20 and ARMT 31 27). Cf. the discussion 'La joail- lerie', by J.-M. Durand, ARMT 21 (1983) 222-242; see further his article about a medallion in MARI 6 (1990) 125-158. 220 ARMT 25 353. 221 A. H. Podany, Brotherhood of kings (2010) 222-224. Women's clothing - 45 temple inventories.2" We now know that a number of pearl necklaces that have been found were in fact votive offerings to Istar,223 who had a particular pearl (erimmatu) as her symbol.224 1.4.4.10 Archaeological finds More light is shed on these and other items of finery with which a woman liked to adorn herself from the study of iconography and the results of archaeological excavations. Finds from graves are particularly important. One of the most impor- tant is the grave of Queen Pu-abi, dated to around 2600 BC. This is one of the royal graves of Ur, famous for the beautiful treasures found there, and notorious for the presence of human sacrifices.225 The skeletons of Pu-abi and a servant have been found. What is interesting for our purposes is the jewellery interred with Pu-abi.226 On her head was a head-band with golden leaves and rings, and she also had necklaces,227 and a lazurite seal.228 The remains of five men and sixty-eight women were found in what has been called the Great Death Pit. The women had been buried, still adorned with gold, silver, lapis lazuli and cornelian. We will refer to these royal burials again in Chapter 23, concerning the court and the harem. Excavations at Assur for the Middle Assyrian period revealed a burial chamber under a house in the immediate vicinity of the temple of Istar. Above the grave was the archive room of the high official Babu-ahja-iddina and his wife.229 He maintained international contacts and we have the draft of a letter to him written by the king of the Hittites. The last two bodies to be placed in the chamber were one that was definitely female and another that was possibly female.230 The bones of the woman are surrounded by many jewels as well as utensils, including 222 W. F. Leemans, Ishtar of Lagaba and her dress (1952). 223 Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) 63 no.17 (2800 BC). 224 Cf. H. Klein, ZA 73 (1983) 277, and particularly 'The Descent of Inanna'; TUAT III/3 (1993) 463:20 (Sumerian). 225 L. Woolley, Ur of the Chaldees. Revised and updated by P. R. S. Moorey (1982) 64-78 (grave RT 800). Sumerian art illustrated by objects from Ur and Al-'Ubaid (The British Museum, 1969) 14-18. 226 Woolley, 75, 77. 227 Sumerian Art, 19 (Plates Ic, VIII, IXb); Woolley, 172. Grave RT 1237. 228 M. Roaf, A cultural atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (1966) 84 f. 229 0. Pedersen, 'Gr ber und Archive in mesopotamischen Wohnhausern - besonders Gruft 45 in Assur und Archiv des Babu-aha-iddina', in: Von Uruk nach Tuttul. Festschrift fur Eva Strom- menger (1992) 163-169. See also J. N. Postgate, CRRAI 30 [Leiden] (1986) 176. 230 H. Muller-Karpe, 'Assur, Gruft 45 (Assyrien)', in: Frauen des 13.Jahrhunderts v. Chr. (1985) 71-89, with illustrations and a colour photo on Tafel 9-10, after p. 96. See also the illustrations in 46 - Her outward appearance combs and alabaster vases.23' Some of these will have been imported for they have Egyptian motifs. A comb and an ivory vase have engravings which fit the international style of the time. A merchant was buried in Grave 20, where strings of beads were found. This grave dates back to the earlier Old Assyrian period.232 The ancient Assyrian capital Calah (modern Nimrud), dating back to the eighth century BC, was the focus of British excavations in the 1950s. But in the 1980s Iraqi excavators discovered the graves of queens containing 157 objects, including a crown, a diadem, a pair of anklets, several arm rings, necklaces and 79 golden earrings.233 What was very striking was the golden headdress, in the form of a palm tree with short hanging cords, each of which terminates in a golden pomegranate. It will be described further in Chapter 24. From a grave in Babylon came a golden armband, a simple gold earring, three vases and a beautiful necklace with semi-precious stones in many colours, alter- nately large and small, with eight golden pearls.234 A particularly interesting item is a mould used for making items of jewellery to a standard pattern, such as rings and pins (Figure 5). Many such moulds have been found into which molten pre- cious metal was poured for items of a particular size.235 Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) 152-158 nos. 94-100; R.-B. Wartke, 'Die Backsteingruft 45 in Assur', MDOG 124 (1992) 97-130. 231 W. Nagel, 'Mittelassyrischer Schmuck aus der Gruft 45 in Assur', Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 3 (1972) 43-55; R.-B. Wartke, 'Les objets de parure de la tombe no. 45 a Assur', in: A. Caubet, Cornaline et pierres precieuses (1999) 317-340. 232 J. Aruz in: P. 0. Harper, Discoveries at Ashur on the Tigris (1995) 44-62 (Grave 20), 80-97 (Grave 45); M. H. Feldman, BASOR 343 (2006) 21-43 (Grave 45). 233 M. S. Damerji, 'The second treasure of Nimrud', in: Near Eastern Studies dedicated to H.I. H. Prince Takahito Mikasa in the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday (1991) 9-16; M. S. Damerji, Gruber Assyrischer K6niginnen aus Nimrud (1999). 234 Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) 133 no. 72. 235 Examples: Das Vorderasiatische Museum (1992) 145 no.86 = W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient (1975) plate 123, a; J. E. Curtis, J. E. Reade, Art and Empire (1995) 175 no.178. Cf. R.-B. Wartke, 'Vorderasiatische Gussformen aus den Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin', Forschungen und Berichte 20-21 (Berlin 1980) 223-258; S. Eichler, Tall al-Hamidiya 2 (1990) 303 Abb. 85; 231 with Plate 14 (after p. 232) (Tell Brak); H. Klein, ZA 73 (1983) 263. Cosmetics and beauty - 47 Fig. 5: Moulds for making needles, and a fish, a bird and a sheep as pendants, and a rosette. Assur. Limestone. Height 7 cm. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. 1.5 Cosmetics and beauty The cosmetics a woman used for her make-up was as important as her jewellery to accentuate her beauty.236 The goddess of love, Inanna or Istar, wore something called 'Man, come, come!',237 which referred both to an item of jewellery on her breast and the application of kohl to blacken her eyelids. In the Sumerian song cycle about her and her friend, the shepherd called Dumuzi or Tammuz, we are given the sequence in which she applied her make-up.238 She washed herself, scrubbed herself with soap, anointed herself with good oil, put on her royal attire, applied kohl to her eyelids, tied up her hair, put a golden ring on her hand, and fas- tened on a string of lapis lazuli beads around her neck. There is nothing unusual about all this. For blackening the eyelids kohl was used. In that period it would have been made from lead, and it was applied with a little spatula (Figure 7).239 236 U. Winter, Frau und Gdttin (1983) 305 f. 237 Winter, 309, who refers to C. Wilcke, RIA V/1-2 (1976) 81b; see the Sumerian text 'Descent of Inanna to the Netherworld', JCS 5 (1951) 2:23. 238 SRT 5:3-18, Y. Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 135 f. Similar is K. Volk, Die Balag-Komposition (ru am-ma-ir-ra-bi (1989) 92 Tafel 19:64-72. 239 N. Wasserman, 'Piercing the eyes. An Old Babylonian love incantation and the preparation 48 - Her outward appearance Fig. 6: In Western Asia they kept ointments and cosmetics in containers shaped like a back- wards looking duck, in Egyptian style. They are made of ivory. Sometimes the duck has one or two young on its back. In Babylonia such ducks were used as weight stones. Kamil el Loz, Lebanon. Length 16,1 cm. Institut fir Vor- and Friihgeschichte and Vorderasiatische Archdolo- gie, Saarbricken. People thought then (in Kuwait some still think) that it helps you to see more clearly.240 For decorating the face a substance usually translated as 'amber' was used.241 Arab women still use henna to dye their hair, nails, fingers and toes an orange-yellow colour. But henna was unknown in Mesopotamia at that time. In Egypt it is not recorded until 180 BC, when it is referred to as kof&, probably 'oint- ment', the word taken over into Greek as kupros.242 In the Bible henna blossom is mentioned in love songs (Song of Solomon 1:14). The standard equipment given to a woman on her marriage included a bottle of costly oil ( ikkatu). The 'vanity sets' of kohl', BiOr 72 (2015) 601-612. Photo of a spatula with explanation: M. Stol, Phoenix 31 (1985) 55. See also the catalogue Babylon. Wahrheit (2008) 313 Kat. 307 Abb. 229. 240 M. Stol, Mdlanges A. Finet (1989) 165 f. Cf. E. Cassin, art. 'Kosmetik', in RiA VI/3-4 (1981) 214-218. 241 Cassin, 217 f. 242 L. Renaut, 'Recherches sur le henn6 antique', JNES 68 (2009) 193 ff.; Journal des m6decines cuneiformes 10 (2007) 47 f. (contra J. Scurlock). The Ugaritic word kpr in KTU 1.3 111-3 (Ba'al en 'Anat) has been identified as henna by J. C. de Moor, UF 17 (1986) 220 f., contradicting Textes ougaritiques 1 (1974) 157. Cosmetics and beauty - 49 Fig. 7: An ivory spoon, found in the Assyrian royal palace at Calah, used for applying kohl, a cosmetic for the eyes. There is a 'hand' at its tip. The Rabbinic tractate Kelim describes such a spoon as having a 'hand' and a 'rod' at either end. Length 13 cm. from a boudoir which have been found include pots for ointment.43 One of these from Ugarit was shaped like a duck rotating its head, and others like this have been found in the western periphery (Figure 6). The shape is Egyptian in style.244 In Sumerian the word hili and in Akkadian the word kuzbu mean 'sex appeal'. An important factor for a woman was to have a luxuriant head of hair. To attract the attention of King Su-Sin of Ur a woman sang in Sumerian: My hair is lettuce, well supplied with water, my hair is ..., well supplied with water, its locks are plaited together. The attendant has ... them high, she has done my hair in the gazelle style (?) ...24 The text then becomes technically more and more difficult to translate, but she must have looked splendid. In the royal graves in Ur Queen Pu-abi had golden leaves and branches on her head, possibly the ornament described as 'orchard' in Sumerian literary texts.246 The chief butler of King Sulgi dedicated a stone 'wig' to a guardian deity, which was probably designed to be placed on her statue. In the inscription he called the object 'the hili of her femininity' (Figure 9).247 The myth entitled 'Enki and the World Order' says at the beginning that the young woman has hili on her head (34). Some advice in a letter about a woman who was intend- ing to flee included the suggestion, 'Do change her clothing and her wig',248 but the advice was not followed, and she was recognized in the city square in Akkad 243 A. Westenholz in: A. Archi, Circulation of goods in non-palatial context (1984) 27, referring to OIP 88 226 f. and n. 86; the photo in the catalogue Sumer-Assur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) no. 82, 'Toilettenbesteck und Etui' (Ur). 244 Catalogue In Syri#. Naar de oorsprong van het schrift (Brussels, n. d.) 291 no. 431. 245 Y. Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 360-4; ANET, third edition (1969) 644. Totally different Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 93 (pubic hair and sex). 246 J. van Dijk, HSAO (1967) 253 f. 247 5ulgi, inscr. 29. Photo in Iraq 22 (1960) Plate XXII, b, with Wiseman, p.168. 248 Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 282 no. 71:22-30. 50 - Her outward appearance t1~ Fig. 8: A wig from Ebla. Wigs were placed on life-sized statues of women. Dark green steatite. 2300 BC. Height 30.3 cm; width 23.8 cm. Aleppo Museum. Cosmetics and beauty - 51 Fig. 9: Inscription on model of a wig: 'For the protective goddess (lamassu), his mistress, for the life of Sulgi, the mighty man, the king of Ur, Bau-ninam, the cupbearer of Ur-Ningirsu, the beloved priest, en of Nanse, has made the jewel for her womanhood.' Rear view. 2000 BC. Steatite. Dimensions 9 x 9 x 6 cm. British Museum, London. and seized. Evidently each area had its own fashion. It was suggested that the Sumerians were bald-headed, and wore a wig to prevent lice. What is known is that the men participating in cult worship were bald,249 but we do not know if they removed body hair, as the Romans and the Arabs did. The ladies loved wigs. The goddess Inanna put on a wig when she was adorn- ing herself.250 Statues which have been excavated wear wigs of steatite, and they sometimes include an inscription (Figure 9).51 A god could wish for a certain sort 249 Th. Jacobsen in: M. Mindlin, Figurative Language in the Ancient Near East (1987) 3. We do not know whether epilation was practised, though a commentary seems to refer to it (suhatu gullub). Epilation was one of the five pre-Islamic institutions accepted as belonging to the 'natural reli- gion' (fitra) of Islam; see J. Wellhausen, Reste arabischen Heidentums (1927) 167, 'Die Beschnei- dung, das Scheren der Pubes, das Auszupfen der Achselhaare, das Schneiden der Nagel, und das Stutzen des Schnurrbarts'. The Romans viewed epilation of men and women as a token of civilisation; cf. Juvenal VI 10 (originally man was horridior). 250 'The Descent of Inanna to the Netherworld', 18; see TUAT 111/3 (1993) 462, with note. 251 M. Stol, 'Periicke', RlA X/5-6 (2004) 435. Photos of wigs made of stone: E. A. Braun- Holzinger, Mesopotamische Weihgaben (1991) 373f., with Tafel 24 = P. Bienkowski, A. Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (2000) 137, 'Hair dressing'; S. N. Kramer, Le marriage sacrd a Sumer et a Babylone (1983) 116. In texts: A. R. George, Babylonian Topographical Texts (1992) 412 f. 52 - Her outward appearance of wig (pursdsu) as a votive offering.252 A woman's hair was evidently thought to be an attractive feature,253 with which many would still agree. The apostle Paul was aware of this when he warned Therefore a woman must have the sign of her authority on her head, out of regard for the angels (1 Corinthians 11:10). It is the Greek word exousia that is translated here as 'sign of authority'. In the KJV we find a more literal translation 'power', but what Paul really meant by the word no-one really knows. An Assyrian curse directed towards attractive features of young women and men specifies, The locks of your young women, the ... of your young men, may the dogs and swine drag around in the city square of Assur under your very eyes.254 The word for 'locks' (sissu) is unique here and is cognate with the Hebrew word sisit, 'lock of hair'. The wars of the kings of Mari often involved plundering and pillaging, and one letter gives particular instructions for women to be stripped of 'what is on their heads' as well as of their clothes, silver and gold.255 When we pose the more general question of what made a woman beautiful in the Mesopotamia mind we must pay heed to lyrical expressions of feeling. In general these were rather vague.256 The adulation of women in Sumerian literary art involved a preference for two sets of images. The first set derived from horticul- ture and included garden produce: fruit, such as the apple, and the lettuce, which we mentioned earlier. We do not know what associations these images were meant to evoke, but according to W. G. Lambert in his study of these metaphors the underlying idea seems to be 'the luscious, natural attractiveness of fruit'.251 Th. Jacobsen thinks that salad leaves and spring grass symbolize pubic hair, and so he produces rather candid translations of Sumerian love songs.258 It is cer- 252 RA 61 (1967) 23:4 with D. 0. Edzard, Anncherungen 4 (OBO 160/4) (2004) 546. 253 In general see J. Brker-Klihn, art. 'Haartracht', in RlA IV/1 (1972) 1-12; cf. R. Boehmer, ZA 79 (1989) 278-283. 254 K. Watanabe, Baghd. Mitt. 3 (1987) 166 f., VTE 481-483; see a further explanation by K. Del- ler, Or. NS 53 (1984) 83. 255 ARM 1 8:31-33 with N. Ziegler, Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 285. 256 J. Bottero in: P. Grimal, Histoire mondiale de la femme I1(1965) 168. 257 W. G. Lambert in: M. Mindlin, Figurative Language (1987) 27-31, in his article 'Devotion: the languages of religion and love'. 258 Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 93 f.; cf. his The treasures of darknesss (1976) 45, bot- tom. Pubic hair can be taken as a sign that a girl was marriageable, see Jacobsen in H. Goedicke, J. J. M. Roberts, Unity and Diversity (1975) 83. Cosmetics and beauty - 53 tainly the case that songs like this focus on particularly outstanding characteris- tics of the genitals without inhibition, even though this may strike some modern readers as rather coarse. It should be carefully noted that we hear nothing about breasts, buttocks or other curves of the body such as the neck. Nevertheless, a scholar from Rome thought he was able to detect an allusion to the decollet6 in the Sumerian expression 'her broad throat'.259 The second set of sexual images involves precious stones. They symbolise the woman as a perfect gem, for she would always be seen wearing precious stones to accentuate her beauty.260 The most important gem was the suba, which was threaded on to a chain. Joan Westenholz derives two meanings from these precious stones. In reality they are beautiful, because the bride is decked out in them, and metaphorically, because the suba symbolizes fertility and sexuality. All in all many readers will have some difficulty appreciating the full aesthetic force of these eulogies. As already stated much attention is paid to the sexual organs, especially in poetic entreaties designed to arouse love. Consistently recommended for atten- tion is 'my urine genital',26' and the female 'vessel' gives rise to some rich ter- minology in the ancient Sumerian-Babylonian dictionaries. Lexemes there are arranged according to semantic fields, synonyms and parts.262 A Babylonian commentary explaining the word hurdatu states, hurdatu: the pudenda of a woman, as in 'Stretch out your hand and stir our hurdatu'. The sentence cited comes from the Gilgamesh Epic, where Istar invites the hero to approach her (Gilgamesh Epic VI 69), so the citation is deemed to be enlightening here. The commentary goes on to reach the expression hurri dddu, 'the hole for the sweetheart': 259 J. van Dijk, HSAO (1967) 253. 260 J. G. Westenholz, 'Metaphorical language in the poetry of love in the Ancient Near East', CRRAI 38 [Paris] (1992) 381-387. In earlier scholarship a verb which was thought to mean 'to plough' was seen as a crucial, blunt description of sexual union. We now know that that verb means 'to string' or 'to thread' beads. 261 MAD 5 8:15 f. with J. and A. Westenholz, Or. NS 46 (1977) 203; C. Wilcke, ZA 75 (1985) 198:19. H. Hirsch, AfO 42-43 (1995-96) 139 f., examined the occurrences of pubic hair and bodily fluids in love songs and love charms. 262 J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 106, Excursus A; M. Civil, Studies E. V. Leichty (2006) 58; J. G. Westenholz, Nippur at the centennial (1992) 301 (n. 12). J. S. Cooper traces the hymen in CRRAI 47/II (2002) 99 f., 106. 54 - Her outward appearance Secondly: my hurdatu = my thick head of hair; thirdly: my hurdatu = the hole for the sweet- heart.263 The female organ is also celebrated in songs. In Sumerian hymns Inanna boasts that hers is 'like the sickle of the new moon, full of sex appeal'.264 In some temple inventories a 'golden pubic triangle' is listed, and such objects have actually been found in the temple of Istar at Assur.65 As well as objects resembling pudenda archaeologists have found penis models.266 Shells are also a symbol for female genitals.267 The pubic triangle is modelled in clay, and was the original cuneiform logogram for 'woman'.26' Rituals for the cult of Inanna-Istar occasionally refer to the object: I am giving you the pubic triangle of lapis lazuli, the star of gold, attributes of your divinity.269 From Assur we have an object made of lead, an inverted triangle representing the female genitals, on which there is a votive inscription. The object dates from around 1850 BC, is 17 cm high, and was found at the temple of the goddess.70 The inscription reads: When Sargon was ruler of Assur, Hattitum, the wife of Enna-Dagan, dedicated (this) to the Istar of Assur. For the life of her husband, for her (own) life and for the life of her child(ren) she brought in the tds. This means that she brought it into the temple. It would seem that the tds denotes the votive offering. The Akkadian word bdstu corresponding to the Sumerian tds 263 M. Civil, JNES 33 (1974) 332:40-42; TUAT NF 5 (2009) 176. Cf. 'the pleasure of my wife' among parts of the lower belly; CUSAS 12 (2010) 157, 10:1. 264 K. Volk, Inanna und Sukaletuda (1995) 186. 265 SLB I1(1) 1:2, 26 (= TLB 1 69); more in RlA IX/1-2 (1998) 49 §5, 'Votives'. 266 J. Black, A. Green, Gods, demons and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia (1992) 152, on the right (drawing); K. Oberhuber, Die Kunst des alten Orients (1972) 94 Abb. 79 (photos). In the cata- logue Babylon. Wahrheit (2008) 317 f., Abb. 237, Kat. 327, 'Sechs Anhanger in Form m nnlicher und weiblicher Genitalien'. 'Bei magischen Handlungen zur Erlangung der Potenz'. Discussion: F. A. M. Wiggermann, 'Nackte Gottin. A', RlA IX/1-2 (1998) 46 f., 49 §5, 'Votives'. 267 R. Pientka, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 509 f., 'Muschel und Vulva'. 268 K. van der Toorn, BiOr 43 (1986) 499, 'pubic triangles and related representations' (also in the texts); F.A.M. Wiggermann, RlA IX/1-2 (1998) 49b (cancel BAM 3 203:9); J.-J. Glassner, Acrire d Sumer. L'invention du cundiforme (2000) 218. In Syria: U. Winter, Frau und Gottin (1983) 309, Abb. 322-324. 269 W. Farber, BID (1977) 130:6. Cf. 128:8, with p. 157 f. 270 J. Jakob-Rost, H. Freydank, AOF 8 (1981) 325-357, with Tafel XXIII-XXV; K. Deller, OrAnt 22 (1983) 13-15; TUAT 11/4 (1988) 497. Cosmetics and beauty - 55 Fig. 10: The 'Lady of Uruk'. On this hollow stone mask the groove on the skull suggests a wig. The eyes and the eyebrows would have been inlaid with coloured material. It is amazing that this work of art could have been made before 3000 BC. Marble. Height 21 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad. is often translated as 'dignity' and is used of both men and women. It is also translated as 'pleasure' or 'vitality'.27' F. A. M. Wiggermann thinks that it should here be understood as pars pro toto to describe a naked woman.272 Whichever explanation is preferred, the pubic triangle, indicated by Sumerian tds and Akka- dian bastu, here characterises the giver as a woman. The reason for this dedica- tion is not known. It is clear from the familial context that all the models of gen- italia which were found do not necessarily indicate wild sexual extravagances. The art of the period includes many clay figurines of naked women which gives the impression that these naked women emphasised some exotic aura. Perhaps a goddess is being referred to.273 This is a subject to which we shall return in Chapter 21. By contrast, the beautiful head of a woman from the earliest period, a mask from Uruk in 3000 BC, is sober and respectable (Figure 10).274 271 F. A. M. Wiggermann, 'Nackte Gottin', RIA IX/1-2 (1998) 46 f., § 2. 272 In K. van der Toorn, BiOr 43 (1986) 496 f.; JEOL 29 (1985-86) 28 f. (with drawings); RIA IX/1-2 (1998) 46 f. 273 Thus U. Winter, Frau und Gottin (1983), with the review by K. van der Toorn, BiOr 43 (1986) 493-499. In general: F. A. M. Wiggermann and C. Uehlinger, 'Nackte Gottin', RiA IX/1-2 (1998) 46-64. 274 M. Roaf, A cultural atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (1966) 6. 56 - Her outward appearance 1.6 The language of women Hearing a woman from the lowlands of the Tigris and the Euphrates speaking may have caused some surprise. Certain Sumerian women spoke their own special dialect, called by the Sumerians Emesal. The term is often translated 'women's language' but it means literally 'thin (or fine) language'.275 This language occurs exclusively in literary texts usually when women are speaking, and in proverbial anecdotes which are probably intended to be pithy expressions. An exchange of abuse between two women in Emesal verges on the style of such anecdotes. We will return to this in the last chapter 32 of this book, on how women were esteemed.276 Furthermore, this was the language used by the men known as gala who were assigned to duties in the cult. They performed at funerals and as lamentation singers in the temples. Some think they may have been eunuchs.277 Ritual laments in Emesal were sung in temples right up to the Greek period.271 In the Middle Babylonian period the need was felt to compile a small dictionary of Emesal. It was a time when they wanted to make creative use of Sumerian, which by then had become a dead language, long since fallen into disuse. This 'diction- ary' is formatted in three columns, one for Emesal, another for standard Sumerian, and another for Akkadian translations. It begins with a list of names of gods. Assyriologists often doubt that Emesal should really be identified as a lan- guage used by women, and prefer to see in it a 'refined language' with distinc- tive pronunciation. As such it would be comparable to the Dutch dialect of The Hague as spoken in Wassenaar or 'Oxford English'.279 It has been suggested that the language might have had a characteristically raised speaking tone.280 Rather Emesal should be seen as the dialect of a certain group of society, a 'sociolect', not a separate language. Social groups who distinguish themselves by an exclu- sive pronunciation can then exist as independent, isolated entities within a com- munity.281 Most recent studies prefer to describe Emesal as a 'genderlect'.282 But 275 M. K. Schretter, Emesal-Studien (1990); W. H. Ph. Romer in: Liber Amicorum A. Weijnen (1980) 290-302; Y. Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 53-55, with G. Rubio, JAGS 121 (2001) 269-271. 276 Schretter, 74-76. 277 Contra: G. Rubio, JAOS 121 (2001) 270. 278 Schretter, 92ff. 279 Schretter, 6. 280 D. Shehata, Musiker und ihr vokales Repertoire (2009) 83-85, 88, writing about the lamen- tation singers (gala). 281 After N. S. Trubetzkoy, followed by Schretter, 119, 122, 140. 282 G. Whittaker, 'Linguistic anthropology and the study of Emesal as (a) women's language', CRRAI 47/II (2002) 633-644. The language of women - 57 this would indicate that women lived relatively separate lives, and there is no evidence for this in ancient Sumer.283 It is clearly a literary dialect, so we can assume that in daily life Sumerian women spoke standard Sumerian. A parallel situation has been pointed out in classical Indian drama, where men spoke Sans- krit and women and people of lower castes spoke Pakrit.284 To take this further, we should be aware that we do not know where the Sumerian language itself originated. Perhaps we should look more closely towards India, because that was the home of Dravidians, bound by caste and sociolect.285 We also note that among a number of other peoples, for example in Siberia and South America, women's languages are attested.281 A few Sumerian words can be quoted to illustrate briefly how sound changes in Emesal applied to vowels and consonants. The vowels e and the i of the stand- ard language were readily replaced with a, and the consonant m was replaced with ng. Examples of Emesal words compared to those in standard Sumerian are haz = hiz 'lettuce'; eneng = inim 'word'; zeng = sum 'to give'. Emesal m corre- sponds to standard ng: mal = ngal, 'to be'; dimmer = dingir, 'god'. Some words occur only in Emesal (the standard Sumerian equivalent is a different word): mula 'man, person' (= lu); gasan 'mistress' (= nin); mudna 'husband'(= nitadam). Perhaps these standard words were taboo for the woman.287 For Akkadian, a Semitic language, there was no such special dialect. However, we do have one very emotional letter, composed in shorter than normal sentences, from a woman who often added -i to her words. Perhaps this was the effect of her excitement, and the words she dictated were written just as she said them by a professional scribe.288 283 Despite Schretter, 122f. 284 Pointed out by F. Hommel and A. Falkenstein. See Schretter, 5, 105. For a useful parallel see G. Whittaker, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 638 f. 285 M. C. Shapiro, H. F. Schiffman, 'Social dialectology', in their Language and Society in South Asia (1983) 150-176. 286 Schretter, 107-115. See also Paula Weideger, History's mistress (1985) 49-52 (summarizing H. Ploss, Das Weib); Susanne Gunthner, Helga Kotthoff, Von fremden Stimmen (Suhrkamp Ver- lag). 287 Cf. I. Keckskemeti, Die Frauensprache als Tabu im Oirotischen? (= Studia Orientalia 43/8) (1973). 288 AbB 10 4 with F. R. Kraus (he studied this i) in Symbolae F. M.Th. de Liagre Bdhl (1973) 253- 265; on our letter p. 265. 58 - Her outward appearance 1.7 Women's names Whether in Sumerian or Babylonian, a person's name often embodied a good relationship with a deity. With Sumerian names it is mostly impossible to distin- guish men's from women's names. Typical elements of Sumerian women's names are geme 'slave-girl' (the woman is called the 'slave' of a god), nin 'mistress', hili 'sex appeal'.289 Sumerian names are also not very expressive. The vast majority of Sumerian names are 'objective' in the sense that for the most part they express a fact or an idea of general significance without referring to a particular subject.290 Babylonian women's names can be easily distinguished from men's.29' One pattern for a female name has the name of a goddess followed by some beneficial status, such as she is my mother, or my protector, or my happiness.292 At school boys practised writing the names of people and women's names were treated sep- arately.293 Women's names often contained the name of a female goddess and a feminine verbal form (which was actually incorrect grammatically) indicated a female name,294 as did elements such as 'sister' and 'slave-girl'. It is said that in the Kassite period the names of women suddenly became more pious in content, and perhaps the women themselves did too. A few names were formulated as prayers.295 A pattern of thought which fits in with an old theory is that in this period people had a greater awareness of sin. But that was just as strong in the earlier period. The names of women reflecting their social class need special mention. Prin- cesses and ladies of the court had names with a political message, such as 'The country is glad' (Taris-matum), 'Bow down, 0 land' (Kunsi-matum), 'The sceptre endures' (Tabur-hattum), 'The sceptre is firm' (Takun-hattum).296 The king of Mari received a message from the harem of his daughter with the following oracle about the baby of a concubine: 289 Cf. D. A. Foxvog, Studies Anne Drafflcorn Kilmer (2011) 61-63, 93 f. 290 H. Limet, L'anthroponymie sumdrienne (1968) 62. 291 J. J. Stamm, Die akkadische Namengebung (1939) 122-126; M. Stol, SEL 8 (1991) 207-209. Names of (female) slaves: M. Stol, 'Sklave. Altbabylonisch' §3; in RlA XII/7-8 (2011) 565. 292 I. Nakata, 'A study of women's theophoric personal names in the Old Babylonian texts from Mari', Orient 30-31 (1995) 234-253. 293 P. Gesche, Schulunterricht in Babylonien im ersten Jahrtausend v. Chr. (2000) 97-102. 294 D. 0. Edzard, ZA 55 (1962) 113-130. The same is true for Ebla; seeP. Fronzaroli, 'La formation des noms personnels feminins a Ebla', in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 63-73; esp. 68 (a). 295 J. J. Stamm, 124, 161; see K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 23. 296 P. Michalowski, JAOS 95 (1975) 717, 719; J.-M. Durand, MARI3 (1984) 127-133. Women's names - 59 Concerning the daughter of T.: In my dream there was a man standing and he said, 'The little one, the daughter of T., must be called Tagid-nawum.' The name she chose means 'The land of nomads has changed for the better', and the king would have been pleased with the suggestion made in the dream.297 Nuns had pious names such as 'The wish of (the goddess) Aya' (Eristi-Aya). A slave girl was called 'I look to her eyes' (Anattal-inisa), expressing attentiveness to her mistress, and 'I wish her to be healthy' (Assumiya-liblut), expressing goodwill. In a number of cases it is clear that names were not given at birth, but marked a change of status, such as when a woman became a slave.298 Slave-girls served as nurses at the court of Mari and had names like 'May my father continue'. By giving the nurse such a name ensured that the little children in her care when address- ing her all the time simultaneously pronounced a blessing for their father.299 The name of one girl reflects some apparently pitiful circumstances. She was adopted by her father and mother, on the payment of a 'dowry' of five shekels, with the name Ali-abusa, 'Where is my father?'300 She must have been an orphan, who came into the possession of a couple, and was then sold on in service.301 Some women's names refer to their husbands, such as 'My husband is my happiness (bdstu)', or 'She is important to her spouse'. It could be supposed that these were names they chose to use after a marriage had been concluded. Sim- ilarly a princess called 'She found the king of her heart' is unlikely to have had this name before her marriage.302 There were very few names that could be given either to a man or to a woman, but one example is Sin-nada, 'Sin is praised'. 297 ARM 10 94 = AEM 1/1 480 no. 239 rev. 4-10 with J.-M. Durand, MARI 3 (1984)127-9. Kunsi-ma- tum = Sumerian Kur-gam.ma.bi; see P. Michalowski, The correspondence of the kings of Ur (2011) 339 f., cf. Kur-gir.ni.se (Ur III). 298 M. Stol, Annuherungen 4 (OBO 160/4) (2004) 910 n. 1961. 299 N. Ziegler, La Harem de Zimri-Lim (1999) 109. In another context: D. Charpin, NABU 2003/2. 300 CT 8 50a:3 (VAB 5 183). The name 'Where is her father?' (Ali-abusa) can be that of a posthu- mous child born from free persons; see Chapter 13, about the widow. 301 BIN 7 173; F. R. Kraus, JCS 3 (1951) 113, did not realise this. 302 J. J. Stamm, 273; the Old Akkadian princess Tuta-sar-libbis. 2 Marriage In the Near East, then and now, the most important event ever to happen to a girl was entering into a bond of marriage. Our survey of the life of the woman in Mesopotamia will have to give priority to this, for it was a life-changing event. We will see what customs were followed for the wedding and what status the married woman held in society. There almost all the girls were married. We have had to scrape together information from diverse sources. There were law books and contracts dealing with marriages and divorces. There were also administrative documents with the expenses for a marriage. There were even love songs about the 'sacred marriage' of the king with the goddess of love. It is important to remember that these documents are to be dated over a period of at least 3000 years and come from a broad area of Mesopotamia and beyond. Many variations in time and place can be expected. The marriages of gods are a feature of Sumerian myths, but they make shamelessly direct approaches to each other, so what was true for them is not likely to have been usual in everyday life. It was a feature of mythological prehistory that everything was being tried out for the first time.' Marriage is part of an ideal society. The king of Assyria received from a high official a lyrical report on the prosperous state of affairs in his kingdom: The old dance, the young sing, women and girls are happy and merry, women marry and put on earrings, they bear sons and daughters and their births are easy.2 It was the destiny of women to marry and bear children. This was also the advice given to the dishevelled bachelor Gilgamesh by the barmaid Siduri: Let your clothes be clean, your head washed. Bathe in water. Observe the little boy who takes your hand. Let your wife always delight in your lap. That is the des[tiny of mankind].3 A Sumerian blessing runs: May Inanna let a wife with hot hips lie down with you. May she present you with sons with broad arms. May she search out a place of happiness for you (Sumerian Proverbs 1.147). 1 For a survey see H. Limet, 'Les desses sumriennes. Femmes modeles, modeles de femmes', Acta Orientalia Belgica VII (1992) 131-145. 2 SAA X 226:16-21. 3 A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (2003) 278 iii 10-14 (Old Babylonian). | © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Marriage - 61 Hot hips may indicate fertility. A sexually aroused woman would apparently get pregnant more easily.4 A proverb states: My field is like a woman without man, for there is no-one to work it.' We learn the phases of the normal life of young women from a rather negative picture painted of the behaviour of female demons. They are frustrated and dan- gerous because they have not experienced the normal destiny of a woman. The maiden is like a woman who never had intercourse. The maiden is like a woman who was never deflowered. The maiden never experienced sex in her husband's lap. The maiden never peeled off her clothes on her husband's lap. The maiden's clasp no nice looking lad ever loosened. The maiden had no milk in her breasts; only bitter liquid exudes. The maiden never climaxed sexually, nor satisfied her desires in a man's lap.6 According to the Gilgamesh epic Enkidu was allowed to see into the underworld and discover how the departed souls were faring. 'Did you see the woman who had not given birth?' 'I saw her.' 'How does she fare?' 'Like a useless (?) pot she is discarded with force, no man takes pleasure in her.' 'Did you see the young man who had not exposed the lap of his wife?' 'I saw him.' 'How does he fare?' 'He is finishing a hand-worked rope, he weeps over that hand-worked rope.' 'Did you see the young woman who had not exposed the lap of her husband?' 'I saw her.' 'How does she fare?' 'She is finishing a hand-worked reed mat, she weeps over the hand-worked reed mat.'7 These people are always frustrated, and it would be better for them if they were enjoying married life. This view is endorsed by a proverb, A married man has everything that he needs, but an unmarried man has to sleep in straw.' 4 M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible (2000) 6. 5 W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (= BWL) (1960) 232 f. 6 M. J. Geller, AfO 35 (1988) 14, 29-35; J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/1 (2002) 92; TUAT NF 4 (2008) 126 f. For more examples of such a negative picture, see G. Leick, Sex and eroticism (1994) 220-224. 7 A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (2003) 764 f., 775, c-e; iii 10-14. 8 B. Alster, Wisdom of Ancient Sumer (2005) 88, Instr. of Suruppak 185 f. 62 - Marriage 2.1 Preparations Babylonians never undertook any new ventures without first having their future foretold. For example, if a man was going on a journey for business he would first have the liver of a young sheep inspected by the diviner who would advise him what to expect. Entering into a marriage needed similar forethought and arrang- ing for a liver to be examined was an obvious precaution. The detailed report on one such inspection was encouraging: The omen is favourable, for a marriage (ahuzzatu).9 While the prospects for this planned marriage had relied on extispicy, a cheaper method would have been to examine the patterns made by oil poured ('thrown') on water: If you carry out the oil test before a marriage, you throw for the man and the woman, each separately. If they still go together, the intention is that they be married. If they still go together but that of the man is dark, the man will die. If that of the woman is dark, the woman will die.10 When King Esarhaddon planned to marry off his daughter to Bartatua (= Proto- thyes) the king of Scythia (Iskuza) according to the terms of a vassal treaty, he had a liver inspection carried out and presented the diviner with this question: If Esarhaddon, the king of Assyria, gives the princess in marriage to him, will Bartatua the king of Iskuza speak true and honourable words of peace to Esarhaddon the king of Assyria in sincerity? Will he adhere to the treaty ...?" A manual for judging a person's inner qualities links their outward appearance (physiognomy) to their behaviour. Predictions were given based on these obser- vations. Now and again something is said about personality. This manual was probably mainly used to see whether someone could be taken into service. The chapter about women is called 'If a woman has a big head', which is the first sentence of that section. It could help to form a judgement about whether or not to marry a girl without taking risks. Some of the formulas that occur, such as 9 VAS 24 116:45 f. with W. R. Mayer, Or. NS 56 (1987) 247. 10 G. Pettinato, Die Ohlwahrsagung bei den Babyloniern II(1966) 62, 68:14. 11 I. Starr, Queries to the Sungod (1990) 25 no. 20:4-9, with p. LXII. Preparations - 63 'the house (of her husband) that she enters' or 'she lives in', reflect more on her 'family' than on herself, but a woman's physical appearance is often mentioned.'2 If the veins on her hands lie across, then she will make the house that she enters poor. If her hands, both right and left, are 'open', then she will walk around radiant. She will make the house where she lives happy.13 The predictions in this manual are mostly unfavourable. Now and then the bride- groom is mentioned. She will ruin whoever marries her. More favourable was Her husband will have approval, (there will be) pleasure. Exceptionally we find If she is looking around constantly, then her husband will often sleep with a married woman.14 It was important to know if she was going to produce children, and if she did, what would be their future. This depended on how her breasts and navel looked, but other features also played their part.15 If a woman's hands are narrow, then she is moody. If they are tall, then she will be rich, she is a lucky one. If they are short, then she will be poor. If her hands are holding her belly, then she will not have an easy childbirth. If the elbows of a woman are hairy, then she will be annoying. If her fingers are short, then the house she enters will become poor. If her toes are short, then she will be successful and happy. If her fingers are very large, then whatever she takes in hand will not succeed. If they are small, then whatever she takes on will succeed. 12 For the two formulas, see B. Bock, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie (2000) 58 f.; the end of this chapter (with note 249). 13 Bock, 159:134, 115. 14 Bock, 167:231. 15 Bck, 157:101-104 (hands), 98 (elbows); 159:121 f. (fingers and toes), 129-133 (fingers and fin- gertips); 167:233 (long toes); 163:184-186 (lower belly). For the breasts see 161:156-172; the navel: 163:188-196; for the complete text see TUAT NF 4 (2008) 41-47; see further Chapter 22. 64 - Marriage If they are very fat, then she is a witch. If they are thin, then she is bad-tempered. If the fingertips of a woman are very fat, then she is a witch. If the toes of a woman are long, then she will 'build' the house; she will grow old, she is a lucky one. If a woman has white hair on her lower belly, then contentment. If she has red hair, then she will become a widow. If she has black hair, then her descendants will be unlucky. The man's appearance gave rise to another set of portents. If a man has a lot of hair on the right of his forehead, 'a woman will be given to a man'. But if it is on the left, a man will be given to a woman. If he has much hair on both left and right sides, 'they will both love each other and grow old: contentment'. If he has a lot of hair everywhere equally distributed, 'they will not love each other'.16 An Assyrian manual gives examples of the questions that can be asked of the gods about future family life. It begins with the question of whether the wedding gift (szbultu) from the man would be welcome, and goes on to ask if only girls would be born, which would make him angry. We know that there was another section, which is now lost, about a second wife. Finally there were questions about childbirth and a pregnant wife who became ill." Manuals about favoura- ble and unfavourable days are called hemerologies. In these we find that days 5 and 6 of the second month (Ayyaru) were favourable. It was good to get married on day 5 or day 6: 'Let him get a wife; he will grow old'; but extra benefit would come for day 6: 'he will feel comfortable'.18 An excerpt from one handbook was found in a family archive, so members of that household must have consulted it. From actual marriage contracts and related texts we see that they deliberately choose a 'good' day. The contracts are never dated on unfavourable days.19 Despite these precautions marriage remained an adventure. A Sumerian proverb says: He married for pleasure. When he thought it over he divorced (SP 2.124). One wisdom text is a long dialogue weighing up the pros and cons of all kinds of decisions a man must take. That is why it is called 'The Dialogue of Pessimism'. 16 Bock, Morphoskopie (2000) 84 ii 118-121; for more cases see CRRAI 47/II (2002) 306. 17 W. G. Lambert, Babylonian oracle queries (2007) 88-91 no. 12. The first question was also dis- cussed by S. Greengus in: T. Abusch, Riches hidden in secret places. Ancient Near Eastern studies in memory of Thorkild Jacobsen (2002) 133 f. 18 S. Lieberman in Studies W. L. Moran (1990) 324 f. 19 C. Waerzeggers in Festschrift Karel van Lerberghe (2012) 658. Preparations - 65 A slave advises his master, who wants to 'love a woman', to go ahead for good will come of it. 'Yes, love, my lord! Yes, love! The man who loves a woman will forget trouble and affliction.' But when his master hesitates to follow his advice the slave instantly changes tune, sounding like a thoroughgoing misogynist 'No, slave, I will not love a woman', 'Do not love, my lord! Do not love! A woman is a pitfall, a pitfall, a hole, a ditch. A woman is a sharp dagger that cuts a man's throat.'20 Pieces of folk wisdom with warnings against womankind are found in Sumerian proverbs. One which is much quoted says: Marry a wife according to your choice (SP 19, C 4). To this can be added, Have children to your heart's content (SP 1.146), Do not marry a wife who has come from a feast (SP 11.150). An older version makes it clear that everything that this woman is wearing belongs to someone else; she is dressed in borrowed plumes.2' Some are like riddles, very difficult to understand. In what way are the early shepherd, the early farmer, the man who in his youthful years married a wife like each other? (SP 19, G 7). But others are absolutely explicit, (As for) the daughter of a poor man, nobody values her vulva.22 20 W. G. Lambert, BWL (1960) 146:47-52; B. R. Foster, Before the Muses II(1993) 816, VI. 21 W. Sallaberger, Studies Jeremy Black (2010) 311 f. 22 OECT I plate 13 i 8, B. Alster, ZA 82 (1992) 200, on 10. 66 - Marriage 2.2 Age for marrying Martha Roth has demonstrated that a girl married between the ages of 14 and 20 and a man between 26 and 32.23 Ancient Greek and Roman sources show this was also the situation further west around the Mediterranean Sea.24 This has consequences for our view of family life. Because the men were older and died earlier than their wives, there must have been many widows. In Greece a man was thought to be old in his sixtieth year. If his son married when he was thirty, he would in a sense replace his father.25 The relatively old Greek laws from the city of Gortyna on Crete (ca. 450 BC) in their last stipulation indicate that a girl could be married off when she was 12 or older. The Jewish Mishnah, from the begin- ning of our era, states that a boy of 18 is suitable for marriage (ftuppd) (Aboth V 25).26 The early Greek poet Hesiod makes the following comment in his 'Works and Days' (695-701): Take your wife into the house when you are the right age, neither very much short of thirty years nor much beyond that: that is marrying time. Let a bride be four years past puberty; let her marry in the fifth. Marry a virgin in order that you may teach her devoted ways, and marry especially one who resides near you, after looking carefully at all things around you, lest you marry a source of laughter for the neighbours.27 A Middle Babylonian text tells how a merchant 'took' a girl who was a half-el tall from her parents with the intention of giving her as a bride (ana kalluti) for his youngest son.28 As her bride-price ('her silver') two beautiful garments worth two shekels of gold were given to each of her parents. Really the girl was worth more, but instead of the 'rest of her silver' the buyer promised to take care (zandnu) of her. She was therefore still a child that had to be supported for some time. An Assyrian text speaks of a girl who was 'two half-els' tall and who was likewise given as a bride. Another bride was 'four half-els' tall.29 For a boy the minimum 23 M. T. Roth, 'Age at marriage and the household: a study of Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian forms', Comparative Studies in Society and History (= CSSH) 29 (1987) 715-747, esp. 737. 24 W. K. Lacey, Die Familie im Antiken Griechenland (1983) 109 f.; F. Kirbihler in: F. Briquel-Cha- tonnet, Femmes (2009) 54 n. 4. Roth, 721, 737 is still relevant. 25 Lacey, 109. 26 For more see J. Fleishman, 'The age of legal maturity in Biblical law', JANES 21 (1992) 35-48. 27 As translated by D. W. Tandy, W. C. Neale (1996). 28 J. A. Brinkman, MSKH I (1976) 383 no.9; with C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 244, and H. Petschow, Or. NS 52 (1983) 145 n. 8. 29 CTN II 219 with J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 96; CTN III 47 = TUAT NF 1(2004) 75. Regulations - 67 age of 10 years old applied in cases of necessity, the legitima aestas.30 It is diffi- cult to imagine such tiny children getting married, so these situations may have essentially been betrothals. A letter says that a girl had already been formally promised to the 'son of a citizen' 'since she was small'.3' In a myth we find the unburdening of the heart of a tender young goddess in the words, My vessel is too small, I do not know how to ... My lips are small, I do not know how to kiss ('Enlil and Ninlil', 30 f.).32 A Sumerian proverb says that a wife should not be very young: Unlike a donkey, one does not marry a three-year-old wife (SP 2.81). 2.3 Regulations As one would naturally expect, we find details about making arrangements for a nuptial contract, but we must make an important proviso. At first sight our sources appear to be trustworthy, with objective facts about the normal state of affairs. However, that is not the case. S. Greengus has shown that the agreements made about a marriage must in general have been made orally, even though the law books speak of a 'contract'. So it must have been a matter of a binding oral arrangement.33 But the written contracts are our only sources, and these were issued because of unusual circumstances which required a written record. Such circumstances pertained usually because of financial pressure, the position of the first wife, or the inheritance rights of certain children. Even if we read nothing apparently unusual in these contracts, there might have been a special reason for later defending someone's interests by means of a written statement. This may also hold true for the Ur III texts.34 Independently of the work of Greengus, the observation has been made that something similar can be detected in the Aramaic marriage contracts from Elephantine. They were possibly drawn up on behalf of already existing children. For Old Assyrian and Egyptian written con- tracts special circumstances are suspected.35 30 Middle Assyrian Laws § 43, with Fleishman, JANES 21 (1992) 35-48. 31 AbB 12 63:6-8. 32 J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 97. 33 S. Greengus, JAOS 89 (1969) 505-532, specifically 514b. 34 Greengus, 512, 524. 35 C. Wilcke, ZA 66 (1976) 197 (note 3); B. Porten, Archives from Elephantine (1968) 208. 68 - Marriage J. Paradise has read marriage acts from Nuzi from the same viewpoint. By assum- ing that the stated stipulations arose precisely because of exceptional circum- stances, he was able to reconstruct what would have been the more usual course of events.36 Then he could proceed to form a first impression of what would have been common law. (1) Once the fathers of the bride and bridegroom had come to an agreement the couple would go to live with the family of the man. (2) The man could take another wife if his present wife had no children. (3) A man had the right to take a concubine. (4) A man could downgrade his wife and raise the status of a concubine. (5) A man could divorce his wife even if she had borne him children. (6) The oldest son received a double inheritance. This was the law that had to be observed in Nuzi, but they are rules which did not necessarily apply anywhere else. Greengus later looked at ethnological literature, e.g. concerning marriage in China, and established that setting up a marriage required a number of consecu- tive phases.37 For Mesopotamia he suggested the following phases. (1) A preliminary search (deliberative stage), for which some examples will be given below. (2) Actions taken to arrange the wedding (prenuptial stage), which could be called the betrothal. (3) The wedding (the nuptial stage). (4) The man and wife living together (the connubial stage). (5) The birth of a child (the familial stage). These various phases, including any expenditure for a marriage (to be discussed later), fit in with those listed by Paradise. Because Greengus and Paradise restrict themselves to the earlier periods, marriage contracts from Assyria and Babylon in the later first millennium BC and from the surrounding areas must also be exam- ined. 36 J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 6. We refer to p. 6 (our 1), p.11 (2), p.12 (3), p.13 en 15 (4, 5), p.18 note 55 (6). See now N. Pfeiffer, SCCNH 18 (2009) 373 f., particularly on the role of the person who takes the initiative to arrange a marriage. 37 S. Greengus, 'Redefining "inchoate marriage" in Old Babylonian contexts', in T. Abusch, Studies Thorkild Jacobsen (2002) 123-139 (see note 17). See his note 7 for the Akkadian terminol- ogy. Regulations - 69 2.3.1 Marriage in Assyria38 Each one of the few contracts we have seems to fit one particular case. So the general opinion is that marriages were normally arranged orally. We can dis- tinguish three groups of written contracts: between members of the elite; mar- riages with temple slave-girls; and the marriage of poor girls treated as a sale. The girl received a gift from her father (nunduna), on her marriage or later, and this counted as her inheritance.39 The objects given are enumerated precisely in a fixed order. For an Old Assyrian woman the toggle-pin was the sign of her married status, and it was snatched from her if she was renounced.40 In the earlier Middle Assyrian laws (ca. 1100 BC) almost sixty paragraphs are about women. They are recorded on Tablet A, which deals entirely with women. Existing traditions about women and the law are here deliberately assembled together. Broadly speaking the following themes are treated: theft and healing (§ 1-6); beating and other violence (§7-11); sexual offences (§12-24); marriage law (§25-49); more criminal law (§50-59). The punishments in this law book are often severe. The 'eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth' principle was applied. In addi- tion 'mirroring punishments' were envisaged, as when the hands of a thief would be chopped off. The married woman had to suffer under these laws as she was seen as the possession of her husband. The most infamous example will be dealt with in Chapter 11 dealing with rape (§55). This law-book can be seen as the fierc- est of all those known in the Ancient Near East, even though we regularly find examples of the same judgements for women and the same treatment of them elsewhere. For example, the man is free to associate with unmarried women, but the woman is allowed no such freedom. The Assyrian law-giver aspired to equal- ity in punishment as his ideal, and that was surely a noble intention.41 In Chapter 31 a translation of this law-book will be given. 38 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 157-171. 39 Radner, 163 f. 40 B. Kienast, AOF 35 (2008) 48, 51 (AKT 3 51:10 f.). 41 G. Cardascia, 'Les valeurs morales dans le droit assyrien', Hommage d Guillaume Cardascia (1995) (= Mediterranees no.3) 161-170. 70 - Marriage 2.3.2 Marriage in later Babylonia During this period contracts were often formulated in the form of a dialogue between two parties, where the lesser party made an offer and the superior party accepted it. A common request is, Give me your daughter, let her be my wife!12 The contracts always raise the matter of a dowry which the wife would bring with her. Therefore the contract is usually called the 'tablet of the dowry' and rarely the 'tablet of being a wife'.43 The dowry remained hers and was passed on down the female line. Protests could arise about the removal of a family possession and for this reason there is sometimes a note stating that an interested party was present. This is a well-known phrase in Neo-Babylonian documents and mostly it is a woman who 'was present'. Her silent approval was expressed in this way.44 The dowry was recorded in the contract. It is possible that at this time the married woman wore a pendant (zibu) round her neck, perhaps one shaped like a shell to represent the womb.45 2.3.3 Marriages of Jews in Babylonia The Jews that had been taken into exile in Babylonia were granted permission by Cyrus to return to Jerusalem in 539 BC. However, many remained behind and the Babylonian Talmud was produced by their descendants a thousand years later. In five marriage contracts Jews, recognisable by their names, who had remained in Babylon are mentioned. The agreements are drawn up in Akkadian and follow Babylonian formulations. But in one case an archaic format is used, which prob- ably derives from Aramaic traditions. These include the ceremonial phrase for a divorce 'She is not (my) wife', the binding of the payment into the hem of the garment, and the Aramaic word zindu, 'provision'. The marriage was carried out in the fifth year of Cyrus in the 'Jewish city' (dl Yahudu), evidently a Jewish colony 42 Survey in M. T. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements 7th-3rd centuries B. C. (1989). Marriage in the Greek (Seleucid) period: G. J. P. McEwan, 'Family law in Hellenistic Babylonia', in: M. J. Geller, H. Maehler, Legal documents of the Hellenistic world (1995) 20-36. 43 C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabyloni- schen Archiven (2003) 1f.; Roth, 26 n. 83. 44 Roth, 21-23. 45 C. Waerzeggers, M. Jursa, ZABR 14 (2008)12, 30. Regulations - 71 in Babylon. The few witnesses had Jewish names.46 The main characters may well have been Jews as well, but we notice that in Jewish contracts from a later generation people had already adopted Babylonian names, implying their adher- ence to local gods. Two contracts stipulate that anyone who broke the contract was threatened with punishments from the heathen gods. These were precisely the customs that Ezra and Nehemiah raged against. Later, in the Persian period and in the Greek period, literary texts would carry a superscription, such as 'May it be successful, by the god NN (and the god/goddess NN)'. In just ten contracts, four of which concern marriage, such a wish is expressed. This is reminiscent of the formula 'In the name of our Creator' on Palestinian-Jewish marriage contracts (ketubbah) from a thousand years later found in the old synagogue of Cairo.47 2.3.4 Marriage outside Mesopotamia In the second millennium cuneiform script was used all over the Near East, and Akkadian was an international language until 1200 BC. So texts concerning mar- riage from outside Babylonia but written in Akkadian deserve attention. The lan- guage used can sometimes be understood only with difficulty, containing loan- words from the local languages. An example of this is the word for bride-price in Hurrian, wadurranni, used instead of Akkadian terhatu in Alalah.48 These mar- riage documents belonged to family archives, found in Nuzi, east of Assyria (near modern Kirkuk), and in Alalah, and in Emar near Aleppo.49 In these cities atten- tion was also paid to the status of the persons involved. One was called a 'citizen of Hanigalbat', i.e. an inhabitant of the kingdom of Mitanni. A question arising in negotiating a marriage was whether the interested party was a citizen (a 'son' or 'daughter') of a particular city. We know of a marriage 'according to the daughters of Emar', and of someone treated 'as a daughter of Arrapiha'.50 A contract from 46 K. Abraham, 'West Semitic and Judean brides in cuneiform sources from the sixth century BCE', AfO 51 (2005-06) 198-219; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 90 f. 47 M. Roth, JSS 33 (1988) 1-9. 48 I. Marquez-Rowe, W. H. van Soldt, Aula Orientalis 16 (1998) 132 f. 49 C. Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah (Schicht IV) (2008) 158-174, 'Ehevertrage', 265-299, the texts. For Emar see G. Beckman, 'Family values on the Middle Euphra- tes in the thirteenth century B. C.', in: M. W. Chavalas, Emar (1996) 57-79, esp. 68-71; J. J. Justel, 'Women and the family in the legal documents of Emar', Kaskal 11 (2014) 57-84. For Nuzi see N. Pfeiffer, 'Das Eherecht in Nuzi: Einfluisse aus altbabylonischer Zeit', SCCNH 18 (2009) 355-420. 50 A. Skaist, BiOr 56 (1999) 125 f., on Beckman, TVE no. 61. In general see C. Zaccagnini, 'Citizen- ship', in: R. Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law 1(2003) 578-580. 72 - Marriage Alalalh demands that the status of a patrician (mariyannu) be guaranteed to the children.5' Sometimes a marriage was arranged with a Hittite or a Babylonian.52 2.4 The betrothal In discussing the first phase of marriage, which could be called 'the betrothal', it is best to begin with an apparently insignificant Old Babylonian text:53 Adad-bani has weighed out to Lipit-Istar and Itu-alimma, her mother - for the status of kallatu he chose (her) for marriage for Ubarum, his son - 5 shekels of silver as bride-price. Witnesses are named at the end of the text. Although the formulation of the writer was clumsy, inserting what is logically the first clause of his narrative in the second position of his sentence, we see from this text that three factors coin- cide: the father choosing (hidru) the bride; the status of the bride (kallztu); the payment of the bride-price, or the first installment of it. There it was the father who made the choice. Did young people growing up really have any chance to make their own choice, or was everything arranged by their parents? The texts about daily life show that the parents were the ones involved. Normally it would be the father who acted. But if he had died the mother or a brother would act, and that seems to happen surprisingly often. An inflam- matory Sumerian proverb rejects a brother from having a role to play. Girl, do not let your brother choose for you! Whom do you choose?54 There was a problem at court in Babylon at the time of King Cyrus. A girl was given in marriage by her brother, but her father was not aware of this arrange- ment. This decision was reversed by the judges, who declared, If the girl is seen with the man she shall be branded as a slave.55 51 AT 91 with Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah, 158, 164,265 ff. (33.1); TUAT NF 1 (2004) 135 f.; E. von Dassow, SCCNH 17 (2008) 277-280; J.-J. Justel, SEL 25 (2008) 43. 52 D. Arnaud, Semitica 46 (1996) 12 ME 155:11-13 (from Tell Mumbaqat = Ekalte). 53 YOS 12 457. 54 SP 1.148. 55 Cyrus 311, 312 with F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 206-208. The betrothal - 73 One document states that a girl who is seen with a man, or is taken away by him with threatening words, without her protesting or saying, 'Tell this to his father', will be branded as a slave. This sounds like an attempted elopement.56 In the songs about the romance between Inanna, the goddess of love, and the shepherd Dumuzi, a completely different atmosphere prevails. Th. Jacobsen, commenting on their courtship, says that 'they are lightweight stuff, popular ditties' of a genre that probably really existed.57 These dialogues were playful and sometimes teasing. The woman frequently speaks of herself as 'we'.58 They were republished by Y. Sefati, Love Songs in Sumerian Literature (1998). Because he mostly gives different titles from those of Jacobsen we shall give both, while fol- lowing the interpretation of Jacobsen. In one of the songs Inanna tells her sister of the love awakened in her for Dumuzi ('The Sister's Message'; 'The Bed of Love'). However she avoids the bold advances of Dumuzi and tells him that he should address his proposal of marriage to her mother ('The Wiles of Women'; 'Love by the Light of the Moon'). It is interesting that in the myth of Enlil and Sud we see the same train of events. Enlil becomes overfamiliar with Sud, who directly turns her back on him. Then Enlil approaches her mother through a messenger.59 The role of the mother of the bride is striking. The same myth later speaks separately about the sister of the bride. We hear nothing about fathers, which may have to do with the structure of this sort of story. In them the protagonists are the two lovers, the mother of the girl and the messenger of the young man.60 Elsewhere in the Dumuzi songs we see that parents on both sides have made the arrange- ment. Those tell us that Inanna knows nothing about it. So she complains about Dumuzi, who is now so suddenly demanding, secure as he is in the knowledge of what has gone on. He answers that his father is now in a certain sense her father too, and in this way he goes down the whole list of other family members ('The New House'; 'The Lovers' Quarrel'). In another song Inanna's brother Utu tells her that linen sheets will be made and eventually the plot unravels. When asked 56 Cyrus 307 with F. Joannes, 'Amours contrariees', NABU 1994/72; Ktema 22 (1997) 125. 57 Th. Jacobsen, The treasures of darkness (1976) 27-32; The harps that once (1987) 1-23. Now supported by B. Alster, ASJ 14 (1992) 2f. See also G. Leick, Sex and eroticism (1994) 66-79. 58 S. M. Paul, 'The "plural of ecstasy" in Mesopotamian and Biblical love poetry', Studies J. C. Greenfield (1995) 585-597. By this 'a woman gave ardent and passionate articulation to her highly charged sensuous state'. 59 M. Civil, JAGS 103 (1983) 43 ff. 60 Cf. H. L. J. Vanstiphout, 'Un carrd d'amour sumdrien, or ways to win a woman', in Durand, La Femme (1987) 163-178. He points out the problem (p. 171, 176) and writes about the resistance against the marriage by the 'female lineage', represented by the mother. Asking the mother is seen again in the Dumuzi texts; see also B. Alster, ASJ 14 (1992) 19:23. 74 - Marriage who will be lying with her, Utu replies that it will be Amausumgalanna, meaning Dumuzi. And then she replies gladly that this was 'the very man of my heart' ('Bridal Sheets'; 'The Bridal Sheets and the Chosen Bridegroom'). If one compares these songs with the legal texts and the few letters which we have several fea- tures stand out: the uninhibited individuality of the characters; the absence of fathers; no mention of the bride-price during the exchange of gifts; and the house of the girl as the only location for the action.6' The comment has been made that the songs between Inanna and Dumuzi are the expression of the experience of women. They embody a 'tender, sensual sexuality'. From a later period only the titles of other love-songs are known, sometimes inspired by Istar and Dumuzi/ Tammuz.62 Are all these love songs purely literary? Probably not. One suspects that set phrases, such as 'I would like to join your family', said by the girl, and 'I would like to plough the field', gasped by the boy, have been taken from life.63 These songs show that women had more say in the matter than we might think from other texts. The songs were finally given a place in the rituals of the Sacred Mar- riage. One is reminded of the playful dialogues in the Song of Solomon.64 We will now examine the legal texts which deal with betrothal. In the Sumerian period of Ur III the future bridegroom or his father made a short decla- ration under oath in these terms: By the king (I declare), 'Surely I have taken A, the daughter of B, as my wife'. This has been described by German scholars as the Eheabsprache, the 'marriage agreement'.65 As is already clear from the wording, the 'bespoke' girl is validated as the wife. Within the Old Babylonian legal context she was directly known as a 'wife' even when she was just betrothed. In English the term 'inchoate mar- riage' is used for a marriage which is just beginning (Latin inchoare). C. Wilcke suggests that this is a concept from Germanic law, Ehe in der Schwebe, 'marriage hanging in the balance'. P. Koschaker in 1917 still unashamedly used the typically European word Verlobung, 'betrothal', which has much to recommend it, if it is 61 M. M. Fritz, Und weinten um Tammuz. Die G6tter Dumuzi-Ama'usumgal'anna und Damu (2003) 308-314. 62 J. A. Black, 'Babylonian ballads: a new genre', JAOS 103 (1984) 25-34. 63 B. Alster, ASJ 14 (1992) 2 f., 43 f.; for 'ploughing the field' see note 5. 64 J. Klein, Y. Sefati, "'Secular" love songs in Mesopotamian literature', Studies S. M. Paul II (2008) 613-626. 65 Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 245 f. The betrothal - 75 correctly defined and put into context, as he did.66 In the Old Babylonian period it was the custom to seal the betrothal by drinking beer. This ceremony (kirru) usually marked the conclusion of other agreements, such as taking on a lease.67 It could be called a reception, but was not compulsory.68 There are indications that in the Ur III period beer was also drunk when the wedding gift was given.69 According to the laws of Esnunna a girl could not become a man's wife without the permission of her father. If a man 'took' a man's daughter without having first asked her father and mother, and neither provided a reception (kirru) nor drew up any contractual agreement with her father and mother, even if she has already lived for a year in his house, she is not his wife (§27). Greengus has shown that there need not be a written contract (riksatu, literally 'a binding'). Later he says specifically that the contractual agreement seeks to establish the new status of the future married couple.70 We understand from this law that a marriage was only legal if it had been carried out according to the rules. This is clear from other law books also.7' The Hittite laws differentiate a betrothal to a girl and binding her in marriage (§ 28-9). The former can refer to a child while the latter can involve the payment of a bride-price.72 A situation described in one text concerns a woman who has had intercourse with one particular man, as well as some others, without any marriage agree- ment. Her family declared this before the judge: We have never given our sister S. to a husband. She went out on the town and N. had sex with her, along with many others. He never made any contract concerning her, nor did he establish a ... for her, nor did we receive a bride-price for her.73 We see here that with no agreement made and no bride-price paid no marriage was formalised. 66 P. Koschaker, Rechtsvergleichende Studien zur Gesetzgebung Hammurapis K6nigs von Babylon (1917) 130 ff., §9. Later on he fully agreed with 'inchoate marriage'; ArOr 18/3 (1950) 226. 67 F. R. Kraus, JEOL 16 (1959-62) 24 f. 68 In T. Abusch, Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 130-132 (see note 17). 69 ASJ 4 (1982) 66 no. 9, kas.d6.a nam.mi.ds.si, with C. Wilcke, ZA 78 (1988) 13 n. 49. 70 Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 134-136. 71 J. Fleishman, Studies J. Klein (2005) 481-484. He discusses LU §11 (written contract), LE §§ 27-8, CH §128 (always riksatu). 72 TUAT I/1 ('Rechtsbiicher') (1982) 102, with Balkan, 7 f. 73 K. R. Veenhof, Festschrift C. Wilcke (2003) 315 f., lines 28-34. 76 - Marriage Having examined a few cases of betrothal it should be remembered that these were undoubtedly not normal situations, so we do not understand everything. An Old Assyrian text, which appears to be a betrothal contract, strangely involves two women who are making an agreement about their 'daughter'. Ewanika, the first woman, has an indigenous name, and the second woman, Adi-matum, has an Assyrian name. The father may have died and these women were his two widows.74 Ibni-Sin, son of Ennam-Assur, will wed the daughter of Ewanika and Adi-matum. If they give their daughter to another (?), E. and A. shall pay Ibni-Sin two minas of silver. If Ibni- Sin marries the daughter of a native person here (nud'u) and does not marry their daughter, Ibni-Sin shall pay to E. [and A. two minas] of silver. He (?) may give the girl (suhartu) to wherever he (?) wishes. We also have an Old Babylonian betrothal contract. Concerning 'the marriage relation' (emhtu) contract that Istar-lamassi and Sin-abusu have agreed to (annam aplu), that the son of Nannatum should marry their daughter, in the presence of thirteen persons. They have drunk beer to the value of a third of a shekel of silver. They have used a litre of oil with which to anoint themselves.75 The drinking and anointing at the end of this text most probably refer to the kirru, 'reception'. It is striking that as legal signatories of the contract first the woman Istar-lamassi is named, and only later is the man named. Afterwards the girl is spe- cifically referred to as 'her' daughter. The woman Istar-lamassi 'and her mother' and the man Sin-abusu appear next to one another in the list of those present. Their own expenses would need to be taken into account, and this was not a list of witnesses. We read 'Istar-lamassi and her mother', so women arranged this marriage. The man Sin-abusu may have been a brother or an uncle. 2.4.1 Becoming related by marriage In what we have called an Old Babylonian betrothal contract the term emztu, 'marriage relation' was used. It is derived from the word emu, 'father-in-law' or sometimes 'son-in-law'.76 In Sumerian the terminology for family relations is 74 V. Donbaz, Keilschrifttexte aus den Antiken-Museen zu Stambul II (1989) no. 55; cf. W. C. Gwaltney, JAOS 112 (1992) 336. For the last line read [a-sar l]i-bi-su i-d[a-an]. 75 E. C. Stone, Nippur neighborhoods (1987) Text 34, with D. Charpin, RA 84 (1990) 11f. 76 F. R. Kraus, Vom mesopotamischen Menschen der altbabylonischen Zeit und seiner Welt (1973) 50; R. M. Whiting, AS 22 (1987) 55, on no.12:29. The betrothal - 77 very complicated, so much so that an attempt was once made to cut the Gordian knot by suggesting that the words urum or murum could cover all the relatives of the man, and the word unbar could cover all the relatives of the woman.77 It seems that in Akkadian emu could also have such a general meaning, and it could indicate any family member by marriage. A text from Nippur speaks of 'the little emu', whenever the father of the bridegroom is meant, and so 'the great emu' may have been the father of the bride.78 For emu we can loosely use the word 'brother- in-law', and so show that in Akkadian the abstract concept of emztu, 'marriage relationship' implied 'a relationship by marriage with two families'.79 An Akka- dian letter from Tell Taanach in Palestine supports 'entering into marriage' as a similar expression to 'becoming related by marriage', lit. 'to make (a man) son-in- law' (hatanuta epesu). These expressions are found also in an Assyrian letter from a merchant from Anatolia. The related Hebrew word hatan means 'son-in-law'.80 It seems appropriate now to mention that ahuzzatu is yet a third word for marriage, derived from the word ahdzu, 'to take'. It occurs chiefly in Middle Baby- lonian. The Middle Assyrian laws speak of it in a way that seems to indicate a marriage with a woman who is no longer a virgin, in particular a widow.81 But it is unlikely that there was a separate word for this situation. 2.4.2 Betrothed princesses The betrothal of a princess was a special occasion and naturally exceptional preparations were made. Letters and documents from Mari show us something about how two royal marriages were arranged. These were the marriages of Yasmah-Addu to the daughter of the king of Qatna, far away in the west, and of Zimri-Lim to the daughter of the king of Yamhad, the region around Aleppo. It is noticeable that in both cases at first the girl is not named, being referred to as 'the 77 P. Steinkeller, JCS 32 (1980) 24 note 6. In general see A. W. Sjoberg, Studies A. Falkenstein (HSAO) (1967) 219-231, cf. M. Civil, JNES 31 (1972) 222b; Wilcke, WdO 4 (1968) 156; 'Familien- griindung', 220 ff. 78 Wilcke, 'Familiengriindung', 230-232. 79 Cf. also J. J. Finkelstein, RA 61 (1967) 131. The Tell Taanach text compared with EA 89:18 (imhtu) is the principal witness. Cf. also Kraus, Vom altmesopotamischen Menschen, 48, on salhtu, 'Verschwagerung'. 80 A derivation from this abstract word emhtu 'marriage' may be 'the bed of your [fem.] hamutu' (perhaps an archaising form of emhtu); E. Porada and J. A. Brinkman, AfO 28 (1981) 75 no. 32 (GIS. NA ha-mu-ti-ki). 81 K. Abraham in: R. Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law 1(2003) 536 (n. 69). 78 - Marriage daughter of King NN'. Furthermore, the marriage was arranged by a high official from far away, by procuration. That is also how Abraham sent his servant to make arrangements for a bride for his son Isaac (Genesis 24). Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish which letters refer to which of the two marriages. From the dossier about the marriage of Zimri-Lim there is a passage which seems to indicate that gifts were distributed to the most important people, her father Yarim-Lim, her mother Gasera, and the bride herself, Sibtum. The high official wrote, After we had gone back, I made ready the sheep that had earlier been left for the sacrifice of the daughter, the rest of the sheep which remained in my possession. In addition: 1 gold arm ring, six shekels in weight; 1 saqqu garment; 1 best-quality utuplu garment; 5 second-rate utuplu garments; 21 normal second-rate garments; 100 ...-sheep, sheep with a fat tail, and birds; for Yarim-Lim. 1 finely made garment; 2 gold earrings weighing 2 shekels (each); 2 gold earrings weighing one shekel (each); and also 20 sheep; for Gasera. 1 garment from Marad; 4 gold earrings weighing two shekels each; for the daughter, Sibtum. This latter gift was enough, just like the previous one. The face of Yarim-Lim beamed. He said, 'Your previous present, what more can I do?'.82 More is known about the marriage of the daughter of the king of Qatna. She was called Beltum, a word meaning literally 'mistress', which suggests that either she would become queen or that she already had the status of a spouse, to be addressed as 'My Lady'.83 In Mari the word has both meanings. The king of Qatna described how the two families had grown closer through matrimony: My flesh and my loins (?) I have given into your lap. Furthermore, this house has changed into your house. Write to me about what desire you have and I shall give it to you.84 The father of the bridegroom, King Samsi-Addu of Assyria and Mari, wrote to his son about what it would cost. I take the girl, the daughter of Ishi-Addu, for you. The house of Mari has a name and the house of Qatna has a name. To give too low a bride-price is scandalous. Five talents of silver as the bride-price will be given to Qatna.85 82 D. Charpin, 'The "matrimonial mission" to Aleppo', in: K. Radner, E. Robson, The Oxford handbook of cuneiform culture (2011) 257-260. The quote is AEM I/1108 no.11:15-36. 83 J.-M. Durand, MARI14 (1985) 398-403; MARI6 (1990) 276-295; J. M. Sasson, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East II(1995) 880. 84 MARI 6 (1989) 282 A. 3158:9-14. 85 ARM 1 77:8-13 with MARI 4 (1985) 403; LAPO 18 (2000) 169 f. no.1005. The betrothal - 79 Administrative texts document the journey the bridegroom took to greet his bride, from place to place.86 These indicate that on the sixth day of the ninth month olive oil was purchased for Queen Ama-duga 'when the bride from Qatna had been brought here'.87 A cortege (hudusu) accompanied her.88 Whenever she arrived at the palace, she had difficulty settling in. The girl had gone outside to dance and had become sick. Her unusual behaviour was blamed on the nurse she had brought with her.89 More will be explained about these circumstances in Chapter 23. A princess who was married off to a foreigner received the title of 'bride'. A vassal king wrote to Zimri-Lim of Mari, You have given the girl, the bride, to this house, and now I have set up your gods, and I have obtained a victory (?). So may you rejoice.90 The princess came with all her local gods. This was how Jezebel managed to bring her gods into the court of her husband, King Ahab (1 Kings 16:31-33). In an inscription on the seal of such a princess she is described as having three titles: the daughter of Sumu-El, king of Larsa; the bride (daughter-in-law) of a local king; and the wife of his son, the heir apparent.91 From earlier times there are also examples of royal women described as 'the bride' of a king.92 Sumerian administrative texts mention the 'bride' of the city governor or commandant.93 2.4.3 Anointing at the betrothal The cuneiform texts also speak of anointing the woman, but do not make clear whether this was done at the betrothal or during the wedding ceremony. In any case it would have been different in different regions. Everything points to the fact that in the north and in the west the girl was anointed at her betrothal, but that this custom was not known in Babylon itself. Evidence for this comes from 86 MARI 6, 276; D. Charpin, Florilegium Marianum V (2003) 146 (year of Ikuppiya). 87 D. Charpin, MARI3 (1984) 96 no. 90. 88 MARI16, 283 A. 1224:7. 89 AEM 1/2 no. 298. 90 ARM 28 27: 6-11. 91 OECT 13 7, 12, with D. Charpin, NABU 2002/39; A. Goddeeris, ZA 97 (2007) 60 f. 92 Bara-irnunu, 'bride of I1, king of Umma', J. Cooper, SARI I1(1986) 93 f.; Taram-Uram, 'bride of Ur-Nammu (king of Ur)', M. Civil, Or. NS 54 (1985) 41 vii 10. 93 W. W. Hallo, HUCA 29 (1958) 79; C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 291 f., n. 115; P. Michalowski, 'The Bride of Simanum', JAOS 95 (1975) 716-719. 80 - Marriage the so-called Amarna letters, where it appears that princesses in foreign parts could be anointed by a messenger from the bridegroom's family. Anointing from a distance gave the girl the status of someone who had now been betrothed.94 The Hittites also observed this tradition. In a letter which Queen Puduhjepa received from Pharaoh Rameses II he writes about pouring out 'good oil' on the head.95 In a letter from Ugarit we read that the ointment for a princess was kept in 'her horn' in the land Amurru.96 Ointment being kept in a horn is attested elsewhere.97 Ointments are mentioned in particular in letters sent by the kings of the king- doms of Mitanni and Babylonia to the Pharaoh.98 After promising to give the Pharaoh a woman to marry, they ask him to send a messenger to 'pour oil on her head (qaqqadu)'. The following passage is very revealing: The very first time, I said to the messenger, 'Of course I will give her'. When your messenger came the second time, oil was poured on her head, and when I received her bride-price, I gave her.99 It is striking that the bride-price (terhatu) was given here precisely on the occa- sion of the anointing. This appears to fit in with the passages from administrative texts from Ebla a thousand years earlier. The site of Ebla is located near Aleppo in modern Syria. In documents from there we read amongst reports of gifts of clothes a remark about 'pouring out oil on the head', in particular for women named in the text, and indeed 'on the day of the present (nimusa)'. This Sumerian word means a gift given on the occasion of a wedding. A particular 'day' is named after this and that must have been the day of celebration. This could have been either the day of the betrothal or the day of the wedding. A. Archi identifies nimusa, 'present' with the bride-price, the terhatu of the Amarna letters, and concludes that it must have marked the betrothal. We have here a similar situation to the one in the letter cited above.100 Another opinion is that it is the marriage that we are 94 W. L. Moran, Les lettres d'El Amarna (1987) 87 n. 7 (in EA 11, 29, 31). 95 KUB 3 63:15 with E. Edel, Die ugyptisch-hethitische Korrespondenz aus Boghazkdi I (1994) 134 no.51, with II 210; S. Lafont, Revue historique du droit franqais et 6tranger (RHD) 73 (1995) 486 (n. 46). 96 KTU 2.72:29-31; TUAT I/5 (1985) 505 f.; Festschrift M. Dietrich (2002) 554, but the situation for this action is not clear. 97 CAD Q 138b, garnu 4. 'Horn as container, rhyton' is mainly Old Assyrian. 98 Pharaoh Amenophis III to a king of Arzawa; EA 31:14, with TUAT NF 3 (2006) 194 f. 99 EA 29:22f. The other passages are EA 11:17 f. (Babylonia) and 31:11-14 (Arzawa); see P. Artzi in Durand, La Femme (1987) 26 sub 5. The first fundamental discussion was by B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 79-81. 100 A. Archi, Studi Eblaiti II/2-3 (1980) 21; for an English translation see Biblical Archaeologist 44/3 (1981) 14; cf. S. Greengus, HUCA 61(1990) 63 f. The betrothal - 81 concerned with here and that the Sumerian word means 'marriage'.1 1 However, we have shown that the day of the betrothal may be just as applicable, and there is some indication that the veil was put on the girl at the same time.'02 This information has all come from sources in the west. But to the north of Babylonia was Assyria, and § 42 of the Middle Assyrian laws reads, If a man pours oil on the head of a woman of the a'ilu class on the occasion of a holiday, or brings dishes on the occasion of a banquet, no restitution shall be made. We hear nothing about the exchange of wedding gifts, but here we are confronted with two ceremonies which set the seal on the betrothal, the pouring of oil, and a meal. It is assumed that the crockery (huruppdtu) was comprised of pitchers with drink in them, comparable to the beer used in Old Babylonian times on the occa- sion of a kirru, 'reception'.103 The next section of these laws mentions this as well and examines the problem of what to do if the betrothed man should later die (§ 43). Then the family would do their best to find another man in the family for the girl for as long as it took. It is said that the anointing also occurred in ancient Sumer and is mentioned in the texts concerning the 'reforms' of Urukagina.104 Much has been written about the meaning of the anointing ceremony. The best theory is that anointing symbolised a change of status. It was a purifica- tion rite done in preparation for the change.105 The high priestess in Emar was anointed on her installation.06 The anointing of kings in Israel is also attested as a practice. As a custom in the west it was also mentioned in a letter from Mari, where a prophet speaks in the name of the weather god Adad: I made you turn back to the th[rone of your father's house]. I gave you the weapons with which I have fought the Sea. I anointed you with the oil of my ... so that no one shall stand against you.107 101 G. Pettinato in: H. Waetzoldt, H. Hauptmann, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von Ebla (1988) 304-308; M. G. Biga in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 45 with n. 18, 21. Archi, Eblaitica I1(1987) 121, also translates the word as 'wedding'. 102 M. V. Tonietti, Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff (2005) 250 f. note 33: for the veil together with anointing the head see TM.75.G.1326; also J. Pasquali, ibidem, 175; NABU 2009/11 [3]. 103 B. Groneberg in: Th. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauenwelten in der Antike (2000) 6 n. 19. 104 C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 62f.; Urukagina inscr. 6 ii 15-31, where the 'wedding' is indicated by pouring out an aromatic product on the head (22). 105 D. Pardee, BiOr 34 (1977) 17b, with a full discussion of all passages. 106 D. E. Fleming, The installation of Baal's high priestess at Emar (1992) 177-179. On p.10:2 and p. 49 the central word (phru) was misunderstood as 'the lots(?)' but it should have been 'the bowl (with salve)'. See W. Sallaberger, ZA 86 (1996) 144 f. 107 J.-M. Durand, MARI 7 (1993) 45 rev. 1-6, with p.53. The Sea (temtum, Hebrew tehom) is the sea-monster, named in the Bible as Leviathan. 82 - Marriage Some have linked anointing with communal eating and drinking, creating a new bond together. It was seen as a token of hospitality when you were being received by another family.108 However, this would not apply to the anointing of kings or priests, nor to the freeing of a slave attested in Ugarit. During a wedding ceremony the guests anointed themselves,109 or a woman would anoint the bride to cleanse her face, both actions of practical significance."0 2.4.4 The bride On several occasions already we have encountered the concept of the bride. She appears in the Sumerian survey of family members in ages from young to old: a little child, a marriageable girl (ki.sikil), a marriageable boy (gurus), a bride (6.gi4.a), a small boy (tur ban.da, probably a betrothed man), an old man (abba), an old woman (umma)."1 The usual Sumerian word for bride is d.gi4.a, which means literally 'she who has changed house'."2 In Akkadian the bride is called kallatu. This title was mostly used when she was getting married and during the first period after her marriage. It can be used proleptically, before the wedding in anticipation of the event."3 Probably she was considered to be a kallatu until her first child was born."4 §18 of the Laws of Esnunna, as will be shown later, and § 46 of the Middle Assyrian law-book, indicate this. In Old Babylonian texts the word is also a sort of title. F. R. Kraus saw her not as the bride of her husband but of his family. It is striking that always there was only one person addressed as bride."5 According to another theory this word for bride was reserved for the wife 108 M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 175 f. 109 UET 5 636:9-11 with Malul, 166 f.; E. C. Stone, Nippur neighborhoods no.34 rev. 9; 1 litre of (sesame) oil each time. 110 'Enlil en Sud' 147 with C. Wilcke in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 184. 111 In the Sumerian debate 'The Heron and the Turtle' (12-18); G. Gragg, AfO 24 (1973) 60; W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture I1(1997) 571. 112 Cf. igi.gi4, 'to change the appearance', M. Civil, AfO 25 (19) 70a. B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 49 ff., and J. J. Finkelstein, JAOS 86 (1966) 355-362, surmised that the expres- sion was to be taken literally to mean 'the deflowered one'. 113 F. R. Kraus, Vom mesopotamischen Menschen der altbabylonischen Zeit und seiner Welt (1973) 53, in his observations on the 'Schwiegertochter' (p. 50-55). 114 J. Bottero in: P. Grimal, Histoire mondiale de la femme I(1965) 187 (top). M. Stol has supplied the proof in Studies A. Skaist (2012) 133 f. 115 C. Wilcke in Ziegler, Le Harem (1999) 45 n. 268. The betrothal - 83 of the oldest son."6 One can also imagine that there would only be one married couple who could stay on in their parents' house until the first child was born. The harem at Mari had eleven 'daughters of the king', seven 'brides' (kallatu), fifteen 'slave-girls of the king' (probably concubines)."7 An important sheikh complaining about the nomads said, 'They have removed as booty sons and daughters, my 'brides' (kallatu) and my servants'.118 By this he meant his family and their staff. Elsewhere the elders of the city of Urkis tried to redeem a 'bride' taken hostage with the silver which her husband had brought along."9 A man from Emar sold his 'bride' as a slave. This may pos- sibly mean that it was a newly married woman without children.20 The 'bride of the house' often received letters full of information about household provi- sions.'2' She was the recently married wife who managed the home. A Sumerian proverb states that a bride who had come recently into the family could be a nuisance, The pleasure of a daughter-in-law is anger (SP 3.44). Another Sumerian describes a father travelling through the desert, The waterskin is a man's life. The sandals are a man's eye. A spouse is a man's supervisor. A son is a man's shade. A daughter is man's head-covering (?). A daughter-in-law is a man's devil."2 Devils were known to wander around in the desert. A troublesome daughter-in- law figures in a letter: When you had left, there was no talk of her ... and insults (?). But now, for eight months she has been refusing to live (here). She quarrels and regularly goes back at night to her father's house, and I keep hearing bad things, and she will not listen to me.123 116 Thus F. R. Kraus, 53 f. 117 Ziegler, 45, with an extensive footnote. 118 J.-M. Durand, Amurru 3 (2004) 120 A. 2730: 43-45. 119 M. Guichard, Florilegium Marianum II(1994) 254 f. no.125. 120 D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis 5 (1987) 231 no.12 ME 117. 121 S. Greengus, OBTI nos. 5-7. This title again in VAS 7 185 ii 5, etc. 122 B. Alster, Proverbs of Ancient Sumer (1997) 245, Collection 19 Section C 7. 123 C. Michel in CRRAI 40 (1996) 287 n. 3, with K. R. Veenhof, Archivum Anatolicum 3 (1997) 365 f. 84 - Marriage We have already seen that there were surprisingly young brides. Little girls could be bought for money with the intention of giving them over later to a husband. In this event the girl was also called a bride. Assyrian texts use this idiom also.'24 In Emar and Nuzi a marriage broker would buy these tender brides and the future husband would later pay the bride-price of forty shekels of silver, the normal price. The broker would keep most of this, about thirty shekels, and the rest would go to the poor family of the girl.'25 In other Semitic languages words cognate with Akkadian kallatu also mean bride. It is preserved even in Yiddish kalle.126 The etymology of the word presents a problem. It cannot be linked to a verb, but it can be associated with nouns which mean 'garland', such as Akkadian kululu and kiliau,27 Syriac kelil, and Arabic ikl1.28 It is possible that the word for bride was a primitive noun, and because of her garlanding the word for the special garland was derived from it.'29 Perhaps the root of the verb kll indicates something round430 and the married woman may have worn a sort of band on her head. In Sumerian times a piece of cloth rolled round the head is mentioned (tug.su.gur.ra).'13 Such a cloth fits in with two Old Babylo- nian passages, according to which the girl who is given in marriage is 'dressed' and 'receives a head-covering', using the verbs labdsu and apdru.32 A Middle Assyrian contract mentions a newly wed woman as 'clothed and bound up'.33 In 124 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 142-144. In CTN II 219 we have a 'bride' who is 4 half-els tall. 125 B. Lion, 'Filles a marier a Emar et a Nuzi', NABU 2001/74. For more about such practices see Chapter 17. 126 Hebrew kalld(h). 127 H. Waetzoldt, 'Ring, Reif', in art. 'Kopfbedeckung', §6.a, RiA VI/3-4 (1981) 199. 128 Another obscure word, read as kaldla in the Qur'an, seems to have this meaning (Surah 4:12 and 176); see David S. Powers, Studies in Qur'an and Hadith: the formation of the Islamic law of inheritance (1986) 21-49. He translates 4:12b as 'If a man designates a daughter-in-law or wife as heir, and he has a brother or sister, each one of them is entitled to one-sixth (...)'. This verse implies that there were no parents or children to inherit. 129 Cf. the derived verb kullulu in R. Borger, BiOr 28 (1971) 19b, SAL.E.GI4.A (= kallatu) uk-tal- [lal] (p. 11 iii 17), 'Die Braut wird bekr nzt (?) (p. 16a), ihren [Mann] wird sie verehren'; cf. Wilcke, 'Familiengriindung', 282. 130 This may suit the verb suklulu 'to complete, to perfect'. 131 A. Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956)101 f.: a woman who does not wish to marry says to the rejected man, 'Unter Eid beim Kinig sollst du zu mir nicht sprechen (und) meine Haube sollst du an dein Haupt nicht fiihren'; H. Waetzoldt, art. 'Kopfbedeckung', §8.d, RlA VI/3-4 (1981) 201. 132 AbB 130:23 f. with B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 98 n. 1; PBS 8/2 252:1 f.; CT 48 51:8 (ana labsussa u aprhssa Mhussi). Cf. CT 45 119:8 f. with C. Wilcke, ZA 74 (1984) 176. 133 VAS 19 37:10 f. with J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 93 (labulta u rakilta). The betrothal - 85 illustrations we often see women with a band around their heads.34 One cannot rule out the possibility that every woman, whether married or not, had something on her head. All this concerns the 'bride' after her wedding. These head coverings are not to be confused with the veil. 2.4.5 Betrothal time The length of time a betrothal lasted is not known. For young girls who were married off when they were still very small, it could last for quite a while. Texts from the middle of the second millennium BC suggest four months, or seven years, or even ten years.35 A Neo-Babylonian marriage contract ended with the announcement that the girl would go to live with her father for another two years. It is a postscript written in the left-hand margin.136 We know that a man lived for four months with his in-laws in another town, but that was probably shortly before the wedding.37 Perhaps we assume that the betrothed each stayed on living in their homes, but that was not necessarily always the case. R. Westbrook sees a difference between the 'standard inchoate marriage' and the 'status of the bride' (kallztu). In the latter case the girl went to live in the house of her father-in-law at the time of the betrothal. Westbrook assumes that they must have been very young.138 The father-in-law now 'took' (ahdzu, 'to take control of') the girl until the bridegroom 'took' ('married') her later. Regarding the couple being together, we have only a lyrical speech by Dumuzi to Inanna before their wedding: Tell your mother some tale! Let us be dallying in the moonlight! Let me spread for you the pure sweet couch.139 Much could happen in the betrothal period. A paragraph in the laws of Hammu- rabi discusses the possibility that the father of the bridegroom might rape the bride living in his house, before or after his son had 'known' her (§155-6). A myth shows that at this time female friends of the girl could discourage her from mar- 134 J. Borker-Klkhn, art. 'Haartrachten', RlA IV-1 (1972) 1-12. cf. 4b, Abb. 8, 'Haar liegt unter einem Schleier mit angearbeitetem Stirnband'. 135 C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 250, note, and 251, bottom (MB); 274 f. (OB). 136 C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 14 no.3. 137 UET 5 636:39. 138 Westbrook, Old Babylonian marriage law (= OBML) (1988) 34-36, 48. 139 C. Wilcke, WdO 4 (1968) 154 f., Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 11 ('The Wiles of Women'). 86 - Marriage rying, and that people could go back on their decision to marry.140 A bridegroom swears: I am your son-in-law. I shall not step inside the house of a stranger.141 That means that during his betrothal he will not go after other girls. An Old Assyr- ian text stipulates a time limit for a marriage to be completed. If he does not come within two months and shows no attention to his wife, she shall be given to another husband.142 2.4.6 Breaking the contract At the time of the betrothal both parties were bound to the agreement. The payment of the bride-price implies a claim on the father of the bride.143 Still there was the possibility of breaking the engagement. An Old Akkadian contract stipu- lates at the end of a lawsuit, under an oath on the king's life, that someone shall not 'come back' to the woman N., and before witnesses he declares, N. shall wed the husband of her heart. In that I shall not hinder her.144 According to one Sumerian text breaking a betrothal contract was punishable with a fine. A promise had been made before witnesses, and the judges decided that the father of the bridegroom should pay a mina of silver to the girl.145 In a lawsuit a problem is examined where the woman is 'married' (betrothed), but the mother of her husband for three months 'had not let her come into the house'. 140 J. Klein, Studies R. Kutscher (1993) 100 n. 12. 141 NRVN 5 with C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 246. 142 M. Ichisar, RA 76 (1982) 171, TCL 4 67:13-18. Others state that she is married but not sup- ported by the man; R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 365 (n. 24); C. Michel, RIDA 84 (2006) 162. C. Michel also discusses AKT I 76, where a fine could be meant, one incurred for breaking up the betrothal for another woman. 143 Wilcke, 256: 'Aus der Zahlung der terhatum resultiert kein Recht auf die Braut, sondern nur ein Anspruch gegen den Brautvater'. 144 BIN 8 164 with D. 0. Edzard, Sumerische Rechtsurkunden (1968) no.85; M. Yoshikawa, Stud- ies A. W. Sjdberg (1989) 589 (n. 6). C. Wilcke: the last words of the man's oath strongly point to the woman as the initiator of the divorce; in Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 62, 66. 145 H. Neumann, TUAT NF 1 (2004) 2 f. The betrothal - 87 They subsequently separated. No punishment was reported. Possibly the mother was a widow who wanted to be supported by her son.1'46 A young man was getting married and declared before the court that an earlier agreement between him and another father-in-law about marrying another girl had come about 'without the knowledge of his father and mother' and the engagement was therefore broken. We see here that the mother also had a voice in the matter.147 §29 of the laws of Lipit-Istar reads as follows: If the young son-in-law enters the house of his father-in-law, having 'done' the bride-price, but having later been sent out, and his wife having been given to his friend, then the bride- price which he had brought shall be doubled, and his friend shall not marry that wife. Two remarks arise from this law. On the one hand the family of the bride breaks off the engagement and pays double. That double is the normal sanction if one does not pay back a loan on time. Twice the purchase price serves as the penalty clause.148 On the other hand the girl might not be married off to the 'friend' of the man. This friend was certainly a 'best man', so someone directly involved in the marriage. The law found that he might not profit from his position, thus adopting a moral viewpoint. The Laws of Hammurabi have similar requirements and add that the friend of the bridegroom spoke ill of him (§160-161). But a woman could also terminate an agreement. In the record of a lawsuit the judges of a city to the east of the Tigris fined a woman ten shekels of silver, because she had evidently broken an agreement. The hem of her garment was cut off as a sign of separation. The man could not demand that she had 'the status of (his) wife', and the woman could not say to him 'You are my husband' (the wording is asymmetrically formulated). It is noteworthy that the father of the woman did not make an appearance. He may have died. The woman paid a third party, possibly the father of the rejected bridegroom.149 If in the ten shekels of silver a fine was included, then that would indeed be the 'double'. Half of that, five shekels, fits in with my theory that the bride-price was paid in instalments, and in general this amounted to five shekels for the first instalment. An Old Babylonian text from Larsa gives more interesting information.450 In the family of the young woman Burtum there was a row and 'they had approached' 146 M. Sigrist, Studies J. C. Greenfield (1995) 614 f., Tablet 4; B. Lafont in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 44 no.4. 147 NSGU II no. 15. 148 Wilcke, WdO 4 (1968) 159; cf. M. Stol, Een Babylonier maakt schulden (1983) 5 with n. 17. 149 Greengus, OBTI 25, with Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 287 f. 150 YOS 8 141 with Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 288 f., n. 108. 88 - Marriage a certain man called Talimum. Then Burtum rejected her family and 'went after Silli-Ahuya', a third party who married (ahdzu) her. We learn further on in the text that the family had said to Silli-Ahuya that he could not marry her. Evidently the betrothal was broken off in this way and they tried to give the girl to Talimum. But in this situation she had possibly obtained the right to a marriage with Sil- li-Ahuya, and she was free to follow this first choice. The lawsuit is primarily con- cerned with the gift which Silli-Ahjuya gave to his wife. The gift was a large one and was composed like a dowry (nudunna). As such it really contained what a father ought to give to his daughter. Her angry father had of course not done it and now she was getting it from her husband. An interesting point is that the man added household goods from his family possessions and his brothers were unable to object to this, on the grounds of a decree of the king. Our text sets out to record the gift properly in writing, before witnesses, including two 'wives', who may possibly have been the wives of the brothers. The letters of Assyrian merchants in Asia Minor show that there was a certain freedom to withdraw from a marriage promise. We hear of an adult man who ended his arrangement. In a lawsuit he was addressed by her family: You made a promise to our father. Come here and marry your wife. His answer was: Certainly I made a promise to your father but you did not give me a belt for my loins, as befits brothers-in-law. Moreover you did not invite my brothers. Time was going on (lit. 'the days were growing less') and I have grown old and I have married another citizen, a lady from Assur. I cannot marry your sister. A later letter between the brothers begins, 'Our sister has become large', and goes on to discuss the problem of how they can collect money to 'give her to a husband'. Possibly the first marriage had already been arranged when she still was a child. Their parents appear no longer to be alive.151 With regard to another 'girl (suhdrtu) who had become large', her brother says to another fellow, Come here and marry (ahuz) my sister in Kanis. 151 S. Qegen, Archivum Anatolicum 1 (1995) 58-61 no.6, with 56 f. no.4; see now TUAT NF 1 (2004) 55 f., 56. Cf. K. R. Veenhof in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 357 (n. 74). The betrothal - 89 But the man he addresses, in fact the betrothed, says, Let her (just) stay there (...). Go and give your sister to a husband wherever you like. Then a statement from the court is demanded. Before witnesses it is stated that the man is renouncing his right to the girl. We do not know the consequences of these testimonies. It is conceivable that the engagement was terminated and the price paid was never refunded, but this price is not explicitly mentioned.12 We can conclude that the girl had been married off at a very young age. Another letter shows that a girl was also given the freedom to say 'no'. The author of the letter puts it to his betrothed in Assur that he could certainly marry a wife from his city in Anatolia. But the girl should consult her father.153 And rightly so, for, who knows, presents might already have been given. Because the betrothed woman was called a 'wife' it can be difficult to distin- guish a text concerned with breaking an engagement from one about the divorce of a couple who had been definitely married. When scholars thought a divorce had occurred, they translated the expression ul ahhaz, which means literally 'I shall not take', not as 'I shall not marry you' but as 'I shall no longer be married to you'.154 One text records the interrogation of a man who wanted to be free of the woman to whom he had been committed but she wanted to stay. It begins with a list of eight personal names who did the questioning. In the presence of these witnesses they questioned A. 'Is this woman your wife?' He declared, 'Hang me on a peg. Yes, dismember me. I will not marry her' (or: 'stay married to her'). Thus he said. They questioned his wife and she answered, 'I love my husband'. Thus she answered. He, however, refused. He knotted up her hem and cut it off. They questioned him. 'Should a woman, who has come to live in the house of your father and whom your ward knows as your wife, simply go away just like that? Make her situation the same as when she moved in with you'.155 It seems that here the statements have been recorded with the emotion of the occasion. The man gets his way. He knots the hem of the woman's clothing and cuts it off as a symbolic act of separation. The men presiding give their verdict, 152 K. Balkan, 'Betrothal of girls during childhood in Ancient Assyria and Anatolia', in Kanissu- war. A tribute to Hans G. Giterbock (1986) 1-8; esp. 4 f. For minor corrections see Belleten 200 (1987) 427. 153 BIN 6 104 with Balkan, 7, and K. R. Veenhof, Schrijvend Verleden (1983) 92f. 154 C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau (1986) 244 f. 155 CT 45 86 with K. R. Veenhof, 'The dissolution of an Old Babylonian marriage according to CT 45, 86', RA 70 (1976) 153-164, and C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 286 f. 90 - Marriage to restore her to the situation she was in before the unhappy cohabitation, which must have meant he suffered financial loss. It seems he had already paid the bride-price when the girl came to live with his family. This decision fits in with § 159 in the laws of Hammurabi: If a man who has the gift (biblu) brought to the house of his father-in-law, and who gives the bride-price, should have his attention diverted to another woman and declare to his father-in-law, 'I will not marry your daughter', the father of the daughter shall take full legal possession of whatever had been brought to him. In an Old Babylonian deposition before witnesses the one party states, You have not given me (the house) as the bride-price. Then the other retorts, I shall not marry your daughter. Tie her up and throw her in the river. To treat a woman like this is the punishment for adultery. Were the negotiations about a coming marriage broken off because adultery was suspected?'56 Finally, a betrothal could be ended by what R. Westbrook calls 'frustration', circumstances beyond one's control.157 In §17 of the Laws of Esnunna, according to the standard translation by M. Roth, the possibility of the prospective wife or the prospective husband dying before preparations for the marriage were com- pleted is envisaged, and in such circumstances any silver received would revert to the surviving widow or widower: Should a member of the awilu-class bring the bride-price to the house of his father-in-law, and if either should go to his or her fate, the silver shall revert to the original owner. Roth translates the following clause (§18) as being concerned with the death of one partner of a couple who are already married: If he marries her and she enters his house and then either the groom or the bride goes to his or her fate, he shall not take out all that he had brought (wabalu), but only its excess shall he take. 156 D. I. Owen, R. Westbrook, ZA 82 (1992) 202-207, with D. Charpin in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 92 f. no.48. 157 OBML, 47. The betrothal - 91 Westbrook delved deeper into these laws, and in a subsequent article developed an alternative view.158 He thinks that the two people referred to in §17 are the bridegroom and the father of the bride, and it is one of them who had died. They are after all the only ones named. Common law determined that it was possible for the girl to marry the brother of the dead man, by levirate marriage. Westbrook establishes that these two provisions belong to the context of commercial laws and that they are based on financial concerns. The laws preceding §17 stipulate that the agreements are null and void and that must mean here that the convey- ance of money or goods has become invalid. But §18 remains difficult. I suspect that the unexpected word 'bride' means there that the woman who married young as yet had no children. Only if she had a child would everything be paid and the marriage would be permanent. The apodosis 'he shall not take out ...' can mean two different things. (1.) If 'he' refers to the father of the bride, he will not get back the dowry (supposedly biblu, 'bridal gift', a noun related to the verb wabdlu). If this had only been partly paid he could keep the remainder. (2.) If 'he' refers to the father of the bridegroom, only a part of the bride-price could have been paid and in that case he could keep the remainder.159 A few contracts speak about a situation where circumstances are beyond the control of either party. One text concerns the relatively simple case when the betrothed man dies. It begins by listing the quantity of household goods (numdtu) belonging to Belessunu that her father Ibni-Amurrum had 'brought inside the house of Ili-usati, the beer-brewer for Ibni-Adad, his son, and given to her'. This was the dowry. But after Ibni-Adad died the goods were returned: He sent his clay tablet to Ili-usati concerning the transporting of the household goods and in agreement with his clay tablet he gave (the household goods) into the keeping of S., the son of Ibni-Amurrum. The father of the bride probably acted in a businesslike way to try to retain the dowry safely. He gave it to his son, a brother of the bride. Perhaps the girl was young and her brother was charged with looking after it.16O Problems of adultery and rape during the period of betrothal will be covered in chapters 10 and 11. 158 'A death in the family: Codex Eshnunna 17-18', Israel Law Review 29 (1995) 32-42. Reprinted in R. Westbrook, Writings II(2009) 127-137. 159 Full discussion by M. Stol in Studies A. Skaist (2012) 134. 160 S. Dalley, Edinburgh no.15; cf. HG 6 1736 and Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 67 f.; Westbrook, OBML, 47b, 92a. A second text is not clear, see Riftin 48, with Westbrook, OBML, 42, 47b; see now West- brook, Israel Law Review 29 (1995) 34 f. 92 - Marriage 2.4.7 Cohabitation In the Laws of Esnunna we find If a man marries the daughter of another man without the consent of her father and mother, and moreover does not conclude the nuptial feast (kirru) and the contract for(?) her father and mother, should she reside in his house for even one full year, she is not a wife' (§27, after M. Roth). Referring to this outcome, even after a year of living together, H. Petschow estab- lished that a marriage without the permission of the parents (let us assume the couple were consumed with love) was certainly possible, even if the woman did not have the legal status of 'wife'. He is surprised that we hear nothing about any parental power over the girl.'6' Her age or social status could play a role (possibly she was immoral), but the laws are silent on this. Marrying 'without asking father and mother' was not usual, though widows and divorced women were independ- ent (sui iuris) and as such would not have to rely on parental consent. The Assyr- ian laws state that living with a widow for two years grants her the status of full wife: If a man has married (ahazu) a widow, without any contract having been drawn up with regard to her, she lives in his house for two years, then she is a wife (assatu); she may no longer go away (asu) (§34). An Old Babylonian legal textbook draws an almost idyllic picture of a family, where the wife, a 'holy woman' (a sort of prostitute), is taken in from the street by a divorced man 'out of love'.162 From the Neo-Babylonian period we know of six wedding ceremonies attended by children who already belonged to the couple. One states that The seven-year-old daughter of (the woman) R. who has not yet had (a contract) sealed concerning her, [whom she] bore to S., is the daughter of S.163 In another case three children were listed as being already born and then the bridegroom accepted his paternity.164 161 H. P.H. Petschow, 'AuBereheliche Lebensgemeinschaften?', NABU 1990/118. 162 MSL 1(1937) 99-101, Ai VII iii 7-21. Cf. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 87; Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 244. 163 Roth, Marriage agreements, 17 f.; quote from no. 30. 164 Roth, 117 no.38. The wedding - 93 2.5 The wedding Often wedding customs, even in different cultures, have remarkably similar fea- tures. In 1944 a comparative study was set up to investigate the folklore surround- ing the wedding in the Mediterranean region. The Aryan author was inclined to trace back customs from the Near East to ancient Greece.165 The material he assembled in that study contained usages we know or suspect to have been observed also by the Babylonians. One such, the bathing of the bride, appears to be widely known.166 Another intriguing feature is the 'crown', which was set on the bride's head by the Greeks, and which was used later in the Syrian church (kelid) at betrothals, and much later on by Muslims also.167 With Muslims the wedding celebrations last seven days, which was also the case in the Old Testament.168 That study further dealt comprehensively with the marriage procession, veiling, showering with small items, virginity, and singing songs. An echo of these songs can perhaps be found in couplets associated with the Sumerian Sacred Marriage. We do not know much about weddings in ancient Mesopotamia, but there are a few relevant passages in literary texts. Th. Jacobsen has reconstructed the events of an ordinary wedding on the basis of a text describing the sacred mar- riage ritual.169 The bridegroom would appear with his wedding gifts, food and delicacies, at the door of the house of the bride's parents and ask to be admitted. Sumerian songs tell how the man makes a necklace, into which he sets precious stones and pearls 'like seeds', in preparation for the sacred marriage. That was thought to be a metaphor for intercourse, particularly when the verb 'to plough' occcurred, but in fact 'to plough' here indicates the threading of the beads,470 so that idea must be rejected. The bride, who had already bathed, dressed and adorned herself, would open the door to him. Her opening the door was the sym- bolic action which made the marriage valid, according to Jacobsen. After that, the bride and groom would each be separately escorted to the bride's room, where 165 W. Heffening, 'Zur Geschichte der Hochzeitsgebrauche im Islam. Ein Beitrag zur Volkskunde der islamischen Lander', in: R. Hartmann, H. Scheel, Beitruge zur Arabistik, Semitistik und Islam- wissenschaft (1944) 386-422. 166 Heffening, 392-394. The apostle Paul may allude to this bathing when saying, 'Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it, to consecrate and cleanse it by water (tii loutrii to hddatos) and word' (Ephesians 5:26-27). 167 Heffening, 395-398. 168 Heffening, 413-416. 169 In H. Goedicke, J. J. M. Roberts, Unity and Diversity (1975) 65, based on SLTNi 35 = Th. Jacob- sen, The harps that once, 19-23 ('Dumuzi's Wedding'). 170 Y. Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 202 f., on 195 DI I:25-28. 94 - Marriage intercourse would take place. On the following morning the bridal couple would preside at a rich banquet. More details about this banquet will be given in Chapter 3 where wedding gifts are discussed. Here it is appropriate to mention a Sumerian duet between Inanna and Dumuzi which was sung at these occasions. He and a choir of 'best men' sing about the food and drink which they have brought: beer, barley, bread and meat. Inanna answers briefly in 'women's language'. Possibly this duet has been taken from life and the bride and groom identify themselves with Inanna and Dumuzi.1" In Mari the idea of a wedding was expressed by hadasu (hudusu) and in a later period hasadu was used in connection with the Sacred Marriage. It appears to be a West Semitic word, from the root h-d-s, which has the basic meaning 'to be new'. The bride may possibly have been called 'the new one'. The expression 'men of the hadasu (hudusu)' were members of the wedding procession. It is strik- ing that on this occasion clothes were shared out, a practice later sustained in the Middle Babylonian period.1' This is reminiscent of Samson, who arranged a cel- ebration meal for his fiancee in Timna, in which thirty companions participated. He gave them a riddle, and if they found the answer he would give them 'thirty lengths of linen and thirty changes of clothing' (Judges 14:10-14). It seems that a special table was used on these occasions, the passr sakki. In Old Babylonian Nippur the oldest son always inherited the table.' In the Old Babylonian version of the Gilgamesh epic a man says, They have invited me to the 'house of marriage'. It is man's destiny to choose a bride. On the table of the sakku I will pile up the merry food of the 'house of the father-in-law.'174 A song says, We often practised bridehood (kallhti) in the upstairs room, in the bedroom (...); we prac- tised loving together (tartami) in the yard and in the barn.175 171 S. Mirelman, W. Sallaberger, ZA 100 (2010) 177-196. 172 J.-M. Durand, LAPO 18 (2000) 180. For clothes see ARM 23 375; 24 65; J. Aro, Mittelbabylo- nische Kleidertexte (1970) 13 ff. no. 3 (hadasutu, 100); see further C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 230-234; J. A. Brinkman, Post-Kassite Babylonia (1968) 122; H. Freydank, OLZ 69 (1974) 557; B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 105 (top), for a princess. 173 E. Prang, ZA 66 (1976) 16; Landsberger, Symbolae David II, 83 n. 1. The sakku (Sum. za-gd-la) was the place of honour, according to W. Sallaberger, Der kultische Kalender Ur III-Zeit I(1993) 220 n. 1051. 174 A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic I(2003) 178 f., OB 11149-153. 175 W. G. Lambert, MIO 12 (1966) 54:12-15. The wedding - 95 The mention of the upstairs room seems to focus on wedding behaviour, and the other places on a secret t&te-a-t&te. A few generations ago the haystack was the obvious place for such high jinks. Other literary texts show how long a wedding lasted. In the Atram-hasis myth a tale is told about how marriage was first instituted and how childbirth birth fol- lowed later. A bed was erected, and then the 'wife and her husband make love (lit. 'choose each other')'. According to the myth, this introduces 'nine days of pleas- ure', apparently the same as the duration of the wedding celebrations. At that time Istar, the goddess of love, was called IshJara.176 During the Assyrian sacred marriage of the god Nabu and the goddess Tasmetu, the statues of the two gods stayed in a bedroom for six days, from day 5 to day 10. Similarly for the Babylo- nian marriage of Nabu and Nanaya, they stayed from day 11 to day 17 in the first month.77 According to the Gilgamesh epic, Enkidu and the wench were 'six days, seven nights' together (I:194). Nergal and Ereskigal were together for the same length of time.178 This fits in with the number of days for a marriage celebration traditionally taken in the Middle East.179 What is more, it is comparable to the traditional seven-day period of mourning.180 There are indications that in Palestine and Morocco, people liked to celebrate weddings at certain quiet times of the year. S. Greengus pointed this out and made the connection with the sacred marriage of the goddess Baba in Lagas. Most of the documents on which the so-called 'marriage gifts' were recorded were dated from the eighth month, the month of the autumnal New Year, and in the spring.181 But designating these as the normal times for weddings seems rather speculative. 176 Atram-hasis I 299-304 with W. von Soden, ZA 68 (1978) 68 f. For the bed erected for Ishara see Gilg. P v 22f. (= OB 11196; A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic I [2003] p. 178), cf. Gilg. II ii 44 (= II p.109 in ed. George). 177 For the Assyrian marriage see ABL 366:13-15 with TUAT NF 3 (2006) 149 no. 4.16; E. Matsu- shima, ASJ 9 (1987) 138 and 141 (bottom). For Babylonia see C. Waerzeggers, The Ezida temple of Borsippa (2010) 129 f. B. Meissner used only sources like these in his reconstruction of wedding practices; BuA I1(1924) 403. 178 B. R. Foster, Before the Muses I(1993) 411 (11.), 423 (iv 8-13, vi 34-41). 179 J. Morgenstern, Rites of birth, marriage, death and kindred occasions among the Semites (1966) 107-111. Cf. his notes 180, 220. 180 For example, the lyre was played during seven days and nights of mourning ('The Curse of Agade', 199 f.); and the mourning after the death of King Sulgi lasted seven days; see P. Stein- keller, Studies P. Machinist (2013) 461; also more in D. Katz, Studies T. Abusch (2010) 116. In Southern Iraq also there are seven days for a wedding and seven days for mourning; W. Thesiger, The Marsh Arabs (1964) 185 (chapter 20). See also W. W. Hallo, Studies H. Tadmor (1991) 158 f., MAARAV 7 (1991) 180 f. 181 S. Greengus, HUCA 61(1990) 73 f. 96 - Marriage 2.5.1 The best men We refer to the friends of the bridal couple as the 'best men' (or in German Braut- fahrer and in French paranymphe). In Sumerian they were the kuli, 'friends', friends of each other and friends of the bridegroom. The bride had her own attend- ants, the nimgir.si (in Emesal libirsi), 'those who blow the horn', often called 'her- alds'.182 The corresponding Akkadian term is susapinnu, which was taken over into Aramaic as s5 bin.183 In ethnographic literature many other 'best men' such as these can be found. They are included in reports of tribal marriages in Syria and Morocco as recorded by Wetzstein and Westermarck. This evidence helps us to fill in the scant details over the bride's attendants in cuneiform texts. Rabbinic sources also help, all of which were of use to M. Malul.184 Being a best man seems to have been considered an honourable duty, for which one could actually be paid. This is referred to in a short passage from a text from Ugarit as the 'silver for the best man' (kasap susapinniti). Often the best man was armed, for he was supposed to protect the bride against both natural and supernatural enemies.185 The indigenous Babylonian dictionaries likewise suggest that he carried a sword on his lap.186 There is a cylinder seal from ca. 2400 BC with the image of a woman who is sitting with her legs spread on top of a supine man (Figure 11). There is no need for us to explain here what she was doing. A hero with a raised dagger stands beside them holding on to the woman's arm. Scholars have not known what to make of this scene, but now we can understand it perfectly.187 There are widespread reports from people in the Middle East that on the first wedding night they believed a demon would threaten the married couple. In the apocry- phal book Tobit that devil was identified as Asmodaeus (Tobit 3:8).188 In the Song of Songs we read that 'sixty of Israel's picked warriors' stood round Solomon's bed, 182 H. Behrens, Die Ninegalla-Hymne (1998) 130. 183 S. Greengus, JCS 20 (1966) 68a; S. Kaufman, AS 19 (1974) 94. For the terminology in Arabic (zdff), see C. Wilcke, WdO 4 (1968) 160. 184 M. Malul, 'Susapinnu. The Mesopotamian paranymph and his role', JESHO 32 (1989) 241- 278; see also the remarks of L. Sassmannshausen in his article on the herald, Baghd. Mitt. 25 (1995) 181 f. 185 Malul, 261 f. 186 Malul, 257, 271. 187 U. Winter, Frau und Gdttin (1983) 348, with Abb. 345, at the end of the book; P. Toscanne, RA 7 (1909) 61 ('a punishment for adultery'); RlA IV/4-5 (1975) 262 no. 24; XII/5-6 (2010) 423 fig. 7. For the inscription see W. G. Lambert, RlA VII/1-2 (1987) 154b. 188 For the story, see K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 71. The wedding - 97 Fig. 11: A woman is seated on a man, and a hero with sword drawn protects them both. He may represent the best man. 2400 BC. Old Akkadian cylinder seal. Musde du Louvre, Paris. All of them skilled swordsmen, all expert in handling arms, each with his sword ready at his side against the terrors of the night (Song of Songs 3:7-8).189 The best man was responsible for the chastity of the bride, and Malul sees him as her guardian. It may also have been the duty of the best man to see that intercourse had taken place. Sometimes he himself was even present to witness it. A blood-stained garment, the proof of deflowering the virgin, would have to be displayed,190 and it may have been his duty to display it.191 In Deuteronomy 22:17 that garment proving a new bride's virginity was called a simlah in the Hebrew Bible, but in Aramaic, in the Targum, it was a iusippa.192 In Akkadian was a cloth named susippu from which the Aramaic word was derived.193 However, we have no evidence from Babylonia that this entire scene ever took place.194 189 S. Krauss, 'Der richtige Sinn von "Schrecken in der Nacht", HL III, 8', in: Occident and Orient. (Moses) Gaster Anniversary Volume (1936) 323-330, esp. 325, 327. On the dangers of the first night see Otto B6cher, Ddmonenfurcht und Dlimonenabwehr (1970) 128-130. 190 For the blood-stained garment see also C. Locher, 189 f. 191 Malul, 264-266. 192 Malul, 277. 193 A. van Selms, hesitatingly; Malul, 275 f.; contrast J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 94 n. 30 (the word is Sumerian). 194 In the Jewish tradition the problems in establishing virginity were well-known. They occur in a commentary from the Dead Sea scrolls; see J. H. Tigay, 'Examination of the accused bride in 4Q159: forensic medicine at Qumran', JANES 22 (1993) 129-134. For Morocco, see S. Naamane-Guessous, Au-dela de toute pudeur (1988), chapter 3. 98 - Marriage A huge amount of trust was placed in the best men, especially if they did spend the first night in the same bedroom as the bride.195 That was the time for crazy things to happen. Literary texts from Sumer show that a best man could go astray.196 The god Marduk punished someone for 'secretly going to the bride of his best man (ibru, lit. 'his friend')'.197 The laws of Lipit-Istar anticipate the situation where the father-in-law chases away the bridegroom and gives his daughter to the best man, a procedure which of course was not allowed. There could be no wedding at all and the banished bridegroom would have double the bride-price paid back to him (§29).198 We find the same judgement prescribed in the later laws of Hammurabi (§161). There another note was added to the effect that the best man had maligned the bridegroom and had himself been the agent in driving him away. He would not be allowed to marry the girl, for what he had done was morally offensive. He was after all not faithful to his friend the bridegroom. C. Wilcke sees this as the establishing of a moral principle, that of 'loyalty'. The same moral rule can be seen in other laws. A young married man (gurus) who has relations with a 'prostitute of the street' may perhaps divorce his wife, but may certainly not marry that prostitute (Lipit-Istar §30).199 Hammurabi also assumes that a man will be faithful in marriage (§142). He violates this trust by 'going out' and by deeply humiliating his wife. Lawyers find these instructions regard- ing 'loyalty' interesting, because this principle evidently also applied to the man. In a more recent study Wilcke suggests that we should see the best men as suitors, the lovers who compete for the hand of the girl. According to the myth about the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzi each of them brings along gifts fitting to his trade. The shepherd Dumuzi with his splendid dairy products was then chosen.200 But this explanation conflicts with everything we know: they all bring along gifts and those of the bridegroom are of course the ones most acceptable. 195 C. Wilcke, ZA 59 (1969) 78 (top); S. Greengus, JCS 20 (1966) 68b, 70b, with n. 102a. 196 Malul, 256, 265. 197 Surpu IV 6; also copied in a later litany, see E. Reiner, JNES 15 (1956) 136:84. 198 C. Wilcke, ZA 59 (1969) 74 f., WdO 4 (1968) 153. 199 Wilcke, 161f. 200 Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 275-279. Cf. the translation by Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 20 f., 'Dumuzi's Wedding'; Sefati, Lovesongs, 286 ff. The wedding - 99 2.5.2 Expenses In a few texts we can read of the expenses necessarily incurred in arranging a marriage. The one most discussed is an Old Babylonian list from Ur, in which the father of the bride has recorded the costs he incurred.20' The family of the bridegroom lived in Larsa, a different city, and they travelled across for the occa- sion.202 His father and mother were also present. This summary of expenses may have been used later to work out a financial settlement between the two families. Greengus has classifed the first group of expenses under seven phases incurred at the 'prenuptial' stage of negotiations. I. Gold, a ring and clothing, 'a present from (or 'for') Aplum'. One generally assumes that this was a present from the father-in-law for Aplum who was the bridegroom. The Ebla texts speak of a 'present' (nig.ba) that was the counterpart of the marriage gifts of the bridegroom. In our text such a 'reciprocal' gift would be suitable.203 There is a finger ring (unqu) on the list, which elsewhere would have been put on the finger of a woman who had married recently. One possibility is that the father-in-law paid for this ring and that Aplum could slide it onto the finger of his bride. One can imagine that a part of the bride-price given by the father of Aplum could be given directly in this way as a 'present' to the bride. II. At the ... of a pin (?): best oil for the gods. It is unlikely that the 'pin' here was for securing the girl's chastity, although the pin did play such a role elsewhere. The writer is interested in the price of the oil. III. 'On the day that they brought the gift (biblu) here, they anointed themselves with a litre of best oil.' The expenses for the food and the oil follow, and there is talk of a purification (?)204 of a table. 201 UET 5 636 with S. Greengus, 'Old Babylonian marriage ceremonies and rites', JCS 20 (1966) 55-72; B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 77; C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 269-275; D. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 66-69. The name of the father of the bride was KQ-Ningal, according to D. Charpin. 202 A passage in an Old Assyrian letter also suggests that the wedding took place in the house of the bride's father; K. R. Veenhof in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 346 f. 203 S. Greengus, HUCA 61(1990) 62-65. 204 According to D. Charpin, it is the purification (takpirtu, line 17) of the table. The offering (?) table passur sakkli according to K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 67. 100 - Marriage This points to a communal meal that the father had to pay for. IV. 'When Sat-Ilabrat and Ea-lamassi [two women] came here:' a sheep, beer and best oil. V. 'On the day that PN, his father, came here to Ur:' food was brought to him. VI. 'His mother came to Ur:' a sheep, beer and flour. VII. 'At the gate of (god) Enki his mother ...(?), and they brought her bread, beer and a (certain kind of) sheep.' What the mother did in this phase is not well preserved, but the verb may have been pasdru, meaning 'to redeem' something. This is reminiscent of an Arabic sacrifice, the .eliyye, performed to 'redeem' the bride. The bridegroom slaughters a ewe for the purpose and the spell said over it 'redeems' the bride. J. Morgenstern assumes that this removes the 'taboo' so that intercourse can take place safely.205 If, as Greengus says, all the expenses under I - VII were incurred in the 'pre- nuptial' stage they all occurred within a short space of time. He sees four main stages.20 I-II concern presents sent by the father of the bride and unspecified offer- ings; III concerns the arrival of the bride-price from the bridegroom's side, with a few presents for third parties; IV-VI concern the arrival of the family of the groom in Ur; VII concerns the mother of the groom performing a ritual. The following phases VIII -XI concern the 'nuptial' stage, the wedding, and phase XII marks the beginning of the 'connubial' stage. VIII. 'When they bathed: beer for the reception (kirru).' One assumes that this refers to the bathing of the bride during the wedding, but this is not certain. Furthermore one is inclined to think of a bath just before inter- course, but only after phase X is it reported that the man has entered the house of his father-in-law. IX. 'When they went back and forwards:' beer and a certain sheep. X. 'On the day he entered my house: a sheep worth two shekels (of silver) was slaughtered, sixty litres of flour was baked, two vats of beer were drawn off.' 205 J. Morgenstern, Rites of birth, marriage, death and kindred occasions among the Semites (1966) 112-115. 206 Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 129 f., 138 (see note 17). The wedding - 101 This points to a real celebration, the wedding. XI. 'For four months he kept coming to my house and every day ten litres of bread, twenty litres of beer, a vat of beer was his daily food.' After this, the totals over the four months are calculated. This daily food was much more than was needed by one person. We assume that the bridegroom was accompanied by his friends, the best men. It is a problem to know the purpose of a period of four months. It could well have been a period of waiting for a pregnancy.207 But this raises the question of whether these four months came before or after the wedding. XII. 'When he took her with him (verb tarn):' oils for the use of the woman, a sheep, flour and beer. This refers to the departure of the married couple to Larsa. The expression 'taking her with him' probably is the fixed phrase for taking the bride home, in domum deductio. XIII. 'PN came here from Ur and brought him (beer, bread, oil).' XIV. 'For two garments of the second...' Another rather mysterious list of expenses comes from Old Babylonian Sippar. There the expenditure noted was assumed to be for the entry of a girl into a nun- nery.208 But it has rather more to do with a wedding, mainly because there is mention of a bride-price. It begins, On the day that I placed the ring (-qd-am) of Samas on her hand: twenty litres of beer from the brewery. This putting on of the ring is not really recognisable from elsewhere. The fol- lowing lines mention a piece of meat on 'the twentieth day, when pouring out the kirru', a word translated earlier as 'reception'. The 'twentieth' was the day of the god samas, one on which travelling was not allowed.209 Further on, our list speaks of 'the day when she is taken away (tarn)', which must have been after 207 K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 73, cf. 66. Some scholars saw a parallel in the 'Besuchsehe' of Arab Bedouins. 208 CT 4 18b with R. Harris, Studies A. L. Oppenheim (1967) 114-116; C. Wilcke, 'Familiengrun- dung', 232 n. 28; M. Stol, JESHO 38 (1995) 139 n. 109. 209 M. Birot, ARMT 14 (1974) 215. 102 - Marriage the twentieth. The bride was taken away by the man, and in connection with this we read about one and two-thirds shekels of silver 'from her bride-price'. This amount is exactly one-third of five shekels, which was half the standard amount. It is possible that at this time a new instalment of the bride-price was paid. A third text concerned with expenses lists barley, oil, beer and bread and ends with, 'various receipts which I gave regularly because of the girl; she came in without clothing'. That girl must have been very poor.214 Lists of expenses from other periods also involved marriages. An Old Assyrian document states that 'our sister shaved her head for the goddess Istar', and lists items for those invited for the ceremony: a belt and shoes; foodstuff; animals; clothing; drinking straws and wine; and much more, from woollen fleeces to sacks of chaff.21' One difficult text is from Middle Babylonian Nippur concerning cloth- ing exchanged between families in Babylon and Nippur.2 Three Assyrian texts mention quantities of silver, tools, clothing and food, and calculate everything in silver. The families lived in different cities.13 2.5.3 Intercourse The couple had sexual intercourse during their wedding days. The Semitic expres- sion 'to lie with' is rather direct. In Nuzi part of the bride-price was paid out at 'the lying'.214 The law-books and some legal texts use euphemisms, such as 'to lie in the bosom', 'to know' and 'to learn'.215 A prohibition on extra-marital relations mentions 'that of man and woman', 'kissing the lips' and 'lying in the bosom' to describe the sex act.216 'Touching (both) cheek(s)' seems to be another circum- locution, or 'to take off the loin-cloth'. 'Touching' is mentioned in the context of 'bringing home' the 'wife', but otherwise it is a sin, which causes illness.217 Possi- bly it originally applied to the situation where the bridegroom took off the bride's 210 PBS 8/2 175. 211 J. G. Dercksen, AOF 35 (2008) 96-98. 212 Published by J. Aro; see note 172. 213 J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 99-103. The first text qualifies the goods as zu-bu-la-nu-u. 214 J. Fincke, SCCNH 7 (1995) 13-17. 215 Cf. S. M. Paul, 'The shared legacy of sexual metaphors and euphemisms in Mesopotamian and Biblical literature', CRRAI 47/II (2002) 489-498; F. A. M. Wiggermann, RlA XII/5-6 (2010) 411 § 1.2. 216 M. Anbar, RA 69 (1975) 120 f. 217 Touching (lapdtu) the cheek: M. Stol, Atudes Paul Garelli (1991) 339 (on VAS 18 77); JEOL 32 (1990-92) 45 (n. 16) (TAG TE = lipit leti). Taking off the loin-cloth (tug dr-ra si.g): C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 502 f. The wedding - 103 veil and touched her cheek. Biblical Hebrew uses the verbs 'to know', 'to come to' and 'to uncover one's shame' (gilld 'erwd). Hymns and songs about Sacred Marriage make clear that intercourse was central to the marriage. Dumuzi is said always to be on his way to the exquisitely extolled 'loins' of Inanna, and there is much about the bed which was made ready for them (see Chapter 30). Nothing could be clearer said than that the purpose of this union between the goddess and the king was to foster fertility and welfare in the nation.218 Ur III texts sometimes mention 'the placing of the bed' (nd.gub.ba) for the 'bride' of the city governor, during which sheep were sacrificed. An Old Babylo- nian text speaks of gifts 'when they lay in their bed'. C. Wilcke highlights these passages and sees in them 'a comparative openness surrounding the act of mar- riage'.219 We know extremely little about the first time the couple came together, and we have to grope in the dark.220 Intercourse took place in or at the house of the parents of the bride. The room used for this may have been called the 'marriage bedroom' (bit emzti).221 In Hebrew a corresponding separate room (or tent) was called a huppd. This is also known to the Arabs, and in the Middle East the married couple stayed in this room for seven days.222 J.-M. Durand has tentatively sug- gested that when the Middle Assyrian laws mention huruppdtu they refer to this 'tent'; against this suggestion is the fact that this refers to a meal at the betrothal, and 'dinner ware' would be a better translation.223 The Gilgamesh epic allows us a glimpse into the bedroom. Speaking about the right of the first night of the hero we read, For the king of Uruk, the metropolis, for the lover, the 'net' of people is opened (...). He impregnates the intended wife.224 218 According to Th. Jacobsen, the older songs petition for a blessing for one product (the date palm) and the later songs refer to all products of the land; The treasures of darkness (1976) 32-47; the date palm occurs in the Uruk text. 219 D. R. Frayne, BiOr 42 (1985) 19 f.; Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 291f. A house (probably meaning a room) is arranged for the bride of the governor of Hamazi; AUCT III 84; cf. Catalogo Torino I no. 261. 220 Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 281. 221 S. Greengus, JAOS 89 (1969) 524 n. 92 (at the place of the bride); J. J. Finkelstein, RA 61(1967) 131-134 (the room). 222 Hortense Reintjes, Die soziale Stellung der Frau bei den nordarabischen Beduinen unter besonderer Bericksichtigung ihrer Ehe- und Familienverhaltnisse (1975) 40-42. 223 AEM 1/1 (1988)115 note 68; NABU 1995/49 (urpatu). 224 Gilg. P iv 14-24; see now A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic (2003) 178 f., OB II 149-159. 104 - Marriage What is meant here by the opening of the 'net' (pugu)? It could refer to a tent, used for intercourse, such as the modern Marsh Arabs use in Southern Iraq. This would accord with the 'marriage bedroom' used by Syrians, which was 'woven'.225 Another explanation sees it as referring to someone opening the 'thigh' (puqu), which has inspired some bewildering translations. Some have also thought it refers to the veil. One educated guess explained that the 'curtain' is a lightly veiled reference to the hymen.226 We can twist and turn as much as we want but these problems remain the secrets of the bedchamber. Some importance was attached to the technique of the deflowering, as we see from a declaration under oath, originally written in Sumerian but copied in the Old Babylonian period. The end of the text is broken.227 Kania, the son of Yd, has taken Taturam-Istar, the daughter of Ilam-minam-epus, to be his wife. He has sworn the oath by the king. He has opened the pin of her 'not-being-known'. If ever Kania says to his wife Taturam-Istar 'You are not my wife', he must pay ten shekels of silver. And if Taturam-Istar ... The opening (or releasing) of the pin of her 'not-being-known' (nu.mu.un.zu.na) refers to taking her virginity and fits with the literary adjuration referring to 'a young woman, whose pin (dalla, silla) no young man has opened'. In the preced- ing passages her virginity is indicated by other phrases.228 This line can be com- pared with the loosening (?) of the parthenie zone in Homer (Odyssey XI 245). An indirect instance is found in the Old Babylonian period concerning women in a nunnery. If a 'nun' passed on property to an heir, sometimes the phrase 'the pin (sillu) is placed in the wall' is used, meaning that the property is available and unmortgaged.229 More needs to be said about the man's declaration under oath that he had opened the girl's 'pin'. Why would a man make this declaration in an otherwise normal contract? A legal explanation of the text was given by C. Locher. We expect the man to declare that his new wife is a virgin. But this oath sworn by 225 G. Widengren, Religionsphdnomenologie (1969) 236, 238 (qetar genind). 226 D. 0. Edzard, OLZ 62 (1967) 591 (a tent); D. A. Foxvog, Studies A. W. Sjoberg (1989) 171a (the thigh): 'The loin(s) of the people are opened to (both) the lovers. He will lay with the fated wife - he first, the husband after'; A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic I1(2003) 188 (the veil); H. L. J. Vanstiphout, Het epos van Gilgames (2001) 236 n. 155 (the hymen). 227 TIM 4 48 with C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau (1986) 195-202. Cf. F. A. M. Wiggermann on 'dress pins', RlA XII/5-6 (2010) 421 §6.4. 228 S. Lackenbacher, RA 65 (1971) 136, lines 22-24; M. J. Geller, AfO 35 (1988) 14:33; see S. Green- gus, Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 138 n. 50. 229 M. Malul, 'On nails and pins in Old Babylonian legal praxis', ASJ 13 (1991) 237-248. The wedding - 105 the king is a promissory oath, not an assertory oath confirming a past event. In marriage contracts from the Ur III period the oath by the king was normal. One assumes that the man promises not to renounce his wife, and that if he does, he will pay her ten shekels. The sentence about virginity is, coming after this, some- thing new and seeks to prevent anyone ever saying that the girl was not a virgin. The man himself put his seal on the clay tablet, which functioned as a sort of signature. It is possible that the man was compelled to make this declaration to protect the woman against any further accusations from his side on the basis of which he could easily be rid of her. Locher compares Deuteronomy 22:13-19 with this, which forms the theme of his book. The other clauses in the text are stand- ard and simply dot the i-s and cross the t-s in favour of the woman. It all leads to the conclusion that this is no ordinary marriage contract, but a declaration made later about the girl's virginity. Earlier on we said that virginity was important. It plays a major role on the first marriage night, at the moment of truth. A Sumerian lawsuit gave a man the right to divorce after his wife had explained that a stranger had slept with her without anyone knowing of it.230 An alternating duet between Inanna ('my sister) and her lover Dumuzi ('my brother') begins and ends with exuberant praise for the physical excellence of each partner. This song will certainly have played a role in the celebration of the Sacred Marriage. In the middle of the song Inanna insists, Brother, swear to me that you have never laid a hand on a strange woman. In answering he had to place his right hand on her pudenda and his left on her head.23' The practice of making an oath at the same time as touching the pudenda also occurs in the Bible. The patriarchs Abraham and Jacob had a predilection for this, The servant put his hand under his master Abraham's thigh and swore that oath (Genesis 24:9; cf. 47:29). Virginity was a matter of importance also in the Middle Assyrian period. A man adopted a girl, and promised not to treat her badly, not to dishonour (?) her, and 230 ITT 3/2 5286 with Locher, 203-208. 231 Y. Sefati, 'An oath of chastity in a Sumerian love song (SRT31)', Studies P. Artzi (1990) 45-63; 'The womens's oath', Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 128-131. Th. Jacobsen takes this text to be a 'tavern sketch'; for V. Haas it is 'ein erotisches Schenkenspiel'. Both note the stress on praise for the beer of Inanna. 106 - Marriage later to give her to a husband. In exchange for this he would be able to receive the bride-price. It seems as if everything was set up to marry off the girl as a virgin.31 A difficult Old Babylonian text points out that even her future husband would have to stay away from her. A certain man, E., had a girl as a pledge for a debt of her mother, and swore in the temple 'not to approach and not to take (ahazu) her'. The mother then swore by King Rim-Sin, I shall 'keep' my daughter for E. for five, ten years, and give her to him in marriage.133 2.5.4 Completion There comes a time when all the arrangements have all been completed and the marriage can be considered to be a fact. But to determine when this has happened various events need to be considered.234 1. The most obvious climax to the preparations will be the first act of sexual inter- course to mark the consummation of the marriage. Most lawyers agree with this criterion. From a legal point of view a husband takes over the authority over his wife from her father. This is the idea expressed by ahazu, lit. 'to take', the most frequently used word for 'to marry' in Akkadian. But, as we have just seen, that verb is also used with the harsher sense of 'to seize'. In a broken betrothal it is used in a more abstract sense, 'I shall not take her', which clearly means 'I shall not marry her'. Sexual intercourse, as we have shown above, was an important element to consider. The Laws of Hammurabi show that sexual intercourse could take place when the girl was still living in the house of her father-in-law, and he 'knew her' before the bridegroom did (§155-156). Such a circumstance raised a problem. Sociologists recognise that through the act of intercourse a woman gains a new status. It has a similar sacramental function in the Sacred Marriage, and also in the tradition of a king taking over his opponent's harem and occu- pying it himself.235 A Hittite vase dating from 1600 BC from Inandik has pictures of what must surely be a wedding (Figure 12). It is certainly a festive occasion depicted in four registers and includes much music-making. Beginning at the 232 KAJ 2 with Locher, 224-231. In VAS 9192-193 (Locher, 209-215) the meaning of not 'touching' a girl given to a husband is not clear. 233 YOS 8 51 with Locher, 216-223; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 266 f. 234 Westbrook, OBML, 48-53, 'II. Formation'; Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I (2003) 44-46. 235 M. Malul, Knowledge, control and sex (2002) 301-305. The wedding - 107 * -'*-~ 4. y r i .l . _____'yr r L _ I }t - '11 { i r. is is - I Y - Fig. 12: Images on a vase from the Hittite temple at Inandik. A wedding is depicted, beginning at the bottom with the preparations and ending at the top with its consummation. 1600 BC. Height 82 cm, diameter 43 cm. Museum ofAnatolian Civilisations, Ankara. bottom we see people setting out jugs and cooking pots, while musicians play on two lyres. In the next register a man whom we assume to be the king is the protagonist, and a bull is being sacrificed to the bull-god. The third register por- trays a temple with a bed coloured red and white on which apparently two figures are sitting. We think this is the king removing the veil from the queen. In the fourth register at the top we can see acrobats performing and instrumentalists playing the lyre, the cymbals and the lute. At the end a man stands close behind a woman who is leaning forward exposing her bare backside. Sexual intercourse in the dog position is a frequent motif in art and is almost certainly what we have here.236 We add that in the holy city of Mecca attention was also focused on dukhla, 'penetration'.237 2. It has also been suggested that the crucial moment for acknowledging a marital relationship was when the bride-to-be opened the door as her husband-to-be approached. Dumuzi is allowed in by Inanna in songs about the sacred marriage 236 M. Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik (2004) 56 f. with Tafel 3 no. 9. For a drawing by M. Kutkan see J. M. Sasson, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East I (1995) 559; P. Bienkowski, A. Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (2000) 203. 237 C. Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw. Schetsen uit het dagelijks leven.Vertaald en ingeleid door Jan Just Witkam (2007) 347, 363-367. 108 - Marriage (Th. Jacobsen).238 The Akkadian expression 'calling at the house of the father-in- law' reflects an expectant young man standing in front of a closed door waiting to be allowed to enter. Therefore the sentence, 'He called at the house of his father- in-law and he got a son and a daughter' would really mean that he got married and had children.239 But another interpretation of the expression would be that relations had deteriorated between the parties involved; the bride-price had been paid but the bridegroom demanded his right of recompense.24o 3. The act of bringing of the gift (biblu), and subsequently removing of the veil being worn by the young woman241 can also be seen as significant moments. 4. Then we have to consider the significance of the recitation of a ceremonial formula (verba solemnia), such as are attested in contracts for adoption and divorce, according to S. Greengus.242 In Assyrian law a man could declare 'She is my wife', but we have only indirect support for a declaration like 'You are my wife' or 'You are my husband' in a marriage ceremony.243 Roman law used the phrase ubi tu Gaius ego Gaia, 'Wherever you are Gaius, I am Gaia'. 5. P. Koschaker has argued that a marriage was solemnised when the woman was taken to the house of her husband. When she had entered the in domum deductio had occurred. He saw an analogy between the traditio puellae, 'handing over of the girl', and the transfer of goods that had been bought. Obviously his theory works for a marriage which was regarded as a sale, though no-one really believes the two transactions were the same. For a girl living in her father-in-law's house the in domum deductio had already taken place, but the marriage was still not completed, as we can see from the Laws of Hammurabi (§§ 155-156). 6. In Syria to the west and Assyria to the north the bride was veiled for the wedding. Perhaps in these regions the wearing or lifting of the veil marked the 238 Jacobsen, The treasures of darkness (1987) 35 f.; Unity and Diversity (1975) 65; S. Greengus, JAOS 89 (1969) 521 n. 78 (Sumerian 6.e gQ-d6). Cf. J. C. de Moor, UF 11(1979) 649 f., on the opening of the door by the groom, a subject Westbrook omits. 239 UET 6/2 402:8 f. with D. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 326. 240 Thus Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 273. For earlier discussions see R. Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (1988) 191-198; F. R. Kraus, RA 68 (1974) 112. 241 Durand, AEM 1/1 (1988)103. 242 Thus Greengus, JAOS 89 (1969) 514-520. 243 Suggested by literary texts; see Greengus; T. Abusch, History of Religions 26 (1986) 149, who refers to an article on such phrases in Hosea 2:15. The wedding - 109 defining moment.244 This would be the reason the betrothed princess from Qatna, who travelled to Mari, already had the title beltu, 'lady'. In an Assyrian law we see that a man in the presence of 'five, six friends' could place the veil on his concu- bine and then said 'She is my wife' (§41). On the Hittite vase from Bitik which we mentioned in Chapter 1 the man is lifting the woman's veil with his right hand, and this was the very reason why the vase was made. In the same period and in similar circumstances the veil was removed on the vase from Inandik which we mentioned earlier in this chapter. 2.5.5 Afterwards After the wedding the man took his wife home. According to the manual about favourable and unfavourable days the best time to do this would be from the first to the third month. There we read that in months I and III, 'He will feel good'; in month II 'his family (lit. 'his house') will grow'. There are other predictions for these months but the tablets are too badly broken to read. The tenth and eleventh months were also favourable but others may have been less so.245 A king who gave his new wife a new name with a beautiful meaning chose 'sulgi is my orna- ment', so it can be assumed ordinary wives were similarly forced to have names such as 'My husband is my happiness'.246 The sister of the man played a special role when he was married. She was addressed in Sumerian as erib by the new bride and she had the task of showing the new arrival around the house. The best support for this comes from the myth of the marriage of Enlil to Sud, where his sister Aruru (Ninmah) did just this.247 A married man could first move in to live with his father-in-law and then later go to live together as a couple independently. Jurists in Germany speak of Ein- trittsehe when the father of the bride makes arrangements for the couple to live in his house, but they find evidence for this practice only in the Ur III period.248 The Middle Assyrian law-book speaks about a woman who still lived 'in the house of her father' and 'her husband came in regularly' and he gave her a present that she could later use when she would be a widow (§27). These two people were married 244 B. Groneberg in: Th. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauenwelten in der Antike (2000) 5 f. 245 R. Labat, Un calendrier babylonien des travaux des signes et des mois (1965) 130-133 §62-3. 246 K. Radner, Die Macht des Namens (2005) 29. 247 C. Wilcke, 'Die Schwester des Ehemannes', in Durand, La Femme (1987) 179-187. 248 A. Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956) 106 f.; J. Hengstl, 'Die neusumerische Eintrittsehe', ZSS 109 (1992) 31-52, who notes vestiges in Old Babylonian law-books; H. Sauren, Studies W. W. Hallo (1993) 204 n. 19. 110 - Marriage according to the law. A manual of physiognomy sometimes speaks of a woman with the words, 'whenever she enters the house (of her husband)', or 'the house in which she lives'.249 In Nuzi this practice also occurred if a man adopted a son and let him marry his daughter, a subject to which we shall return in Chapter 4, when discussing childlessness. In the Old Testament we can also read of situa- tions when a man moved in with his father-in-law. Jacob moved in with Laban, and Moses with Jethro. There is a Biblical verse which could be intended to express God's command to humanity for a man to live together with his wife:250 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and attaches himself to his wife, and the two become one (Genesis 2:24). Enough has been said on this subject.25' 2.6 Marriage and magic Demonic force, such as the spirit of a dead person who could not rest, was often felt to be the source of illnesses. People imagined that the spirit of the dead person had chosen (Qidru) the invalid to be his bride. It was an unholy marriage which had to be annulled, and there was a magic ritual to perform which would arrange for a formal divorce. To satisfy the spirit the man would symbolically be married to someone else and supplied with marriage presents. For an epileptic the partner chosen in the ritual was a pig. Dolls were used to represent the invalid and the demon. They had to be dressed in particular clothing before the divorce ceremony was followed by a new marriage ceremony: if it was uncertain that the person had become sick through being possessed by and married to a demon, that marriage had to be arranged first, to prepare the scene for a divorce and a new marriage. Some marriages were symbolised by knotting together the hems of the garments of the partners, and for divorces this knot was cut away. There are different var- iants of this ritual.252 There were also Aramaic and Jewish magic ceremonies for 249 B. Bock, Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie (2000) 58 f. For 'she enters' see pp. 155:51, 54, 62, 69; 159:121, 124, 134; for 'she lives' see pp. 155:55-58, 61, 64 f.; 157:73 f.; 159:115; 167:226. 250 C. H. Gordon, 'Erdbu marriage', SCCNH 1(1981)155-160. 251 B. Groneberg in: Th. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauenwelten in der Antike (2000) 7 f. 252 KAR 66 with M. Stol, Epilepsy in Babylonia (1993) 99-101; D. Schwemer, Akkadische Rituale aus Hattusa (1998) 59-62, with W. Farber, ZA 91 (2001) 256 f., lines 20 f. (lying in bed with him for three days), 46 f. ('You are her husband, she is your wife! You take her and go away!'). For an example see TUAT NF 5 (2009) 140. Marriage and magic - 111 this divorce. Such formulas could be written on incantation bowls. They had to be recited against the demon, who was generally female, such as Lilith. This was the formula used also for a normal Jewish divorce (get).253 In magical procedures one even could resort to adultery. A man suffering from the effects of evil was seen as tainted and his smear had to be cleansed. Among the rituals to accomplish this we find this remedy. He must go into another house and spend the night there. He must approach a strange woman. At dawn the next morning he must send the woman away. The verb 'to approach' clearly means more than it says, for the idea was that he could rid himself of the smear by ejaculating his semen. In a related Assyrian ritual the king is required to sleep with a virgin for the same reason, and after- wards has the girl sent away across the border of his territory.254 253 S. Shaked in: T. Abusch, K. van der Toorn, Mesopotamian Magic (1999) 175 ff. 254 S. M. Maul, Zukunftsbewultigung (1994) 78 with 493:76 f. 3 The marriage gifts We have already shown that in the absence of special circumstances written con- tracts for a marriage were not drawn up. The contracts which were drawn up were written with the intention of safeguarding financial interests. We must assume that there were special circumstances surrounding the marriage contracts we have and we have to search to find what those were. The issue is usually finan- cial, in particular gifts which were transferred, and this will be the subject of this chapter. It is not an easy topic and the reader may wish to skip this chapter and proceed to the more accessible chapter 4 about the family. 3.1 General remarks We have to distinguish between the terms 'bride-price' and 'dowry'. The bride- price was given by the family of the man to that of the bride, but the dowry was given to the girl by her father. Although the expression 'bride-price' is emotion- ally charged, carrying overtones of a bride for sale, we have to make do with it, and consider later the idea of conceiving marriage as a commercial trans- action. The best-known Babylonian term for a bride-price is terhatu, which the ancient word-lists equate with Sumerian nimusa. The two words may be equiv- alent but intrinsically they can describe different things. The bride-price can be compared with Ugaritic mhr, Hebrew mohar, and Arabic mahr. Moreover the root of terhatu and the root of mohar occasionally occurs as a verb meaning 'to obtain by marriage'.' Sumerian nimusa means literally 'that which belongs to the son- in-law (musa)' showing that from their point of view it was a contribution from the man.2 It was a significantly different gift from the Old Babylonian terhatu, which was an amount of silver, since the Sumerians gave foodstuff and objects.3 We prefer, therefore, to more cautiously speak of 'marriage gifts'. The most complete list of these marriage gifts occurs in the rather unusual context of being offered to the Sumerian goddess Baba at the New Year's festi- val in Lagash. These were to celebrate the sacred marriage between the god and goddess of the city. Gudea, the city governor of Lagash, says that he has expanded 1 Hebrew mhr, R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 91, on Exodus 22:15; Ugaritic trh, A. F. Rainey, Or. NS 34 (1965) 18. 2 S. Greengus, 'Bridewealth in Sumerian sources', HUCA 61(1990) 25-88. 3 C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 61 n. 186. | C - © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. General remarks - 113 this number of traditional gifts, though we have not yet been able to identify pre- cisely what all of them were. Two fattened bulls, two fat sheep, ten fattened sheep, two lambs, seven baskets of ripe dates, seven bowls of ghee, seven palm hearts, seven bundles (?) of figs, seven baskets of ...-dates, fourteen flowerheads of the date palm, fourteen baskets of cucumbers, one ... bird, seven... -birds, fifteen geese, seven... -birds, sixty small birds in fifteen cages, sixty carp in thirty nets, forty bundles of turnips, seven bundles of ... -reeds' (Gudea Statues E and G). It looks as if this was an all-inclusive list, since others are shorter but feature many of the same items.4 In the myth about the marriage of the god Martu the father of the bride demanded cows and calves, sheep and lambs.5 Among marriage gifts for mortals we often come across bulls and goats in texts from Ebla and the Ur III period.6 The preparation of these cost time and energy.7 But these sources do not relate to an outlay by private individuals. We do not find the father of the bridegroom acting but it was organised as it were by the state.8 Many of the wedding gifts were despatched from the state depository of Puzris-Dagan.9 Why this happened is still not clear. On a few occasions hun- dreds or even thousands of animals are mentioned.10 That brings us to the ques- tion of whether these were dispatched for one magnificent beanfeast, or were just accumulated to the possessions of whoever received them. When fattened animals are mentioned a grand banquet comes to mind, and that is more likely to celebrate a wedding than a betrothal. Crowds of people may have taken part in an official wedding of the state, and all the guests would of course have been high-ranking." We may assume that during an ordinary wedding overindulgence depended on one or two sheep presented by the bridegroom's family. The Sumerian-Baby- lonian dictionaries only mention sheep as a marriage gift (nig.dd.a = biblu) and sheep are always present in lists of wedding presents.'2 The Old Babylonian list 4 Greengus, 48 f., 51f. 5 'The Marriage of Martu' 90-111, with J. Klein in I. L. Finkel, Sumerian gods and their representa- tion (1997) 107 f., 115. 6 Greengus, 36-46, 61-65, 88. 7 Greengus, 34 f., 49. 8 Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 254. 9 M. Sigrist, Drehem (1992) 198 f. 10 In Ebla at the marriage of a princess 3290 animals; A. Archi, Eblaitica 1(1987)121 f. 11 Greengus, 64 f., 70 f. 12 Wilcke, 252. 114 - The marriage gifts of wedding expenses from Ur also has many sheep, to be eaten at the wedding feast. An Old Akkadian text has sheep, silver, clothing, a pig, oil, malt, wool, dried fish, and sandals for a terhatu. In the Ebla texts a 'present' (ng.ba) consisting of clothing, silver and jewellery was given as something distinct from the marriage gift.'3 In the Old Babylonian period some care was taken to achieve a balance between the presents of the two families. A Sumerian proverb says, What has the young man brought? What has the father-in-law released (bur) for it?" There are a few other expressions for the presents given to the family of the bride. The Sumerian word nig.d6.a means literally 'what is poured out', and mu.pa.da means literally 'mentioning the name'.'5 The two words occur together, possibly as incidental presents, in the myth of the marriage of Enlil and Sud. C. Wilcke supposes that the former refers to foodstuff and the latter to valuables.6 In a letter about the marriage of Zimri-Lim, the king of Mari, and a princess from Aleppo, the gifts for her father, her mother, and herself, are listed in descend- ing amounts.'7 The king of Aleppo had earlier insisted on sending a singer,18 and there were extra presents apart from the bride-price and the dowry. The foodstuff given as a marriage gift was probably intended for the wedding celebrations, so we wonder how a betrothal was celebrated, if indeed there had been a betrothal. The occasion of an Old Babylonian betrothal was when the bride-price was paid and the girl assumed the status of a 'wife'. It was all rounded off by drinking a toast (kirru). When the Laws of Lipit-Istar speak of bringing the nimusa, 'marriage gift', the context is the same as when the Laws of Hammurabi speak of bringing the terhatu, 'bride-price'. The Sumerian of the Laws of Lipit- Istar belonged to a time when Akkadian was being spoken.19 The Akkadian mate- rial also points to the betrothal as an independent ceremony. From a letter from the dossier about a marriage between Mari and Aleppo we can see that the wedding ceremony began when the biblu, 'gift', was brought. The 13 Greengus, 65 f. (Old Akkadian), 62-64, 'counter-gifts' (Ebla). 14 SP 1.169 with Wilcke, see J. Renger, Or. NS 42 (1973) 272 n. 45, end; Greengus, 72. 15 Greengus, 77-83. 16 Wilcke in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 180, n. 8. M. Civil: 'bridal gifts' - 'personal presents'. Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 252; Greengus, 77-79. The first word nig.d6.a (in Akkadian biblu) is not attested in §15 of the laws of Ur-Nammu; read nimusa; Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 542 n. 176. 17 AEM 1/1 (1988) 102, on 108 no.11. 18 AEM 1/1 98 no. 9. 19 Greengus, 46 f., did not realise this. General remarks - 115 grandmother of the princess was on the point of death (she died just three days after the gift had been brought) which meant that the wedding arrangements had to be hurried along. The envoy from Aleppo wrote, Therefore we hurried and brought in the gift (biblu) which our master had sent us. We also laid the veil on the girl. Three days after we had brought in the gift, S. died.20 Here it was the bringing of the gift and the veiling of the girl that solemnised the wedding. Wilcke saw the link between the gift and the wedding. He cited a letter mentioning clothing, providing a headdress for the girl, and the bringing the gift.2' A much later text speaks of bringing the gift (subultu) to the place where the wedding was held (bit emzfti)." This must refer to the same custom but with different terminology. According to two Old Babylonian letters from Northern Mesopotamia giving the bride-price clinches the deal. There it was the proof that an imprisoned woman was not a slave but married, and therefore had to be freed: This woman is not a slave. She has been taken for a bride-price.23 After the Sumerian Ur III period, during the subsequent Old Babylonian period, we hardly ever hear of such marriage gifts. All we have is the terhatu, 'bride- price'. We use the word price because it was nearly always paid in silver. In the earlier Sumerian texts the phrase ku.dam.tuku, 'silver to acquire a bride' is rare.24 This could indicate that the Sumerians did not think of marriage as a commercial transaction, while the Akkadian-speaking Semites did. But looking for cultural differences between the Sumerians and the Semitic Babylonians in such distinc- tive customs is questionable.25 P. Koschaker certainly pointed to a deep difference between Sumerian and Semitic marriage law, as expressed in the bride-price and 20 AEM 1/1103 with 106 no. 10:12-19. 21 'Familiengrundung', 261-264; cf. AbB 130:21-26. 22 Craig, ABRT I 4:2-7 = W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Oracle Questions (2007) 88 no.12. Compare the translation 'present (sent by the bridegroom to the bride)', MSL 5 (1975) 12 Ih I:39. Further- more M. Anbar, UF 6 (1974) 443, on ARM 154:7, 10 (but here subultu has a more general meaning). 23 ARM 28 no. 36 with p. 36; 173:5-16. A litigation from Sippar shows that a relationship 'without contract' and without 'receiving the bridalprice' is not valid; K. R. Veenhof, Festschrift C. Wilcke (2003) 315 f., lines 32, 34. 24 NSGU 1105; Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 253; Greengus, HUCA 61, 85. - New is NATN 893, as explained by H. Limet, BiOr 41(1984) 409: the father-in-law has a claim on the son-in-law, [ki]. dam.a ba.an.tuku. 25 See for the problem Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 253 n. 55; defending Falkenstein, ignored by Greengus, HUCA 61, 69, cf. 65. 116 - The marriage gifts the inequality of the woman (this would only apply to Semitic law). But his argu- ment has been rejected forcefully. Just because a text is written in Sumerian it has no bearing on the customs of the time. Sumerian could simply have been chosen as the appropriate language for writing the text.26 Sumerians and Semitic speak- ers of Akkadian lived for centuries in a state of symbiosis, which makes it difficult to establish differences between them.27 Perhaps there really was no essential difference in their customs. It may well be, according to S. Greengus, that the Old Babylonian bride-price was indeed only valued in terms of silver, and in fact it may have consisted of goods. If the bride-price had to be returned any edible goods were deducted, according to later Assyrian law (§ 42-3). C. Wilcke thinks that over time there were developments. The Sumerian wedding gift took on such proportions and value that it became a gift, which bound the father of the bride to the arrangement. There would have been a measure of reciprocity in the agreement about do ut des.28 It also became the practice to pay part of the wedding gift much earlier than the wedding ceremony itself. This part would have been non-edible elements, more specifically the silver, which would later be recognised as the terhatu. The gifts presented at the time of the wedding were then called the biblu.29 Certainly in later times the wedding gift consisted of both silver and foodstuffs. C. Saporetti has suggested that in Middle Assyrian terminology the 'contribution' of the father (zubulla) was an all-inclusive term for the bride-price plus the gifts. Then the bride-price was a fixed standard amount and the gift consisted of extras, foodstuff and other items. This extra contribution gave the family of the groom room for manoeuvre, to exceed the standard bride- price either on their own initiative or because of a prearranged agreement.30 The etymology of terhatu needs now to be considered. In Ugaritic as well as trht, 'bride-price', we have the verb trh, 'to marry'. It is in the myth of the marriage of Nikkal and Yarih, the moon god.3' Yarih begins by saying, Give Nikkal, so that Yarih will marry (trh) her, so that the Moon may enter his house. And I shall give to her father as a bride-price (mhr) a thousand pieces of silver, ten thousand pieces of gold ... My marriage (htn) is with Nikkal ... Then Yarih married Nikkal. 26 D. Norr in: Studi Emilio Betti III (1962) 518: at Nippur contracts written in Sumerian, litigations in Akkadian (Old Babylonian). 27 Greengus, 27, 65, 69, 72. 28 'Familiengrundung', 254-256. 29 'Familiengrundung', 258. 30 C. Saporetti, Geo-Archeologia 1984-2, 44-46. S. Greengus, HUCA 61 (1990) 76 f., n. 210, reminds us of the siblinith in Mishnah and Talmud. 31 KTU 1.24:17-33 with Textes ougaritiques 1(1974) 393-395. The bride-price - 117 All the subsequently promised presents will not be translated here. What then follows is a detailed description of how the scales to weigh the bride-price were set up by his family members. The Ugaritic verb trh, 'to marry', can be seen as the root of the Akkadian noun terhatu, 'bride-price'. Similarly Ugaritic mhr, 'bride- price' is reflected in Hebrew mohar and Arabic mahr, 'bride-price', and htn, 'mar- riage' is reflected in Hebrew hatan, 'son-in-law'. We also have one occurrence in Ugaritic of mtrht, 'married woman' which is almost certainly related to the unusual Akkadian word marhitu, 'a married woman'. 3.2 The bride-price Old Babylonian texts only speak of a terhatu. They are reasonably clear, but an unusual early text may also refer to a slave. Normally the amount for the bride- price was calculated in silver. The highest amount found is in that same early text, forty shekels of silver.32 High amounts are more frequent in the early Old Baby- lonian period. All in all we can suppose that normally the payment amounted to five or ten shekels.33 Twice we have the statement that 'the complete bride-price' has been paid.34 This would seem to indicate that the bride-price could be paid in instalments, perhaps five shekels at the betrothal and ten at the wedding, making fifteen shekels in total. The amount agreed may have been linked to the going price for a slave-girl. A young girl would cost five shekels, a woman ten to fifteen shekels, and an adopted child five to seven shekels. Bride-prices were higher, twenty or thirty shekels, in the time of Hammurabi, but that was a time when the price of slaves was also rising strongly. These high sums were only mentioned in specific texts, and N. Pfeifer detects in them a distinct form of marriage.35 In the case of a nun, and only in that case, the bride-price has to remain 'sewn into her hem', and is 'given back' to her husband.36 Nevertheless, it can be assumed that it remained the property of the woman. Pfeifer identifies the hem as the hem of an undergarment round the woman's 'private parts'. The silver was her own private capital, and hidden where no-one else had access. She could keep it in reserve if ever she found herself alone. It was a large amount which guaranteed enough to support her. Her dowry 32 VAS 8 4 with Studies A. Skaist (2012) 157 f. 33 M. Stol in Studies A. Skaist, 140-152. 34 CT 48 48:16-7; 56:7. 35 N. Pfeifer, 'Das Eherecht in Nuzi: Einfliuisse aus altbabylonischer Zeit', SCCNH 18 (2009) 355- 420, esp. 366, 380,399-403. 36 M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 188, 189 f. 118 - The marriage gifts (or trousseau) was also mentioned, which she could decide (or perhaps she was obliged) to bequeath to her own children. These would have been adopted not biological children since she was a nun.37 Finally we note the exceptionally high bride-prices paid by Old Babylonian kings. In the Mari texts we find five or eight talents (1 talent = 60 minas), but we find also six minas.38 S. Greengus states emphatically that in these cases the bride-price must in reality have consisted of various goods the value of which was converted into silver. That is confirmed in a Mari text by the details of a royal bride-price trans- ferred for Sibtum. There are listed 'jewellery, pins, vases, ..., clothes, three bulls, one hundred cows, thousands of sheep', but for each entry the equivalent value in silver is given,39 so that the total value can be calculated in silver. In Mari it was also possible to work out the total value of the dowry, the counterpart of the bride-price. A text from Kisurra speaks of 'four minas of silver, one hundred sheep and a slave-girl' as the bride-price.40 A letter from Sippar, unfortunately not pub- lished in its complete form, appears to speak of three minas.41 On one occasion a field is given as a 'present' for a woman.42 A sheikh from the tribe of the Ben- jaminites gave King Zimri-Lim a few dozen sheep as a bride-price for his sister.43 In the Old Assyrian period, the bride-price was called 'the price' and was paid out at the wedding.44 Once a father gave his sons animals, four asses, two oxen and fifteen sheep, 'for the wedding'.45 C. Saporetti suggests that our presumption that the bride-price was a fixed amount, which could be calculated in silver in the Old Babylonian period, also applied to the Middle Assyrian period.46 In the Middle Assyrian laws an unmar- ried rapist had to marry the victim and pay 'triple the silver as the value of a virgin' (§ 55), which indicates a fixed amount. In the Bible the bride-price (mohar) a man must pay for seducing a virgin whom he is obliged to marry was fifty shekels of 37 Discussions about this group of texts: A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial (1945) 136-138; R. Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (1988) 176-179; R. Westbrook, OBML 99 f.; Wilcke, 'Familien- griindung', 265 f. 38 B. Lafont in Durand, La Femme (1987) 120, with n. 20. The 'six minas of the woman' in ARM 10 75:22. 39 ARMT 25 616 with Durand, AEM I/1 (1988) 100-102. 40 B. Kienast, Kisurra no.109:10-14. 41 V. Scheil, SFS no.84, 'Inventaire de donations et dot'. 42 OLA 21 no. 43. 43 ARMT 23 nos. 335-336 with Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 87, 90, 92. 44 So, without amplification, C. Michel, RIDA 84 (2006) 160 f. 45 K. R. Veenhof in: M. Stol, S. P. Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 148. 46 Geo-Archeologia 1984-2, 45 f. Speculations on the fixed amount on p. 47 f. The bride-price - 119 silver ('fifty pieces of silver', Deuteronomy 22:29; see also Exodus 22:16, Hebrew verse 15). Hosea paid 'fifteen pieces of silver, a homer of barley, and a measure of wine' for his wife whom he knew was adulterous (Hosea 3:2). This can be con- verted to roughly thirty shekels. But here a girl was being bought and this may have been the normal bride-price. Note that the compensation due for a slave-girl who was gored to death by an ox was also thirty shekels (Exodus 21:32).47 More precise information is available for around the same period from the periphery of Babylonia, from the cities of Nuzi and Emar. The archives of Nuzi cite as the formal price for a woman an ox, an ass, ten sheep, and ten shekels of silver. Other goods could however be used as payment, but their relation to the norm had certainly then been established. Their total value had to convert to forty shekels of silver. That was also the price of a slave-girl.48 In Syrian Emar amounts of twenty-five and thirty shekels of silver were men- tioned for the bride-price,49 though sums of ninety or a hundred shekels were also quoted.50 According to two texts the price of a girl from Emar was twenty-two shekels of silver, or thirty if the value of the goods included was also converted.51 Here as elsewhere the money that could be made for a marriageable girl was a coveted source of income for third parties. In Emar we see that a woman was sold off by her two brothers for the standard rate of forty shekels of silver 'as a bride' to a man, who then passed her on to a third man. The arrangement was that the third man would pay forty shekels, which was shared out. The brothers received ten shekels and the 'broker' thirty. In Nuzi we come across this figure regularly.2 In a disastrous year with high prices, a father with his son became so poor that they had to put themselves under the protection of Z. This person promised that he would let the son marry and if any children should be born of the marriage, the sons would become servants of the king, and Z. would 'give the daughters to 47 W. Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 301. 48 The price for a male slave was 30 shekels of silver. See on all this C. Zaccagnini in: A. Archi, Circulation of goods in non-palatial context (1984) 152 f.; RlA VII/5-6 (1989) 425a; E. A. Speiser, Or. NS 25 (1956) 9-15 (4. 'Ceremonial Payment'). A female 'cup-bearer' costed 40 shekels of silver, EA 369, with E. Lipinski, Sulmu (1988) 183. In a forced sale of a daughter in Emar the price was 15 shekels of silver, 1 donkey, 500 shekels of copper (meaning somewhat less that 30 shekels of silver); ASJ 13 (1991) 276 no.17. 49 Bride-price in Emar: 25 shekels, A. Tsukimoto, ASJ 13 (1991) 300 no.35:17, no.36:17; 30 shek- els, Tskukimoto, ASJ 14 (1992) 292 no. 44:5; D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis - Supplementa 1 (1991) no. 72:13. 50 D. Arnaud, Semitica 46 (1996) 9:5. More G. Beckman in M. W. Chavalas, Emar (1996) 69. 51 Tsukimoto, ASJ 13 (1991) 276 no.17 (ca. 30 shekels, see note 48), 277 no.18 (22 shekels). 52 B. Lion, 'Filles a marier a Emar et a Nuzi', NABU 2001/74. Similar deals are discussed in Chap- ter 16. 120 - The marriage gifts the house of a father-in-law (i.e. give them in marriage) and receive the silver of the bride-price'. In addition Z. and his wife would have to be cared for the whole of their lives by their poor guests.53 A curious text was found in Alalahj, a city near Aleppo: S. from Luba asked A. for his daughter in marriage and he brought him a present (nidnu), as was the custom (parsu) in Aleppo. A. became a criminal and as a punishment he was put to death and his 'house' went to the palace. S. arrived and the king allowed him to have his 'gift' back, which amounted to six talents of copper and two bronze daggers.54 Possibly the 'custom of Aleppo' referred to the standard value of the bride-price. The word nidnu is surprising and is reminiscent of the Hebrew word mattan 'gift', as it occurs in the story about the marriage of Jacob's daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:12). This gift was given in addition to a bride-price (mohar). The same word nidnu, 'present', was used in two curious letters from an Old Assyrian merchant from Kanis in Anatolia to his colleague in Mari. After the offer of copper and three other items as 'a present for you', there follows an order for clothes from Babylon. Then at the end he says, But if you wish me to say everything that is close to my heart, then let me give a son to you, and you give a daughter to me. It seems to be setting the seal on a good relationship. The second letter takes a serious step further in this same transaction. It concerns a girl in Mari, who appears to have been called Abulaya, and the boy Sabium: Persuade (the girl) for me, and my son and I will both set off with presents! Let us make a marriage (hatanhtu) agreement!55 The laws of Hammurabi mention the possibility of there being 'no bride-price'. The case in point is a married couple with no children, where the man wants a divorce. This should not be seen as an unusual form of marriage, where no bride- price was paid (as P. Koschaker saw it), but that it was possible not to pay a bride- price if no children had been born in the marriage. 53 M. Sigrist, Studies R. Kutscher (1993) 169 no. 2. 54 AT 17 with C. Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah (Schicht IV) (2008) 165, 170, 248 ff. (31.3); TUAT NF 1(2004)134. 55 J.-M. Durand, 'Une alliance matrimoniale entre un marchand assyrien de Kanesh et un marchand mariote', Studies K. R. Veenhof (2001) 119-132; LAPO 18 (2000) 181-184. The bride-price - 121 3.2.1 Payment by instalment An important caveat should be borne in mind when attempting to determine fixed amounts. From ethnology we know that the bride-price could be paid in instal- ments. Islamic law in the school of Hanafi also supports this principle. When arranging a marriage the first part of the mahr, the muqaddam, should be paid, and the final part, the mu'ahhar, should be paid if it ended in divorce (Qur'an 2: 237). We have already seen that the Old Babylonian texts speak a few times about 'the total bride-price', which suggests the possibility of paying by instalments. This could mean that the five and the ten shekels were paid at the betrothal and the marriage respectively, and that the total amount might be the twenty or thirty shekels sometimes mentioned. The texts from Nuzi indicate that the bride-price was paid in instalments, such as annual instalments of five shekels. Then twenty shekels had to be paid after the first intercourse ('the lying'), and an ox after the birth of a child.56 After a divorce in Nuzi the man was still required to give his father-in-law five sheep, which was probably part of the bride-price.57 There is another explanation possible for these different amounts. The price could depend on the phase of a woman's life or her status. In the Aramaic mar- riage contracts from Elephantine in Egypt we see that ten shekels was paid for a virgin and five shekels for a divorced woman. There is a difference of opinion about why there was this difference.58 In Nuzi the price of a woman on her first marriage was forty shekels and on her second, after her husband had died, ten shekels.59 Was the second price lower because she was no longer a virgin, or because she had had no children? According to the Mishnah, a man should pay on divorce twice as much for someone who was a virgin at marriage as for a divorced woman or a widow.60 In the modern Middle East much less is paid for a divorced woman or a widow.61 56 J. C. Fincke, SCCNH 7 (1995) 13-17 (after the intercourse); K. Grosz, SCCNH 1 (1981) 171 (HSS 13 263), 176 f., Table 5 (the ox). 57 K. Grosz, The archive of the Wullu family (1988) 122 (Gadd 33). 58 A. Tosato, Il matrimonio israelitico (1982) 102 n. 84, who refers to R. Yaron, JSS 3 (1958) 5. 59 AASOR 16 54 with Grosz, SCCNH 1(1981) 175. 60 E. Lipinski, Sulmu (1988) 184. Cf. Mishnah, Keth. I, 2. 61 H. Reintjens, Die soziale Stellung der Frau bei den nordarabischen Beduinen (1975) 27. 122 - The marriage gifts 3.2.2 Work as a bride-price The Old Testament patriarch Jacob had to work seven years for each of his wives, Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:15-30). His 'reward' (maskoret) was to have the two women. A similar example was the rather excessive demand from Saul made on David. If he wanted to marry Saul's daughter Michal he would have to bring him a hundred foreskins of the Philistines as a mohar (I Samuel 18:25).62 Then a Middle Assyrian contract states that a man of his own free will can live in a house for ten years with free food and clothing, and at the end of that time 'they will let him marry a woman': He shall take his wife, clothed and bound up (?) and he shall leave.63 He earned his livelihood from his work and in the end the household gave him one of their women. A letter mentions a man who must have found himself in a similar situation, after he 'served for seven years' for a woman.64 3.2.3 The right of the son to the bride-price The family also had the responsibility of thinking about a future marriage. With this in mind money could be set aside as the bride-price, to be used by an unmar- ried son, who would later marry. The laws of Hammurabi state: If a man marries wives to the sons he has got but does not marry a wife to his youngest son, when the brothers divide the estate after the father has died, they shall establish (sakanu) the silver value of the bride-price for their young unmarried brother from the property of the paternal estate, in addition to his inheritance share, and enable him to marry a wife (CH §166). § 31-32 of the laws of Lipit-Istar deal with the question of what should happen if the father in his lifetime had given a 'gift' to his 'beloved son', which the heirs would have no right to, or should have given the bride-price to 'his son, the older brother'. If the latter were to marry while his father were still alive, what would happen after the father's death? Unfortunately half of the text at the end has been broken away so we do not know the answer. 62 W. Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 303 f. ('Dienstheirat'). 63 VAS 19 37 with J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 93-95; Bronze Age bureaucracy (2013) 16 f. 64 S. W. Cole, The Early Neo-Babylonian governor's archive from Nippur (1996) 174-176 no. 82. The bride-price - 123 There are some examples which illustrate this principle. A father gives his son a field of six iku 'to marry a woman'.65 A field would have cost between two and six shekels per iku, and so the value would be between twelve and thirty-six shekels.66 Someone gave his brother fourteen shekels of silver 'in order to marry a woman'.67 Another man 'assigned and gave' to his brother a ship with a capacity of ten kor 'for his wedding'.68 In both cases the father had evidently died and the oldest brother was taking care of the youngest. A deed of inheritance from Nippur indicates that the youngest son would in no way be held responsible for the debt of his father, 'because he had not yet married a wife'. In this way an amount for his future bride-price was kept reserved for him.69 A mother gave each of her sons presents, mostly amounts of silver. The first received a specifically named slave and ten shekels of silver. For the second son is stated 'ten shekels and another ten shekels for S., his brother', though in fact the text on the envelope reads, 'the bride-price of the wife whom he has married, for S., his brother'. The third brother received fifteen shekels. One would have expected that the first brother would receive the bride-price for his younger brother who would eventually marry, but that is not what the text says. Not one of a second group of three children (perhaps from a second marriage) was allowed to challenge this.70 According to a deed of inheritance from Kisurra a son received twenty-eight shekels of silver in the form of rings from his mother as an 'extra amount'. This was probably intended for a marriage.7' According to an Assyrian deed of inheritance concerning three brothers, the two married brothers had already received five homers of barley as a bride-price (zubulla) and they each owed the youngest two and a half homers.72 Provision was sometimes also made for future dowries, i.e. what the bride received from her father. An Old Babylonian deed of inheritance lists a number of household utensils, things which would be typical for a father to give his daughter as a dowry.73 In the Neo-Babylonian period brothers had to look after their sister by giving her a litre of bread every day 'until they will give her to a husband'. 65 CT 6 37b (VAB 5 212) (kima dam ahazim) with Westbrook, OBML, 35 n. 50, 38b, 117. 66 Cf. R. Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 216; W. Schwenzer, MVAG 19/3 (1914) 119 f. 67 AUCT V 36 in Westbrook, OBML, 112b (ana assatim ahdzim). 68 UET 5 271 (Ur) with Westbrook, 133b (nam.dam.a.ni in.ba.e.en in.ne.sum). 69 TIM 4 4:30-34 with E. Prang, ZA 67 (1977) 221, 230 f.; ZA 70 (1980) 49. 70 Tell Sifr 35:4-5 / 35a:4-6 with D. Charpin, Archives familiales (1980) 222f. and 76; cf. West- brook, OBML, 126 (translation only). The text on the envelope (35a:5) says assatam sa Wuzu (pret- erite) which can be translated as 'the wife whom he could eventually marry'. 71 B. Kienast, Kisurra I1(1978) 57 f. (§79), on no. 90. 72 QIP 79 Plate 82 (Tell Fakharijah) with C. Saporetti, Geo-Archeologia 1984-2 p. 44. 73 YOS 5 106:23-29. So here no bride-price. 124 - The marriage gifts In addition they had to set aside twenty shekels of silver as her dowry, plus the interest which would accrue.74 3.2.4 The bride-price goes to the woman A more-or-less universal development is for at least a part or perhaps the whole of the bride-price to be passed on to the woman.5 Islam had a modernising influ- ence in this respect, for the Qur'an says clearly: 'Give the woman the bride-price as a gift' (Qur. 4:4). The Akkadian expression for this action was 'to fasten the bride-price into the hem', which means into the hem of the woman's garment.76 We have already seen that this rule applied already in the Old Babylonian period to nuns who married, and that high amounts were involved. Twenty or thirty shekels was possibly the whole of the bride-price,77 and the adopted children of the woman could inherit this. Recently S. Demare-Lafont presented a new proposal.78 The initiation of a marriage is based on a 'contract' recording the payment of the 'bride-price' oblig- ing the groom to engender children ('une promesse de maternit6). Only when a child is born will the marriage be finalised and become an 'institution'. It is then that the bride-price is returned to the husband automatically, a restitution attested only in Sippar. We have seen earlier in this chapter that such a restitution is rare and may constitute a distinct form of marriage (N. Pfeifer). It cannot be the basis for the general theory now proposed. This shows how the meaning of the bride-price had begun to change. From the end of the Old Babylonian period it was no longer a disguised price for a woman but a sum of money that the married woman could have in reserve for emergency situations, such as the death or disappearance of her breadwinner. This thought is reflected in the phrase 'to fasten it into her hem'. It was her private possession and the greatest right her husband would have to it would be to enjoy 74 C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabyloni- schen Archiven (2003) 48-51 no.11. 75 Middle East: W. Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 315 n. 95. 76 H. Petschow, RiA III (1968) 321 f., in art. 'Gewand'; M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 179-197; BiOr 43 (1986) 23-25; R. Westbrook, 'Mitgift', RiA VIII/3-4 (1994) 276a. 77 The literature is rich: A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial, 136-138; R. Yaron, The Laws of Esh- nunna (1989) 176-179; R. Westbrook, OBML, 99 f.; Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 265 f., n. 83. 78 S. Demare-Lafont, 'Le mariage babylonien - une approche historiographique', ZABR 18 (2012) 175-190. The bride-price - 125 its usufruct. During a marriage ceremony, which was acted out in a magical ritual, the bridegroom promised: I shall fill your lap with gold and silver. You are my wife. I am your husband.79 Divorce would have been an emergency situation and Old Babylonian contracts name the amount which the man would have had to pay if he had decided to go down that road. The amount he would have to pay would be almost the same as the top bride-price of the time. The Middle Assyrian laws may also have stipulated that the bride-price belonged to the woman, but that is still not sure (§38).80 But that was the situation in Nuzi. There part of the bride-price could sooner or later be 'fastened into the woman's hem'.81 However, this is mentioned in only four of the fifty-four marriage con- tracts we have and the wording is slightly ambiguous.82 N. Pfeifer takes a differ- ent line.83 The texts state that the woman could always 'choose the money and go away'. So if she remarried she could keep it, but would lose all claim on the husband's family possessions. She would have to leave 'naked', having only her 'hem'. In Nuzi she did not even keep her dowry, for that was reserved for her chil- dren. But what was in her 'hem' was her own. Possibly this rule only applied to wealthy families. K. Grosz distinguishes two different patterns for giving the bride-price and dowry in Nuzi, which conflict with each other. We have seen that there the bride- price in most cases was received by the brother(s) of the bride. Ethnology shows that in other cultures the bride-price could be used by the family of the bride to help their own sons in turn to marry a wife. This could be the explanation for the situation in Nuzi.84 The dowry, on the other hand, was the inheritance that the daughter received from her father and which she had to pass on to her children. Grosz thinks that sometimes the bride-price was passed on to the woman and 79 M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 191-193. In the footnotes: the Jew- ish mohar had or acquired the same meaning. 80 Advocated by G. Cardascia, Les lois assyriennes (1969) 193-195; opposed with grammatical argumentation by C. Saporetti, Geo-Archeologia 1984-2, 40 (one expects zakuat). 81 K. Grosz, SCCNH 1(1981)170 f., with Table 3, 'Indirect dowry payments'; Westbrook, 'Mitgift', 278 f. 82 J. Paradise, JCS 32 (1980) 205-207; 39 (1987) 23 n. 66. 83 N. Pfeifer, 'Das Eherecht in Nuzi: Einfliuisse aus altbabylonischer Zeit', SCCNH 18 (2009) 355-420, esp. 404-409, 416. 84 Jack Goody; see K. Grosz, 163, 178. Texts: Grosz, 175 ff., Table 5; J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 21-23. 126 - The marriage gifts became absorbed into the man's possessions, as if it were a dowry.85 That could happen on the birth of a child. C. Zaccagnini points out that it was generally twenty shekels (half the normal bride-price of forty shekels) which 'was fastened into the hem of the garment'. In his opinion this happened if no dowry had been given.86 What is much easier to understand is the 'indirect dowry' in Emar (Syria). There the man would 'return the dowry to her'.87 G. Beckman comments on the bride-price, which he calls 'bridewealth': The family of the groom pays bridewealth (Sumerian nig.mi.ds(.sa), Akkadian terhatu), to that of the bride. Sums of 30, 40, 60, and 100 shekels of silver are attested for the bride- wealth. In turn, a portion of this silver is often bestowed upon the girl by her father as the entirety or part of her dowry, a rebate of bridewealth which anthropologists refer to as 'indirect dowry'. Perhaps because of the common utilization of this practice at Emar, there seems to be no terminological distinction between 'bridewealth' and 'dowry' in the texts from this site. That is, the same Sumerogram serves for both types of payment.88 From the texts from Ugarit and Alalahj in Syria it is clear that the bride-price was the property of the wife. She was allowed to take this with her in the event of divorce.89 In the Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions everything is confused. Daugh- ters of conquered nations in Asia Minor arrived in Nineveh 'with a considerable bride-price', alternatively translated 'with a considerable dowry'.90 After this, the word terhatu disappeared from the language. Neo-Assyrian texts simply speak of 'her silver', meaning the price that was paid for her.91 In the Neo-Babylonian period the word for bride-price completely disappeared as an item of vocabu- lary.92 85 Grosz, 172, 179. 86 C. Zaccagnini, Studies E. Bresciani (1985) 600-602. 87 J. J. Justel, NABU 2008/67. 88 G. Beckman in M. W. Chavalas, Emar (1996) 69. 89 Westbrook, 'Mitgift', 279b, §3.3.3; A. F. Rainey, Or. NS 34 (1965) 18; Handbook of Ugaritic stud- ies (1999) 475 f.; I. Marquez Rowe in: A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I(2003) 709 (AT 92), 725 f. (Ugarit). 90 R. Borger, BIWA (1996) 29 A ii 70, variant F i 73, etc.; with Borger, 29, 216 B §16. 91 K. Radner in: A history of Ancient Near Eastern law II(2003) 895. 92 B. Meissner, BuA I1(1920) 169 f., K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privaturkunden (1997) 142 (with n. 717). A price is meant in Nebk. 101, where a payment is made by giving a slave and 30 shekels of silver. Here a slave-girl, brought up as a daughter, is given into marriage by her 'mother' with- out a bride-price. See C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 6 n. 22. Otherwise G. van Driel: 'For once we might think of a romantic marriage': the young man wants the girl at all price and compensates the 'mother'; in: M. Stol, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 188. See now B. Still, The social world of the Babylonian priest (2016) 45. The bride-price - 127 According to a marriage contract in the Jewish colony of Elephantine a bride- price (mhr) of five shekels was simply added to a dowry (tkwnh) of twelve shekels and it was augmented further by clothing and household goods brought in by the woman. The bride-price itself was therefore very small.93 In cases where a girl had been adopted with the intention of marrying her off, there are a number of instances in Nuzi of someone designated to benefit from any interim usufruct of the bride-price which had been paid. The expression used can be literally translated as 'he is allowed to eat the silver'. Depositing a woman's money in this way with a man happened on many occasions, and we know of a case in Emar where a brother once went too far when 'eating the silver'. He completely used up the bride-price or dowry of four of his sisters and he was accused in court in the presence of the king.94 Laban's daughters Rachel and Leah reproached their father for doing the same. They asked, We no longer have any share in our father's house. Does he not look on us as strangers, now that he has sold us and used the money paid for us (lit. 'he has eaten our silver')? (Genesis 31:15). The money they refer to must have been their dowries. That could have been the reason that Rachel stole the family gods (terafim). If they were in her possession she and her children would be guaranteed the right of inheriting her father's wealth.95 We will see later that we often find evidence of fraud with the dowry in the Neo-Babylonian period. 3.2.5 Marriage as a sale In the Babylonian patriarchal society a woman was transferred from the authority of one man to that of another, from that of her father to that of her husband. Male authority has been accepted as natural until recent times, with the man as the head of the family. In Babylonia that made a woman an item in marriage transac- tions, and paying a bride-price made the marriage a commercial event. That was 93 Cowley, AP no.15 (ca. 440 B. C.), with J. A. Fitzmyer, A wandering Aramean. Collected Aramaic essays (1979) 248; cf. 270 n. 15 (10 shekels as bride-price; over 20 shekels as dowry). 94 J. G. Westenholz, Cuneiform inscriptions in the Bible Lands Museum. The Emar tablets (2000) no. 3; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 153 f. 95 J.-P. Vita, 'The patriarchal narratives and the Emar texts: a new look at Genesis 31', in: L. d'Al- fonso (etc.), The city of Emar among the Late Bronze Age empires (2008) 231-241. 128 - The marriage gifts how it used to be, and even now among some contemporary societies people still wish to see it like that. In the nineteenth century many scholars followed an evolutionist outline of history. Originally society was matriarchal and no bride-price was paid. Presum- ably that remained the case in matriarchal societies. The transition to a patriar- chal society involved carrying off women to marry them. This is what the Romans boasted of (Raubehe). Later the woman was often ransomed from the clan by her father by paying a bride-price.96 Even after marriage had lost the nature of a sale, money still changed hands. In principle that money was paid by the man's family to that of the girl, but many variations were possible. The most significant variant was that the father of the girl could give this price to his daughter as a dowry. J. Goody, who wrote a short description of this, called the 'bride-price' given by the parents of the man or by the man himself to the father of his intended bride an 'indirect dowry' when it was passed on to the woman. Anything else she received from her father was a 'direct dowry'.91 A recent survey of ethnological opinion shows that the bride-price is still seen to belong to a certain phase in human societal development.98 In agnatic societies (both patrilinear and matrilinear) a girl was married off outside the tribe (exogamously) and the bride-price was seen as a compensation for losing her labour. When arable farming was involved, where a woman was considered to be less productive, the bride-price gave the man a right to children, who would mature as valuable workers. Coupled with agriculture was the practice of living with the father's family (patrilocality) and owning private property. This led to the acquisition of several wives and then a wife became an economic asset herself. She became the object in a process of exchange (Frauentausch), according to the author. Such an exchange of women borders on a sale, for exchange amounts to a commercial transaction. Everywhere we find a strong aversion to the thought that marriage was a sale. Sometimes it still is a sale, and the terminology used in many cultures seems to suggest that the idea is accepted. We shall not go further into these arguments but concentrate on what the situation was in Babylonia.99 96 P. Gregorius, Etnologie van de niet-Westerse volken. Verwantschap en huwelijk (= Prisma Com- pendia, 17) (1965) 166 (G. A. Wilken); W. Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 298. 97 Jack Goody, The development of the family and marriage in Europe (1983) 240 ff., 'Appendix 2. From brideprice to dowry?' 98 Uwe Wesel, Der Mythos vom Matriarchat (1980) 134 ff., 'Brautpreis und Frauentausch'. 99 In general: Gregorius, 164 ff. (VIII. De Bruidsprijs). Babylonia, latest discussion: N. Pfeiffer, SCCNH 18 (2009) 383-393, 417. The bride-price - 129 3.2.6 The views of a lawyer In 1917 the renowned German legal historian Paul Koschaker contended that Babylonian marriage was based on a sale. He did not resort to any evolutionary scheme but merely paid attention to the legal process. Gradually criticism of his ideas was voiced, chiefly by A. van Praag (1945), and towards the end of his life Koschaker forcefully repeated his opinion, introducing an important refinement to his argument.'00 He distinguished between two types of sale. Firstly there was the sale or purchase of large objects, such as fields and houses, which normally took place within the seller's own community. In these transactions payment and transfer did not need to take place at the same point in time. The second form of sale, which received most attention, was that of small objects which were often traded between strangers. For these payment and transfer occurred at the same time as a cash payment. Koschaker compared marriage with the first type of sale. Firstly a payment was made, the bride-price, and later the item purchased was transferred, traditio puellae, the girl was handed over. In anticipation of these transactions there would have been a promise to marry, the betrothal. In the Hittite Laws, and the old laws of Sweden, a distinction was made between 'promising' and 'binding' the parties to an agreement by the payment of a bride- price. At the beginning and at the end of his article Koschaker says with some emphasis that his interpretation is purely a formal legal explanation, as might be expected from him as a jurist. He sets out the objective legal structure of marriage as being one of sale. This explanation in no way meant that the peoples in ques- tion actually regarded the woman like some beast they had bought, or that they would have treated her as such. The modern reader may be assured of this. On the last point the fundamental criticism is the one offered by R. Westbrook, who thinks that 'the mechanics of sale cannot be separated from its function'. All sales implied a transfer of ownership. Even so, it is easy to see the bride-price like a purchase price. Sometimes the value is demonstrably that of a young slave-girl. The expression the 'price of virgins' occurs in Old Assyrian marriage texts.'0' A girl is transferred by her mother and brothers for the price of fifteen shekels to an Assyrian. He had only to promise that he would not marry a second wife in four important Anatolian cities.102 Four brothers each give a sister in marriage. With the profit they were 100 P. Koschaker, 'Eheschliessung und Kauf nach alten Rechten, mit besonderer Beriicksichti- gung der alteren Keilschriftrechte', ArOr 18/3 (1950) 210-296. 101 As in AKT I 77; R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 357 f. 102 C. Michel, TPK no.161. 130 - The marriage gifts able to trade (makdru, an Akkadian word related to English 'mercantile').103 In one Old Babylonian contract a girl is literally purchased from her father to be a second wife. The price was five shekels of silver, which is exceptionally low for a slave, but matches a standard bride-price.104 In addition we have a passage in a hymn to the god Hendursanga, where the writer speaks of buying a cow, a sheep, a slave, and taking (tuku) a wife, all in the same breath.105 Even in the Gospels buying a field and oxen and marrying a woman are all lumped together (Luke 14:18-20). Performing work instead of paying money, a system not known to Koschaker, was a variant on sale. This last article by Koschaker is hardly ever mentioned but it should be taken to heart. Only a few scholars agree with Koschaker's approach. W. Plautz, who studied marriage in the Old Testament, is one who does agree and reinforces once more three points made by Koschaker: he is only concerned with the legal structure; the use of the model for the sale of large objects supposes a higher estimation of the woman; the terminology used for making a sale is not used in marriage nego- tiations. No-one ever says, 'I have bought a woman'.106 Y. Muffs has pointed out that both in Elephantine and Old Babylonian texts we find the comment, after the payment of the bride-price, that 'the heart' of the father of the bride was 'good', in other words, that he was satisfied. This phrase is well-known in sale contracts and in his opinion it supports the idea that sale was indeed the legal form used in Old Babylonian marriage transactions.107 We would add that the laws and contracts from this period punish by execution any initiative attempted by the woman to get divorced. She was understood to have been sold, so she could not free herself. B. Landsberger sees the word terhatu as a general expression, the woman's price, which was paid whenever there was still no actual bridegroom on the scene.108 Indeed in the case of 'adoption matrimoniale' (see Chapter 16) a very young girl was almost bought from her parents on payment of a terhatu. C. Wilcke rejects the cash payment theory but admits that the bringing of presents earlier can perhaps be seen as an expectation of 'cash on delivery'.109 He points out that 103 Archivum Anatolicum 1 (1995) 5, 7 no. 2, with p. 2. 104 CT 8 22b with M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 140 f. 105 D. 0. Edzard, C. Wilcke in: Studies S. N. Kramer (1976) 156-161, lines 234-236. 106 W. Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 311, cf. 317. 107 Y. Muffs, Studies in the Aramaic legal papyri from Elephantine (1969) 53-55, 84-86. 108 Symbolae M. David II(1968) 93 f. He agrees with Koschaker, although he rejects his subtle- ties ('Zuspitzungen'). Cf. R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 66 f. 109 'Familiengrundung', 256. The bride-price - 131 by bringing presents the bridegroom or his father is placing an obligation on the father-in-law (not on the bride herself). Koschaker saw it differently."4 The criticisms levelled against Koschaker are based more or less on legal history or sociology. New solutions have been offered in these fields. Disagree- ment among legal historians was focused chiefly on the original meaning of the bride-price and therefore of the marriage. However all parties freely admit that the bride-price may have developed into something completely different. First we should examine the criticism by legal historians and the alternatives. We find the longest list of objections, eight in all, in the dissertation of my fel- low-countryman, A. van Praag, which he wrote during the Second World War."1 Others agree with him on many points."2 A. van Praag refers to the legal prin- ciple non consensu sed re contrahitur, it is not through agreement but through something concrete that a commitment is entered into."3 Making an agreement is not enough in itself. There must be something tangible (res) which is trans- ferred, however insignificant. The bride-price was originally used for this, and it could deteriorate into a very small amount. In Roman law the phrase used is nummo uno, 'for one cent'."4 The Talmud shows that the bride-price shrank to the symbolic value of one peruta."5 If van Praag is right, we should see the oppo- site development taking place in Babylonia, with a symbolic amount developing into the full value of a woman. Incidentally, van Praag's idea, that in practice the pretium virginitatis was the price of giving up her virginity, is completely wrong."6 R. Westbrook also dismissed marriage as a form of sale, but sees an analogy with adoption."7 The keyword is the 'taking' (ahdzu) of the girl, that is to say, acquiring power over her."8 She went from the authority of her parents to that of her husband and in the process received the status of a wife (asstu). In adoption the person is also 'taken' (but then the word used is leqa) and there the legal status is also altered, for he becomes a child (mdrutu). But only marriage involves the payment of a 'price'. It does not give the purchaser any property, but it does 110 ArOr 18/3 (1950) 216 ff., on the 'dingliches Recht des Br utigams auf die Braut' (not dis- cussed by Wilcke). 111 A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial (1945) 138-144. 112 Driver and Miles, The Babylonian Laws I1(1952) 259-265; Westbrook, OBML, 53-58. 113 Droit matrimonial (1945) 146-148; accepted by Driver and Miles, 264 n. 2. 114 R. Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (1989) 175 f. 115 W. Mehlitz, Der jfdische Ritus in Brautstand und Ehe (1992) 141, who refers to Qidd. 1a. 116 R. Westbrook, OBML, 59b. - This supposed pretium pudicitiae in the Old Testament is a more widely held idea, rejected by Plautz, ZAW 76 (1964) 299 f., 302. 117 OBML, 58-60; also 84 f. 118 In the West-Semitic world to 'take' into marriage is named lequ; M. V. Tonietti in: Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff (2005) 259. 132 - The marriage gifts grant the right to 'take' her, to have control over her, according to Westbrook. At the same time the parents give up their control. The 'taking' itself is a phase yet to come, for at this point what is concerned is only the right to do the 'taking'. We note that Westbrook's idea only works for marrying off a young woman out of a family. Whenever an independent woman married, it was as much a matter of status as of contract and there was no question of a bride-price. W. F. Leemans does not accept Westbrook's theory. He cannot understand the reason for a payment in the case of adoption, and goes on to say that marriage was an older institution than adoption. Marriage can therefore not have been modelled on adoption. Moreover Leemans thought that sale came later than mar- riage, so marriage as a sale would also have been impossible. He saw the bride- price as compensation for the loss of labour.119 E. Lipinski agrees with this view and it is one also expressed by modern ethnologists.2 Yet another view is that the bride-price functioned as a 'security deposit' during the betrothal period. If the young man were to walk away, he would lose it. This explains the low amount asked.'12 This explanation however only partly works as one would expect the deposit to be given back at the wedding, but this did not happen.2 3.2.7 The views of an ethnologist This subject can be explored also through ethnology, especially regarding the importance of exchanging gifts. The bride-price then becomes primarily a gift in exchange for receiving something one wants to possess. Presents have a personal quality and create an enduring relationship, and appropriate reciprocation is expected.23 In Babylonia this was represented by the bride-price and the dowry. We can say that in principle this approach is perfectly feasible.24 We saw that the king of Mari sent a present for the bride herself and for her mother in Aleppo. In the Old Testament Abraham's servant also brought all sorts of things with him 119 Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis 69 (1991) 140. 120 E. Lipinski, Sulmu (1988) 174, 188. 121 A. Tosato, Il matrimonio israelitico (1982) 104 ('cauzione'). Cf. J. Goody, Die Entwicklung von Ehe und Familie in Europa (1989) 256 f. 122 Plautz, ZAW 76, 302, under 2. 123 J. Pedersen and M. Burrows; cf. Plautz, ZAW 76, 306-308. 124 J. M. Renger, Or. NS 42 (1973) 265-273; F. M. Fales in: S. Moscati, L'Alba della Civiltad I(1976) 206-209; the writings of C. Zaccagnini; M. I. Finley, 'Marriage, sale and gift in the Homeric world', in his Economy and Society in Ancient Greece (1982) 233 ff. The bride-price - 133 (Genesis 24). Certainly, when the marriage had lasted for some time, and the man would still be giving presents to his wife (Assyrian dumdqz), any evidence that a sale might have been involved is hard to find.125 Still, the texts show that some attention was paid to the reciprocal value of the gifts. This is precisely the reason that lists of gifts were made, as we see demonstrated in the correspond- ence between the kings of Western Asia and the Pharaoh.126 C. Zaccagnini shows that we cannot draw conclusions on the basis of a model where gifts have a purely social function.' The texts from Mari are somewhat more specific. We find there two beautifully preserved surveys of the dowry (nidittu) which Princess Simatum received, when she was married off to Haya-sumu, king of Ilan-sura.12' The values of the goods were in each instance calculated in shekels of silver, so that the total value might be worked out. Here it was almost twelve minas of silver. This value varied greatly from marriage to marriage. The most costly dowry we know from this period is the one which the king of Qatna gave to his daughter, Beltum, when she went to marry Yasmah-Addu of Mari. That came to ten talents of silver or 600 minas. Possibly this excluded five talents for the value of her clothes. Calculating the value of the dowry in silver was necessary, for it would be compared with the value of the bride-price which the other family was paying. In this case we know that the bride-price paid for this princess was four talents of silver. This is what King Samsi-Addu said in a letter to his son Yasmah-Addu, the bridegroom.129 For this reason in French the dowry is called the don and the bride-price the contre-don.30 In general the bride-price was much smaller than the dowry. In Mari it could be half the value of the dowry.'13 We see this also in the marriages of ordinary citizens. We could be speaking here of the first instalment, and the princess counted on a regular stream of presents from her spouse. Ethnologists have various insights which may help us. We often see that the dowry is really the inheritance of the girl. She received it in this form from her 125 Cf. Plautz, ZAW 76, 316 f. 126 On the wider context of gifts, reciprocity and the recording of the gifts, see J. J. Janssen, Gttinger Miszellen 48 (1981) 66. 127 C. Zaccagnini, 'On Late Bronze Age marriages', in: Studi E. Bresciani (1985) 593-605; contra F. Pintore. 128 ARMT 22 322 and ARMT 25 603, with B. Lafont in Durand, La Femme (1987) 118 f., 122f. Por- tions of them in ARM 31 nos. 27, 28. On the conversion of the value of goods in gold of silver, see F. Joannes, RA 83 (1989) 115. The equivalency gold-silver is normally 4 to 1, but here 5 (or 6) to 1. 129 ARM 1 46 = LAPO 18 (2000) 171 no.1006. See W. Horowitz, N. Wasserman, Amurru 3 (2004) 339. They think that a text found in Hazor describes a part of the payments at this marriage. 130 Lafont, 115 n. 10. 131 Lafont, 120 n. 20. 134 - The marriage gifts father before his death. This allowed the father to determine the extent of his gift, regardless of the value of the bride-price.32 We see this at work in the later Neo-Babylonian period. However the situation in Nuzi was quite the reverse. There the bride-price was higher than the dowry. K. Grosz points out that in India giving a dowry is customary among rich families and paying a bride-price is common among the poor. The latter may also be a disguise for selling one's own children. In Nuzi giving a dowry was also typically done by the higher classes. For the poor, the bride-price they received was an important source of income. They could not afford a dowry of their own but used some of the bride-price as an 'indirect dowry'. If these poor people had to give a dowry, their profit lay in the difference between it and the bride-price.33 It seems that as early as the betrothal some or all of the dowry would be made over to the man. We see this in a few divorces which must be regarded as provoked by a breach of promise. In one case nineteen shekels of silver had to be given back by the man and in another the situation had to be reverted so everyone was in the same position as before.34 We have seen that the Babylonian law-books speak comprehensively about what should be done with the dowry and the bride-price during the betrothal and the marriage if something went wrong, such as a breach of the agreement, death or childlessness. Van Praag suggests that the following principle applied: as long as no child had been born in the marriage, the wedding gifts could be taken back by the families.35 The close relation between the bride- price and children is also mentioned in ethnological studies, which led J. Goody to repeat the dictum, 'bridewealth is childwealth'.136 3.3 The dowry We shall now pay attention to the gift which the woman received from her father.37 In Sumerian texts it is called susumma,138 and in Old Babylonian nudunna, 'gift'. 132 Jack Goody, cf. K. Grosz, SCCNH 1(1981)161-163. 133 K. Grosz in: A. Cameron, A. Kuhrt, Images of Women in Antiquity (1983) 193-206. Grosz views both institutions as mutually exclusive, based on social class differences. Cf. Grosz, The Archive of the Wullu family (1988) 21 f. 134 BE 6/2 47; CT 45 86, according to Westbrook, OBML, 70b. The interpretation of the first case is uncertain: it should not be situated in the period of betrothal. 135 Droit matrimonial, 133. 136 Uwe Wesel, Der Mythos vom Matriarchat (1980) 99, 135. Cf. P. Gregorius, 170, 3. 137 R. Westbrook, 'Mitgift', RlA VIII/3-4 (1994) 273-283. 138 S. Greengus, HUCA 61(1990) 35 n. 48. The dowry - 135 We have called it the dowry (German Mitgift, French dot). Strangely enough the law-book of Hammurabi uses the word seriktu 'present', possibly following the terminology found in the laws of Lipit-Istar which has a similar-sounding Sumerian word.139 The Middle Assyrian laws also speak of a 'present' (sirku).144 A number of texts shed light on what was in the dowry. It was chiefly made up of household goods. For a princess who was married off to the son of a high-rank- ing official in the land of Elam, objects were fashioned in the royal workshops as presents.141 Items were registered carefully in marriage contracts, which were brought into the house of the other family and had to be recognisable as part of the dowry. Formally the objects were 'brought into the house of her father-in- law' and were 'entrusted' to her father-in-law. Elsewhere we see that the word 'to entrust' is used when fields are entrusted to a woman. It meant that she had the right to the usufruct of the land as long as she lived.142 In practice neither the father-in-law nor the husband was the owner of the fields. One has the impression that the dowry was handed over all at once. However one text defines 'a three- year-old cow, six headdresses' as 'the rest of the nudunna of the sugitu woman B'. This was to be 'given to PN, her father-in-law' within a month, so evidently that was his right.143 We find the dowry paid by instalments chiefly in Neo-Babylonian texts.144 This conflicts with the opinion of the sociologist J. Goody, who thought that all of the dowry would have been paid at once by the father directly, not as a phased payment of the bride-price. Before considering the dowry further, we should give the reader an impres- sion of what a typical dowry might contain. The example given below was a size- able dowry, given by a rich family and intended for a nun in the service of the god Marduk. These nuns were allowed to marry. Two (named) slave-girls, 6 shekels of gold as her ear-rings, 1 shekel of gold as her necklace, 2 bracelets of silver weighing 4 shekels, 4 finger-rings weighing 4 shekels, 10 garments, 20 head-dresses, 1 cloth of shorn wool, 2 upper garments, 1 leather bag, 1 ox, 2 three-year- old cows, 30 sheep, 20 minas (10 kg) of wool, 1 copper cauldron of 30 litres, 1 grindstone for fine flour, 1 grindstone for coarse flour, 1 bed, 5 chairs, 1 dressing-case, 1 ... -basket, 1 basket with sundry articles, 1 closed basket, 1 round basket, 60 litres of sesame-oil, 10 litres of 139 P. Koschaker, Rechtsvergleichende Studien (1917) 177 ff., and C. Wilcke, Studies F.R. Kraus (1982) 440, see this change of terminology as an innovation. 140 In a law of Ur-Nammu this 'gift' (sag-rig7), not the dowry but 'extradotal', could be given to the married daughter and when she dies, her husband can keep the gift until he marries again; M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 249 § B8, with 270 f.; C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 556 f. 141 BIN 9 438 with M. van de Mieroop, Crafts in the Early Isin period (1987) 108 f. 142 CT 48 20 rev. 5-10. 143 CT 48 84 with Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 269. 144 M. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 8 f. 136 - The marriage gifts first-rate oil in a flask, 1 table 'with a head', 1 ..., 2 combs for wool, 3 hair combs, 3 spoons (for make-up), 2... of the loom, 1 container filled with spinning equipment, 1 small pot-rack, 1 woman NN, her sister, 1 NN. All this is the dowry of Liwwir-Esagila, the nun of Marduk and the kulmasitu-nun, the daughter of Awil-Sin, which Awil-Sin, her father, the son of Imgur-Sin, gave to her and had brought into the house of Utul-Istar, head of the temple of Istar, for his son Warad-Samas.145 Mentioning 'her sister NN' towards the end of the document was important, for this is the woman who would bear children for the nun. She would have been a simple girl, adopted as a sister just for this purpose, a sugitu. We will return to this in Chapter 5, which deals with the second wife. Part of the dowry could be given in land according to some Sumerian texts.146 A simple list of silver, slaves and household goods could also conceivably have been someone's dowry. One Sumerian list ended with the general term 'gift', and an Akkadian list summarised it as what the woman had brought to her father-in- law, This is what Rubatum (a woman) brought into the house of her father-in-law PN.147 An Old Babylonian letter from a small town gives the verdict by the judges from the capital city, Babylon, about the restitution of a dowry. The fact that the high court dealt with it and informed a lower court points to a possible appeal to higher authority. The affair is also somewhat unusual. We see the mother of a married woman acting for her, and not her father. Perhaps he had died. The mother, Mattatum, had given the dowry to her daughter and won the case. Possibly her daughter's husband was also dead and she was reclaiming it from his father. Speak to Muhaddum, 'Thus say the judges of Babylon: May Samas and Marduk keep you in good health! Concerning the lawsuit of Ilsu-ibbisu, son of Warad-Sin, and Mattatum, we have seen their case and we have initiated proceedings against them according to the regulations of our lord and we have said to return to Mattatum all the dowry (nudunnu) that Mattatum had given to her daughter and had brought into the house of Ilsu-ibbisu. We have despatched a soldier with her. Let them give to Mattatum all the slave-girls and the children they (meanwhile) have borne (lit. all that is living which can now be seen)!'148 145 BE 6/1 84 with G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws I(1956) 253, S. Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 60 f., C. Wilcke, Studies F. R. Kraus (1982) 457 f., TUAT NF 1(2004) 31. Large dowries: S. Dal- ley, 'Old Babylonian dowries', Iraq 42 (1980) 53-74; L. Barberon, RHD 81(2003) 8 n. 25. 146 C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 64 f. 147 Sumerian: P. Steinkeller, J. N. Postgate, Third millennium texts in Baghdad (1992) no. 7 (term nig.e.a = shbultum; Festschrift B. Kienast [2003] 561). Akkadian: UET 5 793 (I see this text as a scribal exercise in school). 148 YOS 2 25 = AbB 9 25. The dowry - 137 We learn from ethnology that the dowry also constituted the daughter's inher- itance. She received it from her father to take with her and it served her as a form of security for the future. Legally speaking it was a 'pre-mortem inheritance'.149 A reference to this can be found in the laws of Hammurabi: If a father awards a dowry to his daughter who is a sugitu, gives her to a husband, and records it for her in a sealed document, after the father has died, she will not have a share of the property of the paternal estate (§183). A 'sealed document' like that may be referred to in another text, about a father and a mother who had given their daughter an amount of household equipment, which she 'had brought into the house of Ili-usati, her husband'. The two sen- tences that follow, if the text is correctly restored, state, 'They gave her the inher- itance (aplutu). Her brothers shall not press a claim'.50 There is a description of the dowry for L., which ends with 'he (or she) will give the girl L. to a husband'. Evidently the size of the dowry had already been determined long before the girl L. was married off. She had the right to a dowry.151 However the power of decision of the woman could be limited. After listing the rich dowry of Geme-Asalluhi, it was decided that her heirs would be her brother 'and the sons of Geme-Asalluhi who would come'. The word 'come' is deliberately used. Its meaning is so general that it could also apply to adopted sons. The woman was married, but she had a pious sounding name so she could well have been a nun. In that case she was only allowed to adopt children. The dowry was the inheritance of the woman, but what would happen after her death, was determined from the start. We see that also with an ordinary woman whose husband had died.'12 It is interesting that her father secured in this way an inher- itance which would pass through his daughter to the grandchildren. Only then would the 'patrilineal line' be continued.153 L. Barberon has drawn attention to the fact that the Old Babylonian dowry was and remained the property of the woman.54 She was the titular owner and the man was the administrator. If there were problems, as far as possible everything 149 Doubts exist about this; A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial (1945) 173 f. (contra: Westbrook, OBML, 89 f.); F. R. Kraus in Essays on Oriental laws of succession (1969) 13 f. 150 K. van Lerberghe, OLA 21 no. 72:22f., i-na(?)-a[d-di-nu](?) ah-hu-sa 0-ul i-[...]. 151 MHET 11 (Di 723) with L. Barberon in: F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 284. 152 S. Dalley, Edinburgh no.15. Otherwise Barberon, RHD 81(2003) 7. 153 Barberon, 10. 154 L. Barberon, 'Le mari, sa femme et leurs biens: une approche sur la dot dans les rapports patrimoniaux du couple en Mesopotamie d'apres la documentation pal6o-babylonienne', Revue historique de droit franqais et 6tranger (RHD) 81(2003) 1-14. 138 - The marriage gifts went back to the wife or her family, and if there were children, they inherited the dowry. There are three marriage contracts where a second 'father' of the woman is mentioned, who was 'responsible for her affairs'. Possibly he supervised things for her family."5 Or perhaps he was the biological father of an adopted girl. Bar- beron noted that the father or the brothers of the woman retained the documents concerning the dowry and took the precaution of keeping the evidence so that they could have the right to claim it back if there were no children.'56 When a married woman became a mother, she was in a strong position. If her husband left her and the children, he also lost the 'house and furniture'. Sometimes it happened that the dowry was not mentioned. This appeared to be the case for poor families, and in one instance the man promised to 'clothe' his wife.157 We know several details about the gift which a nun (naditu) received from her father. After her death it would pass to her brothers. If the brothers did not fulfil their responsibilities, such as maintaining their sister, then she was able to decide to dispose of it however she wanted. The laws of Hammurabi give this rule about her possession of real estate and earlier legal texts confirm this.58 On the other hand, §178 said about her father that 'in the tablet that he records for her he does not grant her written authority to give her estate (warkatu) to whomever she pleases and does not give her full discretion'. From this we must deduce that the father indeed had the right to do this. Surely this must then not have concerned an incidental gift but the inheritance. It is said that in Nuzi the dowry was the inheritance of the daughter, but no evidence has been given.159 Clauses in wills do indeed give daughters an inher- itance, but with the proviso that their children should eventually receive it. The dowry called mulugu could even contain real estate but this could not be sold by her.160 In the Neo-Babylonian period the dowry remained with the woman, but had to remain as an inheritance within the family.161 155 Barberon, 8 n. 24; S. Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 54 ('a mediator'); Westbrook, OBML, 33 f. ('guard- ian'); L. Barberon, Les religieuses et le culte de Marduk dans le royaume de Babylone (2012) 156, 187 ('the grandfather'). This 'father' is attested in BAP 7:25, 29, CT 48 50:12, 29; CT 48 55:8, 29-30, BM 96982:15 (in Seth Richardson, The collapse of a complex state II [2000] 233). More in Chapter 16, note 6. 156 Barberon in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 273-288. 157 Barberon, RHD 81(2003) 11f. 158 CH §178 f. with R. Harris, Or. NS 30 (1961) 163-169. 159 K. Grosz in SCCNH 1 (1981) 161-163, and in B. S. Lesko, Women's earliest records (1989) 171. 160 J. Paradise, JCS 32 (1980) 200 f., n. 46; 204 f. 161 M. Roth in Lesko, Women's earliest records (1989) 252. The dowry - 139 In the Neo-Assyrian period the girl received a dowry (nunduna) from her family, and this word was also used for gifts from her husband, which were made later.'62 In fact these presents were her inheritance paid to her while he was alive. The few texts which speak of this wish to determine the nature and value of these presents. One expensive present was made up as follows: gold and silver objects and costly clothing; household items, such as a bronze bed and a copper chair; 'trifling items' made of wood or stone. In the Neo-Babylonian period we hear no more about the price paid for a bride, and the dowry is now the central theme in the marriage arrangements among the rich. A typical dowry consisted of: silver, land, houses, and slaves; household goods, furniture, textiles and jewellery.163 In a few late texts the value in silver is given item by item. How these lists are made up is somewhat different and is similar to those for Jewish marriages in Egypt.164 'Silver' can also stand for the value of bonds and even claims in a commercial partnership which might devolve upon the woman.165 The husband would have enjoyed any usufruct from the silver, land, houses and slaves, but that could be a risky business. With poor management a man might dissipate his wife's dowry, by taking certain items, such as slaves and land, and exchanging them for silver.166 This happened in the family Egibi, as we shall see later. Loans could be made and large sums of money could disappear. Lawsuits were brought by widows with such complaints.167 As early as in the Old Babylonian period such deceptions used to occur. A woman was imprisoned 'on account of her father', because of his debts. When she was released she found that her husband had in the meanwhile taken another wife and had squandered 162 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 163 f. 163 M. T. Roth, 'The material composition of the Neo-Babylonian dowry', Af0 36-37 (1989-90) 1-55; K. Abraham, 'The dowry clause in marriage documents from the first millennium B.C.E.', CRRAI 38 [Paris] (1992) 311-320, with C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 29 n. 6. 164 Abraham, 312, 315. 165 G. van Driel, Phoenix 38 (1992) 35. 166 M. T. Roth calls this 'dowry conversions'. M. Jursa, Das Archiv des Bel-remanni (1999) 37, says 'Mitgiftkonvertierungen'. Cf. Wunsch, AfO 42-43 (1995-96) 43a; F. Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 46; CTMMA III (2000) no.133 ('instead of the dowry'). 167 Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 37 f.; Wunsch, Die Urkunden des babylonischen Geschuftsmannes Iddin-Marduk (1993) 68 n. 263; M. Roth, JCS 43-45 (1991-93) 11-20; A history of Ancient Near East- ern law II(2003) 941 f. Another example of a son-in-law with debts: G. van Driel, Phoenix 38 (1992) 34. 140 - The marriage gifts all her dowry. She demanded it back, and the man admitted the extent of the loss of the dowry, and the marriage was ended.'68 From the Neo-Babylonian period there is a similar case. In it a widow demanded the return of her dowry from the son of the first wife of her husband. He had lost a great amount. Even the dowry of the first wife had been used up, valued at 1.5 minas. Both women now received compensation from the tiny amount of land and a few slaves belonging to the man, three quarters and one quarter of what remained respectively. The judges decided that he was penniless and so his wife would have to maintain him.169 This misappropriation of assets where the husband was caught 'dipping into the till' must have been a problem thoughout the generations. In Emar a brother 'devoured' the dowry set aside for his four sisters and was brought before the king for judgement." However, in the Neo-Babylonian period a part of the dowry called 'the basket' (quppu) was set aside for the woman alone. It was a quantity of silver, or sometimes gold.'17 Once we hear of ten minas for the woman, of which three were placed 'in the basket'. The seven remaining were left for the male to deal with.72 The main household effects consisted of the basket, a bed, a chair, and two stools.73 The woman could also receive slaves for her own use (the mulugu). In Borsippa it was women who lent out money. If this was for longer than nine months the interest was 20 /o and a security was required. The short-term loans which concerned small amounts were not so strict. One assumes that the women used the money from their dowries for financing these credits.74 The dowry in the Neo-Babylonian period was often paid in instalments and the process could last for years.75 Whenever we read 'He gave the dowry', often what is meant is that he promised to give it. Sometimes it is expressed more 168 M. Jursa, RA 91 (2004) 135-145, with F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie (2000) 93-95. 169 Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie, 234-238 no. 173; TUAT NF 1(2004)107-109. 170 J. G. Westenholz, The Emar tablets (2000) 9-12 no.3; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 153 f. Suspicions about similar misdeeds in the Old Babylonian period: Westbrook, OBML, 94a. 171 M. T. Roth, AfO 36-37 (1989-90) 6-9; R. Westbrook, 'Mitgift', RlA VIII/3-4 (1994) 275 § 2.1.5, 281b; C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 27 no.7:10. 172 C. Wunsch, Iddin-Marduk I(1993) 67. 173 Wunsch, AfO 42-43 (1995-96) 45a, 63 no.13:15. 174 F. Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 107; M. Jursa, Das Archiv des Bel-remanni (1999) 36. 175 Paying the dowry in instalments (also apparent from 'the remainder' of a dowry): R. West- brook, 'Mitgift', 281a; M. T. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 8 n. 40; Roth, JAOS 111 (1991) 22a, 23b, 29-31; C. Wunsch, Iddin-Marduk I(1993) 71 f., 79; F. Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 33; H. Petschow, ZSS 76 (1959) 77 n. 127; M. Jursa, RA 97 (2003) 52 n. 30; id., Das Archiv des Bel-remanni (1999) 35 n. 110. The dowry - 141 clearly as 'He made a promise'.176 A mother who was a widow married off her daughter, but she was only actually to receive the dowry 'if she [bore] a son or daughter'.7 Perhaps the last instalment of the dowry was paid out on the birth of the first child.78 It is noteworthy that here the possibility of the birth of a daugh- ter is explicitly mentioned. As long as no children had been born, the dowry belonged in principle to the family of the woman, and had to be given back if she remained childless (C. Wunsch).'79 In this case however the husband of this bride would soon die. She had had no children and so she gave her property back to her mother.180 The Neo-Babylonian laws deal with the dowry and what they say accords well with what happened in practice (§8-15).181 We will examine the clauses that are well-preserved. Both parties have to agree with each other on the transfer of wealth and the father of the man may not change the conditions (§8). If the father of the bride is reduced to poverty he may lower the amount of the dowry. This is again indirect evidence that the dowry was paid in instalments. It is thought that this was done so as not to disadvantage her brothers (§9). §12 deals firstly with the return of the dowry and the 'gift' by the man to the woman who remains childless when her husband predeceases her. The law ends with the possibility that the woman has no dowry and is left alone: The judge shall examine the wealth of her husband and give something to her in keeping with the wealth of her husband. A woman could not inherit and therefore this action had to be taken. In § 13 the woman had children and so she enjoyed the usufruct. In § 15 the woman died, the man remarried and had children by both women. The sons of the first wife should receive after his death two-thirds of his wealth, and those from the second mar- riage one-third. There follows a ruling on 'their sisters', but there the clay tablet 176 'To give' meaning 'to promise to give': Roth, Marriage agreements, 8 n. 40; M. Stol, The care of the elderly (1998) 81. M. Roth translates literal 'he gave' as 'he promised to give'. 'To promise', discussed by Roth, 8 note 40, now also in in Akkadica 122 (2001) 65; the NB law-book § 9 (qabu). 177 VAS 6 95:26 f. with NRVU no. 3, Roth, 54-56 no.10. 178 M. Roth in B. S. Lesko, Womens' earliest records (1989) 250. 179 C. Wunsch in G. Leick, The Babylonian world (2007) 245. 180 NRVU no. 23; Roth, 56. 181 Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 29-34. Hardly known among Assyriologists is the broad commentary on the Neo-Babylonian laws, illustrated by examples from daily life, by H. Petschow in Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte, Romanistische Abteilung 76 (1959) 37-96. 142 - The marriage gifts is broken. These laws show sensitivity to the position of the woman and this was characteristic of the Neo-Babylonian period. A few further details deserve to be mentioned. The dowry could be returned.182 A woman whose husband had died would marry his brother. She divided her dowry and goods equally between her son and her new husband.183 A man made his will and gave his wife the usufruct; their two sons inherited what was left after her death. However they had to give their sister a dowry: three minas of silver, four slaves, and household effects. Was this perhaps a standard dowry?184 3.3.1 The Egibi family The transfer of the dowry and other items of property can best be exemplified from the archive of a rich family descended from a man called Egibi. From these documents it is possible to follow the family for five generations in the Neo-Baby- lonian period, for around 100 years, from Nebuchadnezzar to Xerxes.185 An Egibi of the second generation gave his wife slaves and a field, from which she had the usufruct. He decided that after her death their sons should have everything. She benefited for twenty years from this and on her death the sons divided the legacy. There were two daughters. We know about the dowry of the first, which she received when she married another Egibi. The second was a moneylender and also had other business interests. By now we have reached the third generation and the firm was being directed by Itti-Marduk-balatu, the eldest son. He married Nuptaya, a woman from another rich family, the daughter of Iddin-Marduk. We have his archive also.186 Her dowry was magnificent: 24 minas of silver, slaves and household goods. It is striking that the women who married into the Egibi family brought much wealth with them, whilst the family themselves made a smaller contribution. It may have been an honour and a prestige to marry an Egibi. The 24 minas of silver was paid in instalments to her father-in-law over eight years. He died early and Itti-Marduk-balatu took over the family firm. Soon he wrote a will 182 CTMMA III (2002) no.122. 183 TCL 12174 with F. Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 41. 184 Roth, JCS 43-45 (1991-93) 8 (lines 23-26). 185 We follow C. Wunsch, 'Die Frauen der Familie Egibi', AfO 42-43 (1995-96) 33-63. Succinct is Wunsch in: G. Leick, The Babylonian world (2007) 244 f. Cf. the earlier studies by M. T. Roth, 'The dowries of the women of the Itti-Marduk-balatu family', JAOS 111 (1991) 19-37; Wunsch, Die Urkunden des babylonischen Geschuftsmannes Iddin-Marduk I(1993) 78-85; E. von Dassow, CTMMA III (2002) 86-92. 186 C. Wunsch, Iddin-Marduk (1993). The dowry - 143 in his own hand, in which he made over all his wealth 'in the city and in the coun- tryside' to his wife and their three children.187 His haste was perhaps necessary because King Cyrus of Persia had occupied Babylon. We know that Itti-Marduk- balatu lived for a few years in Persia and in that turbulent time he managed his money wisely by reserving it for his own family. Nuptaya also once received from her father a third of his wealth by will, and we know that both families worked together in the food trade, dealing in garlic, onions and dates. The couple had two sons and a daughter. A charming letter was written by Itti-Marduk-balatu to his mother, in which he asks about the wellbeing of both his in-laws and, at the end, of his children, whom he mentions by name and in order of age.188 Then Nuptaya died, and her father made another will in which he provided for his own wife, Ina-Esaggil-ramat, a competent business- woman. She received for her permanent possession the house and fifteen slaves and she probably also enjoyed the usufruct from the remainder. He also arranged that after the death of their grandmother, his wife, his three grandsons and three granddaughters would inherit everything. His claims on the related Egibi family became void after this and we see how the families grew together. There is no mention of the brother of Nuptaya and one assumes that he would have inher- ited according to the appropriate laws. Women were unable to inherit and for them this sort of ruling is encountered. The daughters of Nuptaya grew up and each received a dowry. They also received gifts from their grandfather's estate, willed to them. The eldest was now at most twelve years old and her bridegroom was already known. He came from a business family who were family friends. Her dowry was double the normal, which would seem to fit in with the custom of giving the eldest son a double portion of the inheritance. However the girl died and her intended bridegroom was allowed to marry her younger sister. The younger daughter was barely nine years old and received a very small dowry. Her grandmother supplemented it and paid it in three stages - to the bridegroom, of course.189 The brother of these two girls married Amat-Baba and his wife brought with her a large dowry: thirty minas of silver, five slaves, household goods and a garden. In the ascription only the grandparents on the mother's side were men- tioned, Iddin-Marduk and Ina-Esaggil-ramat. His father may well have been dead and the dowry was passed on to them. Fifteen years later it appeared that the dowry had been traded with or exchanged, and the woman received compensa- tion. The daughter of this couple brings us to the fifth generation. The contract 187 Wunsch, 37b. 188 CT 22 6 with H. D. Baker, Festschrift Christopher Walker (2002) 10. 189 Thus C. Wunsch, Iddin-Marduk I, 71 f. 144 - The marriage gifts about her dowry tells that five minas of silver was paid to the bridegroom, and that a field, slaves, and household goods would be paid out 'on the day when he will marry her'. The last payment would take place nine years later. Notice that the silver was paid first. The mother, Amat-Baba, transferred money from her own dowry to her daughters. Their father was the first witness to this gift. There was also a brother who married, and traded with the dowry of his wife. 3.3.2 The dowry of princesses Married off princesses sometimes received a very large dowry. Princess Simatum from Old Babylonian Mari received goods worth twelve minas of silver.190 Her list, and those of other princesses, seemed to be made up of categories of goods in a set order: jewels or semi-precious stones; gold and silver objects; bronze uten- sils; garments and cloth; wooden furniture; and personnel, which consisted of named slave-girls. The dowry (nidittu) for Princess Tizpatum was composed of three minas of silver, six slaves, thirty-three sheep and two cattle. It was paid in two instalments and also converted into silver, a total of four and two thirds minas and one shekel of silver.191 Princesses from Asia on their way to Egypt brought amazing gifts with them. The goods are summarized in some Middle Babylonian letters. Gold was expected from Egypt in return for the princess, but also for other services. The begging letters always name the purpose for which they wanted the gold. King Tusratta of Mitanni explained that the required gold ('unworked') was intended for the mausoleum of his grandfather, and 'secondly' as a bride-price.192 Many times Egypt is represented as a land with particularly rich reserves of gold. 'Gold in your country is like dust', said the king of Assyria. The king of Mitanni wrote twice, 'In the land of my brother, gold is as plentiful as dust'.193 Egypt seems to have been a byword for such riches. From the other side, Mitanni and Babylonia could offer lapis lazuli and horses with waggons as presents.194 The dowry (mulugu) was composed chiefly of beautiful things and they are listed on large clay tablets, sometimes divided into four columns. There are many objects we cannot identify. 190 ARMT 22 322 and ARMT 25 603; now ARM 31 27, 28. A lengthy discussion of two dowries (ARM 9 20; 31 27): D. Charpin, 'Le dot de la princesse mariote Inbatum', in: T. Tarhan, Muhibbe Darga armagan (2008) 159-172. 191 ARM 9 246 with L. Marti, NABU 2003/40. 192 EA 19:43-58. 193 EA 16:14, 19:61, 20:52. 194 P. S. Vermaak in: G. Leick, The Babylonian world (2007) 521 f. Gifts from the man - 145 That was difficult even at that time also and that is the reason why after many a strange word the translation is added in Egyptian.195 There is a list of horses, waggons, whips, lances and many, many articles of war, summarised in these words: These are the presents for the marriage (?), everything which Tusratta, king of Mitanni gave to Nimmureya [Amenophis III], king of Egypt, his brother and son-in-law. At the time when he gave Taduhepa, his daughter, to Egypt, to Nimmureya in marriage - then he gave all of this. What sort of presents were they? What would a princess do with a war chariot? It is supposed that the Pharaoh had paid it earlier as a bride-price for the princess, but that now everything was being returned to him as an 'indirect dowry'.196 We saw that this was usual in Nuzi. Sending the caravan back and forwards seems to us rather exaggerated and we should see it rather as just one present within the exchange of many others.197 Was it compensation for too great a quantity of gold, paid by the Pharaoh as a bride-price? 3.4 Gifts from the man Hammurabi determined that a man could always give his wife real estate and other property. If this is set down in writing, after the death of the man his sons may not claim the inheritance, but his wife 'may give her legacy to her favourite son'. This way it stayed in the family (§150). A man could give jewellery to his wife, and in the Middle Assyrian period she could keep this if he divorced her without a reason.198 In Assyria a man gave silver, furniture and various objects as a present (nunduna) to his wife who was a devotee of the goddess Istar.199 The Neo-Babylonian laws spoke of the possibility that the man might have given his wife a gift (iriktu). If the man were to die and there were no children, she could take this gift and the dowry (§12). A marriage between Egyptians, carried out in Susa in Persia, with the con- tract recorded on a clay tablet, mentions a generous gift by the man to his father- in-law, called a biblu. To reciprocate there was a dowry (nudunna) with cloth- 195 EA 13, 25. 196 W. L. Moran, Les lettres d'El Amarna (1987) 136, on EA 22 iv 52. He follows F. Pintore. 197 C. Zaccagnini in Studi E. Bresciani (1985) 596 f. 198 Westbrook, 'Mitgift', 278b. 199 StAT 2184 (= A. 310) with K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 164. 146 - The marriage gifts ing and household goods. Both the bride-price and the dowry were valued at a hundred shekels.200 Such a gift on the part of the bridegroom was rare at this time and it can be attributed to Egyptian customs.201 But a text from Sippar also speaks of the biblu, jewels to the value of seventy shekels of silver, given by the bridegroom and placed on the bride by his mother. The text includes the phrase, 'apart from the dowry of five minas which they have received'.202 So a dowry had preceded this gift. 200 F. Joannes, RA 78 (1984) 75; M. T. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) nos. 34 f. with p.11 f. The structure of the text reminds one of Egyptian law, see K. Abraham, 'The dowry clause in marriage documents from the first millennium B. C. E.', in: D. Charpin, F. Joannes, CRRAI 38 [Paris] (1992) 311-320. 201 E. Lipinski sees in it West-Semitic customary law; Transeuphratene 4 (1991) 68 f. 202 C. Waerzeggers, Akkadica 122 (2001) 65-70; K. Abraham, Af0 51 (2005-06) 204 f. 4 The family At the beginning of the Chapter 2, on marriage, we saw how much a happy family life was appreciated. That was why the innkeeper Siduri recommended this to the hero of the Gilgamesh epic. However, before delving into the Babylonian family life, we must investigate some preliminary conditions. When the time comes for a couple to start a family, what are they going to do? Just climbing on to the couch is not enough (Figure 13). Some very careful thought will be needed beforehand. The sexually intimate relationship between a man and a woman is one of the themes of a large Babylonian handbook known as Summa dlu. This text is a compilation predicting the significance of almost anything anyone will experience in a lifetime. Various aspects of human behav- iour are itemised towards the end, and tablets 103 and 104 are concerned with the things that can happen during sexual intercourse. Tablet 103 (only partly pre- served) describes a man 'going' to a woman and explains the consequences of adopting different positions for the act. One sentence states: If a man goes to her crotch: restraint will overcome him; he will be in a bad mood.1 Often specific rituals are prescribed, 'so that the (predicted) evil may not come near him'.2 Tablet 104 concerns odd situations in the bedroom and begins with this statement: If a man approaches an older woman he will have quarrels daily. By now it has become clear that this manual is concerned with a man having sex with any willing woman and not only with his legal sweetheart. These situations are beyond the scope of this chapter so they will be passed over speedily.3 More- over, nothing will be said about some suggestive clay models of bedroom scenes and the like which have been found.4 1 KAL 1107 no. 35:18; see further the translations by A. K. Guinan in: W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture I1(1997) 425 nos. 45-48. 2 A. K. Guinan, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 187 f. 3 J. C. Pangas, Aula Orientalis 6 (1988) 211-226. For some examples see Guinan, The Context of Scripture I, nos. 49-51; see also Guinan, 'De houding ten aanzien van sexualiteit in Mesopotamia: Akkadische gedragsomina', Phoenix 25 (1979) 68-81. 4 N. Cholidis, Mdbel in Ton (1992) 141-172, Tafel 39-42. On p.167-169 there is a discussion on the scenes cast in lead found at Assur. It is possible that this position is described in the handbook, as translated by Guinan (no. 46, with n. 74): 'If a man "goes" to a woman lying on her back and B-C-N 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 148 - The family Fig. 13: A married couple from Nippur. 2600 BC. Limestone. Height 14,5 cm. Iraq Museum, Baghdad. 4.1 Impotence For a man hoping for heirs, and all men entertained that hope, any questions of impotence needed to be treated seriously. One possible explanation of this afflic- tion suggested that it was the result of sorcery or of the wrath of the gods and they had specific rituals with incantations to be conducted as a remedy.' But natural causes could also be blamed, such as when a man her feet go around the back of his neck: wherever he goes, god, king and noble will be agreeable'. An exhaustive survey of human intercourse visualised in art, with numerous positions that can be adopted, is described by J. S. Cooper, RIA IV/4-5 (1975) 259-269, 'Heilige Hochzeit'. 5 R. D. Biggs, 'The Babylonian sexual potency texts', CRRAI 47/I (2002) 71-78. Biggs edited the texts in his book SA.ZLGA. Ancient Mesopotamian potency incantations (1967). For the magic by which the Hittites countered this problem see D. Schwemer, Phoenix 49 (2003) 18-21; the texts were translated in M. W. Chavalas, Women in the Ancient Near East (2014) 262-265. Impotence - 149 through old age, or through a 'blow', or through 'fierce heat', or because of 'the reversing of the warchariot', is in a diminished state to come to a woman. 'In order that he may regain his virility and go to a woman' it is prescribed that he drink a concoction made from seven plants, bring a frankincense offering to the goddess Istar, and recite an incantation seven times. He must drink the potion for three days and on the fourth day he will be better.' A Sumerian anecdote describes an old man complaining that his physical strength is failing, saying My manly strength has left my loins like a runaway donkey. My black mountain produces (white) plaster. My mother has sent a man from the woods to me and he inflicts me with numb hands. The following remark is probably something about a reduced sense of smell, and then the text continues: My teeth, which could chew hard things are no longer able to chew hard things. My urine used to break forth as a strong stream but now ... He complains that his son had not fed him and the young slave-girl he had hired had treated him badly. When the king heard of it he consulted a wise woman who said: Sire, if only the old man would marry a young woman ... the old man would get his manli- ness back and the young woman would get the status of a matron. Accordingly the king spoke to a girl, and she did not say no, but then the text is broken so we shall never know whether the man felt better.' The same prescrip- tion was devised for King David in the later years of his life: King David was now a very old man, and, though they wrapped clothes around him, he could not keep warm. His attendants said to him, 'Let us find a young virgin for your majesty, to attend you and take care of you; and let her lie in your arms, sir, and make you warm.' After searching throughout Israel for a beautiful maiden, they found Abishag, a Shu- namite, and brought her to the king. She was a very beautiful girl. She took care of the king and waited on him, but he did not have intercourse with her (1 Kings 1:1-4). 6 Biggs, Potency incantations, 52 (AMT 88,3). 7 B. Alster, 'The old man and the young girl', Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 384-390; R. Har- ris, Gender and aging (2000) 55-57; A. Gadotti in Chavalas, Women, 65-67. 150 - The family A Sumerian literary text recounts a conversation between a bird-catcher and his wife. Apparently he had become a little drunk and was having trouble setting up his equipment, so she tells him: Fowler, let your net be drawn up, let the bird rise!" She could well be using sexually suggestive language here as she advises him to get on with the job. To relieve frustration one could turn to reciting an incantation such as this: Let the wind blow! Let the mountains [quak]e!, Let the clouds gather! Let the moisture fall! Let the donkey swell up! Let him mount the jenny! Let the buck get an erection! Let him again and again mount the ... young she-goat. At the head of my bed is tied a buck! At the foot of my bed is tied a ram!' But others are more direct, with no obtuse references to randy animals. Let my potency be flowing river water! Let my penis be a (taut) harp string, so that it will not slip out of her!10 Incantations like these would have been recited at the same time as conducting a simple ritual. These rituals often involve using two powdered minerals, mag- netic haematite and iron. These materials have a natural strong power of attrac- tion which made them particularly suited for the activity they were intended to promote. The ancient directions require each of them to be mixed with oil sepa- rately. The haematite paste was then spread over the man's navel, and the iron paste over the woman's. You crush magnetic iron ore, you mix (it) with puru-oil. You recite the incantation seven times. You apply (it) to his navel. You crush iron, you mix (it) with puru-oil. You recite the incantation seven times over (it). You apply (it) to the woman's navel. The man and the woman [will find satisfaction] together.11 8 SP 21 Section A 5, with B. Alster, 'The fowler and his wife', 371 f.; V. Haas, Babylonischer Lie- besgarten (1999) 136 f. 9 Biggs, Potency incantations, 33 no.14:1-6; for full translations see TUAT II/2 (1987) 274; B. R. Foster, Before the Muses II(1993) 886; Chavalas, Women, 107 f. 10 Biggs, 35 no.15:14-16; Foster, 884. 11 Biggs, 22 f. no. 6:14-17. Impotence - 151 Another text prescribes that a couple should make these mixtures of haematite and iron in oil, and with one the man would smear his penis and the woman her genitals.'2 The man could ensure his virility by simply wearing the magnetic haematite in a leather pouch around his neck,'3 or he could smear his penis, his breast and his hips with it.'4 In order to retain his virility, the man is recom- mended to wear around his neck a leather bag containing the blood of a male partridge and a bristle from a sexually aroused pig.15 A Sumerian proverb, which was passed on to the Babylonians, shows a general awareness of such intimate foreplay, by reminding everyone that however carefully one prepared things may go wrong. The literal translation is: What has never yet happened: the young maid did not break wind on her husband's lap. But English prefers to avoid such double negatives, the proverb can be rendered as It always happen that the young maid will break wind into her husband's lap.16 This sense of humour, dating back to the beginnings of human history, four thou- sand years ago, resonates with what can be heard in school playgrounds today. Often married couples are represented in a genial manner. More formally one limestone sculpture from Nippur (2600 BC) shows a seated man and woman with fixed expressions (Figure 14). Their hands are clasped together on her lap. The style is archaic.'7 By contrast terracottas from Old Babylonian Lagash and Ur (1800 BC) are more lively, with the man and woman standing facing each other about to embrace (Figure 15).18 We rarely see the king and queen pictured together. 12 Biggs, 33 no. 14:15-17, with TUAT II/2 (1987) 274; Biggs, 18 no. 2:9-11; 42 no. 23:14-16; 63 LKA 98:13-16. 13 Biggs, 52 AMT 66,1:9-10; 61 LKA 95:22; 62 LKA 96 rev. 8-9; 66 STT 280 i 55. 14 Biggs, 17 no.1:18 f. 15 T. Abusch, D. Schwemer, Corpus of Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft rituals I (2011) 104, 112 no.2:4. 16 SP 1.12 with J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 98 f. 17 W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient (1975) plate 20 with p. 164; J. M. Sasson, Civilizations of the Ancient Near East IV (1995) 2473. Similarly in Mari (2500 B. C.), in the catalogue Land des Baal. Syrien - Forum der Vlker und Kulturen (1982) 74 no. 65. The heads of both the man and the woman are broken off, see Festschrift B. Groneberg (2010) 193 Abb. 6 (Mari). 18 Orthmann, plate 184a with p. 302 (Lagash); J. Reade, Mesopotamia (1991) 81 fig. 90 (Ur). 152 - The family -- .r r id Fig. 15: On what may be a votive offering to achieve a fertile marriage is portrayed a couple drawing closer together on a bed. Susa, 1500 BC. Terracotta. Height 12.8 cm. Teheran Museum. Fig. 14: A married couple from Lagash. 1800 BC. Terracotta. Height 11 cm. Musde du Louvre, Paris. 4.2 Children The arrival of children raises a subject which the Sumerians knew only too well: Marrying is a human affair; getting children is a matter for the gods (Sumerian Proverbs 1.160). How many children did a family normally have? The delightful relief of Ur-Nanse, the ruler of Lagash (Figure 16), shows him in two different settings. In the upper register he is standing erect, as the builder of a temple with a worker's basket on his head. In the lower register he is seated and holding a beaker. The eleven people with him, including eight children depicted on a smaller scale, are named in the inscription. Facing him in the upper register, from left to right we have Children - 153 Fig. 16: Ur-Nanse, ruler of the city of Lagash, shown standing with a basket on his head, as builder of a temple, and sitting with a beaker in his hand, when his work was complete. The twelve persons surrounding him are all identified by name, and his eight children are depicted smaller. 2500 BC. Limestone. Height 40 cm. Musde du Louvre, Paris. Abda, daughter; Akurgal, son; Lugalezen, son; Anikura, son; Mukurmusta, son. Opposite him in the lower register are three more sons, and there are also three officials. His heir and sucessor was his son Akurgal.19 An administrator of the mountain people, the Gutium, dedicated a relief for the life of S., his king, the life of his wife (and) children. 19 J. S. Cooper, Sumerian and Akkadian royal inscriptions I. Presargonic inscriptions (1986) 22 f. (Urn. 20); for a photo see Ktema 22 (1997) fig. 18a, with p. 72. On the images: L. Romano in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 183-192. 154 - The family A few damaged figures with captions have been preserved, including his wife and two sons.20 One prominent Sumerian boasts of belonging to a well-heeled family. My mother is a matronly lady who has built her house; ten slaves work for her. My father is a general, a judge of the king. My brothers are soldiers of the king, each commanding fifty men. My sisters stand like doors in the respectable women's quarters.21 From Old Babylonian inheritance records we see that up to eight adult children could inherit. On average it was three children,22 and in the better-off families six to eight.23 Pusu-ken, a merchant from Assyria, had four sons and one daughter.24 From a myth about the underworld we understand that the prevailing attitude among fathers was to have as many children as possible. It can be summarised as 'the more sons the better', with seven being the highest number (Gilgamesh XII 102-117). In a handbook with predictions derived from human births we come across a short treatise on what will happen if a woman bears multiple births at one time. Here the maximum of children is eight.25 A Sumerian proverb takes pity on a mother who has given birth to them. A mother who has given birth to eight youths lies down in weakness (SP 2.141). When the names of members of families who were deported are listed the numbers are not necessarily reliable. Some individuals could have been away at the time, for families were quickly broken up with different members moving around to work in different places.26 From the Middle Assyrian period we have a brief account of some 200 Hurrians who were deported from the northern uplands and put to work building the new royal city of Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta. They 20 FAOS 7 (1990) 297 f., RIME 2 (1993) 251; for a photo seeP. Amiet, L'art d'Agadd (1976) 111 no. 65. 21 K. Volk, Saeculum 47 (1996) 193. 22 According to a full presentation given by L. Battini in L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche- Orient ancien (2014) 14-21. According to K. Reiter three to four children (as heirs) in Old Baby- lonian texts; in: K. R. Veenhof, Houses and households in Ancient Mesopotamia (1996) 263 n. 8. 23 I. J. Gelb, OLA 5 (1979) 63-65, 75. 24 K. Hecker, Or. NS 47 (1978) 406. Elsewhere five sons and one (unmarried?) daughter, or six sons and at least two daughters; K. R. Veenhof in Marti, La famille, 349. 25 A. R. George, CUSAS 18 (2013) 260 f. Giving birth to four or five boys is unfavourable; to four or five girls is favourable; to three boys and two girls, or three girls and two boys, is unfavourable; to five or six boys is unfavourable; to five or six girls is favourable; to six children is favourable, but to seven or eight is unfavourable; some manuscripts give nine as the maximum; E. Leichty, TCS 4 (1970) 44 Tablet 1131. 26 B. Lion, Ktema 22 (1997) 110-118. Most of these lists are not yet published; Lion, Amurru 3 (2004) 217-225. The mother - 155 were split into forty families, some of whom owned a few slaves. It is remarkable that of the children there were 35 girls and 57 boys. One assumes that the older girls had already left to marry into another family. Some of the women recorded as the head of the family were described as widows. For one of them we are even told the sequence in which her five children were born: three sons, a daughter, then another son. Some men had two wives. Each mother had on average 2.22 children.27 Families deported by the Assyrians hundreds of years later normally had less, on average only 1.43 children. In modern Lebanese villages we are told the average is 3.7 children.28 A Neo-Babylonian slave belonged to a family consist- ing of both parents, three boys and one girl.29 It was usually the father who made an offering for the wellbeing of the family, but sometimes the mother was involved.30 A particularly interesting votive offer- ing from a woman from Assur for the wellbeing of her husband and children was made of lead, an inverted triangle representing the female genitals. We described it in Chapter 1 when discussing make-up. Referring to the votive offering as a tds she dedicated it with the following inscription: for the life of her husband, for her own life and for the life of her child(ren) she brought in this tds.31 The genital triangle identifies the donor as a woman. Why does the mother of a family make an offering of such intimacy for the health of her family? The answer is simple: it is a fitting gift for the goddess of love, Istar. 4.3 The mother In the Instructions of Suruppak a father gives his son wise advice. You shall not speak untruthful words to your mother: these engender hatred! You must not ... in your mouth the words of your mother (or) the words of your god. The mother is like Utu (the sun god); she brought forth mankind. The father is like a god; his word is trustwor- thy. The advice of the father ought to be respected!32 27 VAS 19 6 with H. Freydank, AOF 7 (1980) 89-117. 28 F. M. Fales, Censimenti e catasti di epoca neo-assira (1973) 117. 29 F. Joannes, Ktema 22 (1997) 126 (BIN 1120). 30 G. Gadaut in: Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 237. 31 K. Deller, OrAnt 22 (1983) 13-15; TUAT II/4 (1988) 497. For illustrations see AOF 8 (1981) Tafel XXIII-XXV. 32 C. Wilcke, ZA 68 (1978) 211, Instr. Sur. 258-263; TUAT III/1 (1990) 66:256-261; B. Alster, Wis- 156 - The family A Sumerian proverb runs in a similar vein: A child should behave with modesty toward his mother. He should take old age into con- sideration.33 The child must owe the same respect to his older brother or sister as to his father and mother.34 Before Gudea could build a temple, peace and harmony had to rule in his city, symbolised by the statement: The mother does not shout at her child; the child does not answer his mother back (Cyl. A xiii 3-5). However in practice things were different. A Sumerian proverb (SP 1.157): A disorderly son, his mother should not have given birth to him, his god (= father) should not have created him. One hymn describes the opposite situation in the same words as an example of prevailing social disorder.35 A proverb says: As for a chattering maid, her mother has silenced her. As for chattering young man, his mother could not silence him.36 In a letter a mother warns her daughter: Wherever daughters always answer their mothers with spiteful remarks, ... so in view of your words your slave-girls will always hear that I am not their mistress.37 Family rows between a mother and a daughter-in-law were attributed to the wrath of offended gods.38 dom of ancient Sumer (2005) 98 Instr. Suruppak 265-270. 'The words of your god': the 'god' is probably her husband (K. van der Toorn); possibly confirmed by 'your father, your god' in a Sumerian lullaby; M. Jaques, Studies A. W. Sjdberg (2014) 65:11. - J. Klein, Studies Adela Berlin (2013) 16, did not take this into account. 33 B. Alster, Proverbs of ancient Sumer I(1997) 324. Respecting one's older brother follows. 34 Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer, 86 Instr. Sur. 172-4. Also in the 'Nippur Lament', 287. This was the accepted opinion; Th. Jacobsen, Before philosophy (1949) 217. The reverse situation is described in the Nanse Hymn; W. Heimpel, JCS 33 (1981) 92f., line 170. 35 W. Heimpel, JCS 33 (1981) 92 f., Nanse Hymn, lines 168 f. 36 SP 1.185. 37 AbB 6 188:5-9. 38 Surpu II 20-26. The mother - 157 In a Sumerian message, written in a literary style, a son named Lu-dingira writes that he wanted to give some reassurance to his mother in Nippur. It was to be delivered by a messenger to whom were given five important 'signs', significant information to enable him to identify the mother.39 (1) Her name was Sat-Istar, a woman who cared for her household well and who served the goddess Inanna. (2) She looked as dazzling as precious metal, to be compared with jewels, like an alabaster statue. (3) She was like a well-watered garden with trees and fruit. (4) She enjoyed going to feasts, singing and dancing. (5) Everything around her smelled good. In conclusion Lu-dingira says that his mother could be compared to A phial made from an ostrich shell, filled full with prime oil.40 The five signs may have been formulated like a riddle. It is remarkable that the text was transcribed and translated into Akkadian and Hittite, and a copy was even found in Ugarit. Evidently people could identify themselves with this text in praising the attractive attributes of their own mothers.4' The identity of the woman referred to in the text is uncertain. G. Leick thinks she was an impor- tant courtesan of Istar at court,42 but S. N. Kramer and J. S. Cooper take her to be Inanna (= Istar), the goddess herself. Cooper compares the second and third 'sign' with two Biblical passages (Song of Solomon 5:10-16; 4:12-15). We should note, of course, that there is no element of eroticism in this tribute to the mother.43 A. Gadotti has shown that many qualities attributed to the mother are in other texts those of the goddess Inanna in her maternal role. So the text praises both the mother and Inanna.44 As we shall see later (Chapter 29), Istar/Inanna was particularly revered by women. Lu-dingira, the son, also wrote two laments, which has led J. van Dijk to surmise that his three compositions were 'mystagogic' and played a role in the Dumuzi cult.45 39 M. Civil, 'The "Message of Ld-dingir-ra to his mother" and a group of Akkado-Hittite "prov- erbs"', JNES 23 (1964) 1-11; Th. Kammerer, Sima milka (1998) 164-169; M. Qig, S. N. Kramer, 'The ideal mother: a Sumerian portrait', Belleten 40 (1976) 403-421 (a new manuscript); H. Van- stiphout, Eduba. Schrijven en lezen in Sumer (2004) 253-258. 40 S. N. Kramer in D. Schmandt-Besserat, The legacy of Sumer (1976) 19-21. 41 J. Puhvel, Archivum Anatolicum 2 (1996) 61-66. 42 G. Leick, Sex and eroticism (1994) 153-156. 43 J. S. Cooper, 'New cuneiform parallels to the Song of Songs', JBL 90 (1971) 157-162. 44 A. Gadotti, 'A woman most fair', in: Studies D.I. Owen (2010) 115-129 (with a new edition of the text). 45 Studies A. Falkenstein (HSAO) (1967) 253; van Dijk in his chapter in J. P. Asmussen, Handbuch der Religionsgeschichte (1971) 494. 158 - The family The mother of Gilgamesh was the goddess Ninsumun (Ninsun), who was the spouse of the passive Lugalbanda, probably a human being with an enhanced status.46 Gudea and the kings of Ur also claimed Ninsumun as their mother, even as their natural mother who had suckled them with her milk. These are of course literary cliches, as we shall see later in Chapter 30, on the sacred marriage. Gil- gamesh learned that despite his divine origin he would never be immortal.47 As his mother, Ninsumun intercedes with the sky god Anum and the sun god samas for her royal sons, and when Ur-Nammu dies she laments his sudden death. We read in a Sumerian proverb (SP 2.158), (In) a palace, one day a mother gives birth, the next day a mother is lamenting. Fathers never utter lamentations.48 More prosaic are letters from sons to mothers. More than once a son will ask for clothes, which probably have to be made specifically for him. A son far away in Aleppo made such a request to his 'mother and mistress' in Sippar. One mother refused the request because her son had behaved badly towards his father.49 A son whose mother was a wealthy business woman, the wife of the head of the province, complained that he was not receiving enough clothes. He was possibly at school and writing the letter himself.50 While the gentlemen's clothes improve year by year, you make my clothes cheaper year by year. By scrimping and saving on my clothes you have become rich! While wool is being consumed in our house like bread, you have made my clothes always cheaper. The son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is a servant of my father, has two new garments to wear, but you keep getting upset over just one garment for me. While you gave birth to me, his mother got him by adoption, but you do not love me in the way that his mother loves him.51 Some Sumerian literary texts describe the life of boys going to school, including one incident when a boy arrived late and had to face the wrath of his teacher: 46 J. Klein, 'The Mesopotamian hero and his mother', Studies Adele Berlin (2013) 11-28. 47 A. Cavigneaux, F. N. H. al-Rawi, Gilgames et la mort (2000) 28:79, 31:169, with 41-43, 56; Klein, 20 f.; A. Zgoll, ZA 96 (2006) 124. 48 Klein, 21-28. Cf. Gilgamesh Epic III 43-57. 49 AbB 13 74, 103. 50 For the parents see M. Stol, 'Samas-hazir', RlA XI/7-8 (2008) 616 f. 51 AbB 14 165, after F. R. Kraus, JEOL 31(1989-90) 48. Bereavement - 159 When I got up in the morning, I looked at my mother and said to her, 'Mother, give me my breakfast; I want to go to school!' Then my mother gave me two loaves out of the oven and I satisfied my hunger before her eyes. Then my mother gave me two more loaves to take with me and I went to school. The late start for breakfast made him late for school and he was scolded by the teacher.52 4.4 Bereavement We have two texts lamenting the death of a partner. One is a difficult and partly fragmentary text in Sumerian concerning a man from Nippur mourning his wife Nawirtum.53 He is the same Lu-dingira who composed the song of praise to his mother mentioned earlier, and who also composed a lament on the death his father.54 The lament ends with these words of consolation: Your ways shall not be forgotten. Your name shall be called upon! The sin of your household shall be destroyed. Your punishment shall be released! Your husband shall live and he shall have valor and reach old age. Fate shall be benificent to your children, good health will be established for them. Your household will prosper, in its future there will be plenty. The god Utu shall bring forth light for you from (in) the Netherworld and you shall drink clean water. Ninkura shall be at your side, she shall lift you high. As for the evil storm that befell you, that same one shall return beyond the horizon. A malevolent curse shall be uttered against the galla-demon who brought his hand upon you. As for the good maiden who lies in splendor like a bull, this is a bitter lament! It was all certainly literary fiction. The second lament is Assyrian, and it concerns a woman who has died in childbirth. It is a song consisting of responses between a man and a woman, in which the vowels are sometimes lengthened, suggesting plaintive intonation. The man begins: 52 W. H. Ph. Romer, TUAT III/1 (1990) 70:18-22. 53 S. N. Kramer, The Sumerians (1963) 208-217, 'Second Elegy'. We follow the edition and trans- lation by A. Gadotti, JAOS 131 (2011) 203. For a new digitalised translation see www.etcsl.orinst. ox.ac.uk, text 5.5.3. - Line 61: Sumerian igi-se du is a calque of Akkadian ana pani alaku 'to pros- per'; CAD A/1 318a (d); Old Babylonian in AbB 3 52:21, cf. KUB 37 188:3. 54 H. Vanstiphout, Eduba (2004) 258-263 (on the father). 160 - The family Why are you cast adrift like a boat midstream? Your thwarts are in pieces! Your mooring rope is cut! With your face veiled, you cross the river of the city Assur. The woman answers: How could I not be cast adrift? How could my tows not be cut? On the day I bore fruit, how happy I was. Happy was I. Happy my husband. On the day of my labour pains, my face became overcast. On the day I gave birth, my eyes became cloudy. I prayed to Belet-ili with my hands opened: 'You are the mother of those who gave birth, save my life!' When Belet-ili heard this, she veiled her face: 'You [...] why do you keep praying to me?' The text is broken here but at the end we read: [In] those days I was with my husband. I was living with him who was my lover, when death crept stealthily into my bedroom. It brought me out of my house. It separated me from my husband. It set my feet on the ground from which I shall not return.55 4.5 Childlessness An expression used by the Babylonians if there were no descendants was kinunu bela, '(the fire in) the hearth is extinguished'.56 Ideally there should be boys among the children born into a family. Otherwise, according to a good patriar- chal viewpoint, things had gone wrong. Various strategies could be deployed for achieving acceptability by procuring acceptable (i.e. male) children. If a man had no children he could take a second wife, a subject to be discussed in Chapter 5. If the only children were all daughters, feminists lead us to believe that there is a biological 'fault in the man'. We listen with embarrassment. If that were so then even resorting to polygamy would not help. But the Babylonians could not have known that. There were some marriages in which only daughters were born, and in these circumstances exceptional provisions were made in the law of inher- itance. In Chapter 15 we will return to this. If there were only daughters, a father could continue the family line by 'adopting' a son-in-law into his own family and letting him marry his daughter. Such a son-in-law takes on the same status as a son, and consequently he becomes the heir apparent. Contracts have been found 55 M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible (2000) 140 f.; J. Scurlock in Chavalas, Women, 134 f. 56 A similar imagery can be seen in 2 Samuel 14:7, where a widow compares her only son with a glowing coal: 'If they do this, they will stamp out my last live ember and leave my husband without name or descendant on the earth'. Childtessness - 161 for adoptions of this kind.57 In Sumer such an adopted son lost his right to inherit from his original family, and this gave rise to lawsuits.58 Two different procedures were followed for these adoptions of sons. In the one the initative was taken by the family of the woman, and in the other it was the family of the man.59 When the family of the daughter takes the initiative her father ensures that the son-in-law will not take another wife, and that owner- ship of the family property is secured for his daughter and his grandchildren. In the two texts showing that the father took the initiative, he himself made the deal with the son-in-law. The son-in-law was already quite old and may well have already benefited from an inheritance from his own father. There is no mention in the texts of any failure in the woman to produce children. In Nuzi, where Hurrian traditions are known, Wullu was adopted in this way and his duties were described in detail. After the adopting father's death he would become the ewru, the head of the family. Adoption document. Naswe, son of A. adopted Wullu, son of Puhi-senni, as his son. As long as Naswe lives, Wullu shall give him food and clothing, and when Naswe dies, Wullu shall be his ewru. If Naswe should (later) get a son, then he and Wullu should share the inher- itance between them, but the son of Naswe should take the gods of Naswe. But if Naswe has no son, Wullu himself should take the gods of Naswe. And Naswe gave his daughter Nuhuya in marriage to Wullu. If Wullu should take another wife, he shall lose Naswe's fields and houses. If anyone breaks the agreement, he shall pay a mina of silver and a mina of gold.60 From another text we learn that the adoptive son Wullu died but grandfather Naswe survived him and in his will he granted his grandchildren the right of inheritance.61 When the family of the bridegroom takes the initiative the deals were arranged by the two fathers. Much attention was paid to possible childlessness and an arrangement was made for taking a concubine. Either the man could choose one, or the wife would bring in a girl called a 'Lullubite', a slave girl from the land of Lullubum. But if he were to take another woman without having any good reason, such as his wife's infertility, then the state would confiscate his possessions.62 57 J. Klima, ArOr 18/3 (1950) 157-160 (in connection with succession); C. H. Gordon goes too far in his 'Erbu marriage', SCCNH I1(1981) 155-160. 58 A. Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956) 106 sub (a). 59 J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 25-33. 60 R. H. Beal, JCS 35 (1983) 119 n. 26 (on Gadd 51; see K. Grosz, The archive of the Wullu family [1988] 44 ff.). 61 Grosz, 44 ff. 62 Paradise, 28-31. One example is HSS 5 67, see also ANET 220 (3). 162 - The family Two adoptions of this type have been found recently at Emar. In the one a father adopted a man for his eldest daughter but made her the 'son and heir'. The couple were obliged to provide for the parents. Not only was the son-in-law not allowed to take another wife, but if his first wife died he would have to marry one of her sisters. Evidently there were only daughters in the family and everything was being done to safeguard the continuation of the family line.63 Among the Hittites marriages involving the adoption of a son are well attested. Kings practised it to ensure lineal succession. The adopted son was called an anti- yant and his father even received a 'bride-price', which in this case was in fact a 'bridegroom's price'.64 It was also practised in a Hittite 'land grant', when an elder child, a son, became a priest and his only sibling was his sister. His father adopted a son as a husband for his daughter and he may perhaps have received a house.65 In Emar we see one and the same father making an arrangement twice. First his daughter was named as 'man and woman', which meant that she could act independently. However this did not appear to give a satisfactory guarantee that she would remain independent and that the family capital would remain within the family. Therefore he also adopted a son, and made them both marry. The man had to support his father-in law and mother-in-law and subsequently he could inherit. In another case the children inherited from the daughter. Sometimes pro- visions were made in case the daughter should die. Then the man would have to marry her sister. If the adopted couple did later get sons, all the sons would inherit equally. This was clearly an arrangement between equal parties. The man must certainly have been glad not to have to pay the bride-price.66 Sometimes adoption was used as a way of getting out of financial difficulties. One adopting father was apparently in debt, with liability for a 'price' of 80 shekels.67 The instances in Nuzi are like those in Emar, where the son-in-law would have equal shares in the inheritance with the children born later. In one case there were already boys in the family, but it was thought desirable that the eldest daughter should have a protector, so a man was adopted as a husband for her. The adopted son-in-law now belonged completely to the family of his wife. Even 63 D. Arnaud, Textes syriens de l'dge du Bronze recent (1991) no. 72. Also Emar VI.3 no. 29. 64 Beal, 117-119. 65 TUAT I/3 (1983) 208 f. (Landschenkungsurkunde). Cf. N. Bellotto, 'L'adozione con matrimonio a Nuzi e Emar', Kaskal 1 (2004) 129-137, esp. 131. 66 Bellotto, 132-134 (Aula Orientalis 5 p. 14, TS 72). She does not agree with Grosz, who assumed that the adoptee had not been the firstborn within his original family, and had had himself adopted in order to get a larger inheritance in his new family. 67 Emar VI/3 29 with Bellotto, 134. Repudiation of a childless wife - 163 so in Nuzi one man managed to transfer the wealth to his own family.68 One father found a most elegant solution to his problem. Since he had produced only daughters he married a second wife who had only sons. He adopted her sons and married them to his daughters.69 This sounds like an entrepreneurial merger. 4.6 Repudiation of a childless wife Three of the laws of Hammurabi consider the possibility of repudiating a child- less wife. If a man intends to divorce his first-ranking wife who did not bear him children, he shall give her silver as much as her bride-price and restore to her the dowry that she brought from her father's house, and he shall divorce her (§138). If there is no bride-price, he shall give her 60 shekels of silver as a divorce settlement (§139). If he is a commoner, he shall give her 20 shekels of silver (§140). The word for 'first-ranking wife' (hirtu) is unusual. It is the feminine counterpart of masculine hdwiru in § 135, and indicates the woman to whom the man was first married. Evidently the woman was thought to be infertile. Since she could not be blamed for this, she had the whole of her own dowry returned to her, which would have been managed by the man. Moreover she received the value of the bride-price, which had already been paid to her family before the wedding. That means the man's family would have paid this twice, although it is possible that the bride-price had not yet been paid in full. The arrangement found in § 159 is comparable, where it is stated that if a man cancelled a betrothal he lost the bride- price plus all that he had brought (i.e. the biblu, 'gift') to his father-in-law's house. If we assume that the bride-price was five or ten shekels of silver, then for a man who paid it twice his and his family's losses would have amounted to twenty shekels of silver at most. But the fine in § 139 amounts to considerably more than this, sixty shekels of silver. It is also much more than the twenty shekels so often agreed in divorce contracts. So the figure of twenty shekels in §140 seems more reasonable for what had to be paid by a muskenu, the Akkadian word for an 'commoner', 'ordinary citizen'. The word is often taken to mean a person in a lower social class and translated 'serf'. But F. R. Kraus took it to mean a normal citizen who was not attached to the palace, and therefore not employed by the 68 Bellotto, 130 f. 69 HSS 19 19 with Z. Ben-Barak, Inheritance by daughters in Israel and the Ancient Near East (2006) 129-132. 164 - The family state. The evidence from divorce contracts seems to refer to ordinary citizens and would thus confirm the opinion of Kraus. However a problem remains, because it is evident here that the intended amount is double the amount of the bride- price. Perhaps the bride-price for ordinary citizens was fifteen shekels and for the higher social classes (awalu) thirty shekels (§139). The sentence 'there is no bride-price' in § 139 suggests a general possibility that marriages could be arranged without paying a bride-price. Another possibil- ity would be that payment was postponed until the birth of the first child. This fits the situation in § 138-139 where the wife is childless. 5 A second wife The subject of a man taking a second wife raises questions about whether polyg- amy was practised and whether there were plural wives. Kings were certainly polygamous and surrounded themselves with a harem. Political marriages with foreign princesses made the setting-up of a harem a matter of national impor- tance. However we will reserve this subject for Chapters 23 and 24, which concern the Court. A prominent man in the society with which we are concerned could have two wives, his own little 'harem'. A Sumerian governor had children by his first and his second wife, the lukur.' In the Ur III texts we read of women who were called 'the little wife' of a high-ranking man. Such a person is assumed to be a second wife.2 We know that an Old Babylonian high official named Sammetar had a wife in his house in the capital city Mari and a second in the city of Zurubban.3 In the city of Kahjat the deputy governor had three wives who are named on a list of people deported to Mari.4 A relief in an Assyrian palace of Sennacherib shows a man with two women seated opposite him between the high reeds of the marshes (Figure 17). They were fleeing and the artist wanted to indicate that the man with his two wives was an eminent person.5 But not only did kings, generals and important functionaries have two wives,' it happened also in the lower echelons of society. In Emar a man was exonerated from his debt of a hundred shekels of silver because B. paid it for him. Before the elders of the city of Uri he declared: 1 J. L. Dahl, The ruling family of Ur III Umma (2007) 59 f., 75. 2 M. Sigrist, Drehem (1992) 231 f. 3 F. van Koppen, Florilegium Marianum VI (2002) 295 f. For another man at the court of Mari with two wives see N. Ziegler, Le Harem de Zimri-Lim (= Florilegium Marianum IV) (1997) 7, 211 no. 33:1-6; N. Ziegler, JCS 51(1999) 58b; see also J.-M. Durand, LAPO 18 (2000) 263 (two important women in the harem). 4 S. Dalley, Mari and Karana (1984) 109, on RA 65 (1971) 62 v 20:3; now J.-M. Durand, MARI 8 (1997) 652, Liste D v 17. 5 J. Bottero in: P. Grimal, Histoire mondiale de la femme I1(1965) 191; H. Frankfort, The art and architecture of the Ancient Orient (1954) plate 99; E. Strommenger, Ffnf Jahrtausende Meso- potamien (1962) 235; J. Reade, Assyrian Sculpture (1983) 41; SAA XVIII (2003) p. 142. For a drawing see A. Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East II(1995) 584 fig. 38. For monogamist prisoners of war in art see SAA V (1990) p. 118 = SAA XI (1995) p. 99; R. D. Barnett, Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668-627 B. C.) (1976) plate XVIII. 6 A. Millet Alba, Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III (2008) 242 f. |C-©) B--N 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 166 - A second wife Fig. 17: A man hides with two women from Assyrian soldiers patrolling a marsh in southern Iraq. 620 BC. Relief in the palace at Nineveh. British Museum, London. I myself, with my two wives [and goods], have on my own initiative entered into the service of B. as a slave.' A list of deported Hurrian families from the Middle Assyrian period records men with two wives.' We read of an archer and his two wives, a son, a daughter, and a small child at the top of two lists of wages from that period. These were not large families. It is possible that the reason a second wife was taken was because of the childlessness of the first wife.' This happened very often, as we shall see. In principle, marriage was still monogamous. The family, in sociological terms the nuclear family, consisted of a man, a woman and a number of chil- dren. But the image of a monogamous family could be distorted by childlessness, and it was this that was generally the reason for taking another wife. This is the 7 Emar VI/3 215. 8 H. Freydank, AOF 7 (1980) 98. 9 S. Jakob, Die mittelassyrischen Texte aus Tell Chuera in Nordost-Syrien (2009) nos. 69:1-3, 70, 71. A second wife - 167 generally accepted view in Assyriology. However, there is one point that is impor- tant to note. We have just seen that bigamy was normal in the higher echelons of society. This was also the case in the north (Assyria, Nuzi) and the west (Alalah). In Assyria the law distinguished between the 'foremost wife' and the 'lesser wife' (§ 46). These terms may refer to a man's first wife who had died and then to one he had subsequently married. According to this law it appears that the second wife was younger than the first, for in fact there was a possibility that she might marry the first wife's son. There are few other indications for the existence of two differently ranked wives. Now and then in Babylon mention is made of a 'slave- girl' which is probably a reference to the second wife within the family. What her legal status was, we do not know.14 We see in Assyria that the concubine (se'itu and esirtu) was also someone distinguished from a wife. At Alalahj in the West it seemed to raise no problems that a man could have two wives and possibly also a slave-girl to produce children for him. We presume that in these regions a man could take a second wife without having first to claim that his first wife was childless. Marriage was still essentially monogamous in the sense that the first wife held first position. The reasons for taking a second wife deserve further thought. It was the responsibility of the woman to produce children. Taking on a second wife to bear children was a widespread occurrence in the ancient Near East. In Old Baby- lonian texts the first wife was called hirtu, 'the chosen one', and in Sumerian, according to the laws of Lipit-Istar, she was called dam nitadam. The name for the second wife was sanitu, 'the second one'. In Lipit-Istar (§§ 24, 28) we find the Sumerian term dam egir.ra, 'the one afterwards', possibly meaning someone who came later, with a variant term dam.2.kam.ma, 'wife number two'. In this case it is possible that the first wife had died and that the man married again. Once in the laws of Hammurabi the first wife is called rabitu, 'the great one', and she produced the children (§ 158)." 10 M. Stol, 'Sklave. B. Altbabylonisch', §11, RiA XII/7-8 (2011) 570. 11 Scholars have thought of a scribal error for murabbftum in §158. G. Cardascia assumes that the rabftum is the first wife and the sanftum the second; WdO 11 (1980) 12 n. 22. The first wife is named hirtu in CH §170, but in the same section amtu can mean a slave-girl, not the second wife. In Ugaritic att (the first wife) is found next to slmt (the second wife, lit. 'she who completes'), see A. Rainey, Or. NS 34 (1965) 16; S. Lafont, Femmes (1998) 223. 168 - Asecond wife 5.1 A slave-girl The most widely known way to have a second wife was to bring in a slave-girl. In the Bible we see that the childless Sarai offered her husband Abram her Egyptian slave-girl Hagar: Take my slave-girl; perhaps through her I shall have a son (Genesis 16:2). She gave Hagar to Abram as his wife after almost ten years of childlessness. As the Bible story develops we are told that she was an upstart slave-girl and developed ideas about herself above her station. That was not a unique situation, for we see a slave-girl (siplid) getting the better of her mistress (gjbird) cited in the book of Proverbs as one of the problems that could cause chaos in the world. Under three things the earth shakes, four things it cannot bear: a slave becoming a king, a fool gorging himself, a hateful woman getting wed, and a slave supplanting her mistress (Prov. 30:22-23). A slave-girl would take on a more elevated position if she bore children. Her status was sometimes recognised with a new contract. Old Babylonian marriage contracts state that such a girl would be a man's 'wife' and his wife's 'slave-girl', maintaining the higher position of his first wife.'2 In an anecdotal speech a slave who had become a second wife in this way said, I am a slave-girl and I have no authority over my mistress. Let me go and pick my own husband.13 The laws of Ur-Nammu consider the repercussions when a man took the initiative in 'making the slave-girl just like her mistress'. Whoever then insulted her would have to go and wash out his mouth:'4 If anyone should utter a curse against the slave-girl of a man, who has been made (equal to) her mistress, then his mouth should be rubbed with a litre of salt (§25). 12 J. J. Finkelstein, YOS 13 (1972) p.15 f. 13 B. Alster, Proverbs of ancient Sumer I(1997) 247, Coll. 19 Section D 11; 326 UET 6/2 386. 14 A. Falkenstein in C. Wilcke, Das Lugalbandaepos (1969) 182; Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 319 f.; see H. Neumann in Durand, La Femme (1987) 135-137. Previously it was thought that a slave-girl put herself on a par with her mistress and was punished. - Now C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 546 §30'. A slave-girl - 169 The following law deals with someone striking a slave, but the passage about the punishment has been broken off. Was she a slave-girl who had been promoted to be the wife, or was she a concubine? Slave-girls could sometimes also be concu- bines, as we shall see in Chapter 6. In the Old Assyrian period a childless wife could buy a slave-girl on her own initiative. If she has not produced a descendant for him within two years, she shall herself buy a slave- girl and as soon as she later produces a child for him, she may sell her to whomsoever she wishes.15 We often see in the Old Babylonian period that the second wife is from humble origins and is evidently a slave. Even so, she may not be sold. One instance of this is a marriage in Sippar in the time of King Immerum. We learn from this text that the second woman is of lowly birth and that her fertil- ity has already been proven.16 The text is concerned with a certain Warad-Sin, the son of Ibni-Sin, who had married a girl named Istar-ummi. He was a wealthy man and the text comes from his archive. Istar-ummi is a typical slave's name, and the phrase 'is her name' after the name itself is an addition often found with the names of slaves. It is stated that the girl was the daughter of Buzazum and Lamassatum, and on the clay envelope in which the text was wrapped her mother L. is said to be a nun (a naditu, of the god samas). One assumes that the girl had at some time been adopted as a daughter by the couple, B. and L. She was taken in marriage out of their custody by Warad-Sin, undoubtedly as his second wife. He paid forty shekels of silver as her 'bride-price' and he also gave them a slave, specified by name. This was exceptional. The price given is higher than we know from elsewhere and the gift of a slave was also unprecedented. According to the envelope, the parents of the bride could not complain against or make any demands on 'Istar-ummi and her children', which is surprising. It is conceivable that the children already existed. We know of a similar case from a contract for a marriage, where the first wife had the name of a nun and the second was called her 'sister'. There mention is made of the children of the second wife, 'which had been or would be born' (they were regarded as being the children of both women).'7 We learn from this that a second wife with children could be married. This woman was seen as being fertile, which she would have to be when taken 15 ICK I 3. We shall translate this text in full later. 16 VAS 8 4-5 (VAB 5 32), discussed by M. Stol in Studies A. Skaist (2012) 157 f. 17 BAP 89 with R. Harris, JNES 33 (1974) 365 f. One of a group of three texts which we shall dis- cuss later under 'A marriage to two sisters'. 170 - Asecond wife as a second wife. Reverting to the high bride-price, we note that the bride was valuable for two reasons. She had shown that she was fertile and furthermore she had brought children to the marriage. This would explain why the bride-price was high. Possibly a slave was given in exchange for the children. It is conceivable that this slave would be later adopted by the couple on condition that he would care for them in their old age. That was something that often happened.18 One gets the impression that second wives came from humble parentage. Their simple names already indicate this.19 Possibly they were handed over on payment of a bride-price by destitute parents. In those circumstances the 'bride- price' seems more likely to have been a 'woman's price', an idea which can be supported with textual evidence. A woman 'takes' a girl like this from her father and mother and pays 'the full bride-price'. This was done with the intention of avoiding having to make later payments, because there was probably some concern that the bride-price had been really very low. The girl was to be a 'slave- girl' for this woman, but for her husband Warad-Sin 'she was a wife'. The girl had to share in the likes and dislikes of the woman. But if ever she 'made her heart sick' she could immediately be sold, after she had been marked as a slave by shaving off her hair.20 The inferior status of this girl, who was after all a free woman, is surprising. Did her parents in fact sell her? Or is this a clause in divorce law which aims to mark the low status of this woman within marriage? 5.2 Initiating the transaction Sometimes the man took the initiative in procuring a second wife, at other times a married couple would act together, and sometimes the woman took the initiative. 5.2.1 The man A man took the initiative in a contract from the early Old Babylonian period. He paid twenty shekels of silver to the father of the girl named U.2' But his spouse named Q. had been the wife of the man for a long time. On the day that U. is not in harmony with Q., Q. may sell U. 18 M. Stol, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 83. 19 M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 141, 145, 151f., 160-162. 20 CT 48 48 with collations by Westbrook. 21 L. Waterman, BDHP 39 (HG 6 1420). Initiating the transaction - 171 Since it is nowhere explicitly stated that the new woman is the second wife, it is surely more plausible to think that the man was merely buying a slave for his wife. The clause about lack of harmony only makes sense when applied to a rela- tionship between two wives. Moreover, it was a drastic punishment to be sold. We can only understand it here by assuming that the girl was, or had become, a slave. Evidently she had been sold by her father, who desperately needed the bride-price. Perhaps the sum of twenty shekels was precisely the debt the father owed, and he owed it to the buyer. According to a modern reconstruction of an archive from Emar, an exorcist entered a second marriage with a widow with one son. He adopted her son and fathered three more children with her. When the adopted son started a dispute with him about property from his mother's dowry he and the other three chil- dren were disinherited. The eldest son of the exorcist, by his principal wife, was appointed as sole heir.22 5.2.2 A married couple A text where a man and wife as a married couple acted together states that a girl was 'bought' (the verb used has a crude connotation) by them from her father.23 She was then the 'spouse' of the man and the 'slave' of the woman. If she did not recognize the latter as her mistress, she could sell her as a slave. The second part of the text has the standard terms for a normal sale. The price was five shekels of silver, then the lowest amount for a bride-price. The name of the girl, Samas-nuri, suggests that she was a slave-girl.24 It is noteworthy that in such cases it is a man or a married couple acting as the the parties in a sort of sale, and we have other similar examples. 22 Y. Cohen, The scribes and scholars of the city of Emar in the Late Bronze Age (2009) 151-154. 23 CT 8 22b (VAB 5 77) with Stol, Studies Skaist, 140 f. Cf. CT 48 84, which lists a cow and six head-dresses, the remainder of a dowry (nudunnO) of a sugitu, which is to be given to her father- in-law (emu); Wilcke, 'Familiengrundung', 269. 24 R. Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 338; perhaps she had been adopted as his daughter by her (new) father. 172 - A second wife 5.2.3 The woman adopts a sister Fairly often we read of a wife 'adopting a sister', meaning that she took the initi- ative in bringing into the family a second wife. This remarkable legal process was used in the Old Babylonian period for recruiting a second wife.25 One example comes from Isin. The wife of a man adopted a woman 'for sistership' (ana athuti),26 and then paid her parents five shekels as 'the bride-price', and gave this girl, this new 'sister', to her own husband to marry. Afterwards there follows a grammati- cally confusing clause, where feminine singular pronouns are used alternatively to refer to the first wife and to the 'sister' to show that whatever happens to the one will also happen to the other. Whoever marries her, shall also marry her; whoever leaves her, shall also leave her. This solidarity was what being a 'sister' involved, a subject which we will look at again shortly. If the man were to divorce his first wife, then she could 'take the hand of A., her sister, and go away'. If she herself wanted to leave, she lost the house, land, and goods and had to pay twenty shekels of silver. The strong posi- tion of the wife is evident in this text. She was also independent of her husband in her dealings. Here in the case of a divorce there was no question of punishment by throwing her from a tower or casting her into the river (see Chapter 9). The second wife seemed in practice to be owned by her for good. She was called Ali- abi, 'Where is my father?', which suggests that she was an orphan. There are other marriage contracts where the second wife was called the 'sister' of the first but where there is no mention of an adoption. Even so, this must have been the background to the marriage. Two sisters were married and a bride-price was paid for each of them.27 It was recorded that the second of the 'sisters' within the marriage was the slave of the first. This points to the fact that it was impossible to have two wives of equal standing within a marriage. Legal scholars focus attention on the theory that 'to take' (leqa) in these texts must be the technical term for 'to adopt'. The text just referred to coming from Isin and concerning adoption as a sister, was not really an adoption, because the silver paid to the parents was called the 'bride-price'. K. R. Veenhof proposed that 'to 25 K. R. Veenhof, Mdlanges A. Finet (1989) 185 f. 26 BIN 7 173 with F. R. Kraus, JCS 3 (1951) 113-115. Cf. also UET 5 87. 27 TIM 4 47, 49. Note that here a second wife is taken in marriage and that the marriage with the first wife is recapitulated and reconfirmed. For another similar marriage see J. Oelsner, OLZ 88 (1993) 502, HS 2388: 'Ehevertrag', where Ali-ahatum, wife of M., gives Narubtum and her sister Amertum into marriage; to be published by Anne Goddeeris as TuM NF 10 no.3. Initiating the transaction - 173 take' meant no more than that, and we should not read into the verb the meaning 'to adopt' or 'to buy'.28 This restrained observation is reminiscent of R. Yaron's opinion about the word ahdzu, a difficult term for legal scholars to interpret, but which he understood to mean the 'taking' of the bride. He convincingly showed that here again not too much should be read into the word.29 In other texts where a woman was adopted as a sister we read that the first wife could sell her if she said, 'You are not my sister'. One can imagine that in a normal relationship between sisters something like this could clearly not happen. This clause must have been inserted to indicate the restricted status of the new sister. Besides this, as we have seen above, in these contracts we can find a clause envisaging a 'joint divorce': 'whoever leaves her shall also leave her'.30 R. West- brook states that this clause was there for the protection of the second wife against the first, to prevent the second wife from being divorced at the instigation of the first.3 One could also say that the first wife was protected. Veenhof gives a better explanation: 'It prevents the husband from divorcing the older, childless naditu, while staying married to the younger mother of his children'. In general, when we see the words 'sister' and 'parents', we should take into account the fact that a poor girl or slave-girl would have been adopted by her 'parents' with the intention of later marrying her off as a second wife. What lies behind this must be the rule that marriage could only legally be contracted by free persons. The adopted woman was free, though she may really have been a slave. That is seen from a letter saying, The woman is not a slave. She was taken by means of a bride-price.32 The adoption process was necessary to make her a completely free woman. Some names for the second wife indicate that she was given this new name on the occa- sion of her marriage, such as 'She is my sister', and 'I have acquired a sister'.33 But what is the sense in creating such a 'sister bond'? R. Westbrook thinks that we should assume they are natural sisters. Both sisters brought a dowry with them and the children which were born belonged to the two sisters. As such those children could inherit from both of them. That applied also in the case of adop- 28 Veenhof, Mdlanges Finet, 186 f. 29 R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 55 ff. 30 dhissa ehhassi dzibsa izzibsi (14-15). Cf. CAD E 422a (3.c.) and TIM 4 49:6 f.; UET 5 87:11 f. Veen- hof, Mdlanges Finet, 187a: 'clause of solidarity'. 31 OBML, 105f. 32 ARM 28 36:8-11. 33 TIM 4 47, 49 with M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 162. 174 - Asecond wife tion: children from the second sister could inherit from the childless first sister. Whenever the second natural sister was called the 'slave' of the first, she had not received any dowry. Westbrook says elsewhere that a second wife could only be adopted as a 'sister' after she had given birth to her first child.34 I feel that this is all rather speculative. K. R. Veenhof suggests that 'by adopting the secondary wife as sister ... a rela- tion of kinship was created which went beyond ownership and constituted the nearest approach to real motherhood.' In a story in the book of Genesis Rachel, who had not conceived, tells her husband Jacob: Here is my slave-girl Bilhah. Lie with her, so that she may bear sons to be laid upon my knees, and through her I too may build up a family (Genesis 30:3). Veenhof continues, saying that such a story shows that 'by having the second- ary wife give birth "on the knees" of the first wife, the latter's motherhood and acceptance of the new-born as her child could be visualized. The same goal could be reached by taking as secondary wife a natural sister of the first wife.' We will return to the subject of 'sisters' when we discuss the sugitu. 5.2.4 A marriage to two sisters A well-known group of three Old Babylonian texts give some slight hint as to how a marriage to two 'sisters' developed.36 They relate to a time in the reign of King Apil-Sin, in Sippar. In the first text we see a man marrying a woman. Judging from her name, Taram-Saggil, 'She loves Esagil' (i.e. Marduk's temple), she must have been a nun (naditu) of Marduk (see Chapter 27). In the second text the same man enters into a marriage with the same Taram-Saggil and also with Iltani, the daughter of Sin-abusu.37 The second woman is clearly the 'second wife', as can 34 Westbrook, 106a, with 103b, 104b, on BAP 89. 35 K. R. Veenhof in Mdlanges A. Finet, 186a. 36 TCL 1 61 (Apil-Sin year 6), CT 2 44, BAP 89; their sequence is reconstructed. See R. Harris, 'The case of three Babylonian marriage contracts', JNES 33 (1974) 363-369; cf. R. Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 319 f.; S. Greengus, HUCA 46 (1975) 23 f.; Westbrook, OBML, 79a, 83, 103, 104b, 110b; Veenhof, Mel. Finet, 185a; R. Pientka, TUAT NF 1(2004) 27 f. (BAP 89); L. Barberon, Les religieuses (2012) 153 f., 231-233. The earliest discussion was by Th. G. Pinches, The Old Testament in the light of historical records (1902) 174; only two texts were known to him. 37 In the one text her father has the name Samas-nasir, but in the other his name is shortened to Samsatum (BAP 89:3). For the existence of two fathers, see Chapter 3, note 155, Chapter 16, note 6. Initiating the transaction - 175 be seen from a series of degrading duties stipulated for her to do. The text can be regarded as typical of such a situation.38 (As for) Taram-Saggil and Iltani, the daughter of Sin-abusu, Warad-Sin took them both in marriage. If Taram-Saggil and Iltani should say to their husband, 'You are not my husband', they will throw them from the tower. And if Warad-Sin should say to Taram-Saggil and Iltani, his wives, 'You are not my wife', then he will forfeit his house and chattels. In addi- tion Iltani must wash the feet of Taram-Saggil, and carry her chair to the house of her god. Iltani shall share Taram-Saggil's antipathies and share her sympathies. She may not open her seals. She will grind ten litres of barley flour and offer it. (Names of witnesses) At the end of this text, as usual, are the names of the witnesses. It raises several points for discussion. The most important is that if there was a divorce the man would lose his house and chattels. In both the laws of Esnunna (§ 59) and the laws of Hammurabi (§ 137) this was the case whenever there were children in the marriage. Therefore it seems reasonable to suggest that Iltani had at least one child at the time the contract was issued. This would explain the extreme level of punishment for the man, and also the demeaning duties showing the inferior position of Iltani. Taram-Saggil wanted no insubordination. This ruling was in her favour and the contract came from her archive. All the duties stipulated for Iltani deserve comment. Washing the feet is a duty quite commonly stipulated for slave-girls to do for mistresses. Carrying the chair refers to carrying a chair for a nun to the temple of Marduk.39 That the 'sister', the adopted second wife, had to exhibit the same antipathy and sym- pathy as the first wife was seen as a sign of submissiveness.40 Sometimes the expression occurs that both have to 'go in and out' at the same time, an expres- sion perhaps related to the work expected of them.41 Slaves, of all people, were not allowed to open the seals of storage rooms, an action which is apparent in a Sumerian literary legal text. To grind ten litres (= one sutu, 'a seah') was the expected daily workload for a slave-girl. The third text also concerns Warad-Sin marrying the two women, and now they are both named as daughters of the same father, samsatum (= samas-nasir), previously named specifically as the father of Taram-Saggil, so now they are 38 CT 244 (VAB5 4). 39 W. Sommerfeld, Der Aufstieg Marduks (1982) 31 n. 1. 40 L. Barberon, Les religieuses et le culte de Marduk (2012) 230-232, lists all her duties. For the broader context see R. Yaron, Journal of Juristic Papyrology 15 (1965) 173-175. 41 Westbrook, 109 f. 176 - Asecond wife sisters with the same father. Here, an earlier marriage contract is reviewed. The short first sentence reads, Iltani is the sister of Taram-Saggil. This presumably means that she had now been adopted as a sister by Taram-Sag- gil. One of the witnesses in this text is named as Sin-abusu, and he could be her biological father showing his tacit agreement. Then there follows this statement: The children, as many as are born and will be born, are the children of them both. If she should say to Iltani, her sister, 'You are not my sister' [then she will take the hand of her] children [and go away]." After the break in the text (the middle section is missing) we read about the other, second, wife: [If ...] sa[ys] 'Y[ou are not my sister'], she will shave off her hair and sell her. If Warad-Sin should say to his wives 'You (two) are not my wives', he will pay sixty shekels of silver. And if they say to Warad-Sin their husband, 'You are not our husband', they will be bound and thrown into the river. In an earlier text we read that they would be thrown from the tower. The names of the witnesses are given. This text also needs further consideration. The fine levied on the man was twice as much as in the first contract. Perhaps this was because there are now two women. Our text explicitly states that there are chil- dren, but for some reason or other the man's possessions are not here forfeited. One hypothesis, which seems plausible, is that Iltani already had a child when she took on the role of second wife, and that Warad-Sin was the biological father. In any case her fertility had been proven. 42 We owe this correction to Westbrook. This expression is attested elsewhere in the context of sister relationships. We there see that if the husband separates from his wife, she is allowed to take the hand of her adopted 'sister', his second wife, and leaves (BIN 7 173); if the husband wishes to separate, the nadftu of Marduk takes the hand of her sister, the second wife, and 'goes out' (TIM 4 47). Also regarding a holy woman, a kulmasitu, 'on the day that a husband mar- ries her, she will take the hand of her husband and enter the house of her husband', CT 8 50a (Westbrook, 120a). The adoption document PBS 8/2 107:20-21 is not clear. In VAS 18 114:19-20 a mother adopted and raised a girl and her husband has no authority over her. If the man wishes to separate, the mother 'takes the hand of her daughter and goes away'. A correction is required in line 9: read (the man) ul uwakka[l]; thus AHw, CAD. Initiating the transaction - 177 In our third text, agreements made earlier are repeated. A new factor here is what would happen to Iltani and the children. This third step was perhaps taken when Iltani became pregnant by Warad-Sin. Then Taram-Saggil intervened, adopted her as her sister and assured herself of all the progeny. The third text also had her interest at heart. 5.2.5 The woman adopts a daughter A holy woman (qadistu) of the god Adad, who adopted a girl 'as a daughter' (ana mdrzti), paid her parents 'the bride-price' and 'gave' her to her husband. This can only mean that the adopted girl became the second wife, whereas the first woman did not or was not allowed to have children. The man was therefore married to wife and (fictive) daughter at the same time.43 Elsewhere a woman 'takes' (perhaps meaning that she adopts) a daughter for her husband, pays the full 'bride-price' to her parents, and the woman becomes a 'slave' for her.44 Is the slave-girl also her adopted daughter? The comment in a letter about the 'adop- tion' of a princess from Mari is difficult. She, like her sister Kirum, is the wife of a foreign ruler. To her father she writes: You yourself 'gave' me as a daughter and male heir.45 5.2.6 The brother On one occasion we see the wife's brother providing a second wife. He 'gives' her.46 The clauses of the contract all show her to have an inferior position to the first wife, named Eris-Sagila, and at the end we read, Even if she should bear ten children, they are the sons of E. 43 CT 48 57 with Westbrook, 103b. 44 CT 48 48 with Westbrook 104a. 45 ARM 10 95:5f. (= LAPO 18 [2000] 437f. no.1225, 'M'as-tu donnee en adoption?'), cf. J.-M. Durand, MARI13 (1984) 166. 46 CT 48 67. At the beginning two lines are missing, including the name of the second wife (col- lated by Westbrook). 178 - A second wife We conclude from this that the family of a married woman saw it as their respon- sibility to see that one way or another children would be born in the marriage, and this would explain why the brother acted as he did. 5.2.7 The sugitu We discussed earlier the marriage of a second wife who was adopted as the 'sister' of the first. The title sugitu for such a 'sister' is a special case. When the Laws of Hammurabi call the sister of the first wife a sugitu it seems that this refers to an actual biological sister. Possibly the concept of sugitu was originally restricted to and only suitable for a second wife who was recruited from the same family, so that a young man married two related sisters. A section in the Laws of Hammu- rabi envisages a family with a sugitu as well as a nun, naditu. The clause about giving the dowry of the naditu is followed by one for the sugitu. If a man does not award a dowry to his daughter who is a sugitu and does not give her to a husband, after the father dies, her brothers shall award to her a dowry proportionate to the value of the paternal estate, and they shall give her to a husband (§184). Earlier it was assumed that the sugitu was a sort of priestess, which would fit into this context. Now we take her to be the sister of the naditu, who for one reason or another did not go with her sister. The law makes clear that this sugitu will marry in the end. Much has been written about the etymology of the word sugitu.47 My sug- gestion is that it can be explained as a word basically meaning an 'old woman'. It could be derived from Sumerian su.gi4.a, defined as Akkadian s btu 'old woman', and sugitu could be used as a taboo word, designed to mislead the demons, to keep them far away from the young mother and her child. In fact the function of the sugitu was precisely that, a young woman there to bear children. This institution seems already to have played a role in the legend about the struggle between Gilgamesh and Huwawa. Gilgamesh offered him Enmebaragesi, his 'big' sister, as a wife (dam), and his 'little' sister, Pestur, as his second wife (lukur).48 The name of the younger sister is Pestur meaning 'Mouse'. It is hardly a coincidence that the Akkadian name Perurutu, also meaning 'Mouse', is often 47 Wilcke, Jacobsen; see Veenhof, 187b. 48 A. Shaffer, JAOS 103 (1983) 309-313; = lines 139, 143 as numbered by D. 0. Edzard, ZA 80 (1980) 188; 81 (1991) 211 f.; TUAT III/2 (1993) 546 f. Edzard translates lukur as 'concubine'. Initiating the transaction - 179 is the name of a lukur, already attested in Ur III Nippur.49 A. Shaffer has said that Enmebaragesi must have been a priestess. So this would be a nice parallel to the Old Babylonian situation: a nun and an ordinary woman from the same family. In the Late Old Babylonian texts the second wife of the husband of a nun, called the naditu of Marduk, was also called a sugitu, but it can be proved that this sis- terhood was fictitious and that she was adopted.50 Such a sugitu, who received a dowry, and for whom a bride-price was paid, is not often mentioned (Chapter 27). The nun naditu was a woman who lived in a convent and was not allowed physically to have any children herself, though she could adopt them (see Chapter 26 on convents). Only a naditu of the god Marduk was allowed to marry, but not to bear children herself (thus scholars like R. Harris and L. Barberon; see Chapter 27).51 The second wife, who could have children with the husband of this naditu, was called the sugitu.52 The Laws of Hammurabi do not deal with the second wife in a normal marriage, but do mention her in relation to this naditu. If a man marries a naditu, and that naditu gives a slave-girl to her husband, and thus she provides children, but that man then decides to marry a sugitu, they will not permit that man to do so, he will not marry the sugitu. If a man marries a naditu, and she does not provide him with children, and that man then decides to marry a sugitu, that man may then marry the sugitu and bring her into his house: that sugitu should not aspire to equal status with the naditu (§§144-145). We see here clearly how a naditu could provide descendants. One way that she herself could give her husband a slave-girl, and he would have children by her. Those children would count as children of the naditu. Another way was for her husband to take the initiative in marrying a second wife, who would have chil- dren by him. This was a free woman, sometimes a 'sister' of the naditu. The laws say that it was forbidden to use both methods (§144). Only if the naditu produced no children by a slave-girl or by some other means (such as adoption) could the man go on to take the initiative himself and take another wife (§145). 49 M. Such-Gutierrez, Beitruge zum Pantheon von Nippur im 3. Jahrtausend I1(2003) 164-166. 50 M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 147, 153, 156 f., 159, 161; Barberon, Les religieuses, 227-232. 51 J. Renger, ZA 58 (1967) 174 f. 52 Renger, 175; R. Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 317, 319, 321; C. Wilcke, ZA 74 (1984) 170-180. Note that in Nippur Geme-Ekuritum, the eres.dingir of the god Lulal, had a son, together with her husband, but we assume that this was not a biological son; see TIM 4 13:28 f. with E. C. Stone, D. I. Owen, Adoption in Old Babylonian Nippur (1991) 39 (there translated 'and Warad-ilisu, their son'). 180 - Asecond wife R. Westbrook has considered the status of the slave-girl in §144. Was she a concubine or a second wife?53 The laws that follow seem to treat her as a slave- girl: If a man marries a naditu, and she gives a slave-girl to her husband, and she then bears chil- dren, after which that slave-girl aspires to equal status with her mistress since she had given birth to children, her mistress shall not sell her. She shall place upon her the slave-hairlock, and she shall reckon her with the slave-girls. If she does not bear children, her mistress shall sell her (§§146-147). In fact these laws already give the answer to Westbrook: the slave is not a concu- bine but had the higher status of a second wife. Her punishment was always to be 'put back' into the role of a slave. Her status oscillated between freedom and slavery. Sometimes it is apparent that children were really born to the second wife. A naditu of the god samas gave her inheritance to a nephew, but specified that a portion should be given to Sat-Aya and to Ana-yasim-damqat and her children, both those she has borne or shall bear. Ana-yasim-damqat was a slave's name, meaning 'She (= 'my mistress', or the goddess Aya) is good to me'. This means that we have here a naditu and her slave-girl.54 What follows is another example of the children of a nun produced by a slave-girl.55 A brother gave a woman to his sister Eris-Sagila (probably a naditu of Marduk) to serve her. Among the duties the woman had to do were, for example, to carry her chair to the temple and to wash her feet. Then we read: Even if she should bear ten sons, they are the sons of E. There is no mention here of a husband. The sugitu was supposed to be called the 'sister' of the naditu.56 That does not mean any more than that she had been adopted as a sister. There are a few texts which enumerate the content of the dowry, there meaning what the naditu received from her father. After all the objects listed sometimes a woman is named as a sugitu and/or her sister. Such a text was given in Chapter 3, concerning 53 OBML, 107. 54 CT 47 47:23-26 with M. Stol, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 99 f. Note that Sat-Aya must be a naditu of Samas, not Marduk; Barberon, Les religieuses, 11 note 11. 55 CT 48 67 with OBML, 125, and L. Barberon, Les religieuses, 228 n. 1241. According to her, the naditu (of Marduk) was not yet married at this moment. 56 Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 321. Now proved by CT 45 119 rev. 6, as suggested by Wilcke, ZA 74, 177 (ana athutisa ilge?). Initiating the transaction - 181 wedding gifts. She is then part of the dowry and even at that point destined to ensure the birth of children. She could not be the biological sister.57 One man is said to have married two sisters, the first of whom was a naditu of the god Marduk. The second sister had an inferior rank to the first (wurrudat), had to share her sympathies and antipathies, wash her feet, carry her chair and ... (?). Then there follow clauses concerning divorce. When she is abandoned by the man, the first 'sister' shall 'take the hand' of the second sister and 'leave'. If the first sister wants to break up the marriage, she will be bound and thrown into the river. We see that the second sister had no active role to play. Both sisters had the same father and mother, but the sugitu would certainly have been a poor girl adopted by them. The text ends with the interesting statement that the father had received 'ten shekels of silver, the bride-price for his daughters', that is two times five shekels.58 Two texts show that, together with the naditu of Marduk, the man E. received one of her nieces, from a younger generation, as sugitu. Then, 21 months later, he received another niece, from a different mother. The first extra wife was 'given' to the naditu by her mother and brothers, 'to marry E. along with her' (ana ittisa E. ahdzim iddinusi). The second was recruited (leqa) by the naditu of Marduk herself for her husband.59 We should not assume that the man now had three wives, but it could be that an earlier one (the naditu or the sugitu) had died or was infertile. Assyrian contracts show that after two years of childlessness the man had a right to reject her. It is interesting to see here that the second wife was chosen from within the first wife's own family. That brings us back to the question of whether the 'sisters' could have been real, natural sisters, with adoption being an emergency meas- ure.60 I think that this was indeed the norm, a norm reminiscent of the levirate, which should preferably not be explained by the equal right of inheritance for the children, as Westbrook thinks. Here something more primitive is at play, con- cerned with the ties of blood, and a family who knew they were responsible for producing descendants when their daughter was unable or not allowed to bear children. It seems that it was precisely within the convent tradition that this insti- tution existed. The sister, who was indeed allowed to bear children, was the com- 57 R. Westbrook, RiA VIII/1-3 (1994) 276b 'Mitgift' §3.2.3; CT 8 2a:12; BE 6/1 84:30; CBS 1214:17 (see Wilcke, ZA 74, 170 f., n. 3 and 5). The sugitu at the end of the list: Barberon, Les religieuses, 228 (1.2). 58 TIM 4 47; also in TIM 4 49. In BM 97159 again 10 shekels for two women (Veenhof, Mel. Finet, 185 n. 10). 59 Veenhof, Mel. Finet (1989) 183-187, Texts B and C. 60 On the adoption of the sister see Veenhof, 185a. 182 - Asecond wife panion of the childless naditu. When no biological sister was available, a woman from humble origins could be adopted.61 It is curious that the sugitu could be given a new name by the naditu of Marduk; she had had a rather common name before being renamed. This was a pious name, such as 'The wish of Esagila', or 'Zarpanitum is my angel', a name derived from an association with the temple of Marduk and his wife Zarpanitum. But there were also names in which the word 'to laugh' occurred, such as 'She laughs towards her city'. Names like this do not occur in other situations. It may be that this one had something to do with the joy at the birth of children, just as Sarah laughed at the birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:6). After all, this was the very reason that the second wife was taken on.62 One clause in Hammurabi's laws concerns sending the sugitu away. If a man should decide to divorce a sugitu who bore him children, or a naditu who provided him with children, they shall return to that woman her dowry and they shall give her one half of (her husband's) field, orchard, and property, and she shall raise her children: after she has raised her children, they shall give her a share comparable in value to that of one heir from whatever properties are given to her sons, and a husband of her choice shall marry her (§137). A woman with children was well protected by Babylonian law. This law is a reflec- tion of the two possibilities spoken of in §§144-145, but there they were in the opposite order: a slave-girl organized by the naditu produces children, or a sugitu does. While they are being brought up the woman has the right to any profit from the inheritance. 5.3 The second wife in the Old Assyrian period The second wife features much in Old Assyrian society, when the Assyrians were living in one of the thirty trading colonies in Anatolia, modern Turkey, in par- ticular in the city of Kanis, 20 km north-east of Kayseri. Some 23,000 clay tablets have been excavated there, most coming from the period 1890-1850 BC. Caravans with donkeys (camels had not yet appeared) travelled back and forth to the city 61 Such an adoption seems to be the basis of the marriage contracts CT 48 55 (at the end of line 9 read nu-bar = kulmasitu), PBS 8/2 252, and Veenhof, Mdlanges A. Finet, 181-183, Text A (which Veenhof says may relate to the adoption of an orphan). For the humble origins of the sugitu, see Stol in Studies Skaist, 161 f., Barberon, Les religieuses, 234. 62 Stol, Studies Skaist, 161-163. The second wife in the Old Assyrian period - 183 of Assur (in modern Iraq), where members of their family were also living. They were separated by a distance of 1200 km, a journey which took six weeks. The contracts from Kanis show that a man could have two wives, one in 'the country' (i.e. Anatolian colony), and one in 'the city' (i.e. Assur).63 This was not yet the case for the first generation of colonists. Pusu-ken lived in Kanis and his wife Lamassi lived in Assur.64 C. Michel thinks that such 'bigamy' was not normal, but that it was dictated by circumstances. If after two or three years no children had been born he could bring in a genuine slave-girl, but she did not make him a bigamist. Where there were two wives, the difference in rank was indicated. The first was known as the 'wife' or the 'spouse' (assatu), and the second was called 'the slave' (amtu), or sometimes 'the holy woman' (qadistu). The second wife lived 'alongside' (sahdt) the first. Even if she were called 'the slave-girl', she was not really a slave. It was an expression designed to show her inferior position.65 Moreover, it was not only the indigenous Anatolian women that were called the slaves of their Assyrian husbands.66 The order of rank did not depend on where the woman lived but the sequence of the marriages. The wife of a first marriage, even one that happened in Anatolia, was called the 'wife'. Assyrians in particular in a later generation could more easily marry first in Anatolia.67 Some scholars have formalised the terminology to mean that the first wife was called the 'wife' (assatu) in the city and in the colony, but that the second wife was called the 'holy woman' in the city and the 'slave-girl' in the colony (K. R. Veenhof; C. Saporetti).68 We shall translate a few of these contracts. The first concerns a man who takes a woman with him on a journey to two places in Asia Minor. Puzur-Istar has taken Istar-lamassi, the daughter of Assur-nada as a 'slave' and he will lead her off to Purushandum or to Iattum, (the destination of) his journey, and he will let her return to Kanis with him. If he should leave her, he will pay five minas of silver. If she should 63 C. Michel, 'Bigamie chez les Assyriens au debut du Ile millenaire', RHD 84 (2006) 155-176; B. Kienast, 'Altassyrisch amtum = "Zweitfrau"', AOF 35 (2008) 35-52. 64 K. Hecker, Or. NS 47 (1978) 405 f. 65 Cf. B. Kienast, Das altassyrische Kaufvertragsrecht (1984) 94 f., sub 1; K. R. Veenhof, Studies R. D. Biggs (2007) 302f., showing that it was less easy for her to divorce. A 'slave-girl' who was infertile could not take another woman to bear her children and her children did not have full rights; C. Michel, RHD 84 (2006) 167 f., 172. 66 K. R. Veenhof in: H. Nissen, J. Renger, Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn I(1978) 151 f. Some- times the two titles are confused, within one text; Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008), 214 f. 67 In general see C. Michel, 'Les Assyriens et leurs femmes anatoliennes', in: Dercksen, 209-229. 68 See also also the scheme in R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 364 f.; K. R. Veenhof in: R. Westbrook, A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law 1 (2003) 452. 184 - Asecond wife leave him, she will pay five minas of silver. Apart from his wife (assatu) in the city of Assur, he will not take (ahazu) a second wife. If Istar-lamassi does not 'see' a child (serru) within three years, he will buy a slave and 'take' her. Assur-nemedi, Anina and her mother gave her.69 This man already had a 'wife' living in Assur and now he takes a second wife, called a 'slave-girl'. K. R. Veenhof thinks that this 'slave-girl' is there to satisfy the emotional needs of the man in a far country. Another scholar even speaks of 'love' in this sort of case.70 That a man had such needs is illustrated again in a letter sent by a lonely man to his wife: I am alone. Nobody is supporting me. Nobody places a table in front of me. If you do not come with my servants, I shall marry a Wahsusanish woman in Wahsusana.71 A man was allowed to take along (reda) the second wife on his trading journeys. Sometimes the cities they would travel to are named in marriage contracts.72 This meant that in those cities he was not allowed to have any other sweethearts. Two partners were enough. It seems that a 'slave-girl' was duty-bound to make these journeys.73 One contract is clearly worded and concerns a man in Anatolia who marries a woman there, but who was already betrothed to a girl in Assur. He may take her with him wherever he wishes. He shall not marry a second one in Kanis or let her live alongside her. He shall not marry a daughter of Assur and a daughter from 'the country' (...). In the city (Assur) he may marry the daughter of Dada.74 That he should not marry a second 'wife' reflects the standard phrase asiatam sanitam ula ehhaz.75 C. Wilcke reminds us that the contracts precisely stipulated exceptions, which would mean that two 'wives' were indeed allowed, but that in this particular case they were forbidden.76 Indeed, after this phrase the contracts 69 Prag I1(1998) 83 f. I 490; see earlier J. Lewy, HUCA 27 (1956) 6-8; K. Hecker, Or. NS 47 (1978) 408 f., n. 30. 70 Veenhof, 152; Hecker, 412. 71 BIN 6 104:15-17 with C. Michel, CMK no.397; RIDA 84 (2006) 170; B. Kienast, AOF 35 (2008) 43 f. 72 C. Michel, RHD 84 (2006) 166; Michel in Dercksen, 215 f. 73 K. R. Veenhof, Studies R. D. Biggs (2007) 302. 74 C. Michel, P. Garelli, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Misezi 1995, 298 Kt 94/k, 149. 75 R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 361 f. 76 C. Wilcke, ZA 66 (1976) 197 n. 3. The second wife in the Old Assyrian period - 185 dealt with the possibility of the man marrying a second wife. If he did he would have to pay a fine." Life was not simple for a woman in Anatolia. If she did not accompany the man on trade journeys there was the possibility of contact through letters. One 'slave-girl' complained: You have left me behind in Purushandum and I actually escaped death, but you never enquired about me. I came, but in Kanis you ignored me, and for a year you have not taken me to bed. You wrote to me from Timilkya: 'If you do not come here you will no longer be my "slave-girl" ...'. After Timilkya you left for Kanis with the message, 'I am coming within fifteen days'. Instead of fifteen days you stayed there a year. From Kanis you wrote, 'Go up to Hattum'. Today I will have been staying in Hattum for a year but in your messages you never once mention my name.78 Another text is a marriage contract in which two women are involved and the possibility of childlessness is discussed.79 La-qipum married Hatala, the daughter of Enisru. La-qipum shall not marry a second spouse 'in the country'. In the city he can marry a 'holy woman' (qadistu). If within two years she has acquired (rasu) no offspring (lpu) for him, she herself shall buy a slave-girl and as soon as this girl later gets a child (sa-ra) for him, she can sell her wherever she wishes. If La-qipum should leave her, he shall pay her five minas of silver. And if Iatala should leave him, she shall pay five minas of silver. Three women have a role to play: the first wife, the second wife, and in the case of childlessness a slave-girl bought by the first wife if she herself was infertile. We could say that the slave functioned as a surrogate mother. It should be noted that also in a Neo-Assyrian contract a very independent lady at the court prom- ised that she herself would provide a slave-girl in the case of childlessness.80 If a man is married to an infertile second wife ('slave-girl'), he can also himself buy a (genuine) slave-girl.81 A man was only allowed to have one wife per location. In our text the 'wife' was in the colony and the 'holy woman' was in the city of Assur. Anatolia was called 'the country', but in another text the expression used is 'in the field he may not marry a second wife'.82 77 EL no.1 (= TCL 4 67) (a fine of 1 mina); AKT 176 (a fine of 5 minas). 78 C. Michel, RHD 84 (2006) 170 (n. 56). 79 ICK I 3 with H. Hirsch, Or. NS 35 (1966) 279 f., Hecker, 409 n. 34 ('DAM or GEME in the era- sure'); also in ANET (1969) 543a (4); Michel, RHD 84 (2006) 162 f., 164 f., 167. 80 J. N. Postgate, FNALD no.14. See further Chapter 7, 'Marriage between equals'. 81 C. Michel, Ktema 22 (1997) 106. 82 AKT I 76. 186 - Asecond wife One example of marriage to a second wife or 'slave-girl'83 concerns a girl obtained by the husband A. for fifteen shekels. (As for) her brothers, her mother, no-one shall come back to A. about this. A. may not marry a wife in Purushattum, Wahsusana, Durhumit or Kanis. His wife he may take with him wherever he wishes. This girl is referred to as his 'wife' on the envelope, but on the tablet itself the word used is amtu, 'slave-girl'. This woman must have been an Anatolian 'slave- girl' and she had to travel with him. Sometimes the second wife was not called a 'slave-girl' but a 'wife', and she participated in commercial activities.84 After a husband had died in Assur his second wife (an Anatolian) fought for her interests and those of her daughter, but in vain.85 We do not know much about the relationship between the first and the second wife, but it could have been a strained one. We have a sealed letter sent to Assur by a husband with this address on the envelope, 'To Istar-ummi, his "slave-girl", and s.', and at the end is a plain- tive kind of postscript: Please, please, do not be so annoying! In this emotional letter he writes: Why do you still write so angrily? Whom do I have but you? (...) Please, please, get on your way and come here with the first caravan, together with A. and S.! Do not leave the little one behind! And if you need money, ask A. for one or two shekels of silver! If you really love me, get on your way and come here! This wife (assatu) whom I have married, is hatching plans against you.86 He had married his first wife, a she-devil, in Anatolia, and his second, his true love, later in Assur. It would seem that another woman in Assur had a good rela- tionship, since she writes, For the 'slave-girl' from Kanis a garment (...); I will always love your 'slave-girl' from Kanis.87 83 C. Michel, Tablettes paleo-assyriennes de Kiltepe I1(1997) no. 161a. 84 J. G. Dercksen, The Old Assyrian copper trade in Anatolia (1996) 122. 85 Michel, RHD 84 (2006) 172. 86 P. Garelli, RA 51(1957) 5-9 HG 75; CMK no. 396; RHD 84 (2006) 172 f.; B. Kienast, AOF 35 (2008) 42 (c). 87 M. T. Larsen, The Assur-nddd archive (2002) 107 no. 72:8-9, 28-29 (BIN 4 88). The second wife in the Old Assyrian period - 187 The next document includes the word qadistu translated 'holy woman', which is a problematical title for women and in Chapter 27 it will be discussed fully. In the Old Assyrian period it is used for a wife and a new text shows that the title is found in other cities besides Assur.88 Su-Sin has married Etari, the sister of Ennam-Assur. Her head is 'open' (qaqqassa pate). He shall not have a 'girlfriend' living alongside her. He shall not marry a 'holy woman' in Kanis or Nihriya. If on account of (ana) their sister anyone, whether it be her husband or an Anatolian or even a son of Assur, shall seize her on account of debt, then Ennam-Assur, her mother, and Puzur-Sad um will 'cleanse' Su-Sin. Her price has not been paid. If he should leave her, he shall pay two minas of silver. If she should leave him, then they shall pay two minas of silver. The names of the witnesses are at the end. In the first half of the text the woman is described as having 'her head open', meaning that she was not veiled. This expression also occurs in the Middle Assyrian laws and refers to prostitutes and to 'holy women'. If they married they would have to wear a veil. Let us therefore assume that Etari is a 'holy woman' (perhaps from Assur). Then it becomes clear why he must not marry a second 'holy woman'. In the previous contracts we saw that a man could only marry one wife of each sort. We also saw that an Assyrian in Kanis might marry a second woman to satisfy his emotional needs. The 'holy woman' would have been enough for this and that explains why he could not have a 'girlfriend' besides her. The expression 'her price has not been paid' refers to the bride-price, so it is hardly a legally valid marriage. This looks like a cohab- itation contract. What really happened when a man 'abandoned' a second wife is illustrated by the following text.89 Pilah-Istar abandoned Walala, his 'slave-girl', and she was satisfied with her divorce ... silver. In this case those acting were Pilah-Istar, Walala, Sat-Istar, her mother, Nunu and Amur-Assur, her brothers beside her, and they swore the oath by Assur, the oath by Ana, the oath by the ruler, that they would not come back at Pilah-Istar, his son, or whoever. If they do come back, they will pay ten minas of silver. Regarding Lamassi, his daughter, whenever Pilah-Istar goes to the city (= Assur) he shall take her with him. They are satisfied (with the payment) for her upbringing and her food. They will demand nothing (more) from him. 88 AKT I 77 with E. Bilgig, IX. Turk Tarih Kongresi, II. Cilt (1990) 430-432; J. G. Dercksen, NABU 1991/28. Note that sa-wa-tdm = se'itam, 'girlfriend'. 89 ICK I 32 with J. Lewy, HUCA 27 (1956) 3-5; C. Saporetti, Geo-Archeologia 1984-2, p.37; B. Kienast, AOF 35 (2008) 48-50. 188 - Asecond wife The divorce settlement of the 'slave-girl' Walala was paid and the agreement stated that her mother and brothers had nothing more to demand. The man could take the daughter born of the union with him to Assur and he had paid the cost of her upbringing and food. It is noteworthy that in one of the texts mentioned earlier the 'slave-girl' again had her mother and two other people as 'givers'. 90 5.4 The second wife in later periods 5.4.1 Nuzi The texts from Nuzi often state that a man may not have a second wife if the first one had given birth to children (serru). That does not mean that in general in Nuzi a second wife was forbidden. The family of the woman only wanted to exclude the actual possibility and so protect the wife and her children. If the woman appeared to be infertile, then the man could indeed take a second wife. The woman or her family would see to that.91 One contract protected the married woman strongly and stated that if she bore children the man 'could not take a second wife, nor even a concubine'.92 Sometimes the only problem was not producing sons. That was written only in the contracts drawn up between the brother of the bride and the bridegroom him- self.93 One text records a decision for a childless woman to take 'a woman from the land of Lullubu as a wife' for her husband and any children would have to obey her.94 This woman must have been a slave-girl from the hill country. 5.4.2 Alalah In Alalah a man married two wives, but reserved the right to marry a third one if no child was born.95 Two wives would have been normal in the west, as seen in Deuteronomy 21:15. The story of Hannah and Peninnah in 1 Samuel 1 also assumes 90 Michel, Tablettes paleo-assyriennes de Kiltepe I, no. 161. 91 J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 7 f., 28 f. 92 JEN 435 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 61 f. 'Concubine': helahelu. 93 Paradise, 9. 94 HSS 5 67:19-22 with K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 165 (n. 865). 95 AT 91:29-31 with TUAT NF 1(2004)135 f.; C. Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah (Schicht IV) (2008) 265-275; AT 92 with W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture III (2002) 251 f.; Niedorf, 275-283. The second wife in later periods - 189 this to be normal. Two other texts from Alalah grant a period of seven years for the woman to produce a child. If in that time she has no child, the man may marry a second wife.96 Setting a time limit for producing children, after which a man may marry a second wife, is confined to the north and the west of the region. In Assyria two years was allowed, but in Alalahj it was seven or ten years. In the Bible Sarai brought in Hagar as a second wife for Abram after staying ten years in Canaan (Genesis 16:3). In the Mishnah a man should be concerned if after ten years he had no children, and should then look for a solution. But no mention is made of a second wife: the privileges of the patriarchs no longer applied (M. Yebamot 6:6). 5.4.3 Assyria In the Neo-Assyrian period a marriage of equals involving taking a second wife was not acceptable. This is clear from the statement, If he marries a second woman in addition, then he shall place five minas on top of her dowry and give it (to her). This implies that it is possible that they then divorce and that he gives her the dowry plus this fine. The legal wife is a 'holy woman' of Istar of Arbela, and there- fore it is stated that neither her husband nor her brothers had legal authority over her.97 Another text states, If he should marry a wife in addition, then she shall take all that she had acquired and go and depart.98 About this marriage it was noted that this woman must have been a princess. The special word 'to acquire' applies to presents from the king, and the clay tablet was found in the palace, beside the sarcophagus of a woman.99 When a high-ranking lady at the court gave her daughter S. in marriage, it is stated: 96 AT 93 with The Context of Scripture III, 252; Niedorf, 284-288; AT 94 with I. Mendelsohn in: Studies S. W. Baron (1959) 354 f.; Niedorf, 289-295. 97 StAT 2164, end; A. 2527 in Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 166. 98 CTN II 247:6-10, with K. Radner. 99 K. Deller, 'Heiratsurkunde einer assyrischen Prinzessin', NABU 1991/105. Deller's suggestion was rejected by S. Svard, Women and power in Neo-Assyrian palaces (2015) 87 n. 418. 190 - A second wife If S. does not become pregnant and does not bear a child, she shall take a slave-girl as a replacement for herself. In this way she shall bring forth sons. The sons will be her sons. If she loves (her), she shall protect her. If she hates (her), she shall sell her.'100 5.4.4 Neo-Babylonian era In the Neo-Babylonian period the possibility of a second wife is mentioned in marriage contracts.'' On the day that N. shall marry a second woman, he shall give to T. (his wife) a mina of silver. This compensation for the first wife is a new development, and a completely new practice is found in another text. It adds that 'she shall go wherever she wishes'. Such freedom had not been afforded before to the first wife.102 Some contracts mention 'a second wife above her', and indicate that the second wife may never attain the status of the first.103 This becomes clear in the variant formula, 'On the day that he marries a second wife, N. remains the most important (literally: the great) wife'.104 The two following sentences are intrigu- ing: 'On the day that (the woman) FN is seen with a male person, on the day that (the husband) PN lets another woman live (in the house) alongside FN'. Unfortu- nately what follows is not clear.105 A contract from the second year of Nebuchadnezzar concerning a man who had no children by his wife includes this plea to the father of another girl: There is no son of mine. I wish for a son. Give me Kulla, your daughter. Let her be my wife. That took place and she became his wife. Then follows the provision that should the first wife (mahritu) nonetheless have a son, she would inherit two thirds of the 100 Postgate, FNALD no.14 with A. K. Grayson, J. Van Seters, Or. NS 44 (1977) 485 f. We will return to this 'equal marriage' in Chapter 7. 101 M. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 12f., speaks confusingly of 'another woman' and once of 'the second wife'. K. Abraham, AfO 51(2005-06) 202 f., is clearer. 102 Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements, 89 no. 25:14-16, 43 no. 4:10-13. 103 Roth, 13 (n. 51). 104 C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabyloni- schen Archiven (2003) 21 no.5 rev. 2-4, with p. 22, 24. 105 Roth, 65 no.15:3-8. The position of the second wife when the first wife is ill - 191 estate.'06 This ruling is analogous to the provision in § 15 of the Neo-Babylonian laws: the sons of the first marriage would receive two thirds, and those of the second marriage (after the first wife had died) would receive one third. In the Laws of Hammurabi a different regulation applied: The sons shall not divide the property according to their mothers. They shall take the dowries of their respective mothers but the property of their father's house they shall divide equally (§167). 5.5 The position of the second wife when the first wife is ill Illness could compel a man to take a second wife.107 We know laws and a few legal judgements which allow the man, in the case of illness to take this step. But then the rights of the first wife must be protected. One is inclined to think here of illnesses which prevent pregnancy but nothing points to this. In a Sumerian text a widow remarries, but is struck by the demon d.sag. She gives her husband permission to marry a named slave-girl, and adds: I myself wish to receive a fixed allowance of barley and wool. This proviso was made before the judges and the ration was granted to her for life, or possibly 'while she was living in the house of her husband U.'.108 A. Fal- kenstein considers that, as a consequence of the illness, the debitum coniugale (an expression apparently used by the prudish professor to mean sexual inter- course) had become impossible. However, there are strong indications that this demon caused a certain sort of paralysis, and it is noteworthy that only women are affected by this demon, a subject to be taken up again in Chapter 22, about diseases.109 A woman with a son and married to a man, became ill with 'the attack of the god'. She went to the judges and they granted that the couple should divorce. Her son, recognizing that he was not the man's son, promised to make no claims on the field, house or hereditary office."0 106 VAS 6 3 (NRVU 1), Roth, no.3; cf. B. Meissner, BuA I(1920) 405. 107 R. Westbrook, OBML (1988) 77 f. 108 A. Falkenstein, NSGU II(1956) no.6, and Band I, 115 f. B. Lafont in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mesopotamie (2000) 45 no. 5. 109 M. Stol, Epilepsy in Babylonia (1993) 143, with n. 99. 110 BE 6/1 59 (VAB 5 232). 192 - A second wife In the Laws of Hammurabi this subject is also taken up. If a man marries a woman, and later lahbu-disease seizes her and he decides to marry another woman, he will not divorce his wife whom lahbu-disease seized: she shall reside in quarters he constructs and he shall continue to support her as long as she lives. If that woman should not agree to reside in her husband's house, he shall restore to her her dowry that she brought from her father's house, and she shall depart (§§148-149). No-one has yet been able to identify the disease known as lahbu, but it may pos- sibly refer to a skin disease."' An older law of Lipit-Istar places these (later) laws in a context. If the (first) wife of a man changes in appearance, or is paralysed, then she shall not depart from the house. If her husband marries a healthy wife, then the later wife shall take care of the (first) wife (§28). An alternative translation of the final clause would be, 'he shall take care of the later wife and the first wife'."2 Since Hammurabi must have been familiar with the regulation of his predecessor, his provision that the sick woman may divorce the man can be seen as an innovation."3 111 Stol, Epilepsy, 143; M. Stol in I. L. Finkel, M. J. Geller, Disease in Babylonia (2007) 11 f. 112 M. Civil, Studies B. Landsberger (1965) 2 f., with Civil, AfO 25 (1974-77) 70a. 113 J. Fleishman, Studies J. Klein (2005) 484 f. I do not understand why he states that it is another innovation in Hammurabi to say that she cannot be sent away. 6 Concubines In the previous chapter we saw that that a man could have a concubine and he could have children by her. In effect this is what the patriarch Abraham did when he took Keturah as 'another wife' in addition to his second wife Hagar (Genesis 25:1). When Laban gave his two daughters to Jacob, he gave them both a slave-girl, Zilpah for Leah and Bilhah for Rachel. Later the still childless Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob saying, Lie with her, so that she may bear sons to be laid upon my knee, and through her I too may build up a family. Later Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob (Genesis 29:21-30:13). In Babylonia a man nor- mally chose a concubine for himself. A commercial letter concerned with buying many goods including a slave-girl expresses a wish to have proof of that woman's fertility, with this last request. Take for my lap one slave-girl, who is good-looking and has given birth to one or two children.1 Further west a slave-girl could attain a high status, particularly one who bore children. One such is commemorated on a Judaean grave inscription dated ca. 700 BC for a man and his slave-girl.2 In Akkadian only one word, esirtu, which etymologically means 'a woman imprisoned', can unambiguously be translated as 'concubine'. In Assyria and the surrounding regions some women are designated by this term. In Nuzi it occurs in a clause in a marriage contract: He shall not marry a second wife; he shall not take a concubine (esirta la isser). This suggests that apart from marrying a second wife other procedures were pos- sible in that society for a man to raise his family.3 In Sumer and early in Babylonia there was no specific word for concubine. In Sumerian literary texts the closest we find is the expression 'little wife' who is distinct from the spouse. In a lullaby we read that the whole family should be happy with the husband: 1 A. al-Zeebari, ABIM no. 20:82. 2 KAI 191 with TUAT II/4 (1988) 558 f. with n. 2 (a). 3 HSS 9 24:8 f.; cf. C. H. Gordon, AnOr 12 (1935) 171, J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 12 with n. 35. C- B-C- ©22016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 194 - Concubines May his spouse be happy with him, May the child be happy with him, May the little wife rejoice in his arms, May the child grow up at his good knee.4 And in a lament we read: The mother does not seek out her child, The father does not say, 'My spouse!', The little wife does not rejoice on his lap, The children do not grow up at his knee.5 In other literary texts it is the spouse who is said to be on her husband's lap. An Old Assyrian agreement with a 'holy woman', a text mentioned earlier when discussing the position of the second wife, excludes the possibility of the husband acquiring any 'girlfriend'.6 Su-Sin has married Etari, the sister of Ennam-Assur. Her head is 'open' (qaqqassa pate). He shall not have any girlfriend live alongside her. He shall not marry a 'holy woman' in Kanis or Nihriya. The word 'girlfriend' can mean 'concubine'. A letter from Mari shows that King Yahjdun-Lim thought so much of his girlfriends that he segregated his regular wives and made them live completely separately. They had to leave the palace. A second letter makes clear that these girlfriends were singers.7 A Sumerian-Akka- dian dictionary equates the word se'itu, 'girlfriend', with the word for 'little wife's and the 'travelling-wife' (dam kaskal). There we also find mention of 'the little wife of the merchant', perhaps a girlfriend for his business trip.9 4 S. N. Kramer in ANET (1969) 652, lines 35-38. 5 P. Michalowski, The lamentation over the destruction of Sumer and Ur (1989) 36:12-15, with p.72. See further H. Neumann in Durand, La Femme (1987) 134 f. 6 AKT I 77. 7 MARI 4 (1985) 406 A. 2548:13-17, MARI 6 (1990) 291-294 with LAPO 18 (2000) 175 f. no.1011 (A. 4471); N. Ziegler, Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 36 f.; cf. B. Groneberg, NABU 1989/74. J.-M. Durand recognised that se'it babim indicates such a person, which he translated as 'com- pagne de voyage'; AEM 1/1 (1988) 531 no. 252:4, 15; also Durand in: G. del Olmo Lete, Mythologie et religion des Sdmites occidentaux I1(2008) 408, 534. The translation of W. Heimpel, 'woman next door', is more likely. 8 PSD B 84 f., ban.da 'secondary wife' (lit.). In 'The Lamentation over Sumer and Ur', 14, dam TUR is certainly 'young woman', because it occurs with a normal family life in the background. 9 Emar VI/4 (1987) 165 no. 569:10. Concubines - 195 A variant of this Sumerian expression is 'the travelling lukur'. In the Ur III period a lukur was a second wife. Kings could have female companions for a journey. It is recorded that Sulgi had two, Ea-nisu and Sulgi-simti.1o Nanaya-ibsa was the 'beloved travelling-wife' of King Bur-Sin." These ladies were not concu- bines but the favourite wives of the king, whom he always wanted to have with him, even on his official tours. The Middle Assyrian laws prohibit any man taking a woman married to someone else on a journey unless he is her father, her brother, or her son. If he does, The man shall swear that he did not know that she was a married woman. Furthermore he shall give two talents of tin to the woman's husband (§22).1 Sometimes Babylonian sources mention a slave-girl by whom a man has had chil- dren. This girl was not his second wife. As we have seen already, the second wife was a 'slave-girl' for his first wife, and a 'wife' for the husband. The definition of 'wife', as found in the laws of Hammurabi, depended on the existence of an oral or a written agreement (§128). So what would have been the status of a woman without such an arrangement in place? She could well have been described as a concubine, but the Babylonians would not have understood the term in this way. The Babylonian view of such women was that they were slaves. In this chapter we are concerned with slave-girls as concubines, not with situations where a married woman would go to live with another man and even have children by him (§134- 136), or a widow would go to live with a man.'3 But why women sometimes did this will be discussed elsewhere. Law-books were chiefly concerned with the legal status of a man's children who had been born by a slave-girl. The laws of Hammurabi provide for the adop- tion of such illegitimate 'sons'. 10 J.-P. Gregoire, RA 73 (1979) 190 f., Sulgi inscr. 53c, 56b; M. Civil, Or. NS 54 (1985) 41 iii 8-9; the husband of this woman is called a mudna. 11 Inscr. 3 (lukur ki.ag.kaskal.la.ka.n6); RIME 4 (1990) 71. 12 Cf. J.-M. Durand, AEM 1/1 (1988) 513. A connection has been seen with Abraham's wife Sarai, who was considered unmarried both by Abimelech and the Pharaoh. There is also a link with the MA laws, A §22, but nothing suggests that she was a 'travelling wife'. See M. Weinfeld, Mdlanges M. Delcor (1985) 431-436. 13 See the few relevant remarks of H. Neumann, in his article on marriage, concubinate and bigamy, in Durand, La Femme (1987) 134 f. 196 - Concubines If a man's first wife (hirtu) has borne him sons, and his slave-girl has also borne him sons, and during his lifetime the father says 'My sons!' to the sons that the slave-girl bore and he reckons them with the sons of the first spouse, then, after the father has died, the sons of the first wife and the sons of the slave-girl shall divide the family property equally. The inherit- ing son, the son of the first wife, shall choose and take a share first (§170). The following paragraph (§171) deals with a father who has not said 'My sons!'. In that case they cannot share the inheritance, but the slave-girl and her sons are freed after the man has died. We know of an actual case where the father adopted only his eldest son.'4 A Sumerian text is also concerned with this problem: An oath made by the king: The slave U. shall be freed and be made 'as the son of one man'. This has been explained as an adoption of someone born from his father's rela- tionship with his slave-concubine.'5 In another Sumerian text 'his father' frees his slave and acknowledges him as his son. The slave's biological mother must have been a concubine.16 The laws of Lipit-Istar describe different situations when men subsequently marry women with a lower social status, from lower to the lowest. First it refers to 'the later wife', who would have been the woman he married after his first wife had died (§24). Then it is concerned with a man who has had children both by his wife and by a slave, and who freed the slave and her children (§25). In the end there is a clause concerning a man who married a prostitute (§27).'7 In all these cases the legislator was concerned about the rights of inheritance of the children of the different mothers. According to the laws of Hammurabi a slave-girl with children who, as a result of debts incurred by her man, had been transferred to someone else, now has to be redeemed (§119). A man who became particularly fond of his concubine could elevate her status, as suggested by a prediction in a liver omen: The slave shall be as powerful as his master, with the variant version 14 CT 8, 37d (VAB 5 12); Westbrook OBML, 11 f. 15 NSGU I 93 and 94, on no.75:5-8. 16 C. Wilcke in: M. Stol, S. P. Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 53 f.; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 4 f. 17 A new edition of §24-27 offers C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 592-595, § f34-f37. Concubines - 197 As for the slave-girl, her master shall love her and make her as powerful as her mistress.18 According to an omen, which links her to a disrespectful pig, that is something to be feared. If a pig should enter its owner's bedroom, then the concubine will come into the house of her master.19 The reference in the laws of Ur-Nammu (§ 25) to the slave-girl who is made 'equal to her mistress' and who should not be offended possibly means a concubine. This fits with our earlier discussion of the slave-girl in relation to the second wife (Chapter 5). More now can be said about the important position held by the Assyrian esirtu. Earlier scholars, before World War II, thought from the literal meaning of the word that these girls really were prisoners-of-war.20 Certainly this did happen at Nuzi, where men took foreign slave-girls from the land of Lull(ub)u to get chil- dren by them. Stipulations in contracts from Nuzi show that a woman who failed to produce children for her husband could be demoted to the rank of concubine. For this sometimes a Hurrian word, helahelu, was used. The stipulations are explicit: If N. bears a child, then H. may not take another wife besides N., nor make her a concubine. If N. does not bear a child, then H. may take another wife.21 In the Assyrian laws the esirtu is one of the women who had to veil herself in the street (ina rebiti). It applied to 'the concubine who went out on the street with (her) mistress', and to 'the holy woman who had married a husband'. But a pros- titute never had the right to wear a veil (§40). The law is followed by one which applied to a man who married a concubine: If a man veils his concubine, he shall assemble five or six of his comrades and he shall veil her in their presence. He shall say, 'She is my wife'. She is his wife. A concubine who is not veiled in the presence of lads (sdbu), whose husband has not said 'She is my wife', is not a wife. She is a concubine. If a man has died and there are no sons from his veiled wife, then the sons of the concubine are the sons. They shall take the inheritance (§ 41). 18 CT 20 39:10 = U. S. Koch, Secrets of extispicy (2005) 92f. A 10.; cf. Veenhof, Mdlanges A. Finet (1989) 186a with n. 13. Westbrook, OBML, 105b, speculates on 'the possibility of the husband divorcing his first wife because he prefers the second'. 19 A. R. George, RA 85 (1991) 146:6b; see CAD A/2 s.v. asirtu. 20 Refuted by B. Landsberger, AfO 10 (1935-36) 144 ff. 21 J. Paradise, JCS 39 (1987) 12 f. with n. 37. 198 - Concubines Here it can be seen that to be elevated to the status of a wife was essentially a public event. There was no anointing ceremony, as there would have been at a betrothal. But a formal declaration was required, 'She is my wife', which is com- parable to that for an adoption. In Mari a soldier, with a slave-girl who already had a child, wanted to 'take her to wife', but he was not allowed to do so." A text from Tell Brak describes the son of a concubine who was set free in the presence of King Tusratta of Mitanni. He became a citizen of the land of Hanigal- bat and his mother was allowed to go with him.23 In Ugarit a high-ranking man had sons by three different women of different classes. One was the daughter of the king; there were also the srdt, his freeborn (?) wives; and finally he had his slaves. A gentleman like that must have had two or three wives.24 The harem (to be discussed in Chapter 24) would be teeming with concu- bines, so there we shall resume the discussion of the esirtu. In lists of people from Ebla the court lady (dam) was often followed by the concubines.25 In a treaty the king of the Hittites permitted the king of Mitanni to take concubines besides the queen, who was his own daughter, on condition that no other woman should be higher in rank than his daughter.26 In Nuzi a prince had nine concubines in addition to his one wife. They are all named in lists of food allocations, and the varying size of the allocations suggests that the women had a corresponding order of rank, possibly based on the number of children they had produced. In a separate text one of the concubines was named as 'the wife'.27 In the royal harem at Mari they were called girlfriends,28 and we saw that there they were also 'the singers'.29 But this does not necessarily mean that all singers were concubines. In Nuzi the women in the harem (esirtu) were also involved with singing and music, and they came from abroad, from Babylonia and Hanigalbat.30 22 AEM 1/2 538 no.547. 23 N. J. J. Illingworth, Iraq 50 (1988) 99-105 no. 23; cf. SCCNH 15 (2005) 41-56. 24 A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I1(2003) 726 (RS 94.2168); J. J. Justel, UF 40 (2008) 445- 452 ('polygyny'); D. Pardee in: W. H. van Soldt, Society and administration in ancient Ugarit (2010) 94-100. 25 Thesaurus Inscriptionum Eblaicarum A/1 (1995) 41, a-si-ra-tum, translated, however, as 'female prisoner'. 26 E. F. Weidner, PDK (1923) 18:60-62; G. Beckman, Hittite diplomatic texts. Second edition (1999) 44. 27 G. Wilhelm, Das Archiv des Silwatessub 3 (1985) 24 f.; M. A. Morrison, JCS 31(1974) 4-8. 28 J.-M. Durand, AEM 1/1, 513; B. Groneberg, NABU 1989/74; S. Lafont, RA 91(1997)110 f. A. 1945:5 (sawitum). 29 N. Ziegler, Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 36 f. 30 W. Mayer, Nuzi-Studien 1(1978) 113. Concubines - 199 What is also relevant to this discussion is something we shall deal with later in Chapter 30, concerned with sacred marriage. There we shall see that the god Nabu in Borsippa not only had his Nanaya but visited two girlfriends. 7 Marriage between equals We cannot get away from the impression that the woman contributed little at the payment of the bride-price. She was more or less the object of the transactions. However, we do know of a number of contracts concerning marriage which show the woman more actively involved. One woman who married a priest contributed nineteen shekels of silver herself, according to a contract drawn up in Sumerian. The fine to be applied if either party should take the initiative to divorce was to be the same. If in the future E. should say to A., his wife, 'You are not my wife', then he shall give back the nineteen shekels of silver and pay thirty shekels of silver as divorce money. And if A. should say to E., her husband, 'You are not my husband', then she shall forfeit the nineteen shekels of silver and she shall pay thirty shekels of silver.1 Two characteristics have been cited to define a marriage on equal terms. One is that there is no statement about paying a bride-price and the other is that the same conditions apply to both parties in the case of divorce. We will return to this question in Chapter 9, about divorce. Here it is sufficient to state that any woman who, after the bride-price had been paid and in normal, balanced circumstances, dared to say to her husband, 'You are not (any longer) my husband', would be threatened with the death penalty. A marriage where the woman is under the authority of the man has been described as a marriage with manus. The term manus and the associated legal practice are found in the Institutes of Gaius (1108-113) as a feature of early Roman law. Concerning Babylonian practice P. Koschaker distinguished between mar- riages with manus and those without manus. He used the term Muntehe, which means literally 'coin-marriage' and is a concept in Medieval German law.2 Most Babylonian marriage contracts and laws concerning marriage certainly suggest that this was the usual practice, where a contract to marry was similar to a con- tract for sale. While Koschaker admits that there is some overlap between both forms of marriage, his critics say they cannot be differentiated, except that differ- ent attitudes to divorce are evident.3 We call it a 'marriage with parity' when both man and wife have equal rights. Koschaker also refers to muntfreie Ehe, 'marriage without coins', a form well attested among the Assyrians (in the Old, Middle and 1 BE 6/2 40 with C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau in Israel (1986) 248 f. 2 R. Westbrook, 'Muntehe', RlA VIII/5-6 (1995) 425 f. 3 Westbrook, OBML, 79 f.; 0. R. Gurney, Studies F. R. Kraus (1982) 94. |C - © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Marriage between equals - 201 Neo-Assyrian periods) and also in Syria (in Alalah and Emar).4 E. Lipinski sees this as a West Semitic tradition, which is to be traced back to earlier practices in Alalahj and Hana and which to some extent also had influence in Egypt.5 Again this is a subject to which we will return later, when discussing divorce. In these cases the man was forbidden to take a second wife without some compelling reason. If this should happen, then the second wife would have to be the 'slave- girl' of the first wife, a situation we saw pertaining in Chapter 5 concerning the second wife. Parity in marriage may not necessarily have been codified in traditional law, but everything depended on the social position of the woman. We see women belonging to the upper echelons of society, for example, in the Old Assyrian mer- chant colony, where wives took an active part in business administration.' One marriage between two Anatolians, Z. and K. was subject to unique conditions: The house belongs to both of them. Whether they become poor, or whether they become rich, it is theirs in common. If Z. leaves K., they shall both divide the house. When they die, H. and P. will receive the house'.7 Such parity is comparable to usual present-day conditions of marriage. Those marriages seem to have been between rich families where certain financial inter- ests were pertinent. J. Paradise has correctly divided into two categories the mar- riage contracts from Nuzi. In some the family of the bride took the initiative, and in others this fell to the family of the groom. Each guarded their own interests and provided their own clauses in the contract.8 Paradise shows that the family of the woman could stipulate that the man could not take a second wife, provided his wife appeared to be fertile. If there were no children, then the woman could not be demoted to the level of a concubine. The children born to the woman had to inherit, even if there were children by another woman. In fact there are only three contracts from Nuzi in which the family of the man laid down the conditions, but they say nothing about the birth of children. 4 Locher, 197; C. Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah (Schicht IV) (2008) 161, 167, 169. 5 Locher, 276 f. 6 K. R. Veenhof, Iraq 39 (1977) 113; idem, in: H. J. Nissen, J. Renger, Mesopotamien und seine Nachbargebiete I1(1982) 152, showing that it is found also in marriages with Anatolian women. 7 KTS II 6 = AKT I 21, with C. Michel in: K. R. Veenhof, Houses and households (1996) 292; Michel in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 256 n. 11. 8 JCS 39 (1987) 1-36. 202 - Marriage between equals Much criticism has been levied against Koschaker's distinction between mar- riage with manus and marriage without. One mistake to be avoided in this criti- cism is to think that in a marriage without manus, the woman would continue to live in the house of her father.9 Even so, it has to be admitted that two forms of marriage are attested. They are possibly separated geographically, with the Sumerian south being more liberal than the Akkadian north, and the more severe 'northern' form eventually disappearing.10 An early Middle Assyrian marriage contract is an example of such a marriage: S. (...) and B. (...) have by mutual agreement spoken together of marriage. S. (is) her husband and B. (is) his wife. In the country and in the city they will 'fear' [= care for] each other. If S. should say, 'You are not my wife', then he shall pay thirty shekels of silver; and if B. should say, 'You are not my husband', she shall pay thirty shekels of silver (followed by the names of five witnesses and the date)." C. Saporetti assumes that the woman here was an independent widow.'2 Such financial parity is referred to in the Middle Assyrian laws (§35). The phrase 'in the country and in the city' refers to the countryside and the city of Assur, and is reminiscent of the phrase 'in the field and in the city' in Old Assyrian marriage contracts, which distinguishes the land of Anatolia from the city of Assur.'3 A 'holy woman' in Emar organised a marriage for her daughter(s), and there the fine stipulated for either party in case of divorce was sixty shekels of silver.'4 A woman enjoying complete freedom is nicely illustrated in an Assyrian con- tract from ca. 650 BC.15 A mother was marrying off her daughter and a dowry was specified. If the man initiated divorce twice the amount of that dowry would have to be given back, but the woman could leave the man without any repercussions. This mother was not just one in a crowd, but a high-ranking lady of the court mar- rying off her daughter to an eminent official. The groom probably was the chief 9 A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial assyro-babylonien (1945) 181; G. Cardascia, Les lois assyriennes (1969) 64. Koschaker made such a comment about §33 of the Assyrian law-book. 10 Westbrook, 79 f., 83 f. According to B. Lion this is confirmed by new texts; 'Divorces du nord et du sud', NABU 2001/97. 11 TIM 4 45 with (among others) W. Rllig, WdO 5 (1969) 129 f.; see also K. R. Veenhof in: Studies F R. Kraus (1982) 363 n. 4. 12 C. Saporetti, The status of women in the Middle Assyrian period (1979) 14, 19. 13 In ICK 13 also 'country' vs. 'city' (matum vs. alum). 14 Emar VI/3 no.124. 15 ND 2307 = Postgate, FNALD no.14 = TUAT NF 1 (2004) 75-77 no.6; see J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41 (1979) 97 f.; K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privaturkunden (1997) 159, 164-166; also R. Zadok, BASOR 230 (1978) 57 f.; S. Sv rd, Women and power in Neo-Assyrian palaces (2015) 104 f., 164 f., 234 nos. 16-19 (with related texts). Marriage between equals - 203 tailor at the court. The high social status of both parties explains these special conditions.16 In contrast we have contracts from the same period where brides were sold by their impoverished parents. Amat-Astarti, the governess (sakintu) of the New Palace of Calah, has given Subetu, her daughter, to Milki-ramu, the son of Abdi-Azuzi. This is the dowry which she gave to her: [a long list of items of jewellery, clothing and household goods follows]. If Subetu does not become pregnant (and) does not bear (a child), she shall take a slave-girl (and) put her as a substitute in her place. (In this way) she shall bring sons to the world; the sons are her sons. If she should love (the slave-girl), she shall shelter her. If she should hate (the slave-girl), she shall sell her. If Subetu should hate Milki-ramu, she shall give up (the dowry). If Milki- ramu should hate his wife, he shall give double (the dowry) to her.17 At the end the names of seven witnesses are given and the date. Because the names of all three of the parties in this contract are Phoenician, R. Zadok has suggested that here Aramaic or Phoenician or Hebrew law is reflected rather than Assyrian law. Nevertheless, the stipulations about the slave-girl are reminiscent of those in an Old Assyrian contract.18 Two Neo-Assyrian marriage contracts state that the woman was not responsi- ble for the debts of her husband. One possibly concerns a princess, but only these two clauses can be read: If A. marries a woman in addition to her, she shall take all that she had acquired and go and leave. If A. should borrow silver, the woman has nothing to do with this.19 In a will from Old Babylonian Hana, in which a man assigns an inheritance to the children of his wife, the stipulations for divorce on terms of parity are clear. This particular will is often called a 'marriage contract' because it contains divorce clauses in it. In fact it is a will which established a person's destiny (simtu), according to the Akkadian term that was used. The document reads thus: Kikkinu the son of Abaya during his life has 'destined the destiny' of Bitti-Dagan, his wife. Kikkinu is her husband; Bitti-Dagan is his wife. If Kikkinu, her husband, should say to Bitti- Dagan, his wife, 'You are not my wife', then he shall go empty out of his house; they shall bring (?) him to the cattle of the palace. And if Bitti-Dagan, his wife, should say to Kikkinu, 16 There are four Neo-Assyrian examples of marriages between equal partners, 'EheschlieBun- gen zwischen gleichberechtigten Partnern'; see Radner, Privatrechtsurkunden, 165 f. (where A. 2527 = StAT 2 no.164). 17 J. N. Postgate, FNALD (1976) p.106 f. 18 ICK I 3 with H. Hirsch, Or. NS 35 (1966) 279 f. 19 CTN II 247 with commentary by Postgate; K. Deller, NABU 1991/105; K. Radner, Die neu- assyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 166. 204 - Marriage between equals her husband, 'You are not my husband', she shall go out naked; they shall put her upstairs in the upper story of the palace. The sons of Bitti-Dagan who she bears (or 'has borne') to Kikkinu, her husband, shall 'eat' a portion of the inheritance of the house of Kikkinu, her husband ...20 Only a few texts are known to have come from Hana (modern Deir ez-Zor). This one is unique in that these penalty clauses are attested nowhere else. It has been suggested that the text is a model of a marriage with parity. But even though the marriage partners were of equal status, they still seem to have been dependent on the palace. The penalty on the husband is hardly to be taken literally, but rather to mean that he will carry out the chores. Some scholars suggest that the punish- ment for the woman was intended to be literally carried out, while others take the phrase to mean the she will be put on show. Perhaps there was a prejudice that the very request for divorce by the woman implied some suspicion of adultery, which is why she was exposed to ignominy.2' In the Neo-Babylonian period, marriage did not involve parity. A curious exception to this is to be found in a few Babylonian texts found at Susa in Persia, where the conditions for divorce are the same for both partners. But these concern marriage between Egyptians, and in Egypt marriage with parity was possible.22 20 BRM 4 52; cf. P. Koschaker, JCS 5 (1951) 118 f.; E. Lipinski, Jewish Law Annual 4 (1981) 17 f.; S. Lafont in: Hommages d Romuald Szramkiewicz (1998) 544-546. 21 S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 86, who follows Westbrook, 'Adultery'; see Chapter 10, note 1. 22 M. T. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 14, 108-113 nos. 34-35; C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabylonischen Archiven (2003) 36 n. 3. 8 Marriage to a slave In our discussion on the second wife (Chapter 5) we saw that a slave-girl could be introduced into a childless marriage as a second wife. According to the termi- nology of Old Babylonian laws for marriage contracts, in contracts formulated to favour the first wife, she became, the 'wife' of the man and the 'slave-girl' of his wife. Legally it is absurd to use 'the wife' to express the relationship between this second wife and the man, for he was as much her master as her husband. This had led R. Westbrook, usurping a term from psychiatry, to suggest that this woman is a 'split personality', leading to a conflict between 'property law' and 'family law'. Surely the children would not later inherit their own mother as a slave!' According to the laws of Hammurabi, if during his lifetime the man recognised her children as his own they would have a right of inheritance. If he did not do this, they would not have such a right, but after his death the slave-girl and her children would be set free (§§ 170-171). The laws of Lipit-Istar state that if the chil- dren of a slave are freed they do not inherit (§25). We learn most about this question from the collections of laws on marriages with a slave or a slave-girl. Ur-Nammu (§5) deals with the marriage of a slave to a free (dumu-gi7) woman who had the duty to provide one son in the service of his master. The right of inheritance for the son was established, and then we read, No son of a free woman will become a slave without the acquiescence of the king.2 The woman's children would not become slaves without the permission of the king. This is in line with an Ur III text where a slave of a brewer begets a boy with a free woman and the brewer frees both father and son.3 Hammurabi (§175) also considers a slave who marries a free woman and the marriage results in children. The owner of that slave may not claim the children as his slaves. 1 R. Westbrook, 'The female slave', in: V. H. Matthews, Gender and law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (1998), esp. 233 f., 237 f.: 'Where the property and family interests in her person were located in different persons, the law employed a subtle jurisprudential device: her legal personality was split between them, the two parts being governed by property and family law respectively'. 2 C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 495, 535 f.; Westbrook, 225 n. 25; M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 237, 246. C. Wilcke, 496-498, sees in the last line a general rule and prefers 'king' to '(his) master' (thus M. Civil). 3 NSGU II no.177:17-20 with Wilcke, 524 f. B-C-D© 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 206 - Marriage to a slave What kind of woman would marry beneath her station in life? One such was U., whose father had died and whose widowed mother, L., was having to manage the family affairs. U. became the wife of a slave called N. who belonged to his master A. Then A. promised that neither he nor his children would claim the chil- dren of U. as their own. The widow L. placed her seal on the contract showing her approval of the marriage of her daughter to the slave. Although this marriage occurred in a city beyond the borders of the kingdom of Hammurabi the proce- dure accords with that in CH § 175.4 It could be a procedure based on common law, to which CH § 176 was supplemented as a revised clause by Hammurabi himself. It happens repeatedly that the terms of an additional and new law are outlined after first describing the situation accepted as normal. When a slave-girl was married to a free man, she was said to be clothed and provided with a covering on the head.5 This may be seen in a marriage contract. The girl S. was given in marriage by a nun, her two brothers and their mother.6 Evidently the father was dead. The bridegroom not only took her formally in marriage, but also promised 'to provide her with clothing and a head covering' (ana labiussa u aprussa). This would seem to be compensating for the lack of any dowry. The girl is probably a slave-girl. However, the full bride-price is paid and divorce arrangements are stipulated, all typical of a marriage between free people. Had her adoption as a free woman by the husband already happened? Another contract concerns an important man from Sippar, I. He 'took with him' from her mother a girl with a baby to marry his slave S., and the mother received the bride-price. But what is different in this contract is the fact that the children whom she (the girl) and S. have and will have, and their household goods which they will acquire, are the property of I. This seems harsher than § 175 or § 176 where the owner would receive only half of the inheritance after the slave died.7 In our text the owner of the slave could make his own conditions to suit himself, certainly when dealing with a poor mother. 4 M. Jursa, 'Zu Edubba 1, 10', NABU 1994/65, with D. Charpin, Af0 44-45 (1997-98) 346. 5 In the letter AbB 130:23-25 with B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 98 n. 1 (lu-di-in in line 25: nadnum here means 'in die Ehe geben'). See also Chapter 2, 'The bride', the end, with note 132. 6 CT 48 51 with Westbrook, OBML, 122f., Stol, Studies A. Skaist, 149. She was just a poor girl, according to L. Barberon, RHD 81(2003)11 f. 7 CT 48 53 with R. Westbrook, OBML, 67 f., 123; M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 140. See West- brook in: V. H. Matthews, Gender and law (1998) 226 n. 28. Marriage to a slave - 207 In Nuzi a dispute arose with two brothers after their father had given a slave- girl to their younger brother, T. The matter was brought to court, with T. claiming that, My father H. was ill and lay in bed and my father took my hand and spoke to me as follows: 'My older sons have married wives, but you are unmarried. Therefore I herewith give you Z. as your wife.' The judges asked for witnesses, who were presented and verified his story. Then the brothers had to swear an oath, but they shrank away from doing that, with the result that 'the judges gave Z., the slave-girl, to T'.' Slave-girls could have the reputation of being so insolent. A Sumerian proverb has two juxtaposed sentences. The first suggests that the husband of a slave-girl is forced to keep silent, He, whose words are few, his wife is a slave-girl, Then we find what are apparently the domineering words of a slave-girl. My words make me equal to the man.' In an Akkadian book of wisdom we find, Honour no slave-girl in your house. She must not dominate your bedroom like a wife.10 A difficult sentence in a short Sumerian letter is, The slave-girl whom L. has married may not be secured by a lead through her nose. She is the slave of D.11 There are fewer references to marriages between slaves. Ur-Nammu (§ 4) is con- cerned with a slave who marries a slave-girl on his own initiative and even if his master releases him, 'he may not leave the house'.'2 In the Neo-Assyrian period 8 AASOR 16 no. 56. 9 B. Alster, Proverbs of ancient Sumer I1(1997) 159, SP 7.44-45, with Akkadian translations. 10 Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960) 102:66 f.; TUAT III/1 (1990) 166. In the context of warn- ings against slave-girls; B. R. Foster, Before the Muses I1(1993) 329:66-71. 11 E. Sollberger, TCS 1 no.158, with B. Kienast, ZA 72 (1982) 32 f. 12 C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 491-495 (commentary), 535 (edition). 208 - Marriage to a slave marriages between slaves were well-known.'3 A group of three contracts concern an owner who buys a slave-girl to marry (ana issuti) one of his slaves.'4 The Hittite laws record some conditions for marriages between slaves and free people, and also for a slave who married a slave-girl (§31-34). A slave-girl could easily become pregnant. This could have consequences, as seen in a letter (perhaps from a nun) advising a woman about the possibility of adopting the future child of a slave-girl, B. With regard to the matter of B., about whom I spoke to you in these terms, 'Whether her child is a boy or a girl, is it I that will have to adopt it?', why do you not write to tell me anything of your views?" To avoid such a situation arising, the advice of a Sumerian proverb should have been heeded, Do not have any sexual intercourse with your slave-girl; she will neglect you (?).16 13 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 169. 14 J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 95-97. 15 AbB7 141. 16 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 66 Instr. Sur. 49. It should be noted that Akkadian selu 'to neglect' is attested only in Neo-Babylonian. 9 Divorce An agreement between two parties to marry was an arrangement with financial implications. It follows that a subsequent divorce would also have serious finan- cial consequences. That is why, directly after discussing marriage, we now begin to consider divorce. In many ways divorce mirrors marriage, as we have seen when examining marriages based on parity between equal partners. The subject of divorce is mentioned as early as the time of the rulers of the Sumerian city of Lagash (2500-2300 BC). In his Reforms the city ruler Urukagina wished to correct two abuses in the divorce procedures of his time:' If a man was divorcing his wife, the city ruler would take five shekels of silver for himself and the grand vizier one shekel of silver for himself. If a man poured kohl on the head, the city ruler would take five shekels of silver for himself and the chief adjutant would take one shekel of silver for himself. We can say nothing further about these abuses, except that evidently high offi- cials lined their own pockets by laying down their own fees, and that divorce and the act of pouring on kohl (perhaps marking a betrothal) were apparently public events.2 Some documents recording lawsuits from the Ur III period (2100-2000 BC) also deal with cases of divorce, and there also it must have been a public event.3 The verb 'to leave' is used to mean that the man had initiated a separation, in the same way as with Urukagina. If he 'left' without a reason then he had to pay 'divorce money', usually sixty shekels of silver, the equivalent of one mina. According to the laws of Ur-Nammu, If a man divorces from his first-ranking wife, then he shall pay a mina of silver (§9). Two laws about separating from a widow follow. The basic fine was a half-mina of silver (§10), but in certain circumstances the fine could be waived. If a man lay in the bosom of a widow without a written contract, then he shall not pay any silver (§11). 1 H. Steible, FAOS 5/I (1982) 316 Ukg. 6 ii 15-21; J. S. Cooper, SARI I1(1986) 76 f.; M. Lambert, RA 50 (1956) 174 f. §18; B. Hruska, ArOr 41 (1973) 119, Aussagen III 20-21. 2 Pouring kohl (sembi d6) could refer to an embellishment at the betrothal, according to Cooper, 77 n. 5. 3 A. Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956) 107-109. ) B-C-N 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 210 - Divorce 9.1 In Babylonia Later, in the Old Babylonian period, we see that the details were more compli- cated. Some come from passages about divorce in a 'Textbook for Lawyers', a text full of standard legal phrases, with the Sumerian formula in the left column and a corresponding Akkadian translation in the right.4 If a wife hates her husband and says to him, 'You are not my husband', then they shall throw her in the river. If a husband says to his wife, 'You are not my wife', then he shall pay thirty shekels of silver. The verb 'to hate' in Akkadian can be understood as a technical term meaning 'to divorce'. A fuller expression, 'to hate and to leave', is found in texts from Alalahj. In Hebrew and Aramaic the meaning of the verb may have been similar. In the Bible a verse referring to a man who loves his first wife but hates his second wife could be understood to mean that he puts the second wife in second place (Deu- teronomy 21:15). Modern Bible translations often avoid 'hated' in favour of milder translations (RSV: 'disliked'; REB: 'unloved'). The verb seems not to imply any strong emotion but only disinclination. He simply does not find her nice and no longer cares about her.5 In the laws of Hammurabi the meaning of the verb 'to hate' was somewhat different again. From a legal point of view it specifically described a subjective feeling for which there was no objective reason. This meaning is also alluded to in Deuteronomy when dealing with a woman who is divorced twice. On the first occasion her husband had reason to divorce her. But her second husband 'hated' her, though he had no reason for divorcing her except generally disliking her (Deuteronomy 24:1-4).6 Later the verb came to be used for 'to divorce from'. It is used in this way in Aramaic contracts from the Elephantine community in Egypt, where the term 'the silver of hating' was used for the fine payable on divorce.' The 'Textbook for Lawyers' gives a surprisingly severe punishment for a woman, death by drowning. This punishment may also be stipulated in contracts, in case a marriage ends with divorce, as well as its variant, 'they shall throw her from the tower'. Since the subject of the verb is impersonal we assume that it was not the husband but people from the community who carried out this punish- 4 B. Landsberger, MSL 1(1937)103 Tafel VII iv 1-12. 5 C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau, 296-299. He contrasts 'to hate' with 'to love' in CT 45 86. 6 Explained by R. Westbrook, OBML, 81a; and in more detail in Scripta Hierosolymitana 31 (1986) 399-402 (= Writings R. Westbrook II [2009] 399 ff.). 7 Locher, 297 n. 225 f. The well-known example in Aramaic is AP 15:23; see ANET (1969) 223. In Babylonia - 211 ment. It is probable that the community also decided on the method of execution. A broken betrothal also led to the involvement of 'the local district' (bdbtu).' But we never read anywhere that these punishments were actually carried out. So today's legal historians prefer to take a more humane view and question if the punishments were ever any more than threats.9 In the laws of Hammurabi (§§ 129; 133b; 143) the same punishment is prescribed for an adulterous woman, so it is suggested that drowning was threatened only in cases of adultery.10 R. West- brook, describing the measure as 'draconian', says: The use of a special mode of death in the contractual penalties looks like a deliberate attempt to equate divorce with adultery.11 Perhaps any Babylonian husband whose wife wanted a divorce would naturally suspect infidelity, or at least a desire for infidelity. You can almost hear him think- ing, 'Why else would she want to leave me unless there was someone else?' For a divorced woman to go back to live alone in her community would hardly have been possible. This suggestion is supported by occasions in Neo-Babylonian doc- uments when the punishment was execution with 'the iron dagger', to be dis- cussed later. P. Koschaker's idea that the scribe perhaps carelessly copied this old formula'2 more or less fits with what Westbrook says in his book about marriage in the Akkadian-speaking North: It may even be that divorce by the wife was unheard of and unthinkable in their practice.13 No woman could initiate proceedings for divorce or separation. This was also the basic reasoning of D. N6rr, in a relatively unknown article devoted to the question of whether the woman had the right to divorce.'4 According to Norr she did not have that right, and this was also the case in all early systems of justice. In the contracts we find either that there was no mention of the possibility of divorce, or if the possibility was recognised it was immedi- ately rejected by stating that draconian punishments would ensue. With regard to this second possibility Norr adds that there was a fundamental option of rec- 8 On the 'district' see Locher, 300-303. 9 A. van Praag, Droit matrimonial, 197, bottom. 10 Falkenstein, NSGU I, 109 n. 6; M. San Nicolo, art. 'Ehebruch', RlA II1(1938) 300a. 11 OBML, 83b. 12 JCS 5 (1951) 118. 13 OBML, 84a. 14 D. Norr in Studi in onore di Emilio Betti III (1962) 505-526. 212 - Divorce ognising a state of formal separation, established by the wife stating, 'You are not my husband'. This was a point of particular importance for Norr, who was a lawyer,15 and his view is supported by contracts in which equal punishments are prescribed for a husband and a wife who divorce. It represents a further step towards a woman having the right to divorce, and in such a situation she enjoyed the same right as the man, identified in Chapter 7 as a 'marriage with parity'. We can see that there was a range of judgements in cases of divorce, demonstrating that a marriage with parity enables a free agreement between both parties to sort out the possible consequences of a divorce. N6rr suggests regarding them merely as set phrases. Although he offers no proof for this,16 he provides a new explanation of §§141-143 of the laws of Ham- murabi, which seem to offer support. For Hammurabi the basic principle was that a woman had no right to divorce, but the king could exercise discretion. Accord- ing to §142 if the wife had behaved well and her husband had behaved badly the community (bdbtu) could grant the woman permission to divorce. We shall deal with these laws more closely later when discussing motives for divorce. The idea that throwing someone into the water referred to a woman stepping into the river to undergo judgement by the river god in an ordeal is attractive but unlikely.'7 We conclude that we have to take the clause at its face value, without pro- posing some unusual situations or adducing arguments from a historical back- ground. It is not for nothing that exactly this formula stands in the 'Handbook for Lawyers', and it is reminiscent of punishments in contracts threatening to sell the woman as a slave if the question of divorce arises.18 It is clear that the woman in these cases had been entirely subordinated. This makes Koschaker think that these must have been marriages with manus, reasoning that if the 'purchased' goods just walked away, the 'buyer' would have suffered 'loss'. Note that both the punishments referred to above are recorded even for religious women, although their position was surely higher than purchased goods.19 A text from early Old Babylonian Sippar concerning a woman and the possi- bility of divorcing threatens that she will be 'pushed from the tower'. That particu- lar woman appears formerly to have been a slave but, after having been adopted by a man and a woman (a nun), she was given in marriage. Her position would 15 Norr, 513 f. 16 Norr, 519. 17 B. Groneberg, NABU 1989/73; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 48-55. 18 BE 6/2 48; PBS 8/2 252; cf. CH §141. 19 Noted by Westbrook, OBML, 83a, about the three texts CT 2 44, BAP 89, TCL I 61 (see Chap- ter 5); see also Norr, 516, 519. In Babylonia - 213 certainly have been subordinate, and the bride-price for her, forty shekels of silver and a slave, was unusually high. This text was mentioned earlier in Chapter 5 concerning the second wife. There was no way of allowing her to get it into her head to depart.20 Such a punishment may have applied only if the woman did not enjoy a completely free status. Possibly it is true that in older times this was the law applicable to all women, which would be supported by the occurrence of the phrases 'they will throw her in the river' or 'they will push her from the tower', indicating the public nature of the ritual.2 One short text recounts how a betrothed man demands his bride-price back from his father-in-law, telling him, I will not marry your daughter. Tie her up and throw her in the river.22 This seems like exaggeration. He seems to have been indirectly accusing his betrothed of adultery by demanding this punishment. In the scribal schools boys learned to write correct legal formulas for mar- riages without parity and for other arrangements. One clay tablet from a school has a series of model contracts including a marriage contract containing the clause that the man and the woman alike had to pay one mina of silver if one were to say, 'You are not my wife', or the other, 'You are not my husband'.23 That contract was drawn up in Sumerian, and it is assumed that marriages with parity were preferred in the south.24 Demonstrating the fact of a divorce could be linked with making a formal gesture. In the Sumerian period a woman who wanted nothing more to do with her marriage 'brushed her marriage with a garment' to be free of it. There were also other circumstances in which a person 'brushed with a garment'.25 In later texts from the second millennium, in the countries surrounding Mesopotamia, in the 'periphery', a woman would leave her garments on a bench and depart. This is clearly a symbolic act, a gesture to contrast with the veiling at the beginning 20 VAS 8 4-5 with M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 157 f. 21 B. Groneberg proposed to see in 'the tower' the family or clan, meaning that the woman was expelled by her kinfolk; Groneberg in: Th. Spath, B. Wagner-Hasel, Frauenwelten in der Antike (2000) 9, cf. 3 ('the tower' has this meaning in Nuzi). However, 'tower' never has this meaning in Old Babylonian. 22 D. I. Owen, R. Westbrook, ZA 82 (1992) 205 FLP 1340:35-39; with S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 57 f., and D. Charpin in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 92 f. no. 48. 23 H. Neumann, 'ProzeBfiihrung im Edubba'a. Zu einigen Aspekten der Aneignung juristischer Kenntnisse im Rahmen des Curriculums babylonischer Schreiberausbildung', ZABR 10 (2004) 71-92. 24 C. Wilcke in: B. Hrouda, Isin-Isdn-Bahriydt III (1987) 104, 106 IB 1515+ i 8-15. 25 Sum. tug Qr; NSGU I, 108, cf. 79; H. Petschow, in art. 'Gewand', RlA III (1957) 321b. 214 - Divorce of the marriage.26 In the Old Babylonian period and later we find various refer- ences to 'cutting through the hem' (sissikta batdqu), a ceremonial act performed appropriately in public. In one case the original witnesses to the marriage were present for the occasion.27 It was the man who made the cut and one assumes in general that in so doing he renounced any claim he had on the woman.28 Koschaker sees here a change of status, though this is unlikely.29 Westbrook thinks that in the Old Babylonian texts this act was performed only in special circumstances, in particular when the man was allowed to retain the dowry. He reached this conclusion because he wanted to distinguish between the declara- tion 'You are not my wife/husband', the verba solemnia, and the act of cutting.30 The handbooks containing legal formulas concerning marriage do not mention the verba solemnia. All we find is, He began to hate her; he has cut off her hem; he has weighed out the divorce money; and he has tied it up in her lap; he has made her leave the house.31 The magical rite intended to 'divorce' a patient from a disease described at the end of Chapter 2 imitates this procedure for a divorce. This brings us to the divorce money (uzubba), a noun occurring in Sumerian and Akkadian texts derived from the verb 'to leave' (ezebu). This was the most important compensation for the woman and the amount was determined accord- ing to the contract. Occasionally alimony was mentioned.32 The man had to pay divorce money if he had said 'You are not my wife' without good reason. The amount to be paid is of significance. Two or three times in the Ur III period we see one mina of silver (sixty shekels) mentioned, but one text has forty shekels and another ten shekels.33 The laws of Ur-Nammu from that period fix an amount of 'sixty shekels if a man is leaving his first-ranking wife; thirty shekels if he is leaving a widow' (§9-10). In a lawsuit one 'deserted' woman who demanded 26 K. van der Toorn, Family religion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel (1996) 45-47. 27 J. J. Finkelstein, WdO 8 (1976) 237; CT 45 86. Now also in ARM 10 33:24, with MARI3 (1984) 170 n. 56: 'He cut off my hem in the presence of kings'. 28 M. Malul, Studies in Mesopotamian legal symbolism (1988) 197-208; cf. RlA III (1957) 321a. For the passages see R. Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I1(2003) 388 n. 82. 29 JCS 5 (1951) 115b. 30 OBML, 69 f., contra K. R. Veenhof; for his reaction see Festschrift B. Kienast (2003) 702f. 31 MSL 1(1937) 99 Tafel VII ii 49-iii 3; cf. M. T. Roth, Law collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (1979) 50, SLHF iv 12-16. 32 For a survey of the options see Westbrook, 78. Alimony: 79b; see note 40. 33 NSGU I, 108. An Old Akkadian text mentions seven shekels as divorce money (tak4.a.kam); STTI 169 ii 5-7. In Babylonia - 215 ten shekels of silver promised that she would not 'file a complaint' against her ex-husband.34 In Old Babylonian texts the word uzubba is not usually stated but the amount to be paid is. The handbook for legal formulas mentions 'half a mina' or thirty shekels of silver.35 The amounts in the contracts vary from ten to sixty shekels of silver. One is inclined to relate the amount of the divorce money to that of the bride- price (terhatu).36 For this it is relevant to refer to the Laws of Hammurabi: If a man intends to divorce his first-ranking wife who did not bear him children, he shall give her silver as much as was her bride-price and restore to her the dowry that she brought from her father's house, and he shall divorce her. If there is no bride-price, he shall give her 60 shekels of silver as divorce money. If he is a commoner, he shall give her 20 shekels of silver37 (§§138-140). The explanation of these laws by G. R. Driver and J. C. Miles is correct.38 They suppose that a man leaves his wife 'capriciously', without any proper motive such as her being unable to have children. That man would lose the bride-price he had paid, as we see also in § 159. Here the settlement is made between the father of the bride and the man, as with an 'inchoate marriage', a betrothal. §159. If a man, who has the marriage gift (biblu) brought to the house of his father-in-law and who gives the bride-price, has been looking lasciviously at another woman and has said to his father-in-law, 'I will not marry your daughter', the father of the daughter shall carry off whatever had been brought to him. The legislator may have assumed that a bride-price of thirty shekels of silver had been paid, so a fine on divorce was similarly thirty shekels of silver. Law § 156 is also relevant, where a man had to pay thirty shekels of silver to the 'daughter-in- law' whom he had at home and with whom he had had intercourse. She had not yet had intercourse with his son. The husband had to pay the fine in silver, but sometimes a more severe pun- ishment was applied on divorce, when 'he lost house, (field) and household chat- 34 NSGU II no. 20; F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 47 no.8; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 3. 35 MSL 1(1937) 103 Tafel VII iv 8-12. 36 Cf. G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws I1(1956) 297. 37 In the light of §§9-10 of the laws of Ur-Nammu, one is inclined to translate in CH §140 'If she is a commoner' (summa muskenet). Then the parallelism is elegant: 60 shekels for the first-rank- ing woman, 20 for a second-ranking woman or a widow. However, in the Laws of Hammurabi only male common citizens are always featured as alternatives. 38 The Babylonian Laws I, 296-298; cf. Westbrook, OBML, 71 f. 216 - Divorce tels'.39 Two well-known lawsuits state that the man must give 'alimony' to his divorced wife in the form of food and clothing, but the background to those cases is not known.40 9.2 In Assyria Evidence for divorce in the Old Assyrian period comes only in texts from the trading colony in Asia Minor.4' These seem to show that both Assyrian and foreign Anatolian partners had equal rights, at least according to what is stip- ulated in the contracts. For the neighbouring Hittites divorce was not difficult to arrange according to §26 of the Hittite Laws.42 In Chapter 7 we saw the same parity in the Middle Assyrian period for marriages between equals: one of the parties had to pay thirty shekels of silver on divorce. An Old Assyrian contract stipulates twenty shekels of silver payable by one of the parties, and the man also promises not to marry a second wife.43 The Old Assyrian word for divorce money is ezibtu, and it could, for example, amount to 6%, 15 or 60 shekels of silver.44 However in one marriage contract we find a clause stating that, in the event of 'desertion', the offender must pay five minas of silver. That makes 300 shekels, and it would have been a considerable sum to have to pay. It is comparable to a fine to be discussed a little later, which was levied on someone coming back with further demands after a divorce had been officially concluded. The contract, in which Assur is referred to as 'the city' and Anatolia as 'the field', gives much useful detail about the case:45 39 CT 2 44 (marriage with two sisters); PBS 8/2 155 (marriage with a widow with sons; both par- ties forfeit the house, the field and date-palm orchard); YOS 15 73 (plus 30 shekels silver). 40 Alimony: VAS 8 9-10; VAS 18 1 (belongs to VAS 18 101); Westbrook, OBML, 79b, 134 f. 41 K. R. Veenhof in: R. Westbrook, A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law I1(2003) 453 f. 42 R. Haase, AOF 22 (1995) 279. 43 CCT 5 16a with K. Deller, Or. NS 27 (1958) 62 f., and P. Garelli, JSS 3 (1958) 300 f. 44 V. Donbaz, Studies Tahsin Ozgig (1989) 83-85; TuM NF 1 21e:8 (see CAD E 431a); cf. the 10 1/2 shekels in L. Matous, ArOr 41(1973) 309 I 513:7. EL 3 (= TCL 4 122) distinguishes the divorce money (no amount is mentioned) from the fine of 5 minas. For a survey see R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 356-361. In TCL 1 242 each party pays 2 minas; TUAT Erg nzungsband (2001) 30 f.; see also C. Michel in J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 222 (n. 71). 45 ICK 13 with ANET (1969) 543. In Assyria - 217 L. married H., the daughter of E. In 'the field' he may not marry a second wife, but in the city he can marry a 'holy woman'. If she (H.) has not given him heirs within two years, she shall herself buy a slave-girl and later, after this person has borne him a child, he (she?) may sell her wherever he (she) wants. If L. divorces her, he shall pay five minas of silver and if H. divorces him then she shall pay five minas of silver. The names of four witnesses are at the end. The main characters are known from other documents. E. was an Anatolian who had married off his daughter to an Assyrian merchant. There are three letters referring to the woman H. as a married woman.46 The amount to be paid on divorce was so high that it effectively acted as a prohibition. A man who married a widow would also expect a demand of five minas if he decided to divorce her. This was a high amount but here it can be regarded as a real punishment I. married A. In 'the field' he shall not marry a second wife. If he (still) marries (her) and leaves her, then he shall pay five mina of silver'. (The text concludes with the names of three witnesses and the man's seal impression).47 It is noteworthy that many of the contracts applying to Anatolians, after stipulat- ing the duty to pay, add the clause, 'and on the plain (edenu) they shall kill (daku) him'.48 Sometimes 'to kill someone' can be understood to mean 'to beat someone up'. These are threats. We now look at instances when a marriage had actually ended in divorce. In Old Assyrian texts there are two expressions for divorce, 'to leave, desert' (ezebu) and 'to separate' (pardsu N). A few contracts concerning divorce show that in Assyria distinctive formulations could be used, as can be seen in the following example:49 Iarnasarna and Ianahana (are) husband and wife. They have left each other. The one shall not come back (with a demand) to the other. Whoever does come back shall pay five minas of silver and on the plain they shall 'kill' him (names of witnesses). 46 K. R. Veenhof in: H. J. Nissen, J. Renger, Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn (1982) 150 f.; C. Michel, CMK (2001) 501 f. 47 AKT I 76 with C. Michel in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 256. 48 R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 359 f. For paying 1 mina and 'killing' see TCL 4100 with ZA 82(1992) 213. 49 L. Matous, Kappadokische Keilschrifttafeln mit Siegeln aus den Sammlungen der Karlsuniver- situt in Prag (1984) Nr. 36. For more see P. Garelli, Les Assyriens en Cappadoce (1963) 68 f., n. 2; V. Donbaz, Studies Tahsin Ozgug (1989) 80 f., 83-85. 218 - Divorce Severe punishments were routinely recorded in these contracts, but it is not clear whether paying was an alternative to death. There was always the likelihood of an Assyrian merchant divorcing an Anato- lian woman. After residing in the colony for 15 or 20 years any merchant may want to go home to Assur.50 Then the divorced partners were completely free. She is allowed to go wherever she wants, either to an Anatolian, or to an (Assyrian) mer- chant. He is allowed to marry the wife of his heart.51 Any children could possibly be shared, with the woman receiving alimony for feeding them and bringing them up.52 The record of a decision by the 'management' of a trade colony in a divorce suit between an Assyrian and an Anatolian woman is of interest.53 The trading colony of Kanes has pronounced a judgement, and Assur-ammarum, the son of Ennum-Assur, has left Zibezibe, the daughter of Assur-beli; his wife. And Assur-ammarum has given to Zibezibe, his wife, her divorce money. And Assur-ammarum will (be able to) fetch his three sons. Zibezibe shall not come back at Assur-ammarum or his three sons (date). This shows that the woman could keep the sons until the husband had paid the divorce money, and then a public judgement was necessary. In the end the chil- dren went to their father. In a divorce between indigenous Anatolians, the chil- dren stayed with the mother.54 It was sometimes difficult to divide up the chattels afterwards and there were lawsuits about this.55 To conclude this section we cite a passage from an Old Assyrian letter about a marriage that was about to 'break down'.56 The woman lived in the colony and her husband in Assur. Her sister, a priestess, lived there too. In this letter to the woman the sister reports on the tense situation at home. On the envelope we read: 'To Salimma, the wife of Irma-Assur'. But in the letter she refrains from writing the man's name, obliquely referring to 'the man'. 50 Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 222-225. 51 H. Sever, Studies S. Alp (1992) 484:7-12, stresses the equal rights of the Anatolians. 52 K. R. Veenhof in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 347. 53 EL 276 (= J. Lewy, TuM NF 1 21e). 54 Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 359. 55 Veenhof, Archivum Anatolicum 3 (1997) 379; TCL 4 100 with J. Hengstl, ZA 82 (1992) 212-220. 56 K. R. Veenhof, 'Sisterly advice on an endangered marriage in an Old Assyrian letter', Studies R. D. Biggs (2007) 285-303. We follow Veenhof's translation of lines 27-49. In Assyria - 219 You have brought me into conflict with the man. He tells me: 'Since, not being my slave woman (i.e. his second wife), she refuses to come here, you must not mention her name again to me (i.e. plead for her), or you will no longer be my sister (i.e. sister-in-law).' Why are others ruling your children and your household, while you are staying there? Please, do not make your children perish, and do not estrange me from the man's house. If you see a possibility to come, get ready and leave for here before the man gets different ideas ... Since you had not come, he felt very unhappy, and for five days did not leave his house. If you are looking for another husband, write me so; I wish to know it. If not, get ready and leave for here. If you do not come you will bring me into conflict with the man, and you will make your children perish, and I, I will never mention your name again; you will no longer be my sister, and you must not write to me anymore. This is the end of the letter, and from it we learn that the person addressed was a free woman, not a subordinated second wife, and that either partner of the mar- riage was free to end it. In general it can be seen that a woman had great, if not complete, freedom in Old Assyrian marriages. This more or less accords with the findings of E. Lipinski, who examined the extent to which a woman could take the initiative in divorce.57 He considers the severe penalties of the Old Babylonian period, such as the woman being condemned to death, as 'exceptional'. In contracts from the North and the North-West (from Assyria, Hana, Alalahj, and those more recently found in Emar) he has discovered that the partners were equal. He lays some empha- sis on the right of the woman to divorce if her husband should take a second wife, saying that 'the husband's entering into a bigamous marriage amounts to an initiative of divorce, with the consequent heavy financial arrangements at his charge, exactly as in the contracts from Elephantine.'58 Indeed this is evident in the Aramaic contracts from Elephantine and also in Greek documents from Egypt from a later period. Lipinski concluded that the liberal marriage law in Elephan- tine and in late Egyptian society was not inherited from Egyptian culture itself but was imported from views in the Semitic world.59 After this discussion of the apparently humane aspects of Assyrian marriage law, reading § 37 of the Middle Assyrian law-book comes as a shock: 57 E. Lipinski, 'The wife's right to divorce in the light of an Ancient Near Eastern tradition', Jewish Law Annual IV (1981) 9-27. 58 Lipinski, 24. The wife in the Assyrian example from Kalhu (referred to in his note 82: CTN II 247) is a princess, according to K. Deller, NABU 19991/105. Deller's suggestion was rejected by S. Svard, Women and power in Neo-Assyrian palaces (2015) 87 n. 418. 59 See also Lipinski, 'Marriage and divorce in the Judaism of the Persian period', Transeuphra- tene 4 (1991) 63-71, and his remarks in BiOr 68 (2011) 266 f. 220 - Divorce If a man leaves his wife he shall give her in accordance with what he wishes. If he gives her nothing, in accordance with what he wishes, then she shall go away empty. One gains the impression that this law was formulated to obviate the need to follow an established female-friendly practice, and the payment of divorce money which had existed should not necessarily become the norm. This law makes no mention of the dowry, which was possibly given back. Two texts from Nuzi relate to an adopted woman who has been married off against her will. In the first, while in position at the city gate, she complains, Why do you give me in marriage to M., a blind man? Let me leave M. and give me in marriage to A. And that happens at the city gate. In the second text another woman declares, 'I hate my husband'. The marriage is then annulled and the bride-price returned. Nothing is known about the background.60 In the Neo-Assyrian period the daughter of a high-ranking woman easily obtained her divorce. She simply demanded this in an agreement.61 A lawsuit from Assur indicates that a man seeking divorce had to agree on a settlement with his father-in-law, and neither of them could object to remarriage.62 9.3 In the Neo-Babylonian period Neo-Babylonian marriage contracts mention divorce only as a possibility for the husband. In this period the term used was mussuru, 'to allow (the woman) to go'. In some cases we find a powerful punishment prescribed when linked with adultery: If the wife is found with another man, she shall die by the iron dagger. If the man allows her to go (mussuru) and wants to marry another woman in preference to her place, he shall pay her six minas of silver and she shall go to her father's house (or 'and he shall send her to her father's house').63 60 AASOR 16 no.31 with W. Farber, ZA 75 (1985) 217, and IM 73254; N. Pfeiffer, SCCNH 18 (2009) 374 f. 61 K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 159-161, 'Ehescheidung'. 62 Radner, 160 f., VAT 9745. 63 Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements, 92 no.26:10-15, with TUAT NF 1 (2004) 90 f., where Jews are mentioned; for a variant see Roth, 44 no. 5:10-16. In the Neo-Babylonian period - 221 According to M. Roth the reference to the iron dagger indicates that the death penalty should be enforced relentlessly, whereas older law-books show that a man was entitled to forgive his wife for adultery and so she would be allowed to live. That concession is denied here. The iron dagger may refer to an official instrument of execution.64 But in fact this is the only clause in Neo-Babylonian marriage contracts where it is implied that the woman took the initiative in seeking divorce. There is furthermore a parallelism in the clauses dealing with the man and the woman, for both mention 'another person' as a lover or as a wife. The petition for divorce arises because another person is implicated, because of infidelity. We cannot infer more from this parallelism than the inequality of the outcome. G. van Driel attempted to show that in texts where the dagger is mentioned, the women were of a lower social class: they had no dowry; one was an unmarried mother; they were often called 'a girl (nu'artu)', a term having the meaning of an unmarried woman (discussed in Chapter 1); the woman could pos- sibly have been a prostitute.65 Scholars stress that killing the woman should be contrasted with punishing the man with an immensely high fine, five or six minas of silver. Other cases of sky-high fines indicate that the risk of breaking a contract should be avoided at all costs, otherwise both parties would be irreparably ruined. Applying the death sentence to the wife could also be explained as ensuring that all children should be legitimate, and therefore she must never embark on casual affairs. In the Neo-Babylonian period people had become more aware of the question of having legitimate descent and heredity in families; some of them had an ancient pedigree.66 It was a time when the ancestor of the family was always mentioned, sometimes specifying his profession, and so one understands why a legitimate birth could be contested.67 If this was the motivation, we can accept that the threat of being executed with the dagger was very real. The high fine for the man was reasonable if it enabled the repudiated woman to receive a substantial sum of money to stay alive.68 The threat of death by the dagger is reminiscent of the Old Babylonian pun- ishment of throwing the woman in the river. In both cases the man's punishment 64 M. T. Roth, "'She will die by the Iron Dagger". Adultery and Neo-Babylonian marriage', JESHO 31 (1988) 186-206. 65 G. van Driel in: M. Stol, S. P. Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 192f. 66 C. Wunsch, Urkunden zum Ehe-, Verm6gens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabyloni- schen Archiven (2003) 3 f., 6 f. 67 OIP 122 no. 36 with C. Waerzeggers, M. Jursa, ZABR 14 (2008) 10-13. 68 K. Abraham, AfO 51 (2005-06) 203 n. 11. 222 - Divorce was limited to paying the divorce money. The same questions we posed regarding the severe punishments documented for the Old Babylonian period now recur. Were these punishments actually enforced or were they threats based on a tradi- tional formula? Whatever the answer, the evidence shows that Neo-Babylonian marriages were not with parity, for the wife was subject to more severe conditions than her husband. The dagger has led P.-A. Beaulieu to a surprisingly different interpretation of the punishment. He prefers to translate the verbal form ta-ma-ta not as derived from 'to die' but from 'to be cursed'. This means that as a consequence of her infi- delity her punishment is that 'she shall be cursed on the iron dagger', for at that time people would swear on a dagger.69 It would be interesting to know what happened in the Neo-Babylonian period when no third party was involved, when a man and woman simply stated that they wanted to terminate the marriage, a possibility not to be excluded. As to the iron dagger, we could adopt a similar sort of reasoning as with possible death by drowning in the Old Babylonian period, taking it as an exceptional circumstance, and for that reason envisaged in only some contracts.70 Now we can check what happened in practice from a fragmentary text from the Persian period in the reign of Darius. It is the record of a lawsuit outlining the course of proceedings for a woman's divorce. She reproached her husband that he had 'given and eaten' the dowry which she had received from her father (meaning that he had been a wastrel and 'sold and spent' it). All she had retained was the house and field and there were many creditors who had their eye on repossession. The man had told her, 'There is nothing that I can give to the creditors or to you as food. Go wherever you like!' Both of them went their own ways, but the problem for the woman was that she was no longer supported.7' In other texts protests were made against the way that the man had made attempts to use the dowry, for example by pawning it.72 In the discussion about the dowry in Chapter 3 we saw how a husband's risky transactions could easily fritter it away. 69 R-A. Beaulieu, 'Women in Neo-Babylonian society', Bulletin of the Canadian Society of Meso- potamian Studies 26 (1993) 7-14, esp. 11a, with 14 n. 22. 70 R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 76; see further Norr and Westbrook. 71 C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 32-39 no.8. 72 Wunsch, 37 f. Motives for divorce - 223 9.4 In Syria In Alalah men and women were equally entitled to a divorce to end their mar- riage. 'If I. should hate N. and keep driving her away, she shall keep the bride- price of a 'young girl' (nimusa sa SAL suhdrti ikla), take all that was granted to her (waddusi) from her father's house, and leave'. If 'the young girl' 'pulls his nose', she shall give back the bride-price, take all that she had brought there from her father's house, and what had been granted to her (waddusi), she shall take and leave.73 For a wife 'to pull the nose' must have had roughly the same significance as for a husband 'to hate' her. It was probably a symbolic act which would lead to divorce. In nearby Emar divorce was as simple for the woman as for the man, with one or the other party paying sixty shekels of silver as divorce money.74 9.5 Motives for divorce One readily assumes that in a marriage with parity the husband or the wife could seek divorce without providing reasons. But this was not always the case, as can be seen from an Aramaic marriage contract with parity which ends with the stip- ulation '(there will be) no suit or process'.75 Several motives for requesting divorce could be adduced.76 Motives for the husband: - the wife was not a virgin77 - the wife had committed adultery78 - the wife had refused to have intercourse79 - the wife had contracted a serious illness; but then the wife's rights were pro- tected, according the law-books, inasmuch she was allowed to continue to live in the house80 73 AT 92:6-14 with C. Niedorf, Die mittelbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden aus Alalah (Schicht IV) (2008) 275-283 (33.2). 74 Emar VI/3 no.124. 75 AP 15, with Lipinski, 21 f. 76 Cf. Locher, 286-289, 'Eheverfehlungen'. 77 Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956) 108 f. (no. 205:21-25). 78 Westbrook, OBML, 75-77. 79 NSGU I, 109 (no. 22:9-11). 80 NSGU II 8 f. no. 6 (i.zig); CH §148 (lahbum); CL §28; Westbrook, OBML 77 f.; BE 6/159 (VAB 5 232 kisitti ilim), 'an attack by a god', and the judges permit her new husband to leave her. See Chapter5, at the end. 224 - Divorce - the wife had uttered slander (?)81 - the wife was lying and bullying82 - the wife was a gadabout and had belittled her husband, she was bent on her own gain, and 'scattered the house' (Laws of Hammurabi § 141, § 143)83 Motives for the wife: - the husband had refused to have intercourse (?)84 - the husband was a gadabout and had belittled the wife (Laws of Hammurabi § 142) - the husband was guilty of ill-treatment (?)85 - the husband had committed a crime6 - the husband had been absent for a prolonged period (a recurring theme in the law-books).87 9.5.1 Ill-treatment by the husband and impudence by the wife The consequences for a husband who had abused his wife can be illustrated by a letter sent to the queen a city state. Do not keep on writing about B. That woman does not want to stay here with (her) husband. Let her take her children and go to the house of her brother-in-law (yabamu) (...). A., her husband, keeps on ill-treating her (buzzu'u) and I am concerned about her complaints. This woman is dear to me.88 81 BE 6/2 58:4 (mdgirtum; Locher, 254). 82 C. Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 223 n. 76, 77. 83 CH §141 with S. Greengus, HUCA 40-41 (1969-70) 38 n. 11. This behaviour fits that of a gada- bout; I do not agree with interpreting wasiat as '(she) decides to leave (the house)', in Westbrook, OBML, 76b. 84 W. W. Hallo and others reject this interpretation of BE 6/2 58:7, defended by Locher, 255 f. (nu-'un'-zu-sa-ma u bu-zu-u h-sa). The half-Sumerian nu.un.zu-sa is very uncertain, but note the similar nu.mu.un.zu.na in TIM 4 48:7, Locher, 195. An alternative will be given in note 89. 85 NSGU II 267 no. 169 with Greengus, JAOS 89 (1969) 532 n. 142. The complaints by princess Kirum in Mari, in Chapter 23, are also apposite here. 86 M. Jursa, RA 91(1997)134-145, with L. Barberon, RHD 81(2003) 5 (GB); AT 17 with W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture III (2002) 251 (Alalah). 87 OBML, 86-88. 88 OBTR 143. Motives for divorce - 225 A lawsuit from Nippur refers to E., a husband accused of ill-treatment and of something else also.89 So far that word cannot be translated, though it is stated that the old women would have to examine this case. The bronze weapon of (the god) Ninurta took its position in the city district and its old women took their positions. But they could not establish that A. had spoken insults against E. They did establish that E. had done ... to her and had treated her badly. Afterwards E. spoke as follows: 'Even if you should pin even more on me than now, I will not marry her. And even if they hang me, I will pay the silver.' One assumes that the insults to the woman were the basis of her accusations and that they appeared to be true. Some interpret 'done ... to her' as unaccept- able intercourse, which is why the old women were detailed to conduct an inter- nal inspection (inspectio ventris). That was a fantasy favourably entertained by some pre-war specialists in cuneiform law, the Keilschriftrechtforscher, but the word may simply be a more general word for 'to harass', and the old women were involved because they were familiar with the domestic situation. There was no hesitation by the husband admitting what he had done. He wanted at all costs to end the betrothal or the marriage. They had agreed on a marriage with parity, on her initiative, but he had now become dissatisfied with that arrangement, so he was willing to pay the divorce money required. In one particular Old Assyrian marriage contract the couple preferred to allow their marriage to continue, even if circumstances arose that would normally lead to divorce. Ili-bani: his wife is Tataya. If he should treat her badly, he may not leave her; he shall pay thirty shekels of silver to Tataya. If she becomes too saucy (?) and he has 'seen' her (like this), then she may not leave him; Tataya shall pay thirty shekels of silver to Ili-bani.90 The ill-treatment was certainly related to domestic violence. The sauciness of the wife could have been literally translated as 'he receives sillatu'. In Babylonian this expression means 'to receive an insult', but in Assyrian it appears to refer to a physical act. The context suggests that whatever she did she was behaving impudently. Because the two families involved in this marriage also had financial obligations to each other divorce was unthinkable.91 89 BE 6/2 58 with W. W. Hallo, Origins (1996) 247-250; The Context of Scripture III (2002) 269 ('slandering and abusing her'); S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 253-256, 497 f.; J. J. Finkelstein, WdO 8 (1976) 239 n. 4. They derive nu-'un'-zu-sa in line 7 from an Akkadian verb like nuzzu; CAD N/2 357b. Another opinion in note 84. 90 K. R. Veenhof, Archivum Anatolicum 3 (1997) 358 f. 91 Veenhof, 357-381. 226 - Divorce Another Old Assyrian text provides for a husband who might 'become extrav- agant' (samdhu) and leave his wife. If so, he would have to pay sixty shekels of silver. If the wife should become impudent she would then have to leave the house after having had her toggle-pin pulled off. From this it can be seen that for a woman to wear a toggle-pin, which her husband had fastened on her breast, marked her as his wife.92 9.5.2 Gadabouts In Hammurabi §141 the wife 'who is bent on gadding about' is heading for aban- doning her husband through her behaviour. Such 'gadding about' does not imply loose morals (as perhaps is the case in the following sections) but financial mis- conduct.93 §141. If the wife of a man who is residing in the man's house should decide to leave, and she appropriates goods, 'squanders' her household, or belittles her husband, they (perhaps the city district) shall charge and convict her; and (1) if her husband should declare his intention to divorce her, then he shall divorce her; neither her travel expenses (?), nor her divorce money, nor anything else shall be given to her. (2) If her husband should declare his intention not to divorce her, then her husband may marry another woman and that (first) woman shall reside in her husband's house as a slave-woman. Because this is not a formal divorce the punishment is not so severe. The two following paragraphs concern a woman who divorced formally. She 'hated' her husband and made the formal statement, 'You are no longer married to me'. §142 concerns the man who is a gadabout,94 and § 143 the woman.95 If a woman 'hates' her husband, and declares, 'You will no longer be married to me', her cir- cumstances shall be investigated by the authorities of her city district; and if she is circum- spect (nasrat) and without fault, but her husband is a gadabout and belittles her greatly, that woman will not be subject to any penalty; she shall take her dowry and she shall depart for her father's house. If she is not circumspect but is a gadabout, 'squanders' her household, and belittles her husband, they shall cast that woman into the water (§§142-143). 92 B. Kienast, AOF 35 (2008) 46-48; for the toggle-pin see pp. 48 and 51 (AKT 3 51:10 f.). 93 OBML, 76 f.; Locher, 284 f. 94 A. Tosato, Il matrimonio israelitico (1982) 194 f., 'to respect' [note 11: attested in KAJ 7, TIM 4 45], pointed out that 'fearing' each other in Middle Assyrian contracts must indicate normal and decent behaviour by the couple, in contrast to that of a gadabout. 95 In detail Locher, 290-303. Motives for divorce - 227 The wife who 'hates' her husband is simply one who wants to leave him without any valid reason for divorce. Everything points to the fact that §§141-143 con- cerned a married woman living in the house of her husband. In her comprehen- sive argument about these laws S. Lafont showed along other lines that here indeed a married woman was the party in question.96 As is usual with divorce, we see that it was 'the district' which made its own judgement. The wife's punish- ment in §141 was one of humiliation, she became a slave, but in § 143 she faced a death sentence because she had not been circumspect. When comparing §142 and § 143, we note the wife's explicit attitude of 'hatred' and her formal utterance that 'You will no longer be married to me'. This last phrase corresponds to those in contracts saying 'You are not my husband', with the consequence of death by drowning. Possibly Hammurabi agreed to this severe punishment only if the wife's utterance could be linked with her not being regarded as a 'circumspect' person, restricting the death penalty to such a special case. In §142 the wife is given the possibility of divorcing from a bad man, in which a humane approach towards reform can be seen.97 All in all this is a fine example of Hammurabi expressing his dissatisfaction with the cruelty of a tradi- tional law and attempting wise mediation. According to D. N6rr it did not work, for in his opinion the woman had no right to initiate divorce until the Neo-Baby- lonian period.98 It is worth noting that one reason a wife could give for requesting divorce was that she had been 'greatly' (magal) belittled by her husband (§142), while it was sufficient for a husband more simply to claim to have been belittled by his wife, without adding 'greatly' (§143). An example of a man who left his family is found in a text from Mari.99 This was the musician Lipit-Enlil, whose father was also a musician, and who was employed at the palace of King Samsi-Addu. He had fled to Mari, to the palace of the viceroy, Yasmah-Addu, accompanied by a colleague and bringing his instru- ment with him. Yasmah-Addu was commissioned to arrest them and send them back, but the viceroy appears to have been disinclined to do that. Possibly he enjoyed hearing the music at court, for we know he was someone who liked the good life (see further Chapter 23, about the court of Mari). In Mari Lipit-Enlil had 96 S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 48-55. Thus also M. Malul, Or. NS 60 (1991) 282, contra Westbrook. 97 D. Norr made a similar observation; see Locher, 275; R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 77. Locher criti- cises the thesis that the formula 'You are not my husband' in the contracts has a meaning identi- cal with 'I will not marry (you)' in §142 (Locher, 310). 98 Norr's judgment of Assyrian texts is simplistic, for we now have more evidence. 99 N. Ziegler, Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 158 ff. no. 36, with p. 233-236. 228 - Divorce complained that 'My people are detaining me', and Yasmah-Addu heard the reac- tion of his chief of music, who told him: For the past four years he was able to support his people and (then) he got up and left. I have brought his wife and children to the palace and up to the present they have received regular rations of barley, oil and wool. Lipit-Enlil (once) had entrusted himself to (our) protection and I took him on (then) and gave him a house and the wife of the musician A. (i.e., his widow). He used up everything I gave him and he has got up and fled. I have summoned his wife in the presence of the messenger of my lord and asked, 'Where are the slaves, the cattle and sheep which your husband left with you?' She replied, 'He left absolutely nothing with me.' Out of respect for my lord I am sending here his wife, so that my lord can question her about what he left her. This man was clearly something of a Bohemian, an artiste who went his own unique way. In a later document we read that he worked in the palace adminis- tration - he had a child at that time. 9.5.3 Misconduct by the woman There were several ways in which women's misbehaviour is described, one of which is 'scattering the household'. In a Sumerian letter a woman protests that she has certainly not done this.100 According to a Sumerian proverb, A wasteful woman who lives in the house is worse than all the demonic illnesses (SP 1.154). Another wise saying was, A woman with her own possessions lets the house go to rack and ruin.101 In an Old Babylonian letter we read of a mother and her son who are both described as scatterers: The scatterer B. (...) has scattered the ingredients for the beer brewery. Yes, she has made your 'neck hit the ground'. Her son had already been a 'scatterer' like this and he squan- dered the wool.102 100 D. I. Owen in: Studies Cyrus H. Gordon (1980) 197-199; W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scrip- ture III (2002) 295; TUAT NF 3 (2006) 15-17. 101 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 93 Instr. Sur. 220; TUAT III/1 (1990) 64:221. 102 AbB7 187. Motives for divorce - 229 Adultery combined with theft was of course absolutely deplorable, a subject reserved for Chapter 10, where a relevant lawsuit will be discussed. Perhaps the most heinous crime was murder. In the report of a lawsuit in the city of Nippur, about a man who had been killed by a gang of three, the wife of the murdered man concealed the crime by failing to report it. According to customary law this was as bad an offence as the murder itself. These were the established facts and the case then proceeded to another stage. The king sent the case to the city assembly, where two different opinions were expressed. Three members of the assembly proposed that it was the woman who had in effect killed her husband by keeping quiet. They then added, 'What has she, a woman, done to deserve to be put to death now?' But most members of the assembly pointed out further information established as fact, that the problem began because she had belittled her husband, and his 'enemy' became aware of it. This raised the ques- tion, 'Why did she not keep her mouth shut about him?'. They thought that she was more culpable than the murderers themselves. They were of the opinion that a woman like that who had a low opinion of her husband would give information to his enemies for them to strike him. Here we have two conflicting views, the moderate standpoint of the minority and the hard line taken by the majority. That it was common at the time to begin legal discussions with opposing viewpoints can sometimes to be seen in the law-books. The polarised opinions in this par- ticular lawsuit became so well-known that it featured in the syllabus of the scribal schools, with several copies of the text having been found.103 It is possible that § 153 of Hammurabi is a sequel to this case: If a man's wife has her husband killed on account of (her relationship with) another male, they shall impale that woman. This situation can be linked to a prediction in one of the liver omens, which says, 'The wife of the man shall have her husband murdered', and since the person who requested the prediction of the liver omen was in fact the said husband, he must have been completely taken aback.104 103 Th. Jacobsen, 'An ancient Mesopotamian trial for homicide', in: Jacobsen, Toward the image of Tammuz and other essays on Mesopotamian history and culture (1970) 193-214; W. H. Ph. Romer, ZAW 95 (1983) 332 f.; Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau, 102-104. Much has been written about this murder more recently, including M. T. Roth in: V. H. Matthews, Gender and law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (1998) 175-181; H. Neumann, ZABR 10 (2004) 79-82. We follow the new interpretation by R. Westbrook, Studies Joan Goodnick Westenholz (2010) 195-200. 104 J. Nougayrol, RA 63 (1969) 150, on 25. 230 - Divorce A marriage would end more or less automatically when the wife was found to have been guilty of adultery. She was put to death, with no mention of a formal divorce. It was therefore superfluous for such a clause to be put into marriage contracts. The duty to be faithful was self-evident. Even so, in Neo-Babylonian contracts the possibility of adultery is envisaged, as we have seen above. As soon as there were children it became much harder for a man to leave his wife without reason. It is sufficient here to cite one of the laws of Esnunna, even though the final sentence cannot be restored with confidence.105 If a man sired children but divorces his wife and then marries another, he shall be expelled from the house and any possessions there may be, and he shall go after the one whom he loves (?). [His wife] shall succeed to the house (§59). A divorced woman who had not been the guilty party could remarry,'06 as can be seen in a particularly interesting circumstance described in a letter.'07 Since his mother was divorced, another man had married her, and in the house of her later husband she gave birth, and she swore thus: 'It is truly to you that I have borne him'. The woman is apparently emphasising that the child was fathered by him. Later in the letter a slave is mentioned and then a saying is quoted: 'A father with sons does not adopt a slave'. Possibly it is the legitimacy of the newborn that is at stake, for as the son he would later be responsible for caring for his father. 9.6 Predictions Snakes were sometimes seen at a house, and this was considered to be an omen, a portent of divorce. The particular behaviour of the snake was a sign of the seriousness of the prediction, the mildest indicating some irritation between husband and wife: 'If a snake hangs above the entrance of the outer door, vexa- tion between man and wife'.108 More seriously, if a snake were to fall down, land between the husband and wife, and then escape, then divorce or even death was predicted. A snake simply appearing near a husband and a wife together was another omen predicting divorce, as when a snake was seen when the couple 105 With R. S. Falkowitz, RA 72 (1978) 79 f.; Westbrook, OBML, 72-74. 106 R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 69 f. 107 AbB 14 207, cf. M. T. Roth in Studies B. L. Eichler (2011) 77-88. 108 S. M. Freedman, If a city is set on a height 11(2006) 124 rev. 3 f. Predictions - 231 were talking, which signified that 'they will separate and leave'.109 A further step takes us to other ominous reptiles. If a woman sees a lizard which a snake is carrying, then the woman will be married to the husband of a friend. If a man sees a lizard which a snake is carrying, then the man shall marry another woman."' In both omens it is the man who takes the initiative. Part of the text known as Summa dlu, a handbook of predictions, is also con- cerned with divorce. In the second half of one of the chapters various forms of human behaviour are correlated with predictions of divorce. The first half of the chapter is about sexual behaviour and the second half about behaviour during the divorce process."' The situations as described are taken from real life and are most informative. Although the predictions seem curious today they are thought-provoking and show how various situations were assessed, as can be seen from this translation: If a man leaves his (first) wife (hirtu), lifelong discomfort; always quarrelling for him; his days will be short. If ditto, and he regularly gives her food, people will listen to what he says. If ditto, and she stays living in his house, he will have constipation (?) (kisirti bilti). If ditto, and he comes back to her, he shall die in about a year. If ditto, and he keeps on looking for her inheritance, he will have piercing pain. If ditto, and another man marries her, he shall bear the punishment of the god. If ditto, and he strangles her, he shall be burnt to death. If ditto, and he attacks her with sorcery, the weapon of the god shall remove him. If ditto, and he shows her in the people's assembly (?), the god shall not accept his prayer with raised hands. If ditto, and he marries the wife of another man who is (still) alive, he shall die from the oppression of the god. If ditto, and he has affairs, hunger shall seize him. If ditto, and he marries the wife of a man who is (already) dead, his handiwork (?) shall not succeed. If ditto, and he slanders (her), (the god) Ninurta besieges him. If ditto, and he acts annoyingly, his heir shall not rescue his family. The text continues with omens about a man who disliked his wife. This he demonstrated by annoying her, letting her starve, after she dies marrying another 109 Freedman, 38 ff. Tablet 23:29-34; also Tablet 23:112-115 (p. 48) for more cases. 110 Freedman, 170 Tablet 32:51 f. 111 CT 39 45:39-52. See for the first half A. Guinan, Phoenix 25 (1979) 68-81. 232 - Divorce woman, causing her death, abandoning her repeatedly, three times or even as many as eight times. A few times remarriage by the man or the woman is here an option. We learn from the Sumerian laws of Ur-Nammu that a divorced woman had to wait six months before she could be married. If a man has married a wife and he divorces his wife, (only) after she has waited six months, the woman can marry the husband of her heart. M. Civil comments: 'The purpose of the law is to ensure that she is not pregnant by the former husband, and that he cannot lose a son.'u2 9.7 Reconciliation There was general unease when a man and woman became estranged and sep- arated and people felt it would naturally lead to disaster. That is why among the rituals against bad omens we find some intended to bring reconciliation. They were known under the title, 'Releasing, to make a man and wife who are distant approach one another'."3 These rituals could apply to any people who had lost one another, but priority is given to divorced couples. Such a ritual for the sun god was carried out in a remote location after having brushed the area clean. A linen cloth was hung between the man and the woman (perhaps a symbol of their sep- aration), and then three pots were broken. A prayer to the gods samas (the sun god) and Marduk was recited three times, in which the gods were praised because they 'bring together the scattered people, they let those approach each other who were at a distance'; they were praised also for bringing fugitives, hostages, and captives back to their city, and for giving a young man to a young woman. Two other noteworthy sentences in the prayer are 'Leading back the deserted wife to her husband, 0 samas and Marduk, depends on you', and 'Purge out the sadness from our hearts and give us to each other; make our life long'. After the prayer the hems of the garments of the husband and the wife were tied together and then a concluding formula was declaimed: The married couple have been led back together; the two married partners led back to their people; the deserted ones; the hostages; the kidnapped; the distant; and the absent. 112 M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 249 § B7, with p. 270; C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 555 f. (§ b7), with p. 512f. 113 S. M. Maul, Zukunftsbewultigung (1994) 409-414. Reconciliation - 233 Finally we draw attention to two magic rituals a woman could use to bring her 'enraged' husband back to her. With the first one she would utter a prayer to the goddess Istar, 'she who shames the wise women, makes resentful women loving, and sends the enraged husband back to his in-laws'."' With the second she would ask 'that I might not sleep (alone)', and 'that I might be loved'. She accom- panied these utterances with a symbolic gesture holding a little boat made of iron in one hand and a magnetic stone (perhaps haematite) in the other, which would naturally be attracted to each other."' A Sumerian incantation from an earlier period requires the man to form two sets of seven clay pellets. After moistening the pellets he throws them between the woman's breasts, and then 'the wife will come to you'."6 To end this chapter on divorce I quote a Sumerian proverb which echoes ones of today. The saying, He wed for his pleasure; when he thought about it, he divorced (SP 2.124) may be compared to 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure!', or 'Heiraten in Eile, bereut man mit Weile', or 'T is haest getrout, dat lange rout'."7 114 STT 2 257 with W. Farber, 'Istar und die Ehekrise', Festschrift B. Groneberg (2010) 73-85. Cf. T. Abusch, Babylonian Witchcraft Literature (1987) 132 n. 95; E. Reiner, JNES 26 (1967) 192; translated by J. Scurlock in Chavalas, Women, 108 f., K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 74. 115 V. Scheil, RA 18 (1921) 21 ff. no.17 with CAD M/1142a (the little boat). Cf. M. J. Geller in: S. Par- pola, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 132 n. 23 f.; translation by Scurlock, 109. 116 N. Wasserman, Festschrift B. Groneberg (2010) 333. 117 G. van Tussenbroek, Amsterdam in 1597 (2009) 133. 10 Adultery Adultery is a specific form of infidelity. A Babylonian would have defined adul- tery as 'consensual sexual intercourse by a married woman with a man other than her husband'. The behaviour of the woman is crucial in this definition. One might assume that a Mediterranean man might have intercourse with any other woman, unless the woman was married. But such conduct was always unseemly for a woman, married or not.' Young men were warned to avoid such a situation. You should not laugh with a young married woman. This causes a great amount of gossip, or My son, do not sit in a room together with a married woman.2 In the Assyrian law-book the word ndku specifically refers to extra-marital sexual intercourse. According to N. HeeBel the word must have carried overtones of shame as it is always used with reference to immoral behaviour.3 This may be true in most cases, but the word basically means 'to have intercourse' in some laws (§12, 17, 23), and certainly in an incantation to be recited at the birth of a child, In the waters of intercourse, the bone was created.4 Adultery and infidelity mostly takes place consensually. This can be inferred from a Sumerian proverb, An unfaithful rod suits an unfaithful vessel (SP 1.159). But mutual consent needs to be proved. The ancient law-books of Mesopotamia also speak of someone forced into extra-marital sex, a subject reserved for our discussion of rape in the next chapter. 1 Thus R. Westbrook at the beginning of his article 'Adultery in Ancient Near Eastern Law', Revue biblique 97 (1990) 542-580 (= Writings R. Westbrook I [2009] 245-287). In general see M. San Nicolo, art. 'Ehebruch' in RlA 11(1938) 209-302; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 29-91. 2 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 63 Instr. Sur. 33-34. 3 N. HeeBel in: A. Imhausen, Writings of early scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome, and Greece (2010) 178-180. According to B. Landsberger the elementary verb ndku is used here because this law-book was a scientific work and not meant for everybody; MAOG 4 (1928-29) 321. 4 M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and in the Bible (2000) 11 (top). B. Landsberger: ndku 'koitieren', AHw: 'beschlafen'. | © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Women who initiate adultery - 235 An appropriate law to begin with is found in the Hittite law-book, where three circumstances for an adulterous relationship are specified. If a man should take a (married) woman in the mountains, it is the fault of the man and he is killed. If however he takes (her) in the house, it is the fault of the woman. The woman is killed. If the husband catches (them both) and kills her, there is no problem (§197). C. Saporetti explains that the woman taken 'in the mountains' was a victim of a man's violent action, which amounts to rape. The woman taken 'in the house' would be seen to have seduced her partner and accordingly put to death. In the third case both parties consented to the adulterous act, and the husband would have killed her as her punishment for consenting.5 10.1 Women who initiate adultery Men are not blamed for looking at women. The Babylonians had a special word for such watching, 'to look lasciviously' (baldsu).6 In Hammurabi's laws a betrothed young man is looking lasciviously at another woman and subsequently tells his father-in-law 'I will not marry your daughter'. His only punishment is that he loses whatever had been brought to the girl's father (§159). In a self-im- precation in a treaty one of the two partners wishes, to his disadvantage, 'when I am looking lasciviously at a married woman, may another marry her'.7 Women, however, are immediately open to suspicion for no more than turning their heads. After a woman had been betrothed or married to a man she was described by Babylonians as nasrat, 'circumspect, chaste', in contrast to being a gadabout.' That a woman's first inclination to bad behaviour can lead to worse can be seen from the semantic development of word for a gadabout, into that for a prostitute in later Aramaic and Modern Hebrew.9 It is derived from the verb wasa, 'to go out', and thereby shows her to be 'a woman who has a reputation for going out'. 5 C. Saporetti, Studia G. Pugliese Carratelli (1988) 237-241. 6 Although this meaning is not in the dictionaries, it was repeatedly stressed by R. Borger; most recently in his Babylonisch-assyrische Lesesticke, third edition (2006) p. XIV; BiOr 65 (2008) 439, on CAD P 54, paldsu II/2 ('starren'). 7 J. Eidem, The royal archives from Tell Leilan (2011) 395, 403 no.3 v 31 (copy on p.598). I read bi-li-is indjd, not pilis (but the syntax is not clear). 8 A. Finet, Symbolae FM.Th. de Liagre Bdhl (1973) 137-143; J. J. Finkelstein, JAOS 86 (1966) 362f. 9 Finkelstein, 363 n. 29; J. Preuss, Biblisch-talmudische Medizin (1911) 563, 565; Finet, 142 n. 23, end. 236 - Adultery In the Ancient Near East it was thought (and even still now it is widely thought) that the initiator of any act of adultery was the woman. Literary texts tend to lay the guilt on women for being the instigators and proverbs warn men about her advances.'0 A very well-known example is the Biblical story of Potiphar's wife, who tried to seduce Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39). A particularly colourful passage in the Bible is Proverbs 7, where a young simpleton is seduced by 'the adulter- ess, the loose woman'. While her husband was on a journey she solicited him on the street and offered her bed smelling of myrrh, aloes and cassia, justifying herself by assuring him that earlier in the day she had paid her vows by making a sacrifice and an offering. This rather surprising remark will be explained later, in Chapter 21. In the Qur'an the woman is portrayed as full of ruses (kayd) and her fatal, bewitching attractiveness (fitna) was something to be feared (Surah 12, 23-34)." In traditional Islam the woman is relegated to a position of complete subservience. This reduces her marriage to the status of a sale, where love is no more than sexual gratification, eros. This is what makes the woman a danger, according to European scholars.'2 In the Near East guilt for adultery, or for any sort of extra-marital cohabitation, is always in principle laid on the woman. According to the Bedouin she should never assent to acting thus. Chaste women are most often to be found among the Bedouin, where courting is unknown. If an illicit sexual relationship is discovered the woman is put to death by her husband or brother, and the man never incurs punishment. The Bedouin, with profound common sense say, 'If she does not want it, he cannot have it'.13 Babylonian handbooks on soothsaying have several predictions about a woman being unfaithful, but only a few about the man.'4 The Akkadian word for the secret lover literally means 'he who enters stealthily' (mustarriqu). Some omens derived from the appearance of a sheep's liver create an unusual, almost anec- dotal, atmosphere. 10 F. M. Fales in S. Moscati, L'Alba della civiltd I (1976) 224; G. Steiner, 'Die Femme fatale im alten Orient', in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 147-153. 11 Thus S. Guth, Liebe und Mannesehre (= Islamkundliche Untersuchungen, Band 122) (1987) 24-26. 12 Guth, 1-45. 13 'Si la femme ne veut pas, l'homme ne peut pas'; A. Albert Kudsi-Zadeh, Le Comte Carlo de Landberg chez les Bedouins. Recits arabes (1970) 25 f. 14 For citations see CAD N/1197 f., s.v. ndku 'to have illicit sexual intercourse, to fornicate'; see also J.-J. Glassner, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 163a; U. Koch-Westenholz, ibidem, 307 f. Women who initiate adultery - 237 A man's wife will have her husband murdered. A man's wife will constantly write to her secret lover, 'Kill my husband and marry me!' A man's wife will become pregnant by another man.15 Men's wives will be slept with and stalk other men.16 Adultery was condemned as morally reprehensible.'7 References in literary texts and rituals show that certain acts, such as 'approaching the wife of a colleague', 'going secretly to the wife of his friend',18 and 'sleeping with the wife of another man', were grievous sins needing formal purification.19 At the end of Chapter 9, about divorce, we mentioned a lawsuit concerning a murder, where the wife of the murdered man had remained silent. We cannot say whether intended or actual adultery was behind it. Another lawsuit, which also served as an example in the schools, was certainly a case of adultery. A married woman was accused of a series of increasingly serious misdemeanours: she had broken into the provisions room, had secretly made a hole in the barrel of sesame oil, and was then discovered in bed with a man. When her husband caught the pair of them he tied them up together, and they were punished by being pub- licly beaten up and humiliated. The king had her dragged around the town. What follows is an unclear statement about divorce money.20 Erra-malik has taken in marriage Istar-ummi, the daughter of Ili-asu. In the first place she broke into his storeroom. In the second place she made an opening in his oil jar and covered it up with a cloth. In the third place he caught her upon a man. He tied her to the body of the man on the bed. He carried her to the assembly. Because she was caught with a man 15 U. Koch-Westenholz, Babylonian liver omens (2000) 105 f. A 5-6; A. R. George, CUSAS 18 (2013) 234:30 f. with p. 244a. The liver has a 'hole' suggesting alienation between man and wife; see M. Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible (2000) 103; cf. 'the hole' in YOS 10 14:6 f.; see below, under 'Punishments'. 16 E. Reiner, RA 69 (1975) 95 f. 17 A humiliating description of an adulterous man ('the man lying with the wife of a man') can be found in Sumerian wisdom literature; B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 368 f., 'The Adulterer'. 18 Surpu II 48, IV 6; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 32f. 19 W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960) 119:3 f. 20 J. van Dijk, ZA 55 (1963) 70-77; S. Greengus, 'A textbook case of adultery in Ancient Meso- potamia', HUCA 40-41 (1969-70) 33-44; H. Lutzmann, TUAT I/3 (1983) 198; J. van Dijk, Or. NS 39 (1970) 99-102; S. Lafont, 'Sanctions sociales et peines infamantes dans le droit de la famille au Proche-Orient ancien', in: Hommage d Romuald Szramkiewicz (1998) 550-554; S. Lafont, Femmes, 37-41, 308 f., 494 f.; W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture III (2002) 311; H. Neumann, ZABR 10 (2004) 85-88. The explanation that the woman was punished by dressing her up as a kezertu, a prostitute (M. Roth, S. Lafont) cannot be correct. The kezertu was a temple prostitute and not a whore. 238 - Adultery upon her the assembly decided to ... the divorce money ... They shaved her pudendum. They pierced her nose with an arrow. The king handed her over to be led around the city. It is a decision of the king. Isme-Dagan-zimu was the deputy. S. Lafont has said that it is very likely that the woman would have been lynched in the city.2' This text was intended to be instructive for schoolboys of that time, boys typically full of imagination. Messing up the housekeeping and infidelity seem to have been considered typical weaknesses of feminine misbehaviour.22 The judgement of the king was advisable whenever a death penalty was threatened, and in this way situations of unrestrained revenge were avoided.23 According to another model lawsuit a woman who had been caught in the arms of a named man was impaled.4 It is striking that in all three lawsuits the king declared his assent to the punishment. These cases could be examples of the application of royal judgements. We can read between the lines and say that it was better to let the king decide than to begin a personal vendetta. There is an unusual passage in an Old Babylonian letter, in which a woman who was clearly betrothed explained how she was almost led astray, and the 'husband' was declared innocent.25 The wife of Sin-iddinam absolved (?) (ipsur) herself of guilt in the following manner. 'Before Sin-iddinam married (ahazu, lit. 'to take') me, I agreed with father and son. When Sin- iddinam went away from his house, the son of Asqudum sent me a message: 'I want to marry (ahazu) you'. He kissed my lips, he stirred my vessel, but his rod did not enter my vessel. I thought this: 'I shall not do anything wrong against Sin-iddinam, who has done no wrong to me'. In my house I have done nothing improper. The law-books carefully consider the status of a woman who behaved in this way, to determine if she was indeed a wife. Some paragraphs in the laws of Esnunna aim to formulate a definition of a 'wife' and a 'married woman' (assatu) specifi- cally to establish whether or not adultery had been committed: 21 Lafont, Femmes (1999) 40 f. 22 H. Neumann in H. Barta, Recht und Religion (2008) 42f., who incorrectly explains the open- ing of the oil jar as ceremonial. 23 Neumann, 39 f.; Neumann, Festschrift R. Haase (2006) 32-34. 24 UET 5 203 with F. R. Kraus, WdO 2 (1955)131 f., S. Greengus, HUCA 40-41, 42 n. 26, D. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 471; Lafont, Femmes, 67 f., 73, 495. 25 AEM 1/2 (1988) 423 f. no. 488:29-40, with S. Lafont, NABU 1989/44; Femmes, 56; L. Marti, NABU 2001/76; J. S. Cooper, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 96 f. Were both lovers treated equally? - 239 §27. If a man married (ahdzu) the daughter of a(nother) man without the consent of her father and mother, and moreover did not arrange with her father and mother the (nuptial) feast (kirru) or the contract, even though she has resided in the house for one full year, she is not a wife (assatu). §28. If he ... did arrange the contract and the (nuptial) feast for her father and mother and he married her, she is indeed a wife. On the day she is seized in the lap of a(nother) man she (or: he) shall die, she (or: he) shall not live. We see a similar construction in the laws of Hammurabi. §128 If a man married a wife but did not draw up a contract for her, she is not a wife. §129a. If a man's wife was seized lying with another male, they shall bind them and throw them into the water. Both law-books agree that if a woman who is cohabiting and who has no con- tractual obligation has intercourse with another man, she may not be treated as adulterous.26 10.2 Were both lovers treated equally? That §129a is the first part of a clause of a section in the laws of Hammurabi (M 129-136) covering the duty of a woman to maintain conjugal fidelity, the theme of this chapter. It continues by offering a chance for the wife to escape punish- ment. §129b. If the wife's 'master' allows his wife to live, then also (u) the king shall allow his 'slave' to live. In principle both parties in the adulterous relationship were put to death, but this clause shows that the usual punishment may need to be modified. A closer exam- ination shows that the legislator wants first to establish the standard punishment in § 129a, and then to show that there was a possibility of an element of clemency. The deceived husband could forgive his wife for what she had done, and that is stated in other law-books. Hammurabi here wanted to determine that the adulter- ous man could likewise be allowed freedom if the wife was pardoned, and that is something new in §129b. Primarily of course it was to offer equal treatment to both parties that this innovation was prompted. So why are the king and his 'slave' mentioned? This is not an easy question to answer. The word slave could 26 H. P.H. Petschow, NABU 1990/81, end. 240 - Adultery be used here to mean that the man in question was a royal subject, a subordinate person. The legislator wished for equality in the treatment of two 'slaves' by their respective overlords: the husband was the 'master' of his wife, as the king was the master of his subject. In the Hittite Laws (§ 198) we also find the rule that the king could make the final decision to show mercy to both parties guilty of adultery, once the cheated husband had brought both offenders to the palace gate. §198. If he (the deceived husband) brings them to the palace gate and says, 'My wife shall not die', he can spare his wife's life, but he must also spare the lover. Then he may veil her. But if he says, 'Both of them shall die', they shall 'roll the wheel'. The king may have them killed or he may spare them. Veiling here is the affirmation of the marriage. The treatment of wife and lover are symmetrical.27 This was not the only instance in those laws where the king had such a right according to that law-book.28 Modern legal historians have attempted to find the reasoning behind treat- ing both lovers equally. It could have been a wish to be ahead of any game of deception a colluding couple were playing. A situation could be envisaged where a married couple might arrange to seduce a man so that he would be punished by execution, while the woman would escape with her husband granting her a pardon. But the last requirement of the law §129b obviates resorting to such a malicious game.29 I find this construction cleverly thought out, but there is no proof for it. The essential modernising element of reform in this law appears to be that the woman was not the only one to be punished, but that she and her lover were punished equally. That both parties should be punished equally appears also to have been an underlying principle of the Middle Assyrian laws.30 Other law-books also raise the problem of what to do to the man. This was raised as early as the time of Ur-Nammu.3' 27 M. Tsevat, JCS 27 (1975) 235-237. 28 R. Westbrook, Revue biblique 97 (1990) 555. 29 Westbrook, 551, 554 f. (it is explicit in the Cretan laws of Gortyna). Driver and Miles and Car- dascia (Les lois assyriennes, 119) also speak of 'collusion'. 30 G. Cardascia in: Hommage d Guillaume Cardascia (1995) (= Mediterranees no.3) 169 f. 31 Cf. C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau in Israel (1986) 333-336. One manuscript offers 'the man (1i) shall kill that woman' which must be an error; C. Wilcke, Studies Th. Jacobsen (2002) 313. This reading was taken seriously (with an artificial explanation) by Th. Jacobsen, Studies R. Kutscher (1993) 75f. M. Civil assumes that the woman is betrothed, as in the preceding §6. His translation of the verdict is different: '(if) he (the prospective husband) kills the woman, he will be set free'; CUSAS 17 (2011) 246, 257. Now C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 537. Were both lovers treated equally? - 241 §7. If the wife of a man (gurus) on her own initiative should follow some other man (hd), and she should lie in is lap, then that woman shall be put to death; that male person (nita) shall be released. Here we can assume that the fornicator was not aware that the woman was married, because she was behaving like a prostitute in her allurement, and so he saw no harm in following her. The act may not have occurred in the place where they lived, a circumstance more clearly described in the Middle Assyrian laws, where we again see a woman taking the initiative: §13. If a married woman should leave her house and go to a man where he lives (and) he should sleep with her, while he knows that she is a married woman, they shall put to death the man and the wife. §14a. If a man should sleep with a married woman, whether in a tavern, or on the street, then they shall do to the man who slept with her according to the way that the husband says should be done to his wife. §14b. If he does not know that she is a married woman and sleeps with her, then he is innocent; the husband shall prove the charges against his wife and do to her as he wishes. The circumstances described in § 13 are generally accepted as constituting a case of adultery, in that it occurred consensually in the house of another man. Modern commentators attach much weight to the fact that the woman left her house and assume that her husband was absent for a long time. This is trying to read too much into the text. As in §129 of Hammurabi, first the procedure for a normal, obvious case of adultery is described, and this is a step towards the procedure in cases about which it was more difficult to form a judgement. Again, the equal punishment for both parties described in § 13 reflects the wisdom of the legislator. The reason the man was punished was because he had deceived the woman's husband and violated a husband's exclusive rights to his wife. Moreover, the woman's behaviour was a public scandal, so § 13 demands that they shall kill them both. Her husband could not help her out. What follows in §14 is a milder case of adultery. It is perfectly understand- able for a man to think that a woman he met in the shadier districts of a town, even though in fact she was married, was to all intents and purposes a prosti- tute. Here the legal criterion is whether or not he knew she was married. On that basis a guide was given to the deceived husband about what level of punishment was merited. Why in §14a did the community not step in to decide the level of guilt? The legislator may have been reticent because one could not know how that woman ended up in the disreputable area of town. The husband could have been allowing his wife to work in a brothel or on the street, meaning that there would have been an element of collusion between husband and wife. For this scenario the law protected the man, applying the same principle as in §129 of the laws of 242 - Adultery Hammurabi but formulated more abstractly. Essentially whatever happened to the woman must also happen to the man. The situation in which a man knew nothing about a woman he had met being married is clearly outlined in §14b. That man should therefore be pronounced innocent. For the sake of completeness we now give a translation of § 15, although to explain it is not simple. §15. If a man seizes a(nother) man with his wife, (and) they show that he was the one, (and) can prove it, then they shall put them both to death; he himself has no guilt. If they both are caught and brought before either the king or the judges, (and) it can be shown that he is the one and it can be proved, then if the husband of the woman kills his wife, they shall also put the man to death; but if he cuts off his wife's nose, then he shall make the man a eunuch and they shall slash his whole face. But if [he lets] his wife [go free], then [they] shall (also) [let] the man [go free]. In my interpretation the husband is the first to catch the couple and later other people do the same. The latter is indicated by the passive verbal form, in the dual, 'they are both caught and brought', a grammatical subtlety not seen before. The action of the husband was a first step which led to the second, that other people discovered the adultery. They bring both offenders to face justice, and the law seeks to establish equal treatment for both the man and the woman.32 This law-book has a little more about starting up a relationship with a woman who appears to be married. In those paragraphs a man takes a woman to travel with him, the woman admits a strange woman into the house, or she moves in with another man. In all these cases the crucial point was whether the man knew that the woman was married (§22-24). Having seen how the Assyrian laws expected both parties involved in the adultery to be treated equally, it is time to return to Hammurabi. The text of § 130 actually deals with a rape, a subject to be discussed in the next chapter, but Ham- murabi includes it here with the laws about adultery. §130. If a man pins down a man's virgin wife who is still residing in her father's house, and they seize him lying in her lap, that man shall be killed; that woman shall be released. Here we have a betrothed girl, who had the status of a married woman even though she was still living at home. In his treatment of the subject Hammurabi moves from the one extreme (a guilty woman) to the other (an innocent virgin), passing over any intermediate cases. 32 R. Westbrook, JCS 55 (2003) 96a, gave up his earlier interpretation in Revue biblique 97 (1990) 553. Caught in the act - 243 10.3 Caught in the act The phrase 'establishing his guilt' probably amounts to the same as 'being caught in the act', a situation with consequences which need further discussion.33 In order to establish the truth of such claims we often encounter the motif in ancient literature of immediately summoning witnesses. A colourful tale in the Odyssey concerns Hephaestus, the smith of the gods, who finds his wife Aphrodite in bed with Ares. He immediately throws a net over the pair of them and brings in every- body to see what had been happening (VIII 295-366), provoking the gods to a bout of Homeric laughter: an uncontrollable (asbestos) laughing broke out among the blessed gods when they saw the tricks of the clever Hephaestus (326 f. and 343). Calling witnesses is also prescribed in the book of Deuteronomy and in the Roman laws of the Twelve Tables.34 An even closer parallel in place and time is found in a letter from Mari:35 Wariya the merchant has come to me saying, 'I have taken by surprise a servant of the palace, a guard, with my wife. I have bound them together with a rope and made them leave to meet you. Furthermore, the people who seized them with me are my witnesses.' I have looked into the matter of the woman ... After this the text is broken, but the guilty pair were caught unawares and actually bound together. Witnesses to the event will be required. This is so similar to the binding of the couple referred to in a model lawsuit which we translated earlier, He seized her on a man, he bound her to the body of the man in bed and carried them to the community assembly. 33 For being 'caught in the act' the following remarks by Dr Polak about nineteenth-century Persia are apposite. 'Ertappt ein Mann seine Frau in flagrante delictu, so diirfte er sie, streng ge- nommen, tidten. Da aber der Beweis mittels Zeugen sehr schwer zu fiihren, ja nach der Forderung Ali's: Necesse est videre stylum in pixide, kaum miglich ist, zieht man die Schei- dung vor; selbstverstandig muB dann die Frau den Anspriichen auf ein Heirathsgut entsagen'. J. E. Polak, Persien. Das Land und seine Bewohner. Ethnographische Schilderungen I(1865) 215. 34 Deuteronomy 17:6 f.; Twelve Tables VIII 12, 13, according to Cardascia, Les lois assyriennes, 121, though no specific cases of adultery are mentioned there. 35 AEM 1/1 (1988) 524 M. 5001; LAPO 18 (2000) 239 f. no.1064; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 38. 244 - Adultery 10.4 Punishment That adultery was strictly prohibited is shown by the fact that anyone found guilty was condemned to death. The laws of Hammurabi and contracts from his time speak of execution by drowning or being thrown from a high tower.36 An Old Babylonian liver omen says: If the left lobe looks like a ... and there is a hole in it, then the wife of a man will be slept with and her husband will seize her and will kill her.37 Examples we gave earlier were model lawsuits written in schools in which the woman would be treated humiliatingly by shaving half of her head or her pubic hair, or be impaled.38 In § 15 of the Middle Assyrian Laws we saw that provision had also been made for something milder than the death penalty. And if he should cut off the nose of his wife, then he should change the man into a eunuch and they should slash his face. Legally speaking these two punishments can be described as symmetrical. For a wife to have her nose cut off is alluded to in a rather obscure Old Babylonian love incantation. The wives hate their husbands, (so) cut off her lofty nose, lay her nose under my foot. From this we can conclude that it was a punishment which was actually carried out.39 Neo-Babylonian contracts threaten death by the 'iron dagger' (as noted in Chapter 9, about divorce). In the New Testament stoning was designated as the punishment for an adulterous woman, but Jesus challenged the Pharisees to carry out that punishment on one occasion. Let whichever of you is free from sin throw the first stone at her (John 8:7, REB printed after John 21). 36 G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws I(1956) 495. 37 YOS1014:6 f. 38 Shaving her hair: M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 262f. Impaled: UET 5 203:17 with D. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 471 (nam.gis.dim.se). 39 C. Wilcke, ZA 75 (1985) 200:47-49. V. Haas, Babylonischer Liebesgarten (1999) 66-69, 187 n. 280, investigates the matter of cutting off the nose of a woman and refers to such 'marginalised women' in the cult of Istar of Nineveh among the Hittites. Accusations of adultery - 245 Although, as we have seen, there was a possibility of being reprieved from execu- tion, clemency was not always granted. The expression 'she shall die, she shall not live' in the laws of Esnunna cited earlier means that there would be no possi- bility of reprieve.40 Extra-marital intercourse was thought to be a cause of illness, since illness was a consequence of sin.41 One diagnosis in a medical text attributes lumps appearing on pale flesh to the moon god Sin. If he is covered from head to foot in red lumps and his body is 'white', he was found with a woman in bed; it is the Hand of Sin. If the flesh was 'black' the diagnosis was the same. Other related omens speak of 'red' flesh, and then it was the Hand of Samas the sun god. Other diagnoses attribute white lumps to the sun god, red ones to the moon god and black ones to Istar.42 Another text reads, If his illness repeatedly leaves him in the middle watch of the night, he has approached a(nother) man's wife: the Hand of Uras.43 10.5 Accusations of adultery 10.5.1 The rules In ancient Near Eastern literature a woman is often accused of adultery but the accusation may have arisen from gossip. A false accusation led to the standard rule that the accuser would be punished with the same punishment that his victim would have received. This principle is analogous to ius talionis, well- 40 Contra Yaron (p. 260 f.; attested in Laws Esnunna §12, 13, 28), who viewed it as just style ('negated antonym parallelism'). The phrase is now also attested in M. Ghouti, Florilegium Mar- ianum [I] (1992) 63:25 (amat ul aballut), R. Labat, MDP 57 245 v 5 (qdt Sulak ul TI.LA UGx-at). The prophecy to King Hezekiah, Isaiah 38:1 and 2 Kings 20:1, has similar reverberations. 41 N. HeeBel in: A. Imhausen, Writings of early scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome, and Greece (2010) 178-180. He points out that modern objective views of 'venereal diseases' con- trast with the negative connotations the Babylonians had towards them. 42 TDP 28 Tablet III 91-95, including variations in the colour of boils or the skin; see further CAD M/1 119a, sub f; see also G. Wilhelm, Medizinische Omina aus IIattusa (1994) 44 f.; N. P. HeeBel in: S. M. Maul, Assur-Forschungen (2010) 177 (n. 74). 43 HeeBel, Babylonisch-assyrische Diagnostik (2000) 198 Tablet XVII:32. 246 - Adultery known from the Bible as 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'.44 So it is striking to note that any false accusation of adultery is an exception to this general rule. Adultery by a woman was punished by death, and we have seen in the law-books that the punishment for the man who was her accuser was much less severe in comparison; see also Deuteronomy 22:13-21. The only exception is the story of the famously chaste Susannah. When she was falsely accused by the elders they were put to death.45 The man who made a false accusation a law of Lipit-Istar had only to pay a penalty.46 If (anyone) shall say of the virgin daughter of a man 'she knows the rod', and it is estab- lished that she does not know the rod, then he shall pay ten shekels of silver (§33). Elsewhere in the law-book the Sumerian word ld is used for a formal 'accusation' (§ 17), while here it is simply the verb 'to say' that is used, so it could be just a matter of scandalmongering. The fine demanded for accusing a married woman of adultery was twenty shekels according to Ur-Nammu § 14, so this was only half as much. Two possible reasons come to mind to explain the mildness shown to a scan- dalmonger. One is that the legislator was counting on the fact that the adulterous woman would be pardoned, which would have ensured that the death penalty was not automatically demanded. The other is that a woman was always punished more severely than a man.47 C. Locher has studied this problem exhaustively and concluded in favour of the second possibility, that favouritism was shown to the man.48 By setting out the laws it becomes clear that their tone supports Locher's conclusion. People evidently accepted the tendency to gossip about the chastity of married women, which was encouraged by a constant mistrust of the female sex. Women were obliged to do their best to defend their reputations. The relevant clauses in the laws of Hammurabi are §§ 131-132.49 44 H.P.H. Petschow, 'Altorientalische Parallelen zur sp trimischen calumnia', ZSS 90 (1973), 27 f., 32. In general see S. Lafont, Femmes, 237-288. B. Landsberger showed that one could earn money by making false accusations and detected an increase in that bad habit; Symbolae M. David II(1968) 55. 45 C. Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau in Israel (1986) 377. 46 For a detailed discussion see Locher, 326-329. C. Wilcke: the woman proves that 'she did not know the rod'; Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 597 f. §g44 (= §33). 47 Locher, 323, 376. 48 Locher, 376 f. It is in Chapter V, p.315-380, that Locher first looks for the talio principle else- where in the law-books and then surveys the articles about accusations of adultery. 49 Locher, 347-352. Accusations of adultery - 247 §131. If her husband accuses his own wife (of adultery), although she has not been seized lying with another male, she shall swear (to her innocence by) an oath by the god, and return to her house. Here the woman is accused by her own husband. The 'oath by the god' spoken by the woman of course contained the declaration that she had never slept with another man. In the laws of Hammurabi people often resorted to this sort of 'puri- fication oath', if they had no recourse to natural means to prove their case.50 We note here that the burden of proof rested with the woman. The house to which she could return was that of her father, so she could go back to her own family. Part of a man's purification oath has been found. The text is badly broken but one sentence says,5' I did not sleep with her; my rod did not enter her vessel. These words echo those of a girl, quoted earlier from a letter from Mari: 'his rod did not enter my vessel'. The Hebrew Bible records a similar accusation by a man made out of jeal- ousy (Numbers 5:11-31).52 To prove whether the woman was guilty or innocent depended on her drinking bitter water in an elaborate ritual. At the end we read: No guilt will attach to the husband, but the woman must bear the penalty of her guilt (Numbers 5:31).53 In a law of Hammurabi we read: §132 If a man's wife should have a finger pointed against her in accusation involving another male, although she has not been seized lying with another male, she shall submit to the divine River god for her husband. Here accusations of the woman's unchastity are made by third parties. The woman was pointed out apparently as the result of gossip rather than being for- 50 In a fragmenary litigation a woman declares under oath, 'No man, except NN, has lain with me'; NSGU II no. 24. 51 PBS 5 156 with Locher, 140. In general: Locher, 350 (top). 52 Sophie Demare, 'L'interpretation de Nb. 5,31 a la lumiere des droits cuneiformes', in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 49-52; Locher, 351 f., n.131 (with literature); Lafont, Femmes, 274-276. She com- pares Deuteronomy 22:13 ff. There it was possible to present physical evidence and no-one had to resort to an ordeal. 53 Demare and others assume that the man is the woman's lover. 248 - Adultery mally accused in court.54 Again the burden of proof rested on the woman and again a divine confirmation was required. However it was not enough for her simply to swear an oath, but she had to submit to an ordeal, to follow a risky procedure to discover the verdict of the god. In Babylonia the usual technique to determine the divine will was to make her jump into the river, since the river was regarded as a god. Someone who drowned in this ordeal was considered to have been pronounced guilty by the river god. The same regulation appears in the older Sumerian laws of Ur-Nammu, showing that the woman did not always drown:55 If someone (ld) accuses the wife of a man (gurus) of lying in (someone's) lap, but the River has declared her pure, the man who accused her shall pay twenty shekels of silver (§14). In the Middle Assyrian laws we read:56 §17. If a man says to (another) man: 'People sleep with your wife regularly', (but) there are no witnesses, then they shall make a binding agreement, they shall go to the River god). §18. If a man, whether in secret or during a quarrel, says to his colleague: 'People sleep with your wife regularly. I shall prove it myself', (but) he cannot prove this (and) he does not prove it, then they shall beat him with forty strokes; he shall do the king's service for one full month. They shall ... him; moreover he shall give one talent of tin. 10.5.2 In practice Two Sumerian texts show the reactions to these accusations. In the first the wife admits adultery: U. was married to his wife, K., and U. said that K. without his knowledge had lain with a strange man, but refused to confirm this by an oath. K. however acknowledged his state- ment and she was divorced. It is remarkable that the husband was afraid to make an assertive oath, yet his allegation still carried weight. This situation may have been similar to some in the Netherlands in years past, when courts heard 'the great lie'. There adultery had 54 Locher, 327 f., 349 f., 373 f., attempted to discover the difference between 'Verleumdung' and 'falsche Anschuldigung' in the law-books. He found it only in CH §127 and 132, where 'Verleum- dung' is meant. 55 Locher, 336-338. 56 Locher, 356-365. Accusations of adultery - 249 long been counted as the only ground for divorce, and even if it had not occurred it was admitted. This admission by the wife may have been similar, opening the way for a mutually acceptable divorce. Perhaps we are giving too modern an inter- pretation. It has also been suggested that the woman had this affair before her marriage and that her husband later ascertained that she was no longer a virgin, a problem known in Old Testament times and dealt with in Deuteronomy 22:13-21.57 In the second text a wife claims she has been faithful, declaring under oath that no-one except [another] U. has slept with her.58 Possibly she had been accused of adultery. This oath then fits in with § 131 of the laws of Hammurabi, which we translated earlier, under the rules accusing a woman of adultery. The River as the arbiter of divine judgement occurs in an Old Babylonian letter concerning the wife of Yarkab-Addu, the king of a small state called Zal- maqum. Various accusations had been made against this woman and the river god would have to determine whether what had been said was true or whether it was slanderous.59 Has your mistress carried out any sorcery against Yarkab-Addu, her lord? Has she brought a word out of the Palace to outside? Or has another opened the thighs of your mistress? Has your mistress acted (anything) against her lord? Evidently these accusations, sorcery, telling secrets, and unfaithfulness, typify the misdeeds one may suspect of a married woman, and only divine judgement by ordeal could give a verdict. That not every wife accused of a crime like adultery was timid can be seen from a proverb cited in an Assyrian letter. That sinful woman at the judges' gate has a bigger mouth than her husband.60 57 NSGU II no. 205:18-26 with Locher, 203-206. 58 NSGU II no. 24 with Locher, 205, 350; F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mesopotamie (2000) 46 no. 6. 59 AEM 1/1 (1988) 528 no. 249:37-41 with p.512 and J.-M. Durand, 'Les accusations d'adultere', in: G. del Olmo Lete, Mythologie et religion des Semites occidentaux I1(2008) 532-535. 60 ABL 403:14 f. with A. L. Oppenheim, Letters from Mesopotamia (1967) 117 no.116. This trans- lation fits with what follows in the letter, but the interrogative sentence of V. Chamaza, Die Omni- potenz Assurs (2002) 385 f., does not fit. 250 - Adultery 10.6 The Mother of Sin More information about adultery comes from a little-known mythological story. The goddess Inanna sentences a slave-girl to death. She is called Ama-namtaga, a name meaning 'the mother of sin'. It can be assumed that she had begun a rela- tionship with Dumuzi, the lover of Inanna. When she returned to the underworld, Inanna became particularly angry because she saw Dumuzi celebrating and very little concerned about her 'death'. Dumuzi had clearly just begun to enjoy himself with this 'mother of sin' when Inanna arrived to interrupt proceedings. The goddess handed her over to the public to be lynched, something that may well have sometimes happened in the real world.61 10.7 An adulterous princess? A story which did actually happen is recorded in documents about the daughter of the Amorite king, Bentesina.62 Her mother was a Hittite princess, known by her title of Great Lady. King Ammistamru II(1260-1235), the king of Ugarit, was married to this woman, but we have no record of her name. The first document in the dossier is a declaration of divorce, which shows that the king of the Hittites, entitled 'My Sun', was all-powerful at the time.63 61 K. Volk, Die Balag-Komposition 0ru dm-ma-ir-ra-bi (1989) 60 f.; M. E. Cohen, CLAM II(1988) 592; Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 24-27. Discussions: Volk, 48-54; S. Lafont in: Hom- mages d Romuald Szramkiewicz (1998) 554; Femmes (1999) 32; Th. Jacobsen, Toward the image of Tammuz (1970) 206; J. Maier, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 345-354. G. Leick, Sex and eroticism in Meso- potamian literature (1994) 212-216, gave another explanation: since Dumuzi is not mentioned, it is not adultery, but a transgression of taboos. Still, K. Volk shows that much evidence points to Dumuzi. 62 For the texts, with introduction, see W. H. van Soldt, 'Een koninklijke echtscheiding te Ugarit', in: K. R. Veenhof, Schrijvend Verleden (1983) 150-159; S. Lackenbacher, Textes akkadiens d'Ugarit (2002) 108-126; Handbook of Ugaritic studies (1999) 477, 680 f.; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 35-37; K. Spronk, 'Vals beschuldigd? Achtergronden bij de scheiding en verdwijning van een Ugaritische koningin uit de dertiende eeuw voor onze jaartelling', in: C. Houtman, De leugen regeert ... (2004) 96-116. 63 PRU IV (1956) 126 f. RS 17.159 with van Soldt in: Veenhof, Schrijvend Verleden, 151 f. no.1; Lackenbacher, 116 f.; Spronk, 102 no. 4. A good photo of the tablet, sealed by the king, was pub- lished in the Belgian catalogue Ph. Talon, K. van Lerberghe, In Syri. Naar de oorsprong van het Schrift (no year) 290. An adulterous princess? - 251 In the presence of My Sun Tudhaliya, the great king, the king of the Hittites: Ammistamru, the king of Ugarit, took the daughter of Bentesina, the king of the Amorites, to wife. (Afterwards) 'she sought sickness of the head for him'. Ammistamru, the king of Ugarit, left the daughter of Bentesina for ever. Let the daughter of Bentesina take with her everything that she brought into the house of Ammistamru. Let her go away from the house of Ammistamru. All that Ammistamru has stolen, the Amorites must confirm under oath and Ammistamru will give it back to them in full. Utrisarrumma is in Ugarit the successor to the throne. If Utrisarrumma should say, 'I am going after my mother', let him leave his cloak on a stool and depart, and Ammistamru shall appoint another of his sons as successor to the throne. If Ammistamru comes to die and Utrisarrumma (would) make his mother queen again in Ugarit, then he must leave his cloak on a stool, (and) go away wherever he wishes, and My Sun shall then appoint another of the sons of Ammistamru to be king. In the future the daughter of Bentesina may not claim her sons, daughters or sons-in-law. They will stay with Ammistamru. If she does make any claim, this tablet will invalidate her (claim). The tablet is sealed with the seal of King Tudjaliya. We do not know what the expression about 'sickness of the head' means, which the king blamed on his wife. It could be that she had a headache, or she was perplexed, or she was racking her brain to solve some problem or other. In any case, it is clearly a met- aphorical expression. What we do know is that the king her husband wanted to divorce her and this meant that she was free to leave and take her possessions with her. The clause about her son, the crown prince, is striking. We understand from this that she must have had adult children, for he was old enough to have his own opinion. Setting down one's cloak on a stool was a symbolic gesture, meaning that someone was leaving the family. Widows who went to remarry also did this. The woman's brother, Sausgamuwa, was the king of the Amorites at that time, and it was to him that she fled. Other documents in the dossier show that she suddenly became a victim of her actions when the Hittite king, also a member of the family, became involved. He demanded that she be extradited. Accordingly she was imprisoned and her brother offered to hand her over to Ugarit:64 Today Sausgamuwa, the son of Bentesina, the king of the Amorites, spoke thus to Ammistamru, the son of Niqmepa, the king of Ugarit. 'Well then, as for your wife, the daugh- ter of the Great Lady, who has committed a great sin against you, how long must I keep guarding your sinner? Well then, take the daughter of the Great Lady and do with her as you wish. If you wish, kill her; if you wish, throw her in the sea; or do whatever you wish with the daughter of the Great Lady.' 64 PRU IV 142 RS. 17.228 with van Soldt, 155 no.8; Lackenbacher, 123 f.; Spronk, 103 no.5. 252 - Adultery These were his words (...). Now Sausgamuwa, the son of Bentesina, king of the Amorites, has seized the daughter of the Great Lady, who has committed a sin, and given her into the hands of Ammistamru, the son of Niqmepa, the king of Ugarit. And now Ammistamru, the son of Niqmepa, king of Ugarit, shall deal with the daughter of the Great Lady as he wishes. Also Ammistamru, the son of Niqmepa, king of Ugarit has given 1400 pieces of gold to Sausgamuwa, the son of Bentesina, the king of the Amorites. If Sausgamuwa, the son of Bentesina, king of the Amorites, comes and says to Ammistamru, the son of Niqmepa, the king of Ugarit, 'This gold is (too) little. Give me more gold', then this tablet shall invalidate (his claim). The seal of Sausgamuwa, the son of Bentesina, king of the Amorites. So we see from judicial agreements and a few letters that the woman had commit- ted 'a great sin'. In fact 'great sin' is also the expression used in the Hebrew Bible for adultery (Genesis 20:9); in an Akkadian preceptive hymn 'Grievous (kabtu) is the guilt of him who has intercourse with (another) man's wife'.65 It could be said that she had betrayed her husband and her country, but there could have been other circumstances prevailing.66 The threat of punishing her by throwing her into the sea certainly suggests adultery, for it is reminiscent of the way Old Baby- lonian women who wanted to divorce were thrown into the river. Eventually the princess was indeed killed. The high sum offered to the king of Ugarit must have certainly been in compensation for her death. Other documents from the dossier call it 'blood money'. We are still at a loss to know what wrong she had done. According to the first document translated above, the act of divorce, nothing serious was mentioned. Adultery has been supposed, with the phrase 'sickness of the head' intentionally used to mask the truth. In a broken passage, the citizens of Ugarit say: 'She let your noblemen ... go inside and she laughed with them regularly'.67 Here the word 'laugh' suggests flirting and may be a euphemism for sexual intercourse. But K. Spronk has pointed out that she was unlikely to have been flirting with everyone on such a grand scale and thinks that the woman was being falsely accused in this dossier. Another letter was subsequently found which provides us with fresh information, but the end is broken. 65 S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 36 f. The hymn: W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature (1960) 119:3-4, with B. R. Foster, Before the Muses II(1993) 628. 66 Lackenbacher, 113. 67 PRU III 43 RS. 16.270:23-25 with van Soldt, 154; Lackenbacher, 118 f.; Spronk, 100 no.1 with p.111. An adulterous princess? - 253 Yabninu went to the king of Amurru and he took with him a hundred pieces of gold and a wall-hanging for the king of Amurru. And he took oil in his horn and poured it over the head of the daughter of the king of Amurru. Whatever sin ... my mother ...'68 Is this a gesture of forgiveness and the beginning of a new marriage for the sinful woman? That harks back to §198 of the Hittite Laws.69 Taken altogether these documents provide us with enough basic material for a detective story. 68 RS 34.124 (KTU 2.72) with Spronk, 108 (no. 15); G. del Olmo Lete, J. Sanmartin, Festschrift M. Dietrich (2002) 553-558. 69 S. Demare-Lafont, 'A cause des Anges. Le voile dans la culture juridique du Proche-Orient ancien', in: 0. Vernier, Etudes d'histoire du droit priv6 en souvenir de Maryse Carlin (2008) 249. Her restorations of the last lines (following D. Pardee) are uncertain. 11 Rape What is called 'rape' in English is known by a variety a different terms in other European languages: viol in French, Vergewaltigung in modern German (Notzucht in older German) and verkrachting in Dutch. Whatever word we use it is univer- sally acknowledged to be a crime.' Whenever we speak of it we immediately think that it occurred 'against her will'. In a Sumerian wise saying it is referred to in the most direct terms as Do not commit violence of the penis on a man's daughter. The inner courtyard will get to know of it. A later Akkadian version reads You shall not rape the daughter of a man with violence (ina saggati naqabu). The commu- nity assembly shall get to hear of you.2 The law-books are almost our only source of information about what happened in practice.3 A remark is appropriate here about what could be meant by the word vio- lence. In certain laws M. Civil has suggested that the Sumerian word (d.gar) is concerned with trickery rather than violence, so 'deception' would be a better translation.4 In Exodus 22:16 we indeed read 'When a man seduces a virgin who is not yet betrothed', the Hebrew verb that is used is patah (pi.), 'to persuade', and in the Mishnah in the chapter about rape a distinction is made between 'seduc- tion' (patah) and 'overpowering'('anas). Because seduction is seen as deceptive different fines apply. A seducer pays three amounts, a a violent man four. A seducer pays for humiliation, for devaluation and then also the fine; a violent man must pay over and above this for the pain (Keth. III, 4). 1 G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Assyrian Laws (1935) 36-61; J. J. Finkelstein, JAOS 86 (1966) 355-372; B. Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 43-65; R. Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (1988) 278-285. Note that an omen predicts that an enemy country can be raped (ndku) 'like a woman'; A. R. George, CUSAS 18 (2013) 119:38, with p. 122a. 2 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 69 Instr. Sur. 62. 3 R. Haase, 'Die Vergewaltigung einer Frau in Rechtscorpora des Alten Orients', ZABR 15 (2009) 56-64. For the sequence of the MA laws see E. Otto, ZAW 105 (1993) 162. 4 M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 256 f. | © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Slave-girl - 255 The fine to be levied was the one of fifty shekels of silver referred to in Deutero- nomy 22: 28-29. Independently E. Szlechter argued that the Akkadian equivalent (dasu) means both violence and deception,5 and deception also means the act was perpetrated 'against her will'.6 C. Wilcke opposes the opinion that d.gar and dasu refer to deception and maintains that violence is meant.' As to the Akka- dian verb dasu, recently published texts from Mari confirm the two meanings seen by Szlechter and in some passages 'to intimidate' fits the context, especially in the expression ina awdtim dasu, 'to exert verbal pressure', in contrast to 'to exert force (ina emzqim)'.' We will translate d.gar by 'to intimidate'. The Bible story about the rape of Tamar, a princess in David's palace, by her brother Amnon is recounted in three phases in 2 Samuel 13:7-14: first he does not listen to her voice, then he rapes her (the verb 'nh really means 'to humiliate'), and finally he lies with her. In Akkadian the verb naqdbu, which literally means 'to pierce', is exclusively used in contexts of rape. It is cognate with the Hebrew verb ndqab with the same meaning, from which is derived the abstract noun negbd, 'female', as used in the phrase 'male and female He created them' (Genesis 1:27). In cases of rape the Mesopotamian law-books are interested in deciding first whether the woman was betrothed or married, and then whether she was really raped against her will. 11.1 Slave-girl Scholars think that when a slave-girl was raped at that time it was immaterial to decide whether she had agreed to sex or not. The only point to be taken into account was that the crime had reduced the value of the girl and the owner should be compensated.9 The law-book of Ur-Nammu required that it was necessary to prove that the perpetrator had deceived her. The law of Ur-Nammu states: 5 M. Civil, Mdlanges M. Birot (1985) 78, CUSAS 17 (2011) 257a; E. Szlechter, RA 61 (1967) 114 f.; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 94. 6 Lafont, Femmes (1999), distinguishes them in the 'La seduction' (p. 93-132) and 'Le viol' (p. 133-171). 7 C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 499-502. 8 'Intimidate by words': AEM 1/1 (1988) 82 no.5:15; MARI 7 (1993) 199, ARM 14 104+:16, with Durand, LAPO 16 (1997) 559, 'intimider'. By force: PSD A/1 51a. The substantive dasdtu (in recently published Mari texts) exclusively means 'treachery'. 9 Finkelstein, JAOS 86, 360a; Yaron, 281. 256 - Rape If a man should intimidate and deflower the slave-girl of a man, then he shall pay five shekels of silver (§8). Compare this with the law-book of Esnunna. If a man should 'pierce' the slave-girl of a man, then he shall pay twenty shekels of silver, but the slave-girl remains her owner's (§31). If the slave-girl had been the intended bride of a free man, she would be treated in the same way as an ordinary girl.14 The size of the payment varied greatly, and the amount to be paid must first be compared with the going price for a slave-girl. Although these prices differed greatly, when averages are calculated, the payments seem to have been roughly in line with the full price. In the time of Ur-Nammu a male slave could be bought for about ten shekels of silver, and a female for five to six." In the Old Babylo- nian period, when the laws of Esnunna were written, the prices were higher, and later they rose further, to between fifteen and thirty shekels of silver.'2 We con- clude with a little caution that the compensation for the deflowered slave-girl was about the same as her sale price. Another aspect to be taken into account here is the fact that adults cost more than young slaves, and that the compensation to be paid for young girls was greater than their notional value. In the laws of Esnunna the compensation for a slave who had been killed was set at fifteen shekels (§55), so the twenty shekels for the woman cited above from §31 was a considerable sum.'3 Virginity was a costly commodity. It has been proposed that the number written on the clay tablet was actually forty shekels of silver, and that is why it has sometimes been assumed that this particular slave-girl was intended to be married off to a free man. The statement 'but the slave-girl remains her owner's' at the end of Esnunna § 31 would preclude the rapist claiming the girl for himself, seeing that he had made a compensatory payment. We see two reasons for the inclusion of this clause. On the one hand, since the fine was more than the notional purchase 10 H. Petschow considers this for LE §31; Symbolae M. David II(1968) 138 n. 3 ('bereits die Konkubine ihres Herrn oder als solche bestimmt oder zur Verheiratung ... an einen Dritten vor- gesehen'). Cf. Landsberger, ibidem, 55 n. 1. 11 A. Falkenstein, NSGU I1(1956) 88-90 (about children: p.85); P. Steinkeller, Sale documents of the Ur-III-period (1989) 135-138. 12 Thus Steinkeller, 138; R. Harris, Ancient Sippar (1975) 341-343; C. Wilcke, WdO 8 (1976) 280 f., from Abi-esuh on, notably for the prices for women. 13 That slave was killed by a wild ox, but for a similar case in the Bible the compensation was thirty shekels (Exodus 21:32). Slave-girl - 257 price it acted as a disincentive for him to purchase her, though he might have had the right to do so. On the other hand, it contradicted the obligation of a rapist to marry his victim, a common provision to be discussed later in this chapter. An unusual text, which was used as a copying exercise in Sumerian schools, describes a lawsuit about such an occurrence.'4 Lugal-melam, the son of M. has seized Ku-Ninsubur, the slave-girl of Kuguzana, brought her to a storehouse and deflowered her. After he had deflowered her, Kuguzana, her owner, appeared in the assembly of Nippur and stood before them. He said, 'L. has seized my slave- girl, brought her into the storehouse and deflowered her'. Lugal-melam appeared. He said, 'I do not know his slave-girl. I have not deflowered her'. His witnesses took the stand. They confirmed this. The assembly of Nippur appeared. They said, 'Because he deflowered the slave-girl without (permission from) the owner, Lugal-melam must pay thirty shekels of silver to Kuguzana, her lord'. The assembly have pronounced their verdict on this matter. Here the payment imposed was even higher than that mentioned earlier. J. J. Fin- kelstein suggested, possibly correctly, that a degree of punishment was factored into it for not admitting the guilt and for precipitating a formal lawsuit." Two phrases in this text need to be commented on further. Evidence about illicit sexual intercourse always records where the incident happened, and here it was important to say that he 'brought her into the storehouse'. The location was an invariable element for proving guilt.16 That is why Daniel asked for the specific tree to be indicated under which the fair Susannah is supposed to have sat. That the verdict includes the fact that the incident happened 'without per- mission from her owner' echoes the phrase said about a girl in Esnunna § 26, 'without permission from her father and mother'. B. Landsberger thought that this permission conversely applied to the phrase used when the rightful parties (her husband, her parents, or her owner) 'knew' how the woman was going to be treated. According to him, they could have prompted the woman to behave in this way to earn money from it, a subject to be discussed later. Finally, we should bear in mind that C. Locher considers that this lawsuit was a specimen case, not an actual event which led to legislation. He assumes that there was a case like this behind Deuteronomy 22:13-19, and he reconstructs it as such. 14 Finkelstein, JAOS 86, 359 f.; Landsberger, Symbolae M. David II(1968) 47-49; Locher, Die Ehre einer Frau (1986) 94-107. Cf. M. T. Roth, JAGS 103 (1983) 282 (3.); M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 255 f. 15 JAOS 86, 360a. 16 Symbolae David 11(1968) 61 n. 1. 258 - Rape 11.2 Unmarried girl The rape of an unmarried girl is raised in a school text containing some dark para- graphs of Sumerian law:'7 §7. If he should deflower the daughter of a man on the street, (and) her father and her mother do not know it (?), he says ..., (and) her father and her mother shall give her to him in marriage. §8. If he should deflower the daughter of a man on the street, (and) her father and her mother know it (?), (and) the rapist denies that he knew ..., he shall go [and stand] in the gate (?) of the god ... This text gives the impression that by standing on the street the girl is acting like a prostitute and that the unsuspecting man cannot be reproached. Landsberger thinks that, because the parents in §8 'know', it means that they have put the girl to prostitution.18 It may be surprising that the man in another case according to § 7 was still allowed to marry her. This is however the solution in the Middle Assyrian laws and elsewhere, where we find a comprehensive range of locations listed. §55. [If a man, - (regarding) the daughter of a] man, a virgin [who] lives [in the house] of her father, her [...] is not besmirched (?), [her narrow]ness? has not been opened, she is not married, and no demand has been made on the house of her father - (if) the man has forcibly seized the girl and raped her, whether in the middle of the city, or on the plain, or at night on the street, or in a shed, or at a city festival celebration, then the father of the girl shall take the wife of the man who has slept with the girl and give her to be raped. He shall not send her back to her husband. He shall take her. The father shall give his violated daughter to her violator in marriage. If he has no wife, then the man who slept with the girl shall give a 'triple' of silver, the price of a virgin, to her father. Her violater shall marry her. He shall not reject (?) her. If the father does not wish it, then he shall receive the silver, a 'triple' for a virgin. He shall give his daughter (in marriage) to whomsoever he wishes. §56. If a girl should give herself to a man, then the man shall swear the oath and they shall not take action against his wife. The man who slept with her shall give a 'triple' of silver, the price of a virgin. The father shall do with his daughter as he wishes. The first law is couched in difficult language.19 We follow the school of thought which understands 'not besmirched' as indicating that the girl was of a premen- 17 YOS 128 §7-8 ('a, b') with M. T. Roth, Law collections from Mesopotamia, 44. See Landsberger, 51; Finkelstein, 358, 363-365; Romer, ZAW 95 (1983) 326 f.; Lafont, Femmes, 113-116. 18 Symbolae David II, 64. 19 Locher, 128-154, who discusses the physiological terminology for 'virgin' and rape; also E. Otto, ZAW 105 (1993) 157-159. Unmarried girl - 259 strual age. By 'the narrowness not yet opened', the following phase of life would be indicated, and then there follows 'not married'. The Mishnah speaks of raped girls from their third year of life (Keth. I, 3; III, 1 etc.). The list of places where rape could occur is not intended to define particular locations but to mean anywhere at all. That the wife of the violator should be penalized is a form of ius talionis, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', which we also find elsewhere in these laws. G. Cardascia remarks angrily: It is not enough, to say that the wife is subordinate to her husband: she is no more than a part of him and the guilty person is punished in her, just as though he had been punished in his own body through mutilation. As far as we know no other ancient law renders a free person so totally deprived of his/her personality.20 Before we become really angry, it is good to read what B. Landsberger says. He sees the whole Assyrian law book as one for 'Assyrian Professors'. That is to say it is a law-book which takes a simple statute and then expands it with supplemen- tary circumstances, such as the physical condition of the girl and the location of the crime. Landsberger counters our anger thus: The abuse and enslavement of the completely innocent wife of the rapist are highly sophis- ticated and the worst possible barbaric act. However, it appears to be the invention of the Assyrian lawgiver.21 So the barbarity is only theoretical, expressed as a possibility, as a Professor of law may have felt he had the right to do. It has been argued that similar rather theoretical casuistry is to be found in ancient Near Eastern laws dealing with how to act in cases of violence leading to abortus provocatus.22 Cardascia in a later article showed that the Assyrian legislator by giving this punishment, to be inflicted on the wife of the rapist, accords with the rules of the ius talionis (see end of Chapter 31).23 Enforced marriage was a well-known solution for these situations in ancient law so that the honour of the girl could be saved.24 It is documented in Biblical law. 20 Les lois assyriennes (1969) 79. Cf. Locher, 151 f. 21 Symbolae David II, 56, 63. 22 J. J. Finkelstein, The Ox that Gored (1981) 19 n. 11. 23 G. Cardascia in his article 'Les valeurs morales dans le droit assyrien', Hommage d Guillaume Cardascia (1995) (= Mediterranees no. 3) 161-170, esp. 169. 24 Locher, 152f. 260 - Rape When a man seduces a virgin who is not yet betrothed, he must pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. If her father refuses to give her to him, the seducer must pay in silver a sum equal to the bride-price for virgins (Exodus 22:16-17). That he may not later renounce her is made plain in Deuteronomy 22:29. A much older parallel which illustrates this principle was discovered some time ago. It was a treaty from 2400 BC between the cities of Ebla and Abarsal which unexpectedly has two clauses about sexual relationships. G. Pettinato thinks that the first concerned adultery with a married woman (dam gurus), where garments and cattle make up the fines. The second one is about a young virgin (sikil), which Pettinato translates as, If a virgin is concerned, they shall observe carefully her behaviour and (listen to) the expla- nations of those two and he shall marry her (§19 [2]).25 More recently D. 0. Edzard has commented on the text and thinks that it refers to normal situations that arise when people are travelling to another country. It is the payment for providing excessive and lavish hospitality, and could be entitled 'A good night in Abarsal'. This is his translation:26 § 40. Someone sleeps with a woman (from the household) of a man; he will give a ...-garment, a... -cloth (and) three cattle. §41. If that young woman agrees (and) confirms (this), he will ... about her, he will marry her. A case that possibly occurred in real life relates to an accusation that the mayor of Nuzi abused his power, including a complaint that he had slept (ndku) with a woman. This seems like rape, but he denied doing it.27 25 G. Pettinato in: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von Ebla (1988) 305. Literature in Eblaitica 2 (1990) 59 f. 26 D. 0. Edzard in: Quaderni di Semitistica 18 (1992) 208. S. Lafont agrees, Femmes (1999) 43 n. 52, 76, 82, 95, 486; see also P. Fronzaroli, ARET 13 (2003) 54 no.5 §61-63, with p.72. 27 AASOR 16 no. 4 (SMN 13) with B. Lion in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 160 f. no.117. Married woman - 261 11.3 Married woman We have references to the rape of wives, that is to say married or betrothed women, both of whom had the same legal status. In 1981 this law of Ur-Nammu was discovered: §6. If a man intimidates the wife of a man, who is still a virgin, and deflowers her, then the male person shall be put to death.28 This wife was a virgin, by which we understand that she was as yet only betrothed. The law which follows concerns a woman who really was married (she is not said to be a virgin) and decides to commit adultery. The laws of Esnunna deal with both rape and deliberate cohabitation. The paragraph about rape says, If a man has brought the bride-price for the daughter of a man, and someone else, without asking her father and mother, abducts her by force (masa'u) and 'pierces' her, then it is 'a lawsuit of life'; he shall die (§26). The next law concerns someone who married a daughter without any formal request to her parents, but it does not have any element of violence: Even if she has already lived a year in his house, she is not a wife. This situation has been interpreted as an abduction with the woman's consent, which amounts to an elopement, and many a Semitist has compared it to a form of Arab marriage involving the kidnap of one's bride. That is something that could easily have taken place in the ancient Near East.29 This is typical of nine- teenth-century thinking: the primitive bride-kidnapping (Raubehe) would have been followed by marriage by purchase (Kaufehe). Proof of the former practice was seen in ceremonies which still existed, where the bride hits out and walks away. This gesture is also explained as a last demonstration of her chastity.30 In the laws of Esnunna, as in the Middle Assyrian laws § 55-56, after the clauses on rape (§26), the possibility of the girl having consented is raised (§ 27). The law- 28 M. Civil translates: 'If a mans seduces with guile a betrothed woman not yet married and takes her into (his) household, this man will be killed', CUSAS 17 (2011) 246b, with p.255-257. 'Takes her into (his) household' is an emendation; the text offers 'deflowers her'. 29 R. Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (1988) 279 n. 91; Landsberger, Symbolae David II, 64 f. 30 Josef Henninger, Die Familie bei den heutigen Beduinen Arabiens und seiner Randgebiete (1943) 28-30. 262 - Rape book of Hammurabi puts things in the opposite order to that of Ur-Nammu and after adultery comes the following: § 130. If a man pins down another man's virgin wife who is still residing in her father's house and they seize him lying with her, that man shall be killed; that woman shall be released. The verb kabdlu D, translated here as 'to pin down', appears literally to mean 'to paralyse'. We find in the laws of Hammurabi also references to a father of a betrothed son lying with his future daughter-in-law (§155-156). These come under the heading of incest, which we shall discuss in the following Chapter 12. The Middle Assyrian laws have something to say about the rape of married women. § 12. If a married woman goes in the town square (and) a man seizes her (and) says to her, 'I want to sleep with you', (but) she does not assent, she is circumspect, (and) with vio- lence he seizes her (and) sleeps with her - whether they find him on the married woman or witnesses prove that he has slept with the woman - he shall be put to death; there is no punishment for the woman. This is the only law in which it is clear that intercourse took place against the will of the woman. The next two paragraphs are about a woman in the town square who leads the man astray. Why do we read that the woman is in the town square? Elsewhere in the law-book this indicates that she was behaving like a prostitute. However, scholars argue that something else is shown here. Supposedly there was an element of chance in the rendezvous, and no scheming by the woman is insinuated. I think that we should see the reference to the town square in the same murky light shown in that other law, not a place where a lady should be on parade. This regulation is intended as a general warning to stay away from a married woman, even if you find her in the town square and you think you could take advantage. This fits in with §14, where a married woman loiters in a drinking house, but nonetheless you must keep your hands in your pockets. Landsberger has pointed out that this is precisely the principle hammered home in the law: 'It is a strong piece of "professors' law", demanding that any potential delinquent makes sure that the woman he fancies is not married'.3' Landsberger does not mention our law, but his argument fits in well with it. The first section of §16 of the Middle Assyrian laws is not completely pre- served. It appears to concern a married woman who seduces a man 'with the ... of her mouth'. The woman was punished by her husband at his discretion, but 31 Symbolae David II, 63 n. 1. The locations - 263 there was no punishment for the man she seduced. Cardascia thinks that there was nothing more in the seduction than some kissing (the word is supplemented by him) and not intimacy. The second part of § 16 continues the story and here the man becomes frisky and rapes the provocative housewife. §16b. If he uses violence to sleep with her, they shall show that he was guilty of it (and) they shall prove it of him; then his punishment will be like that of the wife of the man. That punishment could involve mutilation, as in § 15. 11.4 The locations The laws often take into consideration the place where the incident happened, which Landsberger calls 'crime-scene casuistry'. No reason for distinguishing different locations is found except in Deuteronomy 22: 23-27, which makes a betrothed girl guilty if she was seduced in the city, where she could have shouted for help. But if it happened in the field she was innocent, for calling for help would have been in vain. A Hittite law links up well with this. §197. If a man should take a (married) woman in the mountains, it is the fault of the man and he is put to death. If however he takes (her) in the house, it is the fault of the woman; the woman is put to death. If the husband catches (the two of them) and beats them to death, there is no problem. This means that we need now to discuss in more detail what was said about adul- tery at the beginning of Chapter 10. C. Saporetti explains that an incident in the mountains means that there was violent behaviour by the man and it counted as rape. An incident in the house refers to a woman who is seducing a man. The third situation would be a case of adultery, desired by both him and her. It was thought that the woman could have defended herself quite well enough at home by calling for help, which is what the wife of Potiphar did.32 The Bedouin show 'deep common sense', according to Count C. de Landberg, saying that a woman is never obliged to have intercourse against her will, on the assumption that she restricts herself to the women's quarters and never goes to isolated locations. Within the city there were various places where rape might occur. For a girl or a married woman it could be on the street; for a married woman it was the drinking house or the square; and for a slave-girl it was the storehouse. The Middle Assyr- 32 Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna, 280 n. 95. 264 - Rape ian law §55 lists the danger spots for a virgin: the middle of the city, the field, at night in the square, in a shed, or at a fair. In Deuteronomy an incident in the city implied guilt, and one in the field implied innocence. There must have been other places that were dangerous for girls. A storage building occurs three times: the storehouse, a shed, and a warehouse (in § 55, and in a letter).33 Attending a fair (literally, a festival in the city) was also dangerous and is reminiscent of the wise Sumerian advice: 'Never trust a woman at a fair'.34 In a speech by Demosthenes the marketplace and the workplace were pointed out as being places of dubious repute.35 Because locations were not said to be relevant for married women one might suppose that unmarried or betrothed girls had greater freedom of move- ment, despite all the attendant dangers of the time, and that married women were confined to the house. We have already said that in any allegation of rape it was important to say where it happened. A queen of the Hittites, Puduhepa once had a nasty dream. In a dream a number of young men wanted to take the queen behind the bath house. The queen promised (the deity) in her dream one bath house made of gold.36 What would Sigmund Freud have made of that? 11.5 In myths In Sumerian myths we find the motif of a raped goddess.37 In 'Enki and Ninlursag' the god Enki violently raped his daughters in sequence.38 When he approached the last one, Uttu, he seduced her by dressing up as the gardener and she appeared to agree. The action-packed sequel was explained as a failed union. As his punishment Enki was stricken with all sorts of illnesses. In another myth Enlil made his daughter Ninlil pregnant to the anger of her mother.39 On the first occasion he used force, and subsequently he disguised himself twice to 33 TCL 1 10 (the warehouse ganinu) with Landsberger, Symbolae David II, 45 f.; cf. 61 n. 1. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 471 also mentions the roof (Sum. ur; either 'roof' or 'lap'). 34 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 92 Instr. Sur. 208; SP 11.150. 35 Demosthenes 59, 67, cited in G. R. Driver, The Assyrian Laws (1936) 45 n. 3. 36 A. Mouton, Reves hittites (2007) 261 f., 264 Texte 98 ii 5-10 (= 37-41). See the earlier comment by A. L. Oppenheim, The interpretation of dreams in the Ancient Near East (1956) 227b. 37 A. Gadotti, 'Why it was rape: the conceptualization of rape in Sumerian literature', JAOS 129 (2009) 73-82. 38 Gadotti in M. W. Chavalas, Women in the Ancient Near East (2014) 38-40. 39 Gadotti, 30-33. The right of the first night - 265 seduce her.40 Gods were born as a result of his exploits. Enlil was also punished, and was called an unclean person and banished from the city, though in the end everything comes right for him. Were these punishments for rape (by violence or seduction) or for incest? Being banished from the city was required by the laws of Hammurabi for a father who had been lying with his daughter (§154). Another instance involved the goddess Inanna. As she lay resting under a tree she was seized by a gardener, a human. As a result the land suffered dreadful punish- ments and the gardener was condemned to execution. Even so that gardener remained famous as the person who had discovered how to cultivate the date palm, the backbone of the economy of Southern Iraq. Some see in this the reflec- tion of the conflict between the gardener representing Southern Sumer and the northern kingdom of Akkad, with Istar (Inanna) as its patron deity in the twenty- third century BC.41 11.6 The right of the first night History has many examples of rulers who requisitioned women. In the Old Tes- tament Abraham's wife Sarah was threatened by the kings of Egypt and Gerar (Genesis 12:11f.). David also resorted to this mean trick to get Bathsheba to his side (2 Samuel 11:4). The most crude practice of it is referred to by the three word Latin term, ius primae noctis, 'the right of the first night'. In feudal medieval society various reports say lords had this right, called droit de cuissage. Comic operas in the eighteenth century still made jokes about it, as in Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro. In our opinion this is a form of rape. To avoid any possible misunderstanding, when a Roman Catholic work about moral theology in the Middle Ages refers to this right, at least when it was carried out by priests, it was quite different. It was a type of tax given by newly married couples to the priest for removing the duty of being chaste during the first few nights of marriage, known as the 'Tobias nights'. At that time this was how newly weds obtained their ius primae noctis. Rulers required a similar sort of payment from their vassals when they married.42 40 J. S. Cooper, JCS 32 (1980) 180. 41 K. Volk, Inanna und Sukaletuda (1995). 42 D. Gerardus Oesterle, Consultationes de jure matrimoniali (1942) 7-11, based on J. J. Raep- saet, Les droits du Seigneur (Ghent 1817). More scholars have denied the existence of this right; A. Boureau, The Lords's First Night (Chicago 1998). 266 - Rape Did this ius exist in Mesopotamia? In the Old Babylonian version of the Gil- gamesh epic there is a description of how Gilgamesh stormed around in his city of Uruk, and the following line is cited as an example of it happening:43 He slept with the intended woman: he came first, the husband afterwards. When later his friend Enkidu heard this he turned pale, and we do too, but people said that this was the will of the gods, and Gilgamesh's destiny. The wife was even destined for it (assat simdtim). Some modern scholars see in this custom an early form of the sacred marriage between a god and a goddess, to be enacted on earth between a ruler and a woman. In this situation the woman bore the special name of the goddess of love, Ishcara. The woman who happened to be chosen for this role must have felt honoured and not dishonoured. The poet would have assumed that the custom was later modified and a priestess was selected to act.44 Fifteen hundred years after this the Greek writer Herodotus narrates a very disturbing story about ancient Babylon. The most terrible custom of the Babylonians is as follows. Every native woman once in her life had to sit down in the sanctuary of Aphrodite and have intercourse with a stranger. Many women thought it beneath their dignity to submit themselves to someone else. Because they prided themselves on their wealth, they drove to the sanctuary in covered waggons, and waited in them, while a great number of servants came after them. Most went about doing it in the following manner. In the area devoted to Aphrodite there were many women sitting with a garland of ribbons on their heads. Some came to join them and others left. Between these women were very straight paths, and strangers walked along these paths and chose someone. Once a woman had come and sat there, she could not leave to go back home until a stranger had thrown money into her lap and had had intercourse with her outside the temple. When he threw the money he had to say, 'I call on the goddess Mylitta'. Mylitta was the name that the Assyrians gave to Aphrodite. The sum of money might be of any amount. There was no way that she could refuse it. She was forbidden because the money was conse- crated. She went with the first man to throw money at her, and she was not allowed to refuse anyone. When the intercourse had taken place and she had discharged her holy duty to the goddess, she went back home, and from that day onwards they might give her as much money as they wanted but they would never get her again. All the women who were blessed with beauty and a tall figure could quickly go back, but the ugly had to stay there a long time because they could not fulfil the holy law. Yes, some had to stay there even for three or four years. In a few places in Cyprus a similar custom persists (1199) 43 Gilg. P iv 32-34, now A. R. George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic I1(2003) 178:160. 44 Thus W. von Soden, ZA 71 (1981) 103-106. J. Tigay, The evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (1982) 176, 182f., is more cautious. According to J.-J. Glassner, ZA 80 (1990) 67, there was no religious ceremony. The right of the first night - 267 Did things really happen in this way? Most scholars, beginning with Voltaire, think that Herodotus was mistaken and that he did not properly understand what happened in the ceremonial sacred prostitution of the god of love, Istar.45 It is assumed that women did this because only in this way could they pay off pledges they had made to the temple.46 In Chapter 21 we will see that temple prostitution actually existed and at the end follows a partial explanation of this story. Others, mostly from outside the field of Assyriology, think that Herodotus was possibly right.47 That is an idea that has led to Babylon being characterized as a fornicat- ing whore, as found in the New Testament: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all nations drink the wine of God's anger roused by her fornication (Revelation 14:8). Finally we note some information from a Greek manuscript about new brides in Africa. Among the Nasamones in Africa there is a custom that brides on their first marriage night have sex with all their guests. They receive presents from them. But afterwards it happens only with the bridegroom.48 A woman would have to do this only once in her life, so it is interesting to note that in the administrative texts about sacred prostitution in Sippar from the Old Babylonian period, about one thousand years before Herodotus, the names of the participants are recorded only once. Would they perhaps also ...?49 We will revisit Herodotus in chapter 21, when discussing the Goddess and the Whore. 45 B. Meissner, BuA II(1925) 435; J. Bottero, La Mdsopotamie (1987) 229. G. Wilhelm presented an overview of opinions in Studies W. L. Moran (1990) 505-524. 46 K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 99-101. More in Chapter 21, 'Income'. 47 F. Cumont, Oriental religions in Roman Paganism (1911) 246-248, n. 41; G. van der Leeuw, Religion in essence and manifestation (1938) 230 f. (Chapter 29, 1); W. Baumgartner, ArOr 18/1-2 (1950) 81-83, sub 5, reprinted in his Zum Alten Testament und seiner Umwelt (1959) 296-298; W. G. Lambert, JEOL 15 (1957-58) 196. 48 Paradoxographus Vaticanus 27, translated by R. Ferwerda, Phlegon van Tralles. Wonderbaarli- jke verschijnselen (2004) 129. 49 J. S. Cooper in his article 'Prostitution', RlA XI/1-2 (2006) 19b. 12 Incest 12.1 Promiscuity Our discussion now proceeds to the subject of incest, a practice known from the earliest history of mankind, when the hordes of people abandoned themselves to promiscuity. At any rate this was asserted in the nineteenth century, and Karl Marx adopted the idea.' Out of this wild mess there slowly developed polygamy, and from this came strictly monogamous marriage. As well as polygamy some claim to have found polyandry, both in very old historical sources and present-day societies. Arabists who have studied that problem2 suggest that modern com- munities feel this gives a measure of freedom to monogamous marriage.3 Older sources, such as Strabo, Chinese travelers, and the commentator Al-Buhjari, speak of polyandry particularly in South Arabia (Arabia Felix). Strabo states, One woman is for everyone, and the man who comes in first, after first leaving his staff in front of the door, has intercourse (XIV. 4.25). That this actually happened is confirmed by an inscription from South Arabia in which two men thank the god Almaqa for the five boys and the one girl whom they fathered by the same woman. This is not the only text with similar content to have been found there.4 In some Roman inscriptions two men and a woman are said to make a vow to each other.5 For our purposes it is interesting to note that the Sumerian city ruler Uru- kagina prohibited polyandry under the reforms he conducted in ca. 2320 BC. The relevant texts are difficult to translate, but the passage which interests us can be translated as follows:6 1 Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State: in the light of the researches of Lewis H. Morgan (1884). 2 J. Henninger, 'Neuere Forschungen zum Problem der Polyandrie in Arabien', in: Meqor Hajjim. Festschrift fur Georg Molin (1983) 127-153. See the earlier article from 1954, 'Polyandrie im vor- islamischen Arabien', in: Henninger, Arabica Varia (1989) 305-338; see also Hortense Reintjes, Die soziale Stellung der Frau bei den nordarabischen Beduinen (1975) 48-52. 3 L. Vajda in Henninger (1983) 128. 4 W. W. Muller, 'Sabaeische Texte zur Polyandrie', Neue Ephemeris fur die Semitische Epigra- phik 2 (1974) 125-138. 5 J.-J. Glassner, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 161 f. 6 Ukg. 6 iii 14-24 ('Plaque Ovale'), as translated by J. S. Cooper, Sumerian and Akkadian royal inscriptions I. Presargonic inscriptions (1986) 27. See B. Hruska, ArOr 41(1973)121 f., Aussage III 28. |C- © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Promiscuity - 269 If a woman speaks ... disrespectfully to a man, that woman's mouth is crushed with a fired brick, and the fired brick is displayed at the city-gate. Women of former times each married two men, but women of today have been made to give up that crime. Every translation of this passage is different, but the words 'the women of that time had two husbands' were certainly there, even though the rest is uncertain.'It is generally accepted that the abuse referred to was polyandry. W. von Soden sug- gested that the high taxes on marriage at that time prevented the women from for- mally divorcing, so in practice they lived with another man as divorcees.' That is certainly one opinion, but an alternative is to understand the word za.ds.da not as 'abuse' but as 'debtor's bondage'. If so it means that because of debts the woman had fallen into the power of the second man, the creditor.9 C. Wilcke thinks that the situation concerned a widow who remarried and thus had had two husbands in total.10 In any event the rights of the woman were restricted. J.-J. Glassner thought of the abuse as being connected with the ius primae noctis, meaning that the woman had sexual intercourse with two men, one after the other. He also thought that adultery may have been permitted." We arrive on firmer ground when we see how the king of the Hittites expected his vassal to behave towards one of his daughters. Huqqana, an important tribal chieftain in a relatively small community without its own king in the mountains of Armenia, had been given a daughter of the Hittite king, so that the good ties between them would be more firmly established. That could have been the end of the matter, but subsequently there are some established rules in the relevant document about how Hittite women should be treated. These rules were to apply in this instance.'2 This sister, whom I, My Majesty, have given to you in marriage, has many sisters from her own family and her clan. They belong to your clan (?) because you have received their sister. For the land of the Hittites it is an important rule that a brother does not take his sister or 7 B. R. Foster, JESHO 24 (1981) 233. 8 Hruska, 122, referring to W. von Soden in Propylden Weltgeschichte I (1961) 546; J. Bauer, Annuherungen 1 (OBO 160/1) (1998) 557. Contra: H. Steible, FAOS 5/II (1982) 163. 9 As suggested by J. S. Cooper in Sumerian and Akkadian royal inscriptions I, 77 f., n. 9; R. West- brook, WZKM 86 (1996) 455. 10 C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 59 f. He translates the beginning as follows: 'If a woman has uttered a curse against a man they shall shut her mouth with a brick' (53 n. 142). 11 Glassner in: B. S. Lesko, Women's earliest records (1989) 79 f., with comments by others on p. 91-94; CRRAI 47/I (2002) 161b. 12 V. Haas, Das Reich Urartu (1986) 24; G. Beckman, Hittite diplomatic texts. Second edition (1999) 31 f. § 25-28; J. Klinger, TUAT NF 2 (2005) 107-112§ 29-32; Y. Cohen, Taboos and prohibitions in Hittite society (2002) 79-93. 270 - Incest his cousin. It is not allowed. Whoever does that in Hattusa shall not remain alive but shall be put to death. Because your country is unaware of this: it is there a right that a brother can take his own sister or cousin. In Hattusa it is not allowed. If a sister of your wife or a relative of the sister of your wife (?) or a cousin comes to your house, give her something to eat and drink. Eat and drink, both of you and have pleasure. But you may not desire to take her ... Somewhat further on in the text, the suspicious king makes further demands. Be careful with a woman in (my) palace. Whatever sort of woman she is, whether a free woman or the slave of a lady, you may not approach her and you may not come near her. Be careful with her.... If you see a woman in the palace, jump far over to the side and give her plenty of room to pass ... Then a nasty example from history is quoted. Who was Mariya and why did he die? Did not the slave of a lady draw near, and did he not look at her? But the father of My Majesty saw it from his window and caught him and said, 'You there, why are you looking at her?' That was the reason he died. The man died because he only looked from afar. So be careful. Yes, the Hittites were strict as regards incest and clauses §189-196 in their law- book concern this specific subject. 12.2 Incest For the Babylonians there were specific circumstances in which incest was pro- hibited.'3 The laws of Hammurabi (§157) say that if a mother has sex with her son after the death of his father both will be burned to death, the ultimate punish- ment for Babylonians. The clause § 154, by contrast, says that if a father has sex with his daughter he will be banished from the city. G. Cardascia has noted how much more leniently the father was punished.'4 He also points out that chapters of comparable laws in the Bible (Leviticus 18 and 20) do not deal at all with a relationship between a father and his daughter, suggesting that people originally took a rather relaxed attitude to that situation. In the same vein the ancient laws deal equally laxly with intercourse between an uncle and a niece, a father-in-law 13 See in general S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 173-236. 14 G. Cardascia, 'Egalit6 et inegalit6 des sexes en matiere d'atteinte aux moeurs dans le Proche-Orient ancien', WdO 11 (1980) 7-16; reprinted in Hommage d Guillaume Cardascia (Medi- terranees no. 3) (1995) 197-207; see also RlA V/1-2 (1976) 144-150, 'Inzest'. Incest - 271 and a daughter-in-law, and a stepfather and a stepdaughter. In certain circum- stances a son could marry the wife of his dead father if she was his stepmother, but he could not marry his father's first wife, his biological mother (Hammurabi § 158; Middle Assyrian laws § 46). While sexual relations between an aunt and her nephew were not allowed, there appeared to be no problem in allowing them between an uncle and his niece, showing that a man but not a woman could insti- gate the affair. This opens a new vista. It seems to reinforce the prejudiced atti- tude that a woman should always be passive. From this we can deduce that a man was allowed to have a relationship with a woman of lower standing, a younger woman or a second wife. Ill omens (prodigia) that presaged the fall of Babylon also take up this theme, such as when a man approached his mother, or his sister, or his daughter, or his mother-in-law, or a bull approached an ass, or a fox approached a dog, or a dog approached a pig.15 These omens do not constitute morally reprehensible actions but are clearly to be regarded as unnatural occurrences. Omens about human behaviour include references to incest, although unfor- tunately the texts are badly broken. [If a man goes to his mother-in-l]aw, he shall not [be] in a good mood. [If a man goes to the ... of his w]ife, his god and his goddess [...] shall not forgive him. If a man goes to the daughter of his brother, wherever he goes there will be shortages.16 In this case it was possible to take steps to avoid the consequence of one's action: So that the (calamity) does not reach him, say 'God, my strength!' [and the (calamity) shall not approach him]. If a man goes to the daughter of the daughter of his brother, he shall lay his hand on what is not his; he shall profit; his family will [be rich].17 In the last instance the thought is that he has violated another man's property but he was rewarded for doing so. We note that these omens refer to relationships with distant family members and the predictions were not always scathing; some 15 CT 29 48:14 f., following A. Guinan in: L. Ciraolo, J. Seidel, Magic and divination in the Ancient World (2002) 36, 38. 16 KAL 1107 no. 35 rev. 5, 7, 11. 17 CT 39 43:3-4 and 6, with duplicate KAL 1 no.35 rev. 11-14 (from Summa dlu Tablet 103); A. K. Guinan in: W. W. Hallo, The Context of Scripture 1(1997) 425, nos. 47, 48. 272 - Incest are even favourable. A general remark: when the text says that the man 'goes' to the woman this is possibly just what it means to say, because in Akkadian a dif- ferent verb, 'to approach', is used to indicate full sexual contact. Liver omens sometimes suggest some irregularity in sexual relationships. One possibility was that the gall bladder could be 'biting' the liver, and that would be a sign that 'a man has gone to his own daughter' or 'he has gone to his mother'. It is possible that the connection was made because of the assonance of the verb 'to bite' (nasdku) with 'to kiss' (nasdqu). Normally omens were concerned with what would happen in the future, but these relate an event that has already happened. Intercourse with animals or corpses is also mentioned, but this is outside our subject. It is thought that the liver inspection had to confirm an already existing suspicion.18 Intercourse with a mother or sister could be the cause of symptoms of illness. The diagnosis of an illness in the medical textbook makes it a punish- ment ascribed to the 'hand' of a god. If his loins are 'struck', (it is) the Hand of Sulak; he has approached his sister; (or) the Hand of (the moon god) Sin; it shall last a long time and he shall die.19 Dreams could be interpreted as predictions and those in which someone approached gods, priestesses, the queen, various men, a corpse, and wild animals were exhaustively discussed. We have only four fragments on this subject and it may be coincidental that close relatives hardly feature in them.20 In another frag- ment anxious dreams were discussed and there we read about approaching 'my mother who brought me into the world, my mother-in-law, my sister'.2' Recently a text was published with this group of predictions: If he (in his dream) approaches a woman in the house of a god, then this man shall remain living to a great old age. If he approaches his mother, then he shall go in and out of the gate in good health. If he approaches his sister, then he shall become rich and important.22 18 Emar VI/4 285 no.669:60 f., following J.-M. Durand, L. Marti, Journal asiatique 292 (2004) 22f.; see p.5 for establishing proof of incest in the past. A new example is a man who has had intercourse with 'his mother who (is still) bearing children (walittu)', CUSAS 18 (2013) 300 §11 line 6. See for this text M. Stol, 'Masturbation in Babylonia', in Le Journal des Medecines cunei- formes 24 (2014) 39 f. 19 TDP 108 iv 17 (where 'the Hand of Sin' is inadvertently omitted); TDP 58 rev. 25 concerns the mother, but the tablet is broken and the symptoms are unknown. 20 A. L. Oppenheim, The interpretation of dreams in the Ancient Near East (1956) 333 f.; Iraq 31 (1969) 156 f., who failed to realise that UM means tehu, 'to approach erotically'. 21 S. A. L. Butler, Mesopotamian concepts of dreams and dream rituals (1998) 64:85 f. 22 E. Leichty, Studies B. R. Foster (2010) 226 rev. 14-16. Incest - 273 After that the tablet is broken. It is surprising that the prospects are so favourable. Possibly this is because dreams came from another world, happy and without misgivings. In primaeval times Phoenician, Hittite and Greek myths relate how incest occurred among the gods. One clay tablet of a creation myth is full of occasions of incest, in a world of shepherds and farmers.23 People had observed that pro- miscuity occurred in animal herds, an observation developed in a myth about the shepherd god Dumuzi and his sister. As Dumuzi converses with his sister, intent on seducing her, he points out to her how the animals behaved. But his sister did not understand, and then the text breaks off.24 Earlier, in the chapter on rape, we referred to Sumerian myths where gods take daughters by violence or by seduction, and that can also be seen as incest. The god Enlil became 'impure' because of this and was banished from the city. That was what happened to the guilty father in the laws of Hammurabi (§ 150) and banishment meant that one became a pariah.5 In the Arabic world marriage between two cousins is seen as ideal. The Patriarchs of the Bible also practised it. Isaac married his cousin Rebecca, and Jacob married two sisters, Leah and Rachel. On that occasion their father Laban is recorded as commenting, 'Since this is from the Lord, we can say nothing for or against it' (Genesis 24:50). In the Apocrypha we read an episode from the life of Tobit. He is supposed to have been in Mesopotamia in the eighth century BC and when he arrived in Media he was told by his father Raphael to marry Sarah, the daughter of his grandfather Raguel. Raphael tells him, 'I know that Raguel cannot withhold her from you or betroth her to another without incurring the death penalty according to the decree in the book of Moses' (Tobit 6:12). Even though Sarah was a blood relative of Tobit, the marriage does take place, and Raguel says to Tobit, 'Receive my daughter as your wedded wife in accordance with the law, the decree written in the book of Moses' (Tobit 7:13). In fact the law to which Sarah's father refers is not to be found in the laws of Moses. It seems that at that time endogamous marriage was part of the common law of the Hebrew tribes, and is now a strategy for Jews to survive in the diaspora. From the evidence in archives of Babylonian families such marriages do not seem to have been popular, though they are found in the Neo-Babylonian period. No law was formulated, but the practice was seen as a method for families to 23 W. G. Lambert, 'The theogony of Dunnu', Babylonian creation myths (2013) 387-395. 24 Jacobsen, 24; S. N. Kramer, JANES 5 (1973) 248; B. Alster, JCS 27 (1975) 218 f.; V. Haas, Babylo- nischer Liebesgarten (1999) 113. 25 A. Gadotti, JAOS 129 (2009) 80; S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 184-186. 274 - Incest keep their capital intact. In one case, presumably to ensure that the family wealth was preserved, a girl marries one uncle after another on the instigation of her widowed mother.26 More information about this subject will be found in Chapter 14 when we consider levirate marriage. Although it has long been thought that in this late period marriages were concluded between brothers and sisters, this is incorrect. The idea arose because there was some confusion about different people having identical names.27 26 C. Waerzeggers, 'Endogamy in Mesopotamia in the Neo-Babylonian period', in: Festschrift Christopher Walker (2002) 319-346. 27 G. van Driel, Phoenix 31(1985) 46; Waerzeggers, 320 f. 13 The widow Wherever we find widows mentioned in an ancient Near Eastern text we must also think of orphans, children left with no father.' There are several well- known verses in the Hebrew Bible which refer to the widow as someone deserving divine protection. The Lord will pull down the houses of the proud, but maintain the widow's boundary stones (Proverbs 15:25). Sometimes the words for orphan and widow are set in poetic parallelism. The Lord is his name, exult before him, a father to the fatherless, the widow's defender (Psalm 68:4b-5a, in Hebrew 5b-6a).2 The position of the widow was complex both from a psychological and a social point of view and these verses show that she could easily be threatened by people intent on starting legal proceedings to confiscate her land. The widow belonged to that group in society called in today's world 'vulnerable'. The Babylonian kings were also aware of this danger and they took on them- selves the role of the shepherd who would protect the widow and the fatherless. In their inscriptions they fondly draw attention to this role of theirs, so much so that it becomes a standard element of self-praise.3 The Sumerian city ruler Urukagina (ca. 2320) had agreed with the god of the city not to hand widows and orphans over to the strong and powerful elements of society.4 Gudea and Ur-Nammu provided them with similar protection.5 We also see how the law with regard to widows and orphans was upheld in this way by the Old Babylo- nian kings Nur-Adad and Hammurabi, as well as the kings in Canaan described in traditional Ugaritic literature.6 Justice for the widow and orphan was ensured by the gods, in particular by Utu/samas, the sun god. As the god of justice he 1 Hebr. ydtom; Akkad. ekhtu (not only girls; AHw). See 'Waise', RlA XIV/7-8 (2016) 634 f. 2 Cf. also Exodus 22:21-24; see H. A.Hoffner, Theologisches Wrterbuch zum Alten Testament I (1971) 308 ff., art. 'almand. 3 F. C. Fensham, 'Widow, orphan, and the poor in Ancient Near Eastern legal and wisdom lit- erature', JNES 21(1962)129-139; K. van der Toorn, From her cradle to her grave (1994) 134-139. 4 Ukg. 4 xii 23-28. 5 Gudea, Statue B vii 42f. (nu.siki, na.ma.kus); cf. Cyl. B XVIII 6 f. Ur-Nammu: laws, Prologue 162-165 (nu.siki, nu.mu.un.kus); see C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 533. 6 Nur-Adad inscr. 7 ii 55-6, in RIME 4 p.148; Hammurabi, laws, Epilogue xi (= xxivb) 61 f. Ugarit: the legends on Keret and Aqhat, KTU 1.16 vi 50; cf. 33. ) B-C-D© 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 276 - The widow protected the orphan, the abandoned child and the widow.7 One rather diffi- cult Sumerian hymn to the goddess Nanse, for which two differing translations have been published, describes how she organised her temple and how she made herself responsible for the widows, the orphans and the poor.' A Neo-Babylo- nian propaganda text, probably referring to King Nabonidus, describes how he would step in to correct injustice. The rich take everything away from the poor. The governor and the patrician do not support the orphan and the widow in front of the judges. They appeal to the judges, but those do not deliver justice.' A young woman could be described as an orphan if she had lost her husband, father, brother, or other supporting male family member. In a situation like this in the Neo-Babylonian period her mother could act as her representative. Indeed we see mothers and sometimes brothers arranging marriages for such a girl. Her paternal uncle, the brother of her deceased father, played no role at all. There is a theory that the bit mar bani, 'the house of the citizen', was a special 'house' providing protection to women who had been married but found themselves in reduced circumstances,10 but the idea of such a women's refuge as a place of safety does not fit in with what we know of that culture. G. van Driel studied the question and demonstrated from the texts that a woman in need could simply seek help at the house of a free citizen. This might have been an emergency solu- tion to her problem, because it might have cost her her freedom. So sometimes women were forbidden to do this." Finding new accommodation was also a problem for widows.'2 The house of one Sumerian widow was bought by her brother-in-law and given to her, but after his death one of his sons could claim the house for himself. He would get his way as there were no witnesses to the arrangement.'3 In Old Assyrian and 7 BMS 12:37 with W. R. Mayer, Or. NS 62 (1993) 317, 327; 'Incantation to Utu', 37 f., see B. Alster, ASJ 13 (1991) 44, with 82 (ki.gul.la 'abandoned child'). Cf. the Nanse Hymn, 165-167, W. Heimpel, JCS 33 (1981) 92. God Marduk: T. Oshima, Babylonian prayers to Marduk (2011) 356:21. 8 Heimpel; Th. Jacobsen, The harps that once (1987) 125-142. 9 W. G. Lambert, 'The King of Justice', Iraq 27 (1965) 5 f., ii 4-6; B. R. Foster, Before the Muses II (1993) 763; H. Schaudig, Die Inschriften Nabonids von Babylon (2001) 581, 585. 10 M. T. Roth, 'Women in transition and the Bit mar bani', RA 82 (1988) 131-138. 11 G. van Driel, 'An institutional remedy?', in: M. Stol, S. P. Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 174-178. 12 According to M. Civil's interpretation, §27-29 of the laws of Ur-Nammu discuss this issue; CUSAS 17 (2011) 248, with 263b. Radically different is C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 545 f. 13 M. Molina, Studies G. Pettinato (2004) 175 f. The widow - 277 Neo-Babylonian wills her accommodation was already arranged.'4 In the Old Assyrian period it was mostly the eldest son who had to look after his mother till the end. Only I. is responsible for the burial of Puzur their mother, and for the expenses and the loans of Puzur their mother.15 The same happened in another family. As long as she lives she shall dwell in the house of A., and if she becomes fragile (?) A. and her sons shall not chase her away.16 Because men were usually older than their wives when they married, marriages were shorter and widowhood was commonplace. We note that there is not even a word for 'widower' in Akkadian or in Hebrew. Widowhood was usually occa- sioned through the natural death of one's husband but there were occasions when violence played a part, as presaged by omens from extispicy or astrology. One man shall strike down (rasabu) another. People will fall and widows will be numerous. The enemy will inflict a defeat, (and) the land will be full of widows.17 Widows were recognised as a social category. Some lists known to have come from Mari have the names of 2500 women from the three provinces who had sworn an oath of allegiance to the king, on open ground outside the city or in a square. They were mostly denoted as the slave-girl of a man (probably this meant his wife), but some were described as widows or holy women.18 These women would have lived independently. Men swore that same oath of allegiance and it is interesting that here women were required to do so. In Emar we sometimes encounter the phrase 'She is a widow with the widows', sometimes followed by 'She is a divorced woman with the divorced women'.19 This phrase either indi- 14 C. Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 225; M. T. Roth, JCS 43-45 (1991-93) 9a, 10b, 17, 23a, 26. 15 K. R. Veenhof in: The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 141-143. 16 Veenhof, 143 f. = Donbaz, Cuneiform texts from the Sadberk Hanim Museum (1999) 107-109 no.28. 17 F. Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian celestial divination (1988) 209:7, 210 Q:4'; R. Labat, MDP 57 (1974) 137 ii 39 f., with p.154. 18 M. Bonechi, 'Les serments de femmes a Mari', in: S. Lafont, Jurer et maudire (1996) 97-104. Cf. L. Marti, RA 99 (2005) 111-122, ARM 23 236. 19 W. W. Hallo in S. Parpola, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 212 n. 72; D. Arnaud, Emar VI/3 16:26 f., 216:11 f.; D. Arnaud, Semitica 46 (1996) 9:6; A history of Ancient Near Eastern law 1(2003) 671. 278 - The widow cates that these women could act independently, or refers to the destitute status of these women.20 In a lament by a dead king his widow's emotions are described pathetically. Has my wife not become a widow? She passes her days in lamenting and mourning.21 Even more pathetic is a lament of a son for his dead father: Your wife - her husband is no more - will now always be a widow. She just spins round you[r dead body] like a whirlwind, falls down (?) like a stormy gust. She used to treat you like her adopted child; now her spirit is confused; crippling dread seizes her, as if she was about to bear a child ... she groans like a cow ... and pours forth tears.22 13.1 Poor widows According to a recent suggestion the Sumerian word numunkus, 'widow' means literally 'she who has no rest'.23 That a widow was seen as poor is a standard motif in Babylonian prayers. The rich man offers a sheep as a sacrifice, the widow a cheap meal offering.24 This reminds us of the incident in the Gospels, where Jesus contrasted the large amounts offered to the temple treasury by the rich with 'the widow's mite', refer- ring to 'a poor widow who dropped in two tiny coins, together worth a penny' (Mark 12:41-44). An Old Babylonian letter reporting on the harvest states that even in tragic circumstances the needs of widows were not neglected. A lion has killed men among our brothers while they were guarding the field. We have brought in seven kor of their barley. We have given half a kor and two litres of barley to the widow of our brother (or 'widows of our brothers').25 20 S. Demare-Lafont in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 401 f. 'La veuve est soumise aux usages locaux (...) ce qui n'est certainement pas une position enviable.' 21 'Ur-Nammu's Death', 166 f., in E. Fliickiger-Hawker, Urnamma of Ur in Sumerian literary tra- dition (1999) 130. 22 H. Vanstiphout, Eduba. Schrijven en lezen in Sumer (2004) 260. 23 B. Alster, Kaskal 2 (2005) 92; for Akkadian and Sumerian etymologies see J.-M. Durand in G. del Olmo Lete, Mythologie et religion des Semites occidentaux I(2008) 407 n. 81. 24 E. Reiner, Surpu (1958) 54, on 110; CAD A/1 363b; T. Oshima, Babylonian prayers to Marduk (2011) 388:17 f. The meal offering is named mashatu. 25 A. 904, cited in H. Klengel, Landwirtschaft im Alten Orient (1999) 343. Poor widows - 279 A Sumerian song tells how a widow and an orphan resorted to eating vegetation that was actually sheep fodder.26 Animal fodder, specifically a plant identified as 'grass pea' or 'vetch', is also mentioned in a Sumerian proverb to describe a widow's poverty. Because I am a widow, grass pea drips down on me like rain the whole day.27 Still today the grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is used to feed cattle. In times of famine human consumption can induce 'lathyrism', a disease of the nervous system.28 A liver omen predicts that thirst could also be a problem, and widows would have to pray for help from Adad, the rain god. The lonely widows will lift their hands to Adad for rain from heavens, but it will not rain.29 In the text known as 'A Debate between the Hoe and the Plough' the latter boasts: I fill the storehouses of mankind: Even the orphans, widows and the destitute Take their reed baskets and glean my scattered grains.30 The myth of Enki and Ninlursag speaks of a widow who spreads out malt on the roof of her house where birds peck at it and fly away (19-21). By contrast, the date palm boasts to the tamarisk in a literary debate that the 'the orphan, the widow, and the poor fellow' always have sweet dates in abundance.3' A sick man in an incantation uses an unusual phrase to describe his complaints: My flesh is like a dagger, it pricks like ... Its appearance is 'smoked' like a widow. The meaning of this last simile remains obscure.32 One prediction in an omen about a widow's son is something that would probably never occur: 26 The plant sakir; M. Civil, Studies Erica Reiner (1987) 39:13 f.; Y. Sefati, Love songs in Sumerian literature (1998) 262. 27 B. Alster, Kaskal 2 (2005) 91-93. 28 M. Stol, BSA II(1985) 132. 29 A. R. George, CUSAS 18 (2013) 296:20-22. 30 H. Vanstiphout, Studies A. W. Sjoberg (2014) 230 f. (lines 48-51). 31 C. Wilcke, ZA 79 (1989) 178, 183, line 70. 32 Studies L. de Meyer (1994) 82:34. 280 - The widow The son of the widow shall seize the throne.33 Being 'the son of a widow' is a proverbial expression for being abandoned and left alone. In a Sumerian literary letter a man complains to the king, My life hangs on a thread; please take my hand! I am a widow's son, I have no one to take care of me.34 'Son of a widow' is a general term of abuse. It is used as such in an Assyrian letter to describe the enemy and can be compared to the way 'son of a bitch' or 'bastard' is used in English today.35 From the same period a letter from the king shows his desire to care for the widows of fallen soldiers. Perhaps there is a man who has enslaved a widow or a son or a daughter. Make enquiries and examine the case and set them free.36 It is often argued that both the word almattu in Akkadian and 'almand, its cognate in Hebrew, refer to such vulnerable and impoverished widows. They occur fre- quently and are usually translated simply as 'widow'. According to modern schol- arship they have a more precise connotation of 'a poor widow'. But all widows did not have these problems and they would still be referred to as 'the wife' of her husband even after he had died.37 Despite this trend in scholarship A. Tosato insists that the Hebrew word simply indicates the status of being a widow, 'a woman whose husband has died',38 and that there is no question of her neces- sarily being bereaved without financial support. In actual fact we seldom find evidence for widows in poverty. A Sumerian song speaks of widows and orphans who work at the harvest, but other women 33 CAD A/1 363b; SpbTU III 152 no. 91:21. 34 P. Michalowski, The correspondence of the kings of Ur (2011) 306:26 f. 35 SAA V 217 rev. 8. By contrast see K. Deller, Or. NS 53 (1984) 74. An obscure man was named 'the son of a fellow without characteristics, the son of a mother without family'; W. R. Mayer, Or. NS 59 (1990) 17:24 f. 36 SAA I 21:5-11. 37 A. A. Tavares in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 155-162; D. I. Owen, ZA 70 (1980) 174 n. 12. 38 A. Tosato, 'Sul significato dei termini biblici 'almana, 'almanut ("vedova", "vedovanza")', Bibbia e Oriente 25 (1983) 193-214. Tosato shows that this idea was inspired by the Assyrian laws (A § 33). There a woman whose husband and father-in-law have died and who has no children is defined as a widow: almattu sit, 'that woman is a widow'. But 'that woman may go wherever she wishes' (p. 197 f., 212) is better. He follows the translation by E. Szlechter. Earlier Driver and Miles, The Babylonian Laws (1956) 357 n. 4, were critical of this interpretation. Poor widows - 281 did the same.39 A list of food distributions from a temple names a widow who receives only twenty litres per month, and this could have been her means of support.40 In a register from a Sumerian institution a widow with five children was allowed thirty litres of barley, but even that was not much.4' The last name on the list of a brewer's personnel is 'Kuritum, a widow, the wife of Sin-eres', and she is the only woman on the list.42 A widow in Emar 'in this year of calamity' was compelled together with her children to sell ground to pay off a debt of forty-five shekels of silver, but later the children were allowed to buy the ground back for ninety shekels.43 The terms of the will of another widow from Emar are interesting to read. Since the death of my husband I have been poor (musken) and in debt. Not one of the broth- ers of my husband supports me (literally, 'honours me') or pays off my debts. But now the diviner, Ba'al-malik, supports me and has paid off my debts. I give him my daughter Batta in marriage and I give him my house and all my possessions ... If Ba'al-malik should leave my daughter, he shall have no right to what he has paid off nor to my possessions. The two debts and the discharging of them were registered. Ba'al-malik was a powerful man in Emar.44 Two Neo-Assyrian letters are of interest.45 The first includes a complaint from the guild (?) of sesame oil pressers about officials who force them into ruin on false pretences when an oil presser dies. He writes out a false document about a debt ..., takes action against his house, and sells his widow. Seven examples of this malpractice are given, and the letter ends with the call for better standards in the words of a standard expression in use since Hammurabi. Do justice to those who were robbed (hablhtu) and the widows.46 39 CT 58 21:11 f. with W. H. Ph. Romer, BiOr 50 (1993) 170. 40 B. Lafont, TCTI I 790 iv 10 with RlA IX/1-2 (1998) 154 §7. 41 C. Wilcke in: The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 42. 42 PBS 8/2 172:13. 43 D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis - Supplementa 1(1991) no. 65, with C. Zaccagnini, Or. NS 64 (1995) 107 no.18. 44 Emar VI/3 213 with TUAT NF 1 (2004) 155 f.; K. R. Veenhof in: The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 135f. 45 Cf. also K. Radner, 'Witwen', Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 161 f. 46 KAV 197:27-37, 66 f., with J. N. Postgate, Taxation and conscription in the Assyrian Empire (1974) 363-367; F. M. Fales in: Assyrien im Wandel der Zeiten (1997) 37, 39 f. 282 - The widow The second letter concerns the treatment of war widows and orphans, in which Sargon II wrote that these widows should not be made slaves.47 Later (in Chapter 17) we shall look at the women who were robbed of their freedom, and we shall see that poor children could be handed over to a temple. Some 'widows' in the Neo-Babylonian period who belonged to the temple of Samas at Sippar as dependants (sirku), sometimes also with their children, were treated in the same way. There they had to make textiles for the temple and they were forbidden to make contact with free citizens (mar bani).48 13.2 Arrangements made for widows in wills Was anything ever arranged in wills for a widow? A will as we know it was not really necessary, since a man in his lifetime, in the presence of those concerned (inter vivos), would make her a gift, often with certain conditions attached. In Roman law this sort of inheritance agreement was called a pactum successorium, but there is no support for this practice in modern law. Often a man would appoint his wife as his executor, to act for him after his death until his sons had reached maturity. He could also bequeath a gift to his wife which would revert to his sons after her death. In Emar this gift was called the kubudda and could consist of a few slaves, kitchen utensils, and sometimes a piece of ground.49 We know of one such long list of household goods which ends with the warning 'No-one may enter her bedroom'.50 This gift could easily have come from her own dowry.51 The arrangements made in a will from Ugarit are slightly different.52 From today onwards, in the presence of witnesses, Y. has spoken as follows. 'I hereby give to P., my wife, everything that I possess (and) everything that P. has acquired with me: my cattle, my sheep, my asses, my slaves, my slave-girls, my bronze bowls, bronze cauldrons, bronze dishes, chest, the field of the son of H. in the R. area. And of my two sons, Y. the elder and Y. the younger, whoever shall begin a lawsuit against P. and whoever shall disparage P., their mother, shall pay 500 shekels of silver to the king, 47 SAA I 21 with commentary by F. M. Fales, Cento lettere neo-assire I(1983) 82. 48 M. T. Roth, JCS 43-45 (1991-93) 24 f., 'Widows supported by the temple', with G. van Driel in: The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 182f.; F. Joannes, Ktema 22 (1997) 124. 49 J.-M. Durand, F. Joannes, NABU 1990/70. It cannot be shown that this gift is part of the wom- an's dowry. 50 CAD U/W 252b (c). 51 G. Beckman in M. E. Chavalas, Emar (1996) 72. 52 S. Lackenbacher, LAPO 20 (2002) 272f. (RS 8.145); W. H. van Soldt in: S. Lafont, Trois millenaires de formulaires juridiques (2010) 113 f. Arrangements made for widows in wills - 283 and he shall lay down his coat on the lock (?) and he shall go out through the door. And whomever of them P., their mother, shall esteem, to him she shall give a gift.' The tablet ends with the names of five witnesses and the scribe. Among other examples of donations was a man who gave his wife the house, a slave, a slave-girl, two grindstones, a kettle, two beds, and five chairs. The woman could later give these to whichever of her sons looks after her (lit. 'fears her') and contents her.53 A man gave his wife a (perhaps 'the') house, a slave, three slave- girls, a cow, and ten sheep. He appears to sense his death approaching. As long as she lives, they shall care for her. In the future she shall give it to her favourite son. Who would look after her? This was clarified in a text dated to the same month, where this man gave both a slave and his wife together to his own wife 'in sonship'. They had to care for her as long as she lived, and after that they would be 'free before the sun god samas'.54 It has been suggested that this expression meant that they were bequeathed to his temple, but it is more likely to have been an expression meaning 'as free as a bird'. When a man who was succumbing to a 'serious illness' made his will he bequeathed to his sons specific items to inherit and he also thought at that time of his daughter. To his wife he gave a gift (nidittu) and she had the task of managing his affairs.55 The Old Assyrian merchants made complicated wills. Precise instructions were given about what the wife, sons, and daughters would each receive: houses, slaves, gold and silver, and debt claims. The house in the City (= Assur) is for my wife and she shall receive a share of what silver is available equal to what my sons receive. She is the 'father and mother' of the silver, her share. The house, the silver, what she leaves and everything that she has, is for S. (= the eldest son).56 The laws speak of a gift (nudunna) that a man could give (if he so wished) to his wife. It was meant as what used to be known as 'the widow's dower', in French, le douaire, which she could put to good use if she were left on her own. It is men- tioned in the Laws of Hammurabi. 53 CT 8 34b = MHET II/1117, with Westbrook, OBML, 119. 54 BIN 7 190, 206 with M. Stol, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 93 f. 55 C. Wunsch, Urkunden (2003) 112 no.34. She does not translate as 'to manage his affairs' (5), but as 'fiber seinen NachlaB zu entscheiden'. 56 K. R. Veenhof in L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 348 f. 284 - The widow The wife shall take her dowry, and the gift (nudunnu) which her husband had given her and had recorded on a clay tablet, and she shall remain living in the house of her husband. As long as she lives she shall have the usufruct of it. She may not sell it. Her inheritance belongs to her sons (§171). The Middle Assyrian laws show that this gift however still remained the property of her husband, and could even be used as collateral for his debts (§§27, 32; see Chapter 31). In the Ur III period we see a widow and her daughter maintaining possession of a field. Her husband had been able to cultivate it and receive the produce from it as a remuneration for performing a service. They conveyed this right to another man for five shekels of silver, which has been estimated to be enough to live on for a year and a half.57 13.3 Powerful widows We should not just associate widows with pathetic stories. Texts from Mesopota- mia show that after the death of her husband a widow would carry on with the housekeeping and took the lead in her household until her sons reached maturity and could take over the task from her.58 The Sumerian law-book of Ur-Nammu states: 'If a man dies, his wife will act in the house like one heir'; possibly 'like the first heir' is meant.59 Texts from as early as the Old Assyrian period refer to her by saying that 'She is the father and the mother (abat u ummat)'. This was also the case later at Nuzi and Emar.60 The record of a Sumerian lawsuit shows that a woman who won her case was not bashful, and her husband's brother, a merchant, learned to keep his hands off the family property for which she was responsible.61 Even her son was not given an automatic right of inheritance, unless she remarried.62 Even in the unfriendly Middle Assyrian laws the widow 57 NATN 258 with H. Waetzoldt, AOF 15 (1988) 33; P. Steinkeller, J. N. Postgate, Third Millennium texts in Baghdad (1992) 99 f. 58 For rich and poor widows see Th. Kammerer, 'Zur sozialen Stellung der Frau in Emar und Ekalte als Witwe und Waise', UF 26 (1994) 169-208. 59 M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 252 §E4. C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 569: 'wie (zu) ein(em) Erbsohn gemacht werden'. 60 C. Michel, RA 94 (2000) 1-10; K. R. Veenhof in R. Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I (2003) 459. 61 D. I. Owen, 'Widow's rights in Ur III Sumer', ZA 70 (1980) 170-184; B. Lafont in F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie (2000) 49-51 no.10; TUAT NF 1(2004) 5 f. 62 E. Sollberger, Studies S. N. Kramer (1976) 440 f. no.5. Powerful widows - 285 had a high status.63 Among the details in the lists of families deported to Assyria we find some with a widow as the head.64 Nuzi texts show that 'fatherhood' (abbztu) could be transferred by will to widows until the next generation came of age. One father even stipulated, If my sons do not listen to S. and do not respect her, they will be fettered, they will have the mark of the slave applied and they will be thrown into prison and locked up. S. may not give anything to a strange man. If S. remarries, she must 'cut off her hem' and leave.65 In the interim she was responsible for keeping the family property together and managing it, including fields, houses, personal possessions, and all the business affairs.66 That was not an easy task. The man could set out in his will what pre- cisely his wife should do, but the Nuzi archives show that people could become impoverished and the woman would then have to take unusual steps. It seems that in this society a widow still had to have a protector or acquire one, or she had to dispose of her own money.67 In Emar an elderly head of the family could nominate his wife, who would shortly become his widow, as the 'father and mother of the house'. I hereby declare that the daughter of Y., my wife, is the father and mother of my house. My three sons shall maintain their mother, the daughter of Y. Any of the three sons who does not maintain his mother, the daughter of Y., shall lose his inheritance. She shall strike him on the cheek. She shall throw him out on the street.68 We also see that both the wife and the daughter of a man can be designated 'father and mother of the house'.69 In a will from Emar a father named his daughter, U., 'woman and man',70 meaning that she would have full authority after his death. We would have expected to see his wife fulfilling this role, but perhaps she had 63 C. Saporetti, The status of women in the Middle Assyrian period (1979) 18 f. 64 VAS 21 6 with H. Freydank, 'Zur Lage der deportierten Hurriter in Assyrien', AOF 7 (1980) 89-117. 65 HSS 19 7 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 62f., a will which continues by specifying what must happen for the daughter after the death of her mother, and stating that two sons living abroad would be disinherited. 66 E. Cassin, 'Pouvoirs de la femme et structures familiales', RA 63 (1969) 121-148. 67 M. A. Morrison, SCCNH 4 (1993) 120-122 ('Women in the Eastern Archives'), cf. 30 f., 36, 55 f. 68 Iraq 54 (1992) 103 no. 6. 69 A. Tsukimoto, ASJ 13 (1991) 285 no. 23:6 f., with commentary. For this text see Th. Kammerer, UF 26 (1994) 185-187. 70 For these and more variants of 'father and mother', see G. Beckman, Texts from the vicinity of Emar (1996) 40, on RE 23: the terminology is perhaps dependent on their age. 286 - The widow died before him. The 'three sons' seem really to have been the grandsons of the testator. The tasks of U., the daughter, were detailed. She shall call on my gods and dead (spirits). As for my three sons, let A., the eldest son, and D. and B. maintain their mother U. Any of my three sons who does not maintain his mother shall not receive his inheritance. As long as their mother lives no inheritance can be claimed. If anyone claims an inheritance he shall not receive an inheritance. They shall pay him sixty shekels, the bride-price for a wife, and he can go wherever he wishes. As soon as their mother dies then my three sons can come in and they can divide equally my house, fields, personal possessions, and anything I have ... And they shall build a house for each other and acquire a wife for each other.71 A Neo-Babylonian widow could find herself in a tricky position. One married couple bought a large house in Borsippa, which was paid for with the dowry and some money belonging to the husband. They also borrowed money from a well- known moneylender Iddin-Marduk (at the usual rate of 20 %). Probably because the husband sensed an early death approaching, the couple adopted A. as their son and married him to their only daughter. But when the man died his wife's brother demanded to have the dowry. The judges decreed that the woman could have her dowry returned, and they assented to the amount of the dowry of her daughter, but the moneylender would have to be repaid. Legally speaking he was the one who had first claim on that money, and it was in his archive that this text recording the judges' decision was found. The house would surely have to be sold to pay for all this. The woman, her father, and brother all have West Semitic names and it is supposed that they were foreigners. There it would have been the custom for only brothers to have the right to inherit, but that was not the case in Babylonia.72 Sons had a responsibility to maintain their mother if she became a widow and husbands would state this explicitly in their wills. We find it expressed also in the Middle Assyrian laws. § 46a. If a woman, whose husband dies, does not leave her house when her husband dies, if her husband has not set down anything in writing for her, then she shall live in the house of her sons, if she wishes. The sons of her husband shall feed her. They shall arrange food and drink for her as if she were a daughter-in-law/bride (kallatu) whom they loved. 71 J. Huehnergard, RA 77 (1983) 13 f. no.1, with p. 26 f.; Kammerer, UF 26, 192-194. 72 Nabn. 356 with G. van Driel, Phoenix 31 (1985) 38 f.; JEOL 29 (1985-86) 56; C. Wunsch, Iddin-Marduk (1993) no.167; F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie (2000) 237-239. Powerful widows - 287 Uniquely here the sons are required to love their mother as if she were their own young wife. This law is followed by one dealing with a 'later wife' who had no sons of her own when she became a widow. Looking after elderly people by the younger generation is a well-known theme. From a book devoted to this theme we discover how people cared for widows and other old women.73 In the Laws of Hammurabi we read that the widow remains living in the house of her husband and has the usufruct of it; as long as she lives she may not sell anything; her legacy belongs to her sons (§171). Three documented instances of maintenance provided for a widow exemplify what happened in the Old Babylonian period. (1) Three sons make an annual gift to their mother of 750 litres of barley, 5 minas of wool, and 4 litres of lard. She was also given a slave-girl to serve her needs. After she died the inheritance was shared.74 (2) Three brothers give their mother a slave-girl to maintain her, instead of fixed rations of food and wool (...). On the day that a husband shall marry her, the sons shall take the slave-girl.75 (3) A daughter gives her mother a slave-girl. As long as the mother lives the slave- girl will maintain her. That could mean that the slave-girl could be hired out. After the death of the mother, the slave-girl shall come back and the daughter shall receive all that her mother had or would acquire. This rather businesslike arrangement suggests that the daughter had been adopted by the mother with an eye to a comfortable old age.76 Older women were supported also by other family members. An unmarried man cared for his half-sister and her mother, his stepmother. He granted them the right to live in a house, with a pension of five minas of silver, and much more which is listed item by item in a complicated will.77 73 M. Stol, S. P.Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998). 74 TIM 4 27 with Stol, The care of the elderly, 72. 75 UET 5 95 with Westbrook, OBML, 133. 76 UCP 10 105 with Stol, 73, 79. 77 C. Wilcke, ZA 66 (1976) 204-208, with K. R. Veenhof in The care of the elderly, 139 f. 288 - The widow 13.4 Remarrying We have seen earlier that men died younger than their wives. There must there- fore have been many women who became widows. This gave them the important opportunity to marry again, and marry they did.78 A Sumerian proverb says: After the death of her husband a widow says, 'What a great number of widows there are! But a man to marry is not to be found'.79 When a widow remarried to someone outside the family, that man was called a 'stranger' in Sumerian.80 We have already seen that in wills arrangements were made to allow for the fact that a widow might remarry. She would then lose all her rights and have to leave the family. That was what was meant by saying that she would have to lay down her clothes, a symbolic action which we dis- cussed in Chapter 9 concerned with divorce.81 A Sumerian text gives the verdict of the judges about what should happen to the house of a baker who had died and whose wife had married a 'stranger'. They decided that the house should be assigned to the baker's son.82 An Assyrian woman shows in her letters found in Old Assyrian Anatolia that she was very unhappy after she had lost her sister and her husband had become ill. The first letter is one she wrote to her parents. My sister S. is dead and now A. is sick too. I can take no more ... You are surely my father and lord. You are surely my mother ... If your letter does not come to me quickly, I shall die. From a later letter, which her father wrote to her from Assur, it seems that in the meantime her husband A. had died and that she had married a local man, which had cost her father a significant expense. When I gave you to your husband A., I spent five minas of silver. But after your husband A. died, an Anatolian married you and again [I gave five] minas of silver. I and my sons are not important in your eyes. If we had been, then I would have honoured you as a daughter. Since I set out for the City, I have suffered losses, but you did not concern yourself about that.83 78 C. Wilcke, 'Anhang: Die Wiederverheiratung von Witwen', in: 'Familiengrundung', 303-313; M. T. Roth, 'The Neo-Babylonian widow', JCS 43-45 (1991-93) 1-26, esp. 4 f. 79 B. Alster, Proverbs of Ancient Sumer (1997) 305, 2NT-731. 80 Wilcke in The care of the elderly, 48. 81 K. van der Toorn, ZA 84 (1994) 51 f. 82 Studies J. C. Greenfield (1995) 613 f. The same text is in Studies S. N. Kramer (1976) 440 f. 83 G. Kryszat, 'Eine Frau mit Namen Zizizi', AOF 34 (2007) 210-218. The second letter is CMK no.355. Remarrying - 289 Whatever the circumstances were, this widow had clearly the right to marry again on her own initiative, even though her father begrudged the expense involved. There are marriage agreements which were concluded by a widow, although that fact is not explicitly stated. In the Old Assyrian period a woman inde- pendently decides to marry without making any reference to her father. It is stated that her husband, called 'the son of NN', may not marry any second wife. In the event of divorce they would have equal responsibility for a payment of twenty shekels of silver. Then follows the statement that 'K., the son of A., acted on her behalf'. Evidently he was representing the woman for the purposes of the contract. Impressed on the envelope are the seals of of the new husband and the man, K., as the two witnesses. In Chapter 9 about divorce we described a marriage of a widow from the same region, where the parties had to pay a high fine of five minas if they divorced.84 Contracts from Emar refer to remarriage as 'following a stranger (zarru)' and stipulate that the woman must place her clothing on a chair and leave.85 Men could record in their wills what their wives could do after their death.86 They could only remarry if they relinquished all right to possession. A Middle Assyrian contract simply says, She may not live with a (new) husband. If she does live with a (new) husband, she shall leave empty-handed. Texts from Nuzi have two forms of words to describe the consequences of remar- riage. The first form is, If she goes to live with a (new) husband, they shall strip the clothes from her and let her go out naked. One text states that the sons were allowed to do this to her. West Semitic texts often speak of the woman 'laying down' her clothes on a seat. The second form involves a special phrase which literally means 'to choose the hem': If she goes out to live together in marriage, she shall 'choose the hem' (qanna nasdqu) and go out. 84 CCT 5 36, AKT 176 with C. Michel in: F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 255 f. 85 Others translate 'to follow a criminal', reading sarrdru, not zdru. See E. J. Pentiuc, West- Semitic vocabulary in the Akkadian texts from Emar (2001) 161 f. (he opts for 'rival, spouse other than the first one'). 86 The material from Assyria and Nuzi was collected by C. Wilcke, ZA 66 (1976) 216-218. 290 - The widow This phrase is presumably related to what we saw in Chapter 3 about marriage gifts, where a woman placed her own money in the hem of her clothing.87 These arrangements were made in case the woman remarried in the future, and one text from Nuzi shows that this really happened.88 A declaration which K., the daughter of H., made before these witnesses: 'In the past A. married me off and received forty shekels of silver from my husband. But now A. and my husband are dead, and as far as I am concerned, A., the son of H. (her brother), took me in from the street and treated me like a sister. He shall marry me off and receive ten shekels of silver from my (future) husband, as his compensation (?).' Whoever of them shall break this agreement, shall pay a mina of gold. Tablet written by the entrance to the great gate of Nuzi. The woman had probably been adopted by A. with the intention of marrying her off. Her father and her brother may have handed her over for this. The brother is now helping her. The woman's declaration would indicate that she was alone (a meaning to be inferred from taking her 'from the street') and agreed to this arrangement. The reason for the low amount of compensation might be that the woman was seen as second-hand, or that she had had no children. A unique stipulation regarding remarriage designed to protect the honour of the family says, If a man should sleep with her at the door (= on the street), or should sleep with her in the house of G. (= the deceased husband), then the sons of G. shall kill her.89 13.5 Cohabiting According to the law-books it was fairly easy for a widow to cohabit. We find in the Middle Assyrian law-book: §34. If a man has taken a widow, but no binding agreement has been made, and she has lived for two years in his house, then she is his wife. She shall not leave. The law-books are strict in defining what is meant by a wife. According to the laws of Esnunna (§ 27) cohabiting, even if it lasts only for one year, still does not 87 C. Wilcke and others think that the hem is 'bitten off' (nadiku). We prefer to read here with M. Malul and N. Pfeiffer the verb nasdqu, 'to choose'; see SCCNH 18 (2009) 406; contrast C. Wil- cke, 'Familiengrundung', 306-309; S. Lafont, Hommage d Romuald Szramkiewicz (1998) 546-548. 88 AASOR 16 54 with K. Dosch, SCCNH 1(1981)175; B. Eichler, Studies J. J. Finkelstein (1977) 51. 89 HSS 19 3 (ndku, 'to sleep with'); N. Pfeiffer, SCCNH 18 (2009) 405 n. 378. Cohabiting - 291 give the woman the status of a wife. But the Middle Assyrian law § 34 deals with a special case of a widow who is cohabiting. According to G. Cardascia, the law protects the woman by allowing her to have the status of a wife after two years of cohabitation, and this is reflected in his translation of the end of the clause: '... then she is a wife; she shall not have to leave'.90 The final verb could however be translated as 'she may not leave', meaning she was not allowed to leave, and thereby limiting the freedom of a widow. This would then contrast with the freedom granted to the widow in § 33: 'she is a widow (or: 'that widow'), she may go wherever she wants'. There was a different degree of a man's relationship with a widow than with an ordinary wife, which can be clearly seen in §§9-11 of the Laws of Ur-Nammu. They fix different amounts for a man to pay on the occasion of a divorce. For divorcing an ordinary wife he had to pay sixty shekels of silver, but divorcing a widow would cost him only thirty shekels, and it would be nothing at all 'if he had lain in a widow's bosom without any contractual agreement'. That practice we describe as concubinage. That a widow should receive less in a divorce settle- ment than an ordinary wife was also decreed in the Mishnah. There the payment for a virgin was 200 zuz, but for a widow 100 zuz (Keth. I, 2). If there had been any actuarial calculation behind this it would have been based on the fact an ordinary wife would have been married as a virgin and therefore would have been younger than a widow on the occasion of her divorce, so she would need more money because of her longer life expectancy.91 It is more likely that a widow was seen as second-hand and worth less than a fresh young girl. A relationship which took the form of concubinage is covered in the Middle Assyrian law-book. §35. If a widow enters the house of a man, then all that she brings with her shall belong to her husband. And if a man enters the house of a woman, then all that he brings with him shall belong to the woman. Law-books also concern themselves with what to do for the married woman whose husband has been absent for a long period and may never return, such as a man who had been taken as a prisoner-of-war. These cases seem to be exercises in subtle legal thought and ones which we will pass by.92 90 G. R. Driver, J. C. Miles, The Assyrian Laws (1936) 217: 'she has a legal right to remain in his house and cannot be ejected at will as a mere concubine.' 91 H. Petschow, ZSS 85 (1968) 7. 92 G. Cardascia, Les lois assyriennes (1969) 186-191. 292 - The widow 13.6 Widows with children Where could a widow with small children turn for help? Remarrying seemed to be the best option, and such marriages sometimes feature in contracts. However it is never stated explicitly that she was a widow. On the envelope of an Old Baby- lonian clay tablet there is a description of its contents, 'The tablet of the marriage of D. and S.', and both partners have rolled out their seals over the envelope.93 The text itself states that the man was marrying a woman with three children. By so doing he was adopting the children as his own. The summary on the envelope shows that it was primarily a document for the negotiation of a marriage and not for an adoption. If the man were later to break the agreement, he would have to pay twenty shekels of silver. If the woman and children broke the agreement, they would be sold as slaves. There is no mention of a bride-price and it looks as if the poor woman had seen this marriage as her only way out of a difficult situation. Her two brothers are witnesses, which could mean that her family were recon- ciled to it. The third child had a very meaningful name, 'Where is her father?'. Evi- dently she was given this name because she was born after her father had died. Similar names reoccur, such as 'I do not know my father'. Marriages of widows with children under these conditions happened occasionally.94 In another mar- riage a man paid ten shekels of silver and only the rights of the woman and her children were established. It must have been an agreement to put them both on an equal footing.95 An Old Babylonian agreement concerned a woman who already had a son by a man named P., and with this son 'she entered the house of M.'. So she was a widow who had begun to cohabit. When subsequently she was 'seized by the seizure of a god', meaning that she had become seriously ill, she applied to the judges, who 'pronounced her departure'. That means that she had permission (or was obliged) to divorce. From the rest of the text it would appear that her own son had no right of inheritance in his new surroundings. The son himself said, I am the son of P. and you are not my father.96 93 E. C. Stone, Nippur Neighborhoods (1987) Plate 36 no.1, with E. C. Stone, D. I. Owen, Adoption in Old Babylonian Nippur (1991) 49 no.14. Here nothing is said about the envelope with the seal imprints. It was found in house H; D. Charpin, RA 84 (1990) 3. 94 Stone and Owen, p.5, adoption, 'third group'; Westbrook, OBML, 63. 95 YOS 15 73 with OBML, 138. In an edition (unsatisfactory) by Stone and Owen, 63 f. no. 27. 96 BE 6/1 59 (VAB 5 232); cf. M. Stol, Epilepsy in Babylonia (1993) 143. Widows with children - 293 In Chapter 5 we saw that an exorcist in Emar married a widow with a son as his second wife, and that he disinherited all the children he had with her, nominat- ing the son of his principal wife as his sole heir. In the Neo-Babylonian period a man married a woman, possibly according to the wishes of his father, 'but she bore me no son or daughter'. This woman seemed already to have a child, the son of a man, whose name was given and who was from a respectable family. Was she a widow? The man then asked his father if he could adopt the son of this woman, with the result that he would inherit the temple income (benefices) of the family. The father refused and said that only a biological son could inherit the benefices and the remainder. The widow had wanted to secure the future of her child, but the father's family took precedence.97 A text from Emar outlines a very stark situation.98 A man married a woman who had a daughter. She gave her daughter to her new husband, 'together with her'. It might have been the case that the daughter would only become the second wife on the death of her mother. She also had a son, who was adopted by the man, and joined in marriage to his own daughter, A. This couple had to maintain the parents and their children would be the heirs. If daughter A. were to die, then the father would arrange a new marriage for the son. Another son of the man was disinherited. The Bible certainly does not allow sexual intercourse between blood relatives. You must not have intercourse with both a woman and her daughter, nor may you take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to have intercourse with them: they are blood relations and such conduct is lewdness (Leviticus 18:17; cf. Amos 2:7) We know of two cases where the situation was reversed, where a widower (though no word for widower was used) with children remarried. The man who must have been a widower with two sons was married to a new wife, and she is mentioned as the first party of the new couple. A contract set out strict punishments if she were renounced by her husband (he would lose his house and sons) or if the sons did not recognise her status as their mother (they would be sold). Here it is the mother who appears to be laying down the conditions. What was the background for this affair?99 In Old Babylonian Nippur a widower married a woman and gave his three sons to her 'as her heirs'. The sons would later divide their father's pos- 97 CTMMA III 102 (previously Th. Pinches in Hebraica 3). Another similar case is M. J. Geller, Studies J. C. Greenfield (1995) 532-537. 98 W. W. Hallo, 'Love and marriage in Ashtata', in: S. Parpola, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 203-216. 99 YOS 14 344 with D. Charpin, BiOr 36 (1979) 191a; OBML, 78b. 294 - The widow sessions according to local rules (the eldest would receive more). If the woman ever denied that she was his wife, she would be sold as a slave. And if the contract was broken all the other parties involved were threatened with sanctions of fines and loss of wealth. The sons had to maintain their new mother with annual allow- ances of barley, wool and oil. She appears also to have had a right of inheritance, for she lost that if she disowned the boys as 'her sons'.100 One wonders about the whole situation. Were the sons already adults? Why was it necesary for her to adopt the sons? Was the woman a divorcee? The law-books concern themselves with what to do in various foreseeable sit- uations. Do the children still inherit if their father dies? A widow with small chil- dren who wanted to remarry had to obtain the permission of the judges, and they would have to assess the wealth of her first husband, something to be reserved for his own children later, as we find in the Laws of Hammurabi. §177. If a widow whose children are still young should decide to enter another's house, she will not enter without (the prior approval) of the judges. When she enters another's house, the judges shall investigate the estate of her former husband, and they shall entrust the estate of her former husband to her later husband and to that woman, and they shall have them record a tablet (to make an inventory of the estate). They shall safeguard the estate and they shall raise the young children. They shall not sell the household goods. Any buyer who buys the household goods of the children of a widow shall forfeit his money and the property shall revert to its owner. We even have a lawsuit where sons make accusations against their mother for the 'household effects of the house of their father'.11 A curious situation is recorded in a Middle Assyrian law. §28. If a woman, a widow, enters the house of a man and she brings her son born after his death (hurdu) with her, he grows up in the house of her marriage partner, but a document about his status as (his) son has not yet been written, then he shall not take an inheritance from the house of the one who raised him. He will not be responsible for the interest-bearing debts. He shall take his inheritance from the house of his natural father according to his portion. Some widows had descendants who eventually developed into a large family bearing her name. The Babylonians had ancestral families from ca. 1200 BC onwards called after their forebear, and on two occasions they are traced back to a woman. She was probably a rich widow. In the line of descent originally 100 BE 6/2 48 (VAB 5 6) with Stone and Owen, 51 f. no. 16; Westbrook, OBML, 63b, 115 f. 101 BAP 100 (VAB 5 296). Widows with children - 295 the woman's name would have been preceded by the feminine determinative, but later we find the masculine determinative before what is clearly a woman's name.102 102 C. Wunsch, 'Metronymika in Babylonien. Frauen als Ahnherrin der Familie', Studies J. San- martin (2006) 459-469. 14 Levirate marriage If after the death of her husband a widow marries her husband's brother it is called a levirate marriage. According to old beliefs it was done only exceptionally and was considered to be incestuous.' In Sumerian law it was prohibited. King Ur-Nammu stipulates, If a man marries the wife of his older brother (after he has died), he will be put to death. If a slave marries his mistress (after his owner has died), he will be put to death.2 We might be inclined to view this institution from the point of view of the widow or of the brother, but that is an incorrect standpoint. Rather we should put our- selves in the position of the father of the dead man.3 As the head of the family it is his task to find a wife for his sons to raise up progeny. If that does not work for the first son because of a premature death, then a second attempt should be made with the second son. It is the interests of the family as a whole, not of individu- als, which were considered paramount. The 'bride' (kallatu) does not just belong to the bridegroom but she is the bride of the head of the family or of the whole family. Levirate marriage saves the father from paying a second bride price for a second son. The woman will be moved freely from the one to the other. The Hittites, the Hurrians (in Nuzi), the Assyrians, the Canaanites and the Israelites all practised levirate marriage. It is thought to have been an Indo-Euro- pean institution introduced by the Hittites.4 It is mentioned almost exclusively in law-books (Middle Assyrian Laws §§ 30, 33, 43; Hittite Laws § 193; Deuteronomy 25:5-10),5 and seems to be restricted to the period between 1500 and 1000 BC. The stories of Tamar (Genesis 38) and Ruth in the Old Testament show that 'marriage with a brother-in-law' was an accepted practice. The widow involved is referred to as a yebdmd, and a treatise in the Mishnah with that title deals with levirate mar- riage. The masculine cognate of the Hebrew word has now cropped up in Amorite in an Old Babylonian letter, about a woman who does not want to live with her husband any longer, and wishes to go with her children go to the house of her brother-in-law (bit ya-ba-mi-sa-ma).6 But whether the word there actually means 'brother-in-law' we dare not say. 1 S. Lafont, Femmes (1999) 177 f. 2 M. Civil, CUSAS 17 (2011) 252 §E5-6. 3 G. Cardascia, RHD 37 (1959) 13. 4 C. H. Gordon, Studies 0. Loretz (1998) 322; Studies M. C. Astour (1997) 274. 5 A. Skaist, art. 'Levirat', RlA VI/7-8 (1983) 605-608; but not in the Old Assyrian period, see M. Ichisar, RA 76 (1982) 168-173. 6 OBTR 143:10 with S. Page, Iraq 30 (1968) 94 f. |C - © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Levirate marriage - 297 The Old Testament law says that the woman may not belong to a 'stranger' (zdr), meaning a person outside the family. The Hebrew cognate is found in cunei- form texts from Emar as za-ya-ri and possibly also zarrari. There a woman 'follows a stranger' after the death of her husband. She was allowed to do that, but in consequence she lost all her previous possessions, for property was intended to remain within the family. Perhaps levirate marriage was intended to stop family wealth draining away to a 'stranger'.7 Arihjalbu, a king of Ugarit ruled out any levirate marriage for his widow, saying that after his death none of his brothers should marry his widow and seize the throne.' That may have been an ad hoc arrangement.9 What happened if there were no levir to continue the family is illustrated by what happened to Tamar. Her husband Er had died and his brother Onan was assigned the task. But Onan knew that the offspring would not count as his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his seed on the ground so as not to raise up offspring for his brother (Genesis 38:9). Her father-in-law Judah took action and had sex with his daughter-in-law. Evi- dently this was allowed as there were no more possible spouses of her generation left within the family. In the Hittite laws (§ 193) there is an explicit provision for this, and a later manuscript adds 'there is no offence'. If a man has a wife, and the man dies, his brother shall take his widow as wife. (If the brother dies,) his father shall take her. When afterwards his father dies, his (i.e. the father's) brother shall take the woman whom he had. A case of 'practical levirate' is found in the archives of a family from the Neo- Babylonian period.10 From these we can follow the history of Ea-iluta-bani and Ili-bani from the city of Borsippa between 687 and 487 BC. After the death of any marriage partner the surviving partner would regularly enter into a second mar- riage with a relative of the deceased partner: with a brother it happened twice, 7 J. Huehnergard, CBQ 47 (1985) 428-434. 8 PRU III 76 RS 16.144 with S. Lackenbacher, Textes akkadiens d'Ugarit (2002) 288 f.; TUAT NF 1 (2004) 114 f., 'Leviratsehe in der Knigsfamilie von Ugarit?' 9 W. H. van Soldt in: S. Lafont, Trois milldnaires de formulaires juridiques (2010) 114 n. 150. 10 F. Joannes, 'Un cas de remariage d'6poque n6o-babylonienne', in Durand, La Femme (1987) 91-96 (cf. J. C. Greenfield, ibidem, 78); B. Still, The social world of the Babylonian priest (2016) 268. The first marriage is evident from TCL 1285, the second from TuM NF 2/3 no.1, the third from Joannes (see next note) 53, 256 L 4716, and TuM NF 2/3 no.163. 298 - Levirate marriage with a sister once, and with a cousin twice." So it happened four times within about thirty years, between 551 and 522. We cannot say that what lay behind these marriages was the custom of levirate, but in practice it is tantamount to it.'2 Endogamy is a better term, a subject we discussed at the end of Chapter 12 about incest. From the transfer of goods, such as the dowry, one rather gets the impression that the intention was to keep the wealth within the two families. In this way one man could accumulate a double dowry from the two sisters whom he had married. They all belonged to the Ili-bani family. Later, after he had died, his brother married his widow, so that the whole family wealth remained undivided in his hands, the only male survivor of his generation. In another family the head of the family married a woman from the Ili-bani family, he died, and his brother married her in sequence. In the terms of her will" she divided her possessions (her dowry) between her own sons by her first husband and the sons of her second husband, who was now head of the family. His uncle also acquired a part of the private property thanks to this will. This giving of presents gave someone a certain freedom to make his own decisions, apart from the undivided family property in which he had a part. This favoured the nuclear family unit over the extended family.'4 Since the discovery of these marriages, archives from Sippar have been recon- structed and show that within rich families male cousins married female cousins and nieces married uncles.15 There was also the practice of sororate marriage, where a widower married the sister of his deceased wife. When a young woman died her husband could enter into the same relationship with her younger sister. Cases of this are known from the Persian era. In the first instance the woman had already died before the wedding, and in the second instance her brother made an arrangement for the dowry. But because it was much smaller than that of the first wife ('in the house of my father there is nothing'), the man and his father complained against the brother.16 11 Noticed earlier by San Nicolo; see now Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 39-44 (the fifth generation); 52-54 (the fourth generation). 12 With San Nicolo, slightly different Joannes in Durand, La Femme, 93, 94 f. (3). Many girls are born which is not good. 13 TCL 13 174, Joannes in Durand, La Femme, 93; Archives de Borsippa, 41. 14 Joannes, 95 f. 15 C. Waerzeggers, 'Endogamy in Mesopotamia in the Neo-Babylonian period', Festschrift Chris- topher Walker (2002) 319-342. 16 C. Wunsch, AfO 42-43 (1995-96) 41 f. The second instance is TCL 12 32, with H. Petschow, ZSS 76 (1959) 80-82. Levi rate marriage - 299 In Emar we find a sororate marriage which was was regulated by contract. A holy woman who already had three daughters took the initiative to marry a man on equal terms in case of a divorce, and she gave her eldest daughter to the man as his (second) wife. If that girl were to die, the man would have to marry her second daughter.'7 In the Bible a sororate marriage with two sisters, both alive, was forbidden (Leviticus 18:18), and the initial infertility of Rachel, the sister of Leah, both of whom Jacob married (Genesis 29 f.), was seen as a punishment from God.18 17 Emar VI/3 no.124 with TUAT NF 1 (2004) 148 f. For more complicated marriages in the same area involving sisters see AT 91 (Alalah) according to M. Yamada, NABU 2014/92, and W. W. Hallo, 'Love and marriage in Ashtata', CRRAI 47/1 (2002) 203-216 (Emar). 18 L. Barberon, Les religieuses et le culte de Marduk (2012) 233 n. 1260; S. Greengus, Laws in the Bible and in early Rabbinic collections (2011) 28. 15 Women's rights of inheritance According to common law, after a woman transferred to the family of her husband she no longer had any right to inherit from the family into which she had been born. The dowry she took away with her could perhaps have been seen as her share of that inheritance. The one difference was that a woman's dowry was seen as a voluntary gift which did not entail any rights. However, in the Old Babylo- nian period we know that when an inheritance was being shared out, a daughter could receive the same portion as her brothers. We assume that in those circum- stances she must have been an unmarried daughter.' Once a couple adopted a woman as their daughter and they gave her the income from a temple (benefice) and a house, 'the share of the inheritance belonging to U., their son'. It seems that the son was no longer alive and we see how freely the couple acted.2 In Old Assyrian wills shares of the wealth were divided equally between sons and daughters, men and women.3 We see that often it is the single woman who first of all received attention. A merchant detailed what his wife, his eldest daughter (a priestess) and his sons would receive (his wife always kept the house). The widow could put together a similar will later for her sons and daughters.4 The only known testament of a woman of that period is that of Istar-lamassi. After her father and her two sons had died, she bequeathed the inheritance to her sole heir, their daughter in Assur, a priestess, with the expenses for funeral arrangements to be deducted.5 In Emar an unmarried daughter could inherit.6 Often a daughter would have an occasional present from her father, but after her death that would have to be passed on to her male family members, her broth- ers or her sons. The best-known form of such a gift was the dowry which she took with her. These gifts were well-known in the Neo-Babylonian period, but at that time daughters did not inherit.7 In this period testaments are rare. Normally 1 J. Klima, p.171 ff., in his article 'La position successorale de la fille dans la Babylonie anci- enne', Archiv Orientilni 18/3 (1950) 150-186; G. R. Driver and J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws I (1956) 337. Now UET 5 110, where brothers inherit and give to their sister a small part of their father's house and a garden, the amount of her share being about as the same as that of one brother; K. Butz, 'Zwei Urkunden aus dem altbabylonischen Ur, Frauenerbrecht betreffend', Oriens Antiquus 19 (1980) 29-35. 2 UET 5 96 with Butz, 33-35 and Westbrook, OBML, 160 n. 5. 3 C. Michel in K. R. Veenhof, Houses and households in Ancient Mesopotamia (1996) 293. 4 C. Michel in F. Briquel-Chatonnet, Femmes (2009) 35, 157 f. Lamassatum: cf. K. R. Veenhof, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 176, 179 f. Cf. T. K. Hertel, Old Assyrian legal practices (2013) 339 f. 5 K. R. Veenhof, Studies M. Stol (2008) 102, Text A (unpublished), Studies Skaist, 172, 176. 6 G. Beckman in M. E. Chavalas, Emar 1996) 73. 7 H. Petschow, ZZS 76 (1959) 86 n. 149. |C- © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. Women's rights of inheritance - 301 the father made gifts to his family during his lifetime, and particularly when he was sick towards the end of his life and 'did not believe that he would recover'. In Old Assyrian we find the expression 'at the gate of death'. These gifts, attested in all periods, are known as donationes mortis causa, 'donations in anticipation of death'.' Women are often named among the beneficiaries: 'the wives, daugh- ters, grandchildren, and adopted or minor sons of property-owning men, or the children of women whose dowries or inherited property might otherwise revert to the donor's families'. It was always a problem to know what to do when there were only daughters in the family. Could they receive the inheritance?9 Here the common-law right, that only men could inherit, had to be disregarded, and this is indeed what hap- pened. Gudea, the city ruler, stated: From the house that had no son I allowed his daughter to act in the capacity of its son (and) heir.10 A law of Ur-Nammu reads as follows: If a man should die while he has no son and heir, then his daughter, who has no husband, shall be his successor.11 R. Westbrook pointed out that these circumstances were exceptional. Gudea was writing about the protection of the weak, and Ur-Nammu about the unmarried daughter. In the Bible we find an unusual story illustrating this theme in Numbers 27:1-11. The five daughters of Zelophehad came before Moses and said: Our father died in the wilderness. But he was not among the company of Korah which com- bined together against the Lord; he died for his own sin and left no sons. Is it right that, because he had no son, our father's name should disappear from his family? Give us our holding ('iuzza) on the same footing as our father's brothers (Numbers 27:3-4). 8 I follow M. W. Stolper in Studies K. R. Veenhof (2001) 467 ff. 9 R. Westbrook, in his book Property and the family in Biblical law (1991), discusses inheri- tance by women at the end of his chapter 'The dowry', see 157-164. - Many articles about this were written by Zafrira Ben-Barak and now we have her book Inheritance by daughters in Israel and the Ancient Near East. A social, legal and ideological revolution (2006). Of particular inter- est in this connection is the second part, 'Inheritance by daughters in the Ancient Near East', p.111-197, but she did not consult modern studies in French or German. 10 Gudea Statue B vii 44-46 with RIME 3/1 (1997) 36. 11 Ur-Nammu § B2, CUSAS 17 (2011) 249 with 268; C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 552f. The next paragraph, fragmentary, speaks of the rights of her younger sister. - M. T. Roth, Law collections (1995) 26, assumed that these were laws of Lipit-Istar. 302 - Women's rights of inheritance Moses consulted God about the problem and received the answer that the follow- ing rule should now be applied: 'When a man dies leaving no son, his inherited property (nahaldtd) is to pass to his daugh- ter' (Numbers 27:8). It was of course considered important for the property of Zelophehad to remain within the tribe. Since he had fathered five daughters, it was felt that there was only a minimal chance that a boy would be born. We now present a few Akkadian texts showing what actually happened in real life. A father in Syria made a will around 1200 BC and foresaw that sometimes only daughters would survive. He first of all indicated that his wife would be the 'father and mother of my house', and then continues: And if my son A. should die and has no offspring, then I appoint my daughters as 'wife and husband'. They shall honour my gods and my ancestors. After my death they shall inherit and maintain their mother. And if my son remains alive, he shall marry off his sisters.12 Evidently women could finally inherit under the guise of being men. From the Old Babylonian period we know of an unexpected division into two equal shares of a house between two women.'3 In another text from this period a woman died who had inherited a field and a house as her share of the property. Her daughter sold all of this to a man. It is unclear whether the property was passed down in this way through the female line.'4 An unusual incident is the case of the princess from Aleppo who demanded from her brother a share in the house because it had been the property of her mother. She therefore had the right of inheritance. The king decided that the brother was allowed to choose first. He chose the upper floor with the roof. The house below was for her. This was a judgement of a true Solomon.'5 There are a few cases where the daughter was named by the father as the heir without restrictive conditions.16 In another instance it is stipulated that if her father were to have sons after her, they would inherit everything and the daughter would be given a field and a house.'7 12 D. Arnaud, Semitica 46 (1996) 12, ME 155 (from Tell Mumbaqat). 13 D. Charpin, Archives familiales (1980) 73 (TS 18). 14 S. J. Lieberman, RA 76 (1982) 102 n. 21, MAH 15888. 15 AT 7 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 130 f. 16 J. Paradise, 'A daughter and her father's property at Nuzi', JCS 32 (1980) 189-207, esp. 190 f. 17 HSS 19 20 with Ben-Barak, Inheritance by daughters in Israel and the Ancient Near East (2006) 141-144. Women's rights of inheritance - 303 Below we give the somewhat shortened version of a will from Nuzi. Here a man takes into account the possibility that he will die before his wife, and that his only daughter and no menfolk will administer his estate.18 The will of U. He has made a will for S., his daughter. These are the words of U.: I have adopted my daughter S. as a son. Everything, my fields, my houses, my investments, my acquisitions, my slaves and one ..., in the city of A., in the city of U., in the district of T., and in the city of M., all of this, which is written down, in cities and villages, great and small (...), I have given to S., my daughter, whom I have adopted as a son. These are the words of U.: My wife Sa. I have appointed as a father to my daughter S. As long as Sa. shall live, S. shall honour her and care for her. Whenever Sa. dies, S. shall mourn her and bury her. If S. is not obedient to Sa., then they shall shackle her, shave the mark of the slave on her head, put her in the workhouse and muzzle her. (...) If Sa., my wife, should go to live with a man, then her brothers shall kill her. My wife shall not give anything away to a strange man. In the Old Babylonian period Akkadian was used as the written language in Elam, an important country in Western Iran and the direct neighbour of Babylonia to the east. Therefore we include in our survey texts from there. The right of inher- itance of women in this country appears to have been unusual.19 We see that a father gave a house and property to his daughter whilst deliberately excluding his sons. Possibly this property was passed down through the female line. In return he required her to make offerings for the dead, including himself. As long as I live, she shall feed me. When I die she shall bring the offerings for the dead.20 In another text an Elamite woman named her husband as her heir. You are my husband, you are my son, you are my heir. He could finally inherit the gift which she herself had received from her father.2' There is a powerful example where a father states that a field for his daughter must be passed down from daughter to daughter.22 We know that in the royal house of Elam the succession passed to the descendants of the sister of the ruling sovereign.3 18 E. R. Lacheman, Sumer 32 (1976) 116-119 no.2, with Paradise, 191 n. 12, G. Dosch, SCCNH 2 (1987) 77 ff. 19 Ben-Barak, 181-186. However, P. Koschaker, ZA 43 (1936) 231 f., senses nothing unusual. 20 MDP 23 285. 21 MDP 28 399. 22 MDP 23 200:31. 23 W. H. van Soldt, 'Matrilinearit t. A. In Elam', RlA VII/7-8 (1990) 586-588. Cf. C. Wilcke, CUSAS 17 (2011) 36 f. In the royal family: F. Vallat in: J. M. Sasson, CANES 2 (1995) 1029 f.; H. Koch, TUAT NF 6 (2011) 282 f. 16 Women-trafficking under the guise of adoption In previous chapters we have pointed to legal provisions which were designed to show the place a woman should hold in society. Often these seemed restric- tive but they could also protect a woman's position. We will now investigate how people could use the law to make money by adopting and marrying poor girls, for in a number of contracts a girl is adopted 'as a daughter and a bride'. Her parents would receive a sum of money, sometimes explicitly called a bride-price. Many of these contracts come from Nuzi. This sort of adoption with a view to marriage is called in French adoption matrimoniale. It is significant that it had not always been decided beforehand whom precisely the woman would marry later on. 16.1 The Old Babylonian period As early as the Old Babylonian period girls were attracted by the payment of a bride-price.' We will compare two texts in which the same person acquires brides for his sons.2 In the first he and his wife chose (hidru) a girl 'as a wife'. The girl was handed over by her brother and sister and four shekels of silver were paid. There is no mention of her parents, so possibly they had died. She was supposed to marry the son of the house as 'his chosen wife' (hirtu). There followed the usual strict clauses on divorce. We also have another text dated a few years later but this was differently formulated. Here this same man agrees with a mother and her son to let another girl 'enter his house as a bride and a daughter', and no future husband is mentioned. This time he paid them five shekels of silver as a bride- price. This text seems then to be a receipt for this payment. One might imagine that this girl was destined to marry the second son, who was not yet of marriagea- ble age. However, we shall see later that in a text from Nuzi, Wullu adopted a girl for marriage to his son 'or to anybody else in the area'. So the same might apply to our second text where the man, like Wullu, could give her to somebody else. We note that no father is mentioned in either of these texts, and there is another 'receipt' about a girl who was adopted ('taken') as 'a bride and daughter' which 1 R. Westbrook, OBML, 38 f., reviewed by R. Yaron, ZSS 109 (1992) 66. Westbrook says that the status of 'daughter-in-law' gives the adopter the right, to marry her off within his family; the status 'daughter' allows him to give her in marriage to an outsider. Yaron says that kallatu means a 'bride', not a 'daughter-in-law'. In all events the man has the right to give the woman to an outsider. 2 CT 8 7b (VAB 5 3; Ammi-ditana 11) and CT 33 34 (HG 6 1419; Ammi-ditana 14); M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 139-142 (nos. 6, 10). | © 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. The Old Babylonian period - 305 refers only to her mother. There the mother received three shekels of silver as a bride-price.3 We also know of a nun (naditu) who adopted a girl from both her parents for five shekels of silver with this condition attached, She shall treat her well and give her to a husband.4 An Old Babylonian contract in which these terms do not occur directly nonethe- less concerns an adoption with a view to marriage of a girl called Sabitum. She is described in the first line of the contract as 'the daughter of Ibbatum',5 at first sight an apparently neutral remark, but significant if we assume that this is the way Ibbatum states that he has adopted her as his daughter. Then the text goes on to say, He has given her in marriage (ana assuti) to the house of Ilsu-ibni, his emu, for Warad-kubi, his son. The word emu generally means 'father-in-law' but here he is clearly someone from the wider family of the future in-laws, giving emu a broader meaning than 'father-in-law'. After a list of rudimentary utensils that Ibbatum had given to his daughter to take with her to the house of his emu we read, Ten shekels of silver, her bride-price, was given to Ibbatum. He kissed [sic] and bound (it) into the hem of Sabitum, his daughter; it was given back (tur) to Warad-kubi. The familiar stern clauses regarding divorce include throwing the woman into the river, and making the man pay twenty shekels of silver. And then we find an unusual clause, Emuq-Adad, her father, guarantees her affairs (awatu). I have assumed that this second father was her biological father. He was also the third witness.6 We see then that her original family was also still involved with her 3 L. Waterman, BDHP 72 (HG 6 1418); Studies Skaist, 139. The bride-price is 3, not 6 shekels. 4 CT 47 40; Studies Skaist (2012) 142 f. 5 CT 48 50 with Westbrook, OBML, 122. The emendations by Finkelstein in his translation in ANET (1969) 544b are not necessary. 6 Others are of the opinion that this 'father' is a kind of guardian. S. Dalley, Iraq 42 (1980) 54, adduces two more examples of such a second father. Her explanation is that the girl had left the parental home at a very young age and needed a 'mediator' loco parentis, the second father. Westbrook, OBML, 33b, accepts this. However, one comes across the head of the temple of Samas 306 - Women-trafficking under the guise of adoption affairs. Another example of this is the father Sin-abusu acting as a witness to the adoption of his daughter Iltani as a sister.' Later texts, also from Nuzi, show that a family remained involved in the fate of a daughter who had been given over to someone else out of dire necessity.' Elsewhere and still with the same structure, we find the record of the adoption of a girl who was evidently not so poor (she was a priestess) and there again there are the strict clauses on divorce and the 'second father'. In more texts it is stated that the (biological) father or mother 'will be responsible for her obligations and misdoings'.9 In the Old Assyrian trade colony of Kanis we see something similar among the native Anatolians. A married couple adopted a girl and their son married her. They were all to live together in the house. But if this was not suitable, then the boy's parents would have to find accommodation elsewhere for the newly married couple.10 Here there was no profit motive behind the adoption. 16.2 Nuzi In the Nuzi texts this sort of adoption with a view to marriage occurs frequently, including the expression 'adoption as a daughter' (mdrtutu), which we will discuss first." 16.2.1 Adoption as a daughter A girl could simply be adopted as a daughter for a payment lower than a bride- price. The payment was made only after her marriage, or even on the birth of her first child. Of course there was always the possibility of marrying her off and all the texts mention the advantages of this. Whenever an adopted girl was married as the 'father' of an adopted court sweeper in the temple (BM 96982, in Seth Richardson, The collapse of a complex state II [2000] 233); cf. M. Tanret, The seal of the sanga (2010) 66. Was he really a 'guardian'? More in Chapter 3, note 155. 7 In the marriage with two sisters, discussed in Chapter 5. 8 K. Grosz, SCCNH 2 (1987) 148-150. 9 CT 48 55 and CT 48 56 rev. 1-2 (here the mother ana pihatisa u gullulisa izzaz); Studies Skaist, 143, 159. 10 AAA 1:8 with K. Jensen, NABU 1997/75; V. Donbaz, NABU 1997/106. 11 K. Grosz, 'On some aspects of the adoption of women at Nuzi', SCCNH 2 (1987)131-152; G. Car- dascia, 'L'adoption matrimoniale a Babylone et a Nuzi', Revue historique de droit franqais et etranger (= RHD) 37 (1959) 1-16. Nuzi - 307 off, the adoptive parent received the standard bride-price of forty shekels of silver. He made a profit, but of course that is not declared in these contracts. Every case was different and the first example is of a brother who had brought up his sister and was now giving her to P. 'as a daughter' for forty shekels of silver, the usual full bride-price. If he (P.) managed to secure a marriage, he could keep fifteen shekels of the amount and the rest (twenty-five shekels) would go to the brother of the girl. She was old enough to marry and the text says that she must be married off to a 'citizen from the land of Arrapia'. Did this mean that she kept the status of a free woman? Some think that it was an attempt to marry off the girl within a higher social class, and that the mediation of P. was desired for this purpose." P. is called the hatdnu, 'father-in-law'. Often it is clear that the parents of the girl were poor; in a number of cases we see that they are in a dependent position in relation to the adoptive 'parent'. The following stipulations are a stark example of this. The woman T., the daughter of an important man in the palace of Nuzi, adopted S. as her daughter. If T. wishes, she can give her to a slave and if she wishes, give her to a ... (taluhlu) and if T. also wishes, S. must work as a prostitute. And as long as T. lives, she must maintain her. Even if ten husbands of hers die, T. may marry her off to an eleventh man. If S. breaks this contract and leaves the house of T., she must pay two minas of gold.13 A well-known example is the case of the three contracts of Akkul-enni on behalf of his sisters.'4 The first contract says that sister B. was given by her brother Akkul-enni 'as a sister' to H. The second text consists of two parts. The first is a marriage contract between B. and the man H. under normal conditions, organ- ised by Akkul-enni. In this one H. paid the first part of the bride-price, an ox and ten shekels of silver, and the girl received a dowry (mulzgu) from her brother. In the second part Akkul-enni gave the other sister K. as a 'daughter' to H. who had to find a husband for her later (she could not become a slave). After intercourse with B., H. had to pay twenty shekels of silver, either in silver or in goods to this value. We assume that this family had run into difficulties after the death of the father, which led to these forced marriages. The third text is a surprise. It is a dec- laration before the 'elders' about what had happened. Akkul-enni had given the same sister B. in marriage to the same man, H. and received the full bride-price, forty shekels of silver. B. declared that she had been agreeable to this. H. declared 12 B. Lion, SCCNH 11 (2001) 40, 154-156 no. 39. 13 AASOR 16 23 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 60 f. 14 HSS 5 69, 80, 25 with E. A. Speiser, New Kirkuk documents relating to family laws (= AASOR 10) (1930) 59-62; B. Lion, SCCNH 10 (1999) 321, 324. 308 - Women-trafficking under the guise of adoption that he had no claims on sister K. And we read that this happened 'after being released from debt'. How this all developed is difficult to evaluate, but it seems that in any case everything had turned out well for the family. This was thanks to the intervention of the king with the general pardon from debt. Once a woman married a man and brought her daughter with her, and the man adopted her as his 'daughter'.'5 The woman was bringing with her to the marriage a daughter she herself had adopted and reared. Her husband was completely not involved in this and the wife had the right 'to give the girl to a husband, wherever she thought fit'. If her husband wanted a divorce, the woman would 'take the hand of her daughter and leave'. However if she wanted a divorce, then 'he would not give her daughter to her'. He appears to have had authority over her adopted daughter. We could suppose that rearing the girl was a planned investment by the mother, or she may have been a kindly woman who adopted an orphan out of compassion. All this material leads us to suppose that adopting 'as a daughter' concerned under-age girls. This was certain in the case of a baby 'from the mother's breast' who was adopted 'as a daughter'. The requirement was that the man would rear her and marry her off and 'he would receive her silver'. That referred to the bride- price. In a second document about the same baby the biological father declared that his wife had breast-fed the child and that he had received payment from the new 'father' for her services as a wet-nurse.16 16.2.2 Adoption as a daughter and bride The genuine adoption matrimoniale occurs when a girl is adopted 'as a daughter and a bride' (mdrtutu u kallztu).'7 For this we find a few examples in the Old Babylonian period.18 Perhaps it applied only to girls who were already of mar- riageable age. In these transactions, according to the Nuzi texts, the full bride- price was paid, and paid directly. Only in a few cases was this paid in instalments 15 AASOR 16 55 with Grosz, 138. For a similar arrangement in an Old Babylonian text see VAS 18 114. 16 D. Justel, NABU 2010/83 (on HSS 19 134 and 86). 17 Cardascia, 'L'adoption matrimoniale a Babylone et a Nuzi' (see note 11); Westbrook, OBML, 38 f. C. Zaccagnini in: R. Westbrook, A history of Ancient Near Eastern law I1(2003) 588 n. 73, sees no difference between this and the adoption as a sister. 18 Westbrook, 38 f. More OB texts are S. D. Simmons, JCS 15 (1961) 56 no.131 (= YOS 14 121); YBC 10873 in Rients de Boer, Amorites in the early Old Babylonian period (2014) 458 f., Appendix, no.7. Nuzi - 309 or at a later date.19 It is striking that here the woman was generally destined to marry a slave and the contracts sometimes stipulated that the woman should remain free. As soon as the slave died, she had to marry another one. The inten- tion was in this way to have the woman as a constant worker. These adoptions were not entered into enthusiastically by parents or guardians. A woman at court adopted a girl as a daughter and bride. She may give her wherever she wishes: be it in marriage to her son, be it to her second son, be it in a marriage in the gate [= city quarter?], (...) but not in marriage to a slave.20 The archive of a rich man named Wullu shows that he was someone who pro- cured young girls. The brother of one of these girls, who denied that there had been an adoption, brought a lawsuit against him but was proved wrong. Wullu kept this text in his archive as proof of his innocence. Witnesses confirmed that the arrangement had been made between the girl's father, M., and Wullu. In our presence M. (the father) gave the daughter A. as an adoptive daughter to Wullu. And in our presence M. said to Wullu: 'You may give my daughter A. in marriage to your son or anyone else in the area, and you can keep the silver'. Wullu knew how to bring this poor family more and more into his clutches, and later the same brother would insult the son of Wullu by shouting at him 'You are a leper!', an insult that was not accepted and which brought more blame on the brother.2' The practice is clearly evident in a Neo-Assyrian text where a girl just 100 cm. (four and a half cubits) tall, was more or less sold by her father 'as a bride'. The editor of the text thought that she was probably intended to be the bride for his son." This is only one of many more agreements of this type.23 19 Grosz, 145 (three cases). Cardascia, 6 f., stresses the importance of partial payments, an argu- ment for his theory of an 'alternative levirate'. 20 HSS 9 145 with E. Cassin, L'adoption d Nuzi (1938) 312ff. 21 C. J. Gadd, RA 23 (1926) 151, 148 nos. 35, 28; B. Lion in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mso- potamie (2000) 148-150. 22 CTN 2 219 with J. N. Postgate, Iraq 41(1979) 96. 23 K. Radner, 'Verkauf von M dchen in die Ehe', 'Verkauf von Verwandten in die Ehe', Die neu- assyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 143 f., 167 f. 310 - Women-trafficking under the guise of adoption 16.2.3 Adoption as a sister The 'sistership contracts' from Nuzi are a special case.24 In them men adopted women as 'sisters' and married them off. P. Koschaker and others used these texts as an argument for the existence of a fratriarchy and held that in this Hurrian society the brother appears to have been in charge. But now it has been shown that these contracts cannot be used as an argument for this. What was the reason for entering these contracts? It was about trading with the right to marry off a woman and so having the right to the bride-price. That privilege was transferred by her natural brother to someone else, who adopted her as a 'sister', and a woman might well pass in this way a few times from one 'brother' to another. A biological brother would receive in this arrangement a quantity of barley (two homers, two seahs) and his sister would declare that she was whole-heartedly in agreement.25 Brother and sister would have had to be in great difficulties to take this step. As long as the 'sister' was not married, her contribution as regards work was valued. It could also be a freed slave-girl or a woman 'on the street' who was treated in this way. Clearly these women had a very low social status.26 From the Old Babylonian period there is a similar case. A girl with the name 'Where is my father?' was transferred by her father (!) and mother for a payment of five shekels of silver as a bride-price to a woman 'to be her sister'. She must have been an orphan who had first been adopted by this couple (the 'father' and 'mother') and was now being used as a bargaining tool. The woman adopting her gave her directly to her husband as his second wife.27 24 B. Eichler, 'Another look at the Nuzi sistership contracts', Essays J. J. Finkelstein (1977) 45-59. 25 HSS 19 68 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 61. 26 S. Greengus, HUCA 46 (1975) 15-22; B. Eichler, Studies A. W. Sjdberg (1989) 112f. 27 BIN 7 173 with F. R. Kraus, JCS 3 (1951) 113-115; M. Stol, Studies A. Skaist (2012) 145. Very simi- lar is UET 5 87 with Westbrook, OBML, 103b, 133. We mentioned his text in Chapter 5, notes 26, 30. 17 Women robbed of their freedom On several occasions we read of women who lost their freedom for one reason or another. It could be because a man had incurred debts and pledged the woman as a security, or because a crime had been committed and she acted as a surety, standing bail for him. In times of need daughters were sold as slaves. 17.1 Security for a man's debts A woman could stipulate before her marriage that she would never have to be responsible for the debts of her husband. One of Hammurabi's laws facilitates this (§151) and an Old Assyrian marriage agreement arranges this.' It occurs sim- ilarly in Neo-Assyrian agreements. If PN borrows silver, then his wife shall not be responsible for it. If there is a creditor or a litigant, he shall not have control (of her) or approach her.2 A man would prefer to start his marriage without debts, even if he had to take out a loan from a third party. An Old Babylonian literary prayer to the moon god on this subject begins as follows: 0 Nanna, king of heaven and earth, you, in you do I trust. E., the son of G., has robbed me. Pronounce judgement for me! He had no silver and he approached me and with my silver he paid off his interest-bearing loan. He married (literally, 'he called to the house of his father- in-law'), he had a son and daughter. He did not satisfy me because he never completely paid back my silver. Some assume that this loan was intended to pay the bride-price, because after- wards he started his family.3 However, this case seems rather too serious for a bride-price (which moreover was generally paid by the father) and it looks like the repayment of a debt which he had contracted before his marriage. If a man took out a loan he could offer the women and children of his house as collateral.4 This sad custom had always existed and we cannot begin here 1 AKT I 77:10-17 with R. Rems, WZKM 86 (1996) 357 f. 2 CTN II 247:12 f.; ND 2316:7-10, cited in CAD S/1 239a; J. N. Postgate, FNALD (1976) 107; K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 158 f.; Radner in R. Westbrook, Security for debt (2001) 280 n. 65. 3 UET 6/2 402 with D. Charpin, Le clergd d'Ur (1986) 326-328. 4 G. Furlani, 'Familienhaftung', RlA III/1 (1957) 16-19. Only 'F. bei den Hettitern' is relevant, but will not be discussed here. ) B-C-N 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 312 - Women robbed of their freedom to describe its history over the course of the three thousand years of cuneiform textual evidence. There are a variety of legal complications, which make this subject a popular one with lawyers. We do not want to deal with this. Even the wife could be a security. In this book we will restrict our study to the women, even though it gives a certain bias in the description of guarantees and securities. The following selections from the rich material available only serve to give an impression. We also take the extreme cases here, which led to the sale of those individuals who were used as securities.5 17.1.1 Sumerian period Some orders appear in short letters, either to detain a wife as a security, Tell H., (and) let him give to A. the wife of U. as a security. or to release her, Tell B., (and) let him release the wife of G. One should not come back to this.' A whole family was sold by a judge in Akkad to the city ruler of Lagash, com- prising the father (a professional lamentation singer), his wife, his two daugh- ters, and also his brothers.7 A mother and sisters tried to redeem a girl who had become a slave. The judges refused permission because there was 'no royal decree' (to abolish debts). The woman, Damqat, had been a slave for twenty years and the judges decided that she must remain a slave.' The problems of officials who had for years produced deficits in the state finances were very distinctive. They were held personally responsible and were made bankrupt. An inventory was then made of their possessions. We know of a summary of the possessions of ten defaulting officials. The lists give a wonderful insight into what could be expected to be in a private house, and women were part of that. These are the possessions of the tenth man, described in this order. 5 The main source for this theme is R. Westbrook, Security for debt in Ancient Near Eastern law (2001), in which specialists wrote chapters on various periods and countries (including Egypt and Israel). See also the article 'Pfand' in RlA X/5-6 (2004) 439-455. 6 TCS 1 nos. 46, 74. For women as 'Schuldhaftlinge' see H. Waetzoldt, AOF 15 (1988) 38 f. 7 D. 0. Edzard, Sumerische Rechtsurkunden (1968) no. 46, with C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 56 f. 8 M. Molina, Studies G. Pettinato (2004) 176 f., 179. Security for a man's debts - 313 Debt: almost 49 kor of barley. Possessions: a house, two beds, five chairs, two mill-stones, a wife, three daughters, a mortar. Most inventories read like this, and we assume that all would have been sold.9 We know from merchants' archives that some of them specialised in buying up children, often perhaps from widowed mothers.14 17.1.2 Old Babylonian period Wives, slave-girls and children were all sold. The king of Mari wanted to collect a debt to the state from the dike bailiff and the governor of the province mediated in this. The king said, If he does not want to be put to death, let him pay five minas as ransom money for his life, and then set him free. Then came the answer. Let them take away my house and possessions for the palace. But the house was not enough, so the man came up with the idea of selling his wife. Let me sell my wife, my slave, and my slave-girl to a merchant's house, and then I will get two minas. If the value of his cattle were added to this he hoped he would have enough." In another example a time limit is fixed before the wife is to be sold. R. guaranteed the payment of six and a half shekels of silver by Y. A., the wife of Y. was given as a security (mazzazdnu). If he does not pay the silver within two months, then A. the wife of Y. will be sold.12 9 H. Waetzoldt, M. Sigrist, 'Haftung mit Privatvermigen bei Nicht-ErfUllung von Dienstverpflich- tungen', Studies W. W. Hallo (1993) 271-280. More in ASJ 19 (1997) 81; NABU 2005/74. 10 H. Neumann in: C. Wilcke, Das geistige Erfassen der Welt im Alten Orient (2007) 289 f. (Old Akkadian). 11 ARM 14 17+ with LAPO 17 (1998) 640-642 no.829. 12 ARM 8 71 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 40. 314 - Women robbed of their freedom Evidently there was a long previous history leading to this. R., the guarantor, took over the debt and now the debtor was gaining two months extension from him. A woman wrote, I brought up a boy and I thought, 'Let him grow up to bury me'. Now a creditor (literally, 'a merchant') has me in his grasp and says: 'He has crossed the pestle (of the mortar)'. This was a symbolic step taken at a sale.'3 It was a pity as the boy had been adopted by the woman with the guarantee that he would look after her later. In the worst case a man could 'set himself up as a security' and be sold as a slave.'4 17.1.3 Old Assyrian period Wives, sons, daughters, and small children, slaves, slave-girls, houses and fields were all 'bound' as security for anyone entering into a debt.15 But a woman could avoid any possiblity of this happening by having a clause inserted into her marriage contract.16 If the wife of a merchant had not done that, she would have had to pay the debts of her husband by 'scraping together' all her possessions.'7 If it was not all paid off, then the whole family would have to 'enter' (erebu) the house of the creditor as a security (sapartu) and 'he would keep them alive'.18 A decision made by the body that regulated commerce in Anatolia obligated the husband, if his wife were detained in these circumstances, to maintain her with a monthly sum in copper to buy 'her food, oil and wood (= firewood)' and a new garment once a year.19 There are letters about negotiations for redeeming whole families.20 From the various accounts it seems that it was mostly slaves and slave-girls who served as securities for debt, though sometimes it was a wife with a daughter or young child.2' 13 AbB 9 228:24-32. 14 Security for debt, 73 f. A person sells himself: VAS 13 96; 'Edict of Ammi-saduqa' §20. 15 K. R. Veenhof in Security for debt (2001) 130 f. (kt f/k 171). On the treatment of the indigenous Anatolians, see C. Michel in: J. G. Dercksen, Anatolia and the Jazira during the Old Assyrian period (2008) 222. 16 Michel in Dercksen, 222 n. 68. 17 K. R. Veenhof, Mesopotamia. The Old Assyrian period (2008) 109. 18 K. Balkan, Studies H. G. Gfterbock (1974) 30 f. 19 Archivum Anatolicum 1 (1995) 11 f. no.5 (= 57 f.); Veenhof, Mesopotamia, 109. 20 J. G. Dercksen, Studies K. R. Veenhof (2001) 54 f. 21 Veenhof, 134-136, Tables 1 (erubbatu) and 2 (sapartu); C. Michel, Ktema 22 (1997) 104 f., 'Les enfants, garantie d'une dette'. Security for a man's debts - 315 Iatti and her daughter are the security (erubbdtu). As long as he does not pay the silver in full back to me, no-one shall come near them.22 If the debt was not paid off, they would have been sold.23 When H. went bank- rupt, they 'gave H. his wife and his little children to the creditors'.24 People later were well aware that a slave-girl like this had once been a free woman and that it was possible that she would still be redeemed.25 Redemp- tion could sometimes already have been provided for when a loan was entered into.26 A mother sold her daughter and would be able for double the price to take (literally 'to seize) her back again. If the girl misbehaved, then she could be sold on.27 A 'slave-girl' (a second wife?) was sold on for around twenty shekels of silver and a woman and her son stood as guarantors for any claims. K. R. Veenhof assumes that these guarantors were the mother and brother of the slave-girl. They were responsible for what had happened previously. They could 'seize her', or in other words redeem her, for sixty shekels of silver.28 A text kept in Leiden tells about a man who sold himself and his daughter. The selling price may have been the same amount as the debt. They could be free again if anyone repaid the selling price or if they were badly treated. In those circumstances the amount of the selling price would be given to them. This fits in with the Middle Assyrian law § 39 which states that a girl pledged as a security was kept alive by the creditor and that she would be freed if 'she lived in bad conditions'.29 We see the same principle applied to a woman (it was always a woman) in the Laws of Hammurabi. §116. If a woman, distrained on account of debt, dies from beating or maltreatment in the house of her captor, then the owner of the distrained woman shall prove this about the cred- itor. If a free citizen is concerned, they shall kill his son. If a slave of a citizen is concerned, then he shall pay twenty shekels of silver. 22 AKT I 44:7-11. 23 Veenhof, 143. For children sold see K. Balkan, Studies H. G. Gfterbock (1974) 30 f. n. 13. 24 S. Bayram, K. R. Veenhof, JEOL 32 (1991-92) 89 f. (kt 88/k 1050). 25 B. Kienast, Das altassyrische Kaufvertragsrecht (1984) 151 f. no. 32. 26 Westbrook in: Security for debt (2001) 73 f. 27 Kienast, 117-119 no.10. 28 K. R. Veenhof, Festschrift L. Matous II (1978) 307 n. 32. The text ICK 119 is now Kienast, 144- 146 no. 28. 29 Festschrift L. Matous II (1978) 292-295 (LB 1218). We follow his explanation of the Assyrian law. Otherwise M. T. Roth: 'if she has been saved from a catastrophe'. 316 - Women robbed of their freedom 17.1.4 Middle Assyrian period Often it was the wife or the children who were pledged, which are mentioned also in the laws from this period.30 In Assur Y. lent a homer of barley and an unspeci- fied quantity of lead for twelve months to S. The wife of S. shall live in the house of Y. as a security. On the day that he hands over the barley, the lead and the interest, he shall have his wife freed.31 A quote from another text: He had his sister (?) arrive, along with the children (lidanu).32 Once a man sold his wife and daughter to a well-known merchant.33 Because of poverty an Assyrian free citizen was obliged to place his daughter in the household of Assur-resuya who undertook to support her. Such a situa- tion is envisaged in §39 of the Middle Assyrian laws. The daughter was allowed to enter a contract of marriage with a slave of Amurrum-nasir. The couple will be his 'villagers' and liable to perform a state service (ilku). The marriage con- tract was deposited in the archive of Amurru-nasir but he or his sons could never claim them as slaves. The woman is allowed some extent of freedom.34 Another Middle Assyrian law discusses the problem of what to do with the marriageable daughter of a debtor who remained in the house of the creditor. If he wants to marry her off, that is allowed only with the permission of her father. Was it the case that the creditor wanted through this marriage to receive the bride-price? If the father was dead, then her brothers could redeem her within the fixed period of one month (§48). 30 C. Saporetti, Mesopotamia XIII-XIV (1978-79) 18-20, 23, 38, 72, 77-81. The law is C+G §2: a creditor keeps in his house 'the son or daughter of a man'. He is not allowed to sell them. 31 KAJ 70; C. Saporetti, The status of women in the Middle Assyrian period (1979) 10. 32 Iraq 30 (1968) 184 TR 3021:12 (Plate LXIII). 33 E. F. Weidner, AfO 20 (1963) 123 f. (VAT 9034), with C. Saporetti, Assur 14446: la famiglia A (1979) 79 f., 130 f. Explained by S. Demare-Lafont in: J. Renger, Assur - Gott, Stadt und Land (2011) 244 n. 14. 34 KAJ 7 combined with KAJ 167, following J. N. Postgate, Bronze Age bureaucracy (2013) 15-17. Security for a man's debts - 317 17.1.5 Emar The creditors of a man 'seized his wife and sold her as a slave to B.' for a price of seventy shekels. 'Dead (or) alive, she is the slave-girl of B.'3 A woman was 'unable to pay off her interest-bearing loans'. She and her daughter entered the creditor's household and there they remained, 'dead (or) alive'.36 A man, his brother with his wife and daughter became the slaves of M. for seventy shekels. If anyone in the future comes forward to redeem them, he must give four 'good' women.37 A man sold his 'bride' as a slave-girl. What was meant by 'bride'? Perhaps it was his newly married wife without children.38 17.1.6 Ugarit In an international treaty about the relations between the merchants of Ura and Ugarit, Hattusili III, king of the Hittites, says to Niqmepa, king of Ugarit, If the silver of the merchants of Ura is a charge on the sons of Ugarit and they cannot pay it back completely, then the king of Ugarit shall give him (the debtor), together with his wives and children, to the merchants of Ura, but the merchants of Ura will have no claim to the houses and fields of the king of Ugarit. This document was sealed by King Hattusili and Queen Puduljepa.39 17.1.7 Neo-Assyrian period When a man contracted a loan it was not unusual for his wife and daughter to become pledges in case the loan were not repaid.40 A girl, one cubit in height 35 D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis - Supplementa 1(1991) no. 26. 36 A. Tsukimoto, ASJ 13 (1991) 300 no. 36. Cf. M. Sigrist, Studies R. Kutscher (1993) 167 no.1 (man, wife and son for a debt of 83 shekels). For more examples of a forced sale of family members see C. Zaccagnini, Or. NS 64 (1995) 103 f. 37 D. Arnaud, Aula Orientalis 5 (1987) 229-231 no.11 ME 120. 38 Arnaud, 231 no.12 ME 117. 39 S. Lackenbacher, Textes akkadiens d'Ugarit (2002) 154 f. 40 B. Faist, Alltagstexte aus neuassyrischen Bibliotheken der Stadt Assur (2007) nos. 64 (maskanhtu), 67, 84, 107 with note (sapartu). 318 - Women robbed of their freedom (no-one is ever said to have been smaller) guaranteed a debt of ten shekels of silver. She was not the daughter of the debtor.41 Some family members were required to stay in the house of the creditor as security for the debt, as what is called in German Besitzpfand.42 On another occasion it was a woman and her daughter who had to stay in the house of the creditor for three years.43 In other situations the debt had to be paid within ten days before the woman could be 'acquired and taken away'. This looks like the last phase after protracted legal proceedings.44 A man and his wife were ransomed, but afterwards had to serve their 'benefactor' for their whole lives in exchange for a debt of seventy shekels. In a similar 'redemption' document there was a man, his wife and daughter who had to serve the benefactor 'instead of the interest on the silver'. A widow's debt was taken over and her son and three daughters would have to serve the new creditor.45 It is always stated at the end of the document that it was left open for a third party to 'let them go' by paying the debt or the interest. In this way a family could pass from hand to hand, but the possibility of redemption suggests that they were not ordinary slaves.46 The debts of a father who had died had to be paid by the next-of-kin and we see a widow with children being taken into slavery for this reason.47 17.1.8 Neo-Babylonian period If a man did not deliver an outstanding debt of barley to the head of the grain silo of the temple of Eanna within seven days, the woman N. and her child would belong to the possessions of Eanna instead of the barley. 41 SAAB IX (1995) 68 no.92 (VAT 9686). According to K. Radner they were sold; Privatrechts- urkunden (1997) 144 f. 42 Radner, 368-383. Photos of the obverse sides of two contracts from Assur in which a man gives his wife as a pledge were published by J. Marzahn, B. Salje, Wiedererstehendes Assur (2003) 154 Abb. 5 (= StAT 3 nos. 41, 42). 43 Radner, 369 VAT 19500; and in Security for debt, 270 n. 31. Also StAT 3 107. 44 SAA VI 272. 45 P. Villard in: F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie (2000) 184 f. no.134; G. Galil, The lower stratum families in the Neo-Assyrian period (2007) 89 f. 46 Security for debt, 282f. (ADD 77 and 85). A full discussion of all pledged families in this period can be found in Galil, 86-94. 47 VAS 1 96 with Radner, Privatrechtsurkunden, 162 n. 838. The woman as guarantor - 319 N. was not his own wife, so she must have been his slave-girl.48 It is interesting to note that at this time we no longer see wives used as a security, though children are.49 Evidently it was no longer acceptable to dispose of your wife to this extent. It fits in with another custom of that period, when a house and property would be sold 'while the wife was present', meaning with her permission. The debtor himself was also not sold in this period.50 A slave-girl could be used as security for borrowing money, and would also be physically transferred to the creditor. But the text clarifies that she was not being hired, There is no question of hiring the slave-girl, there is no interest on the silver. Instead, the value of her work compensated the creditor for the interest due on the debt. This arrangement, where the provision of a service counts instead of interest, is called antichresis (from chresis meaning 'interest').51 17.1.9 Greek period When a man who had a debt of five minas to the 'people' of Uruk, he himself, his two brothers, his wife and three daughters of a brother had to serve fifty years (an inordinately long time) and be provided with food and clothing. This debt to the 'people' is unique and it has been suggested that this arrangement consists of a promise to fulfil a leitourgia on behalf of the community.52 17.2 The woman as guarantor If a man had a debt, a woman in his family could guarantee that he would not take flight. She is standing bail (qdtdtu). This seems to have been the oldest form of surety which is known in German as Gestellungsburgschaft. It is clear 48 YOS 7 171 with F. Joannes in: P. Briant, L'archive des Fortifications de Persepolis (2008) 475. 49 H. Petschow, Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis 19 (1951) 51-57; Neubabylonisches Pfand- recht (1956) 62-64; M. A. Dandamaev, Slavery in Babylonia (1984) 168 f. 50 C. Wunsch in: M. Hudson, M. van de Mieroop, Debt and economic renewal in the Ancient Near East (2002) 238, 244. 51 TuM 2-3 115 with F. Joannes, Archives de Borsippa (1989) 142. In Assyria: K. Radner, Privat- rechtsurkunden, 377 f. Two women 'instead of the interest' (khm rube), StAT 2 287. 52 OECT 9 2 with M. Jursa, RlA X/5-6 (2004) 454 'Pfand' G, § 4. 320 - Women robbed of their freedom that people of the same household were the ones eligible to stand bail. In the Sumerian period the mother and sister of a slave guaranteed that he would not run away. A married woman did this for her son (?).53 Women could also guar- antee that someone would turn up for work.54 A man and woman guaranteed that someone would be at the gate of Nippur.55 An ox at the plough was missing and the wife of the responsible person was arrested.56 We also see this guarantee in Old Babylonian Uruk and Alalahj. The guarantor could have been the mother, the sister or the wife, but a brother could also be the surety and stand bail. The agreement was confirmed by a document sealed by them.57 One time, the work to be performed was the collecting of lumps of salt in the desert. According to a letter, the salt was not delivered and the wife of the worker was imprisoned.58 In Nuzi a sister often acted as surety for her brother, seemingly on her own initia- tive.59 In Nuzi a man who had to work for ten years in the house of his creditor to pay off a loan promised that in his absence his sons, daughters and wife could be 'seized' in order to pay off the debt.60 In Emar a man was taken as a slave (valued at 47 shekels) and his wife with her son were the surety, which must have been connected with his presence there.61 17.2.1 As prisoners Imprisoning women and children was a means of putting pressure on a man to pay a debt. This amounted to putting someone into a debtor's prison. In the Old Babylonian period this happened frequently and is generally referred to as 'to distrain' (nepa) someone.62 The laws of Hammurabi and Esnunna deal with the 53 Security for debt, 50 f. n. 10; H. Sauren, ZA 60 (1970) 72 f. 54 Sauren, 76, 78, with 84 f.; H. Waetzoldt, AOF 15 (1988) 39. 55 Ibidem. 56 C. Wilcke, Studies T. Abusch (2010) 354 n. 12, 357 n. 26, on 368 viii 7. 57 Uruk: S. Sanati-Muller, Baghd. Mitt. 20 (1989) 276-305, with D. Charpin, J.-M. Durand, MARI 7 (1993) 367 f. Alalah: AT 21 with B. L. Eichler, Indenture at Nuzi (1973) 67 f. 58 ARM 10 160 = Florilegium Marianum III (1997) 173 no.16. The woman is a niputum; see below, under 'Prisoners'. 59 B.Kh. Ismail, M. Muller, WdO 9 (1977) 27 f. 60 Eichler, Indenture at Nuzi, 127 f., with Security for debt, 233. 61 J. Huehnergard, RA 77 (1983) 25 Text 5, with Security for debt, 244 f. ('ASJ 35'). For the Neo- Assyrian period see Radner, Privatrechtsurkunden, 357-367 ('Burge'), who does not refer to this type of security. 62 Westbrook in: Security for debt (2001) 84-90; M. Stol, Een Babylonier maakt schulden (1983) 12, 14. The woman as guarantor - 321 situation which might arise if the person distrained were to die in the house of the creditor (§116; §23f.). In a few instances the word 'milling house' was men- tioned as the place where the person was kept,63 which explains a reference in a Sumerian hymn about the goddess Nanse. She knows the orphan. She knows the widow. She knows that one person oppresses another. She, the mother of the orphan, Nanse, who cares for the widow, is the one who procures justice (?) in the milling house.64 Formulating letters about such situations was one of the exercises for young scribes at school. These exercises assumed that the debt had been paid and that the people must be freed from 'the prison'.65 After your departure on the day that you left for your trade journey, I. came here and spoke thus: 'I have a claim of twenty shekels of silver on him.' He distrained your wife and your daughter. Come here and let your wife and daughter come out, before your wife and daugh- ter die in prison through the milling. Please!66 In the Old Assyrian period the people imprisoned as sureties were called kutu'atu, a feminine word for good reason. One letter clearly wants to intimidate the debtor with this possibility. He made the house afraid and took the slave-girls prisoner.67 A Sumerian text states that women could be released from imprisonment if they married or became a widow.68 If a debt could not be paid, and the imprisonment lasted a long time, it came to called kissatu, 'servitude'. This letter is to a man from a woman who calls herself 'the girl' and who seems to be his sister. 63 Samson 'ground at the mill in the prison'. See K. van der Toorn, 'Judges XVI 21 in the light of the Akkadian sources', Vetus Testamentum 36 (1986) 248-253. 64 W. Heimpel, JCS 33 (1981) 82:20-23. The milling house is a prison for distrained persons (probably women) in the letter AbB 1137:10. 65 F. R. Kraus, JEOL 16 (1967) 26-29. 66 UET 5 9 with Kraus, 28 f.; cf. AbB 14 128. 67 CCT 3 24:41 f. with C. Michel, CMK no.344. In general see K. R. Veenhof in Security for debt, 154 f. 68 H. Sauren, ZA 60 (1970) 75, 85 f. 322 - Women robbed of their freedom Since the day that you abandoned me and went away, I work in the house of the creditor for ten shekels of silver. Cold and drought eat my bones. This is servitude. My creditor ... is the master over me. Because of you I have been sold (literally, 'given for silver') and she who looked after your house, your mother, is dead. If you are really my brother and lord, send me two shekels of silver so that I can give it to my creditor and your house will not be lost. Your brothers too must not be lost. Let me care for them.69 From the Neo-Assyrian period we have a short text, in which the guarantor ('he who slapped hands', a sign of making a promise) 'seized' the wife of the debtor, and 'brought her into the house of the creditor'. If she were to die or escape, the guarantor was responsible. The text adds at the end that the creditor had legally nothing to do with the seizing. According to the editor of the text, the intention of the action was to put pressure on the debtor.70 It was considered deplorable if free citizens fell into slavery and kings took action to put the matter right. When Entemena, an early Sumerian city ruler of Lagash (2400 BC), proclaimed the 'freedom' of his city, he allowed the mother to go back to her child, he allowed the child to go back to his mother, he brought freedom from interest-bearing loans of barley.71 The word freedom here and later means literally 'going back to mother'. Hammurabi set a maximum period of three years for a 'wife, son or daughter' to work in captivity (§117), and he also regulated the fate of slaves (§118 f.). A king could step in to 'bring justice', which meant introducing a ruling to cancel debts. A woman was in prison 'on account of her father', meaning on account of his debts, but she was released when 'the king brought justice to the country'. When she discovered that in the meantime her husband had taken another wife and had squandered her dowry, she took action to regain her dowry and her marriage was dissolved.72 Such a pardoning of debts is attested also in the Greek tradition as seisachtheia. In Babylonia it is attested, in Nuzi among the Hurrians, and pos- sibly also under King Darius II of Persia.73 69 AbB 8 100 with F. R. Kraus, Kdnigliche Verfflgungen (1984) 268. 70 FNALD no. 49; Radner, Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 364. 71 Ent. 79 iii 10-iv 5; C. Wilcke, Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 21. 72 M. Jursa, RA 91 (2004) 135-145; D. Charpin in F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Msopotamie (2000) 93-95. 73 M. Hudson, M. van de Mieroop, Debt and economic renewal in the Ancient Near East (2002) 181-189, 212 f., 245-247. Imprisoned for murder - 323 17.3 Imprisoned for murder Debts were not the only reason for taking people hostage, for if a crime had been committed, the family members of the perpetrator could be deprived of freedom. C. Wilcke assumes that the word 'servitude' (kissatu) refers to this.74 Two such cases come to mind. In the first, from the Ur III period, the wife and daughters of a murderer were imprisoned. They and what was left of his possessions were handed over to the relatives of the victim. Five years later the women fled, were arrested and claimed that they were not slaves. But the judge harshly said that indeed they were.75 The second instance was much later, in the Neo-Assyrian period. People were able to claim financial compensation for a murder victim. If that went wrong, the murderer's 'people and his fields' could be taken as collateral security.76 An exceptional instance within this system was the delivering up of a woman as com- pensation for the murder of Samaku. The judges gave the following suggestion: He shall give the woman K. to S., the son of Samaku, instead of the blood. He shall wash away the blood in this fashion. If he does not give his wife, they shall kill him on the grave of Samaku. This woman must have been a free citizen and was possibly the sister of the mur- derer. The following sentence says that if anyone shall contravene this arrange- ment, then he shall pay ten minas of silver.77 In Neo-Babylonian Uruk the mother and sisters of a thief were made temple slaves because of a theft of goats from a temple.78 74 C. Wilcke, NABU 1991/16: '(deliktisch begriindeter) Schuldsklaven-Stand'; Early Ancient Near Eastern law (2003) 109: 'debt-bondage caused by an offence'. 75 B. Lafont in Rendre la justice en Mesopotamie (2000) 64 f. no. 26; C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 516 f. 76 ADD 164:7 with SAA VI 264 and M. T. Roth, 'Homicide in the Neo-Assyrian period', Studies Erica Reiner (1987) 351-365, esp. 356. 77 ADD 321 with Roth, 357 f.; Remko Jas, Neo -Assyrian judicial procedures (1996) no. 42; P. Villard in Rendre la justice en Mesopotamie (2000) 193 no. 142. 78 M. Jursa, Iraq 59 (1997) 99 f. no.1. 324 - Women robbed of their freedom 17.4 The sale of children in time of need When a city was under siege a woman may have had to sell her children, usually her daughters.79 Contracts from Emar, a city on the northern Euphrates, show that this actually happened in the thirteenth century BC. It also happened in the seventh century BC according to texts from Nippur and Babylon.80 In the con- tracts from Emar we read that it happened when there was 'hunger and disaster' and when 'the gate was shut'. Then hunger and disaster overcame the country and the mother did not open the door to her daughter. Then the enemy lay outside the city and hunger arose in the country and three litres of barley became the price for a shekel of silver, sold in secret.81 Such high prices when calamity struck were often mentioned in texts from Emar. An Assyrian text refers to a slave-girl saying that she was bought 'in the year that there was no food, when a litre of barley cost one and a half minas of copper'.82 Possibly this fact was stated so that in better times the sale could be reversed, or the seller could be protected against later complaints about the abnormally low price. The intention is sometimes implied: 'Take (the child with you) and keep it alive; she is (now) your girl'.83 The texts from Emar come from the time of King Pilsu-Dagan and the high prices mentioned also seem to accord with the harsh reality of the time.84 A woman from Emar explained that she could not support her children. She had given up her eldest daughter for adoption to a woman called A. and in this way she was able to keep the little ones alive 'in the year of the disaster'. But A. did not pay the thirty shekels required, so the mother was later forced to sell the four little children, one of whom was still an infant, for sixty shekels. They were named and their feet were impressed in clay for identification. The lumps of clay 79 K. Volk, 'Von Findel-, Waisen-, verkauften und deportierten Kindern. Notizen aus Babylonien und Assyrien', in: A. Kunz-Liibcke, R. Lux, "Schaffe mir Kinder...". Beitruge zur Kindheit im alten Israel und in seinen Nachbarkulturen (2006) 47-87. 80 C. Zaccagnini, 'War and famine at Emar', Or. NS 64 (1995) 92-109; A. L. Oppenheim, 'Siege documents from Nippur', Iraq 17 (1955) 69-89; G. Frame, JCS 51(1999)101-106 (Babylon). 81 Frame, 105 f. (Babylon). In Nippur a price of 6 litres of barley for 1 shekel is mentioned; Oppenheim, 89, 2 NT 300:6-7, 301:11. 82 J. N. Postgate, FNALD 92 no.8, with Zaccagnini, 95. 83 Oppenheim, Iraq 17 (1955) 87, 2 NT 293:4, 297:8. 84 S. A. Divon, 'A survey of the textual evidence for 'food shortage' from the Late Hittite Empire', in: L. d'Alfonso (etc.), The city of Emar among the Late Bronze Age empires (2008) 101-109. The sale of children in time of need - 325 with the impressions of their feet were found together with the dossier.85 Years later their names appear in text colophons, as scribes, but those are different people.86 Alternatively, in times of need a child could be placed as a foundling, as when 'in the year of enemies and war, children were thrown on to the square' and were taken in by other people and adopted.87 We will not investigate the existence of foundlings any further.88 A mother who closes the door on her daughter became a literary motif in descriptions of times of adversity. It occurs in a prophecy and also in a predic- tion about a woman who is described as 'pregnant with wind and gives birth to wind'.89 In the fifth year of the famine described in the myth of Atram-hasis a mother does not open the door to her daughter. The daughter sees the scales of her mother. The mother sees the scales of her daughter. This meant that she had been sold as a slave, which involved weighing the silver paid for her. In the sixth year hunger was so rife that her daughter and her son had to be eaten.90 Our horror at such a thing should not hide our eyes from the fact that the narration of the episode focuses on the mother and the daughter. Some omens predict cannibalism and eating one's own children was considered to be a sign of madness. God Enlil will hang the people's good sense on a peg and people will devour their infant children.91 Hunger could also lead to children being dedicated as oblates (sirku) of the temple in the Neo-Babylonian period. A widow had to turn to this to solve her problems: 85 Emar VI/3 nos. 216, 217, 218-220 (for the footprints), with RA 97 (2003) 180 and TUAT NF 1 (2004) 151 f. In view of the dimensions of the impressions it must have been a baby no more than three months old, a twin of one year (10 cm), and a two years old child (12.5 cm); C. Zaccagnini, Or. NS 63 (1994) 1-4. For photos see 0. Rouault, L'Eufrate e it tempo (1993) 366 f.; for drawings, Emar VI/2 p. 670, 747 f. 86 Y. Cohen, The scribes and scholars of the city of Emar in the Late Bronze Age (2009) 132. 87 Emar VI/3 256 with TUAT NF 1(2004) 147 f. 88 C. Wunsch, 'Findelkinder und Adoption nach neubabylonischen Quellen', AfO 50 (2003-04) 174-244. 89 The prophecy: A. K. Grayson, JCS 18 (1964) 20 Text C iii 15 = R. Borger, BiOr 28 (1971) 15 iv 15. The prediction: E. Leichty, The omen series Summa izbu (1970) 36, Tablet 150. 90 Atram-hasis, late version S vi 8-13 (ed. W. G. Lambert, A. R. Millard, p.112); B. R. Foster, Before the Muses (1996) 194 f. 91 A. R. George, CUSAS 18 (2013) 235 rev. 42, with p. 246. 326 - Women robbed of their freedom My husband N. has died. When there was famine in the country I branded my sons S. and S. with a star and gave them to the Lady of Uruk. Keep (them) alive and they shall be oblates of the Lady of Uruk. The authorities were informed of what she had done and they established food rations for them both from the temple of Eanna, with the official confirmation that they would become 'oblates of the Lady of Uruk'.92 The branding of slaves was usual. The star that was imprinted on this occasion is a direct reference to the Lady of Uruk, Istar the goddess of love, later to be equated with Venus, the evening star. We read in the Bible that an Israelite 'will write the Lord's name on his hand' (Isaiah 44:5). 17.5 Dedicated to a temple From most ancient times people have dedicated property and people to temples, but not always in times of hunger. The verb used by the Assyrians to make such a dedication literally meant 'to allow to go up', and the word for the ded- icated object, in Babylonian sulutu and in Assyrian seltu, was derived from it. Sometimes the word 'to present' was used, which was usual in the subsequent Neo-Babylonian period, and then someone who had been dedicated to the temple and had spent his life in service there was called a sirku, 'the one presented', an 'oblate'.93 Jars of wine, clothes or crockery were dedicated to the gods in Old Baby- lonian Mari, as well as women, all part of the booty from conquered cities.94 At that time old people too were dedicated to the temple, as we shall see in the section of Chapter 22 concerning old women. Why were the temples chosen? They were centres of compassion according to many a hymn to a god or goddess. The temples were also large centres for business, where free labour would always be welcome. This was being done as early as in the Sumerian period, for we have three long lists of people given as votive offerings (arua) to temples from that time.95 It 92 YOS 6 154 with Oppenheim, 72, M. A. Dandamaev, Slavery in Babylonia (1984) 484 f.; P.-A. Beaulieu, The reign of Nabonidus (1989) 202. For more on the selling of children see M. Stol, Een Babylonier maakt schulden (1983) 15; M. A. Dandamaev, Slavery, 170-175. 93 'To present', in Assyrian sardku, in B. Menzel, Assyrische Tempel II(1981) T 173, 176 nos. 68:11, 69:9. Once srkn in an Aramaic epigraph, Menzel, T 179 no.71. 94 Wine, clothes, crockery: CAD S/3 264b; ARM 21 97; 23 535, 536; 31 243. Women: ARM 22 64. 95 I. J. Gelb, 'The arua institution', RA 66 (1972) 1-31. For a new list see RA 80 (1986) 19-29. Dedicated to a temple - 327 was the richer members of society who offered people, animals and objects, and probably the king who offered captives. 113 women and 59 children, pillaged from a foreign city to the east of the Tigris, were offered to the temple of the goddess sara in Umma,96 under the supervision of the governor of Umma. Poor people handed over women in particular to the temple. A shepherd is said to have offered a 'daughter without a mother'. The temple took in everyone who was offered, young and old and sometimes those who were sick, and set them to work. Possi- bly a sizeable proportion of the temple personnel consisted of such people, but it would be incorrect to call them slaves. Nothing more can be said on the subject, since all we know is from those lists. We know much about dedications in the Neo-Assyrian period,97 when it was usual to offer the temples land, buildings, statues, jewels, livestock as well as people, with the aim of achieving a good and successful life. Women were offered to a female deity. In Neo-Babylonian texts we sometimes see it explicitly men- tioned that the offering had been made to the deity, 'for the well-being of their lives' (ana baldt napsatisunu), meaning to secure good health.98 In Assyrian ded- ications it happened that the child of a prostitute or a single mother was offered by one or more people.99 The child was taken after it was weaned, as we see in the following dedication on a clay tablet found in the temple of Nabu at Calah.100 To U. and N., the two sons of L., his sister, he gave bread to eat, and he kept them alive. He took them from the breast, brought them up and gave them, free from any claims, to his lord Nab u in Calah. Whoever wants to claim rights to them or snatch them with force from Nab u, may Nab u, the scribe of the world, make his name and descendants disappear from the country, may he curse him with a bitter irrevocable curse, may he command that he does not live one day longer. May the bride Tasmetu, in the presence of Nab u, her consort, say a bad word for him, may she determine for him an unfavourable fate, may she command that he will not feel well mentally or physically. (All the names of the witnesses are functionaries of the temple, and they include a man who was 'the head of the dedicated ones'). 96 I. J. Gelb, JNES 32 (1973) 75 f. 97 Menzel, Assyrische Tempel I, 23-33; K. Radner, Die neuassyrischen Privatrechtsurkunden (1997) 207-211. 98 YOS 717 with Dandamaev, Slavery, 472f. 99 For the child of a prostitute see Menzel I, 24, no. 2; 28; II T 173 no. 68; SAA XII 92. For the child of a single mother see Menzel I, 24 f., nos. 3-4; II T 167 ff., nos. 65-66; SAA XII 95 f. 100 SAA XII 95. 328 - Women robbed of their freedom Female devotees were known to be in the service of the temple. Those of Istar of Arbela are the best known, and some of them, men and women, fulfilled the role of prophets. They were dedicated by the kings and will feature again in Chapter 29, about women in divine service.11 All dedicated offerings had to be bought in, which may imply that these children were sold by their mother. Twice women were implicated in these sales. One was a daughter, who was sold by her father to a woman from the harem of the 'Old Palace' as a future votive offering to the goddess Mulissu.102 The other was a palace lady, who dedicated to Mulissu a woman who was married to a weaver (surely an arranged marriage) with the stip- ulation that No creditor of her husband or winner of a lawsuit against him shall be able to assert his right to her. He shall not go near her.103 We note that more dedicated women got married and their dowry was described.'014 In a contract for a marriage between Egyptians in Nineveh, divorce cost the woman money, and it was added that 'the woman and her children would be given as a votive offering to Istar of Arbela'. Possibly she was a slave who already had children.105 Our knowledge of Neo-Assyrian marriage is skewed because it is almost limited to these cases. In the Neo-Babylonian period the major temples had 'presented ones' (sirku) in their service.106 Dedication to the temple was linked at that time with branding on the underarm. This was also done to animals from the temple herds. The mark of the goddess Istar in Uruk was a star, to be identified with the planet Venus. He placed the star (kakkabtu) and the brand mark (arratu) on her underarm and gave her as sirku to the Lady of Uruk. 101 Menzel, 25 f. 102 Menzel II, T 177 f. no. 70. 103 B. Parker, Iraq 16 (1954) 40 ND 2316, with Menzel I, 25, II 23* (254); Radner, Privatrechts- urkunden, 170 f. (edition), 210 (e); S. L. Macgregor, Beyond hearth and home (2012) 9; S. Sv rd, Studies V. Donbaz (2010) 253, 258. 104 Menzel, 25 no. 8, 26; Radner, 158, 209 n. 1136 (A. 310 = StAT 2184, A. 2527 = StAT 2164). 105 J. N. Postgate, TIM 11 27-30 no.14 = SAA XIV 443; Iraq 41(1979) 98 f. 106 M. A. Dandamaev, Slavery in Babylonia (1984) 469-557, 'Temple slavery'. Dedicated to a temple - 329 Later the woman was sold illegally.107 One can imagine that the 'presented one' may already have been advanced in years at her dedication, when his or her owners had died. If so, the temple could make little use of her labour.108 Temples possibly took pity on needy old people. Many a sirku was 'presented' to the temple, but another word could also be used. When referring to a woman she could be called zakitu, 'clean'. That was meant to convey that nobody could claim any right of ownership to her. It is note- worthy that this title was reserved for women only and that men were sometimes called 'the son of NN, a clean one'.109 Who were these women? Here is an exam- ple."0 I. of his own free will has given to K., his wife, in a sealed legal document, his slave-girl N. and her children. As long as K. shall live, N. and her children shall serve K. On the day that K. according to fate goes to her fathers (= dies), the governor, the chief, the head of ten and the head of fifty shall have no rights to N. and her children. She is the 'clean one' of the Lady of Uruk and Nanaya. You, whoever you may be, who change this arrangement (or) alter it, may Istar and Nanaya command your demise. (Witnessed by the highest authorities of Uruk and the temple of Eanna). Any descendants of a sirku or a zakitu were given the same low status. The temple slaves did simple work, but some of them were able to hold positions of respon- sibility. We see most of them working in the fields and in the gardens with their family or alone. Sometimes a temple would hire out a whole family. It is notice- able that there were fewer women than men in service in the temples of Sippar and Uruk. Possibly the women were working on the royal estates."' There was every possibility of things going wrong for these temple slaves, in particular if they fled or disappeared."2 N., the slave-girl of N., declared, My lord N. dedicated me to the Lady of Uruk and branded me with a star. My lord N. died and his brother S., who was the heir, took me from the house of N. and did not give me to Istar of Uruk. I bore my sons, S. I., and N. in the house of S. 107 YOS 6 79 with Dandamaev, 475 f. 108 G. van Driel in: M. Stol, S. P. Vleeming, The care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East (1998) 165. 109 F. Joannes in: P. Briant, L'archive des Fortifications de Persepolis (2008) 469; cf. 466 n. 5. 110 TCL 12 36. 111 Joannes, 466 f., 474, 478 f. 112 Joannes, 476 f. 330 - Women robbed of their freedom Then the leaders of the temple 'saw the star on her underarm' and 'entrusted the woman and her children to S.' She had to serve him as long as he lived. He could neither desire her nor sell her nor marry her off to a slave. After the death of S. she became the property of the Lady of Uruk. It is supposed that the owner had arranged in his will that the woman would look after him and his brother. However one reconstructs the situation, the woman was claimed by the temple and also protected."3 From pronouncements and lawsuits it would appear that the temple enforced the rights of ownership strictly on these people. Children of devotees gained the same status as their parents through birth and became the property of the temple."4 These devotees could not to be sold. N., the daughter of E. the coppersmith, a devotee of Istar of Uruk, her father E. has had a text by an alphabet-writer written on her underarm and has sold her in Babylon to an Arab. The said N. was given by the chief judge and the mayor to A. with these words: 'Give (her) to the authorities of (the temple of) Eanna'. A. received N. in Eanna (and) N. was led before B. This all took place in the presence of the most important persons in Eanna,"5 and the background needs to be explained. The daughter of the coppersmith was herself also a devotee and was branded with a star. One supposes that the cop- persmith had tatooed the name of a fictitious owner in Aramaic, possibly over the star. He then travelled some distance away to Babylon and sold the woman to some Arab whose name is not given. When she was found in Babylon the author- ities there took action and put her in the hands of A., an official from Uruk to be returned to where she had come from. Another case is also relevant."6 In Babylon there was a slave-girl who had a private owner, and who bore the mark of the goddess of Uruk. How could this be? The owner declared that twenty years earlier she had put the mark on herself. The woman said that her first owner had dedicated her to Nanaya and yet even so had sold her to her present owner. Now the judges had an alphabet-writer come to inspect the underarm, as it appeared to have a tatooed text in alphabetic Aramaic. 113 YOS 7 66 with P. Koschaker, GROR (1931) 78 f., Dandamaev, 478 f., A. Kuhrt in: B. Lesko, Womens's earliest records (1989) 231 f. 114 Joannes, 477. 115 AnOr 8 74 with Dandamaev 537-539, 697 f. 116 D. Arnaud, RA 67 (1973) 147-156, with F. Joannes, Rendre la justice en Mdsopotamie (2000) 223-225 no. 166. Prisoners of war - 331 He deciphered the underarm of N. and said, 'According to an old text, written long ago on her underarm, it was 'Of Nanaya'. But a second text under the first text said 'Of Istar'. The judges questioned the owner. How has it come about that you bought a slave who was dedicated to Istar, and branded with a star, but on her underarm is written 'Of Istar of Uruk' and 'Of Nanaya'? They reproached him for not having let the judges look into the matter earlier. They decided that the woman and her son should be enrolled with the corv~e workers of the temple of Eanna and advised the owner to seek redress from the person who had stood as guarantor for the sale. We have seen earlier that hunger was the reason that children were given over to the temple, with the result that they were dedicated to the Lady of Uruk."7 The final case in cuneiform comes from the time of the Arsacids (after 170 BC).118 Someone with the Greek name Nicanor, the son of Democrates, dedicated a slave-girl of five years old to the gods of Uruk 'to carry out work with clay'. He did this 'for the life of the king, for his own life, the life of the people (of Uruk)'. This case belongs to a group of five dedications of children between five and ten years old (once together with the child's mother) to do this sort of work."9 Clauses at the end of these dedications prohibit the person presenting the chil- dren from selling a child or giving it to someone. This ensured that the devoted child would stay at home and only later, when he had grown up, would go and do heavy work.'4 17.6 Prisoners of war Kings from the Old Akkadian period (2300-2100 BC) proudly reported their conquests of cities and gave precise numbers of the dead and prisoners of war. From Ur and Lagash there were 8040 dead and 5460 captured, and from Kazalla 117 YOS 6 154. 118 BRM 2 53 with J. Oelsner in: M. J. Geller, Legal documents of the Hellenistic period (1995) 122, 147 f. 119 G. C. Sarkisian, 'Von der Tempelsklaverei im hellenistischen Babylonien', Iraq 45 (1983) 131-135. Cf. J. Huijs in: L. Marti, La famille dans le Proche-Orient ancien (2014) 613 f. 120 Koschaker, GROR, 80 f.; Sarkisian. 332 - Women robbed of their freedom 12052 dead and 5864 captured."' What happened to the captives in practice is documented in the subsequent Ur III period.22 When we come to the section of Chapter 18 on weavers we shall see that only women and children were men- tioned and that their death rate was high. Some assume that wars were also waged to supplement the workforce.23 The Mari letters (1800-1760 BC) are very informative about this.'24 They cover a period of continuous conflicts between large and small states. His troops have conquered the country of Muti-abal. Men, women, boys and girls [they have captured, and their houses] they have torn down and burned with fire.125 A prince was reproached by his father, King Samsu-Addu. You have sent thirty men to bring the booty safely home. Is that really enough? Thirty men to bring back a thousand prisoners of war safely! Let the local workforce take food for fifteen days. Yes, the prisoners also had to be fed.126 We have thirty clay tablets from the last two years of the reign of Zimri-Lim of Mari, which deal with the administration of the deportation of 1500 captives from six different places. These are long lists of often foreign names. The families (two to five persons) stayed together. On the basis of these lists it is thought that the quantity of food necessary was estimated, and sometimes the assignment of captives to the control of certain persons or services was documented.27 In letters from Mari we can follow the fates of some highly placed women who were living in captivity. It was possible for them to be ransomed from the 121 A. Archi mentions much higher figures in Ebla (like 'a total of 20,309 dead'); Studies D. I. Owen (2010) 29-33. 122 Cf. G. Ventura, 'Women, work and war during the Neo-Sumerian period', in: H. Neumann, Krieg und Frieden im Alten Vorderasien (= CRRAI 52) (2014) 345-352. 123 B. Lafont, 'Guerres et deplacements de populations en Mesopotamie aux 6poques sumeri- enne et amorrite (IIIe-Ile millenaires avant notre ere)', in: C. Moatti, La mobilitd des personnes en Mdditerrande de l'Antiquit da l'dpoque moderne (2004) 453-479, esp. 455-458, 473 f. (transla- tions). 124 N. Ziegler, 'Kriege und ihre Folgen. Frauenschicksale anhand der Archive aus Mari', in: H. Neumann, Krieg und Frieden, 885-907. 125 AEM 1/2 (1988) 169 no. 365-bis, rev. 3-5. 126 ARM 1 43:3-8 with MARI 6 (1990) 568. 127 Lafont, 465. Prisoners of war - 333 ~~ii -y 1 7, Fig. 18: After the conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib (701 BC) women with girls were driven away on a wagon. Relief in the palace at Nineveh. British Museum, London. enemy, using merchants as intermediaries. Some treaties allowed merchants to travel abroad.128 On reliefs in the Assyrian palaces, a thousand years later, many scenes of mili- tary victories are depicted, and there we often see captive women and children being led away, sometimes pursued by soldiers.129 On a wagon piled high with 128 For the adventures of captured women, see N. Ziegler, 'Kriege und ihre Folgen. Frauen- schicksale anhand der Archive aus Mari' (note 124). The role of merchants: C. Michel, Amurru 1 (1996) 410 f.; D. Charpin, MARI 8 (1997) 376 381. 129 B. Oded, Mass deportations and deportees in the Neo-Assyrian empire (1979) 34, 35 n. 19, with some photos in the rear of the book; P. Albenda, 'Woman, child, and family: their imagery in Assyrian art', in: Durand, La Femme (1987) 17-21. There are many illustrations in the series State Archives of Assyria (SAA), esp. in volume XI (1995) (see note 144). - Children in booty scenes: Volk in: A. Kunz-Lubcke, R. Lux, Schaffe mir Kinder (see note 79), 75-81. Children were sold: M. Jursa, Aspects of the economic history of Babylonia in the first millennium BC (2010) 226 n. 1316. 334 - Women robbed of their freedom loot sat a grandmother, her daughter and grandson.30 Adult women and younger women are shown piled on to wagons.13' The relief in his palace showing Sen- nacherib conquering the city of Lachish during his campaign against Jerusalem has two such scenes (Figure 18).132 On another relief we see two women, taken as booty from the city of Sahjrina, riding on a donkey, and immediately in front of them are soldiers picking up the severed heads of men. This juxtaposition of scenes suggests that the men may have been slaughtered and that some of their womenfolk captured for the victor's own purposes.33 Elsewhere older boys are shown walking along beside adult men, and girls beside adult women. Little children often trudged along beside their parents during the long journey. The infants who could not walk were held tight in their parents' arms or rode on their shoulders.34 In one scene mothers suckled their children during the long march. One mother was pressing a kiss on the lips of her child. Another was leaning over to give her child a drink from a waterskin (Figure 19).'35 Some scenes show them sitting down and eating.136 It is as though the artist wanted to produce a variety of snapshots. Quite often the clothing of the captive's own country was portrayed. Women who were taken from Syria all seem 130 R. D. Barnett, M. Falkner, The sculptures of Assurnasirpal II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Esarhaddon (1962) plates III-IV with p.11, Slab 9a, 8a (Tiglath-Pileser III; from Nimrud). The same motif again occurs with Tiglath-Pileser III: see Barnett, plates V-VI; W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient (1975) 318 fig. 99, b. Both slabs join; B. Schmitz, Waren sie nur schon? Frauen im Spiegel der Jahrtausende (1989) 146 fig. 61; J. M. Russell, The writing on the wall (1999) 91 fig. 30 ('unnamed city'); SAA XI (1995) 96; G. Leick, The Babylonian world (2007) 534. 131 SAA XVII (1995) p.146. 132 Scene 1: Oded, Mass deportations (1979) plate III; J. E. Reade, Assyrian sculpture (1983) 50 fig. 80, with an old drawing p. 47 fig. 66, right side (a small part is visible); J. M. Russell, Sen- nacherib's Palace Without Rival at Nineveh (1991) 164 fig. 84. Scene 2:I. Seibert, La femme dans l'Orient ancien (1974) plate 71; 0. Keel, Das Hohelied (= Zurcher Bibelkommentare AT 18) (1986) 179 Abb. 105 (drawing). Old drawings in J. E. Reade, Assyrian sculpture (1983) 48 fig. 68, and Russell, Palace Without Rival, 206 fig. 111. A drawing of both scenes following each other is in T. C. Mitchell, The Bible in the British Museum (1988) 60-63. 133 Russell, Palace Without Rival, 126 fig. 67; SAA XVII (2003) p.124. For them being transported on an animal see SAA V (1990) p.16; XI (1995) p.109; S. Parpola, R. M. Whiting, Assyria 1995 (1997) 297. 134 SAA VII (1991) p. 33; XI (1995) 143. 135 Albenda in Durand, La Femme, 18 f., refers to 'an animal skin' which would have been a waterskin; see J. E. Reade, Assyrian sculpture (1983) 42; P. Bienkowski, A. R. Millard, Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (2000) 92 (Sennacherib). 136 R. D. Barnett, Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668-627 B. C.) (1976) plate LXIX; SAA V (1990) p.10, p.174 fig. 34; P. Bordreuil, Les debuts de l'histoire (2008) 211 (photos) = SAA XI (1995) p.119 (drawing); SAA XI p.110. Prisoners of war - 335 Fig. 19: A Chaldaean woman, captured as a prisoner-of-war, gives her child a drink from a leather waterskin. Relief in the palace at Nineveh. 620 BC. British Museum, -f London. to be lifting the front of their garments with their right hands.137 It is said that they did that when crossing a river, as stated in one of Isaiah's prophecies about the 'daughter of Babylon', in which he also emphasizes her lewd reputation. Take the handmill, grind meal, remove your veil. Strip off your skirt, bare your thighs, wade through rivers, So that your nakedness may be seen, your shame exposed (Isaiah 47:2-3).13$ 137 Twice on the bronze-faced doors of the palace; A. Schachner, Subartu 20 (2007) 296 Tafel 4, with 322 Tafel 30a (Bildstreifen IV nos. 70-73, from Dabigu), 301, with 337 Tafel 45b (Bildstreifen IX nos. 39-36, from Qarqar); cf. 100, Abb. 23 'Merkmal Gefang(ene)5'; descriptions on p. 43, 55. Also in R. D. Barnett, The Balawat Gates of Ashurnasirpal II (2008) fig. 6, 38 (R8), 18 (L6), 22 (L8), 24 (R1). 138 S. M. Paul in: E. B. Firmage, Religion and law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic perspectives (1990) 340 f. 336 - Women robbed of their freedom The soldiers of Ashurbanipal appear in a gruesome scene forcing their way into the tents of Arabs and apparently cutting open the bellies of pregnant women.139 This madness can perhaps be understood if one reads the description of their dreadful campaign in the desert.140 In the Bible the slaughter of infants and the disembowelling of pregnant women occurs as a literary motif.141 We find it also in a song about the campaign of an Assyrian king, which is generally accepted as a parody: He ripped open pregnant women, he made little children blind.142 Administrative texts also refer to deportations.143 Lists of people originating from different locations have been published in State Archives of Assyria, Vol. XI, together with many illustrations of deported people from Assyrian palace reliefs.144 A list of people from Que (= Cilicia), punctiliously subdivided, includes women and children. 334 strong men; 38 children five half-cubits tall; 41 children four half-cubits tall; 40 children three half-cubits tall; 28 weaned children; 25 infants. In total: 172 boys. 349 women; 8 women five half-cubits tall; 22 women four half-cubits tall; 49 women three half-cubits tall; 17 weaned female children; 25 female sucklings. In total: 121 girls. In all: 977 individuals from Que.145 Despite the attention to detail, there is an error of 1 in the final total. Perhaps someone was accidentally omitted from one of the subtotals. When considering what would have happened to these women we need to anticipate Chapter 18, about woman and work, where we shall read about the 139 P. Dubovsky, 'Ripping open pregnant Arab women: reliefs in Room L of Ashurbanipal's North Palace', Or. NS 78 (2009) 394-419. Photo: R. D. Barnett, Sculptures from the North Palace (1976) plate XXXIII. Other scholars suggested a scene of rape; SAA II(1988) p. 47. 140 M. Weippert, WdO 7 (1973) 39-85; R. Borger, BIWA (1996) 247 §73. Other suggestions by Dubovsky, 416. 141 2 Kings 8:12, 15:16; Amos 1:13, Hosea 14:1. See M. Cogan, JAOS 103 (1983) 755-757. 142 LKA 62 rev. 3 with D. 0. Edzard, Studies A. K. Grayson (2004) 81-87. 143 A survey of women taken prisoner in the booty lists gives S. Svard, Women and power (2015) 127-130. 144 Illustrations: SAA XI p. 90, 96, 99, 109, 110, 119, 143, 146. Furthermore, see vols. IV p.17, 99, 117, 249; V p. 16, 36, 65, 118, 157, 170, 174; VII p. 33; XV p. 2, 10, 104; XVII p. 124; XVIII p. 38, 131, 142. 145 SAA XI 167. A relief shows how the prisoners from Que (Cilicia) had to work in quarries; SAA IV (1990) p.17; M. T. Larsen, Power and propaganda (1979) after p. 336 fig. 9. Prisoners of war - 337 sort of forced labour imposed on them, such as weaving and milling flour. An Egyptian slave-girl with her three-months-old daughter was sold, possibly cap- tured during Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, one year earlier (525 BC).146 Unskilled labourers were deployed in building new cities and palaces. In Mari women were identified as accompanying the forced male labourers to prepare their food. One woman had to cook for five men.147 Some would have a future career as singers and instrumentalists, as we shall see in Chapter 23 when looking at the royal palace of Mari. Reliefs in Assyrian palaces show men and women with musical instruments in their hands. Sennacherib was proud of the fact that he had taken captives from the land of Judah ruled by King Hezekiah and that he had brought to Nineveh 'his daughters, his harem women, his male and female musicians', all actually depicted on his relief.148 Reliefs in the palace of Ashurbanipal depicting his campaign against the Elamites (653 BC) show that after the conquest of the city of Madaktu Elamite musicians, male and female, accompanied by women and children, greet the Assyrian victors (Figure 25).149 (For the musical instru- ments see Chapter 18 where musicians are discussed). Music was exactly what was demanded by the captors of the Judaeans abducted to 'the rivers of Babylon': On the willow trees there we hung up our lyres, For there those who had carried us captive asked us to sing them a song, Our captors called on us to be joyful (Psalm 137:2-3). The Bible refers to the Assyrian and Babylonian strategy of deporting entire popu- lations from their native land and resettling them in designated locations in their own territory. Ten of the twelve tribes of Israel suffered this treatment. As early as in the letters from Mari we read of the king commissioning such an action. Bring the deportees from A. to the city of B. and intermingle (baldlu) them with the people of the city.150 146 Cambyses 334 (524 BC), with M. Dandamacv, Slavery in Babylonia (1984) 107 f. 147 N. Ziegler in: J. Andreau, La guerre dans les economies antiques (2000) 24 (A. 562) (musdkiltu). 148 R. Borger, Babylonisch-assyrische Lesesticke I (1979) 75 iii 46, with TUAT I/4 (1984) 390. For the male musicians as prisoners on the relief see the catalogue Babylon (London 2008) 143 fig. 126. 149 S. Macgregor, Beyond hearth and home, 36-41; eadem, 'Foreign musicians in Neo-Assyrian royal courts', Studies Anne D. Kilmer (2011) 137-159, esp. 148-152. 150 J.-M. Durand, LAPO 17 (1998) 312 (A. 4513). 338 - Women robbed of their freedom Two Assyrian letters show that such integration had to be achieved by mixed mar- riages. King Tiglath-Pileser III commanded a group of deported Aramaic men to go and be married to women, but it did not go as easily as envisaged. He was informed that We have found women, but their fathers will not give them, before they are given silver. Have the men give them silver, so that they may marry.151 151 SAA XIX 18 with TUAT NF 3 (2006) 124 f. (Nimrud Letters no. 26). 18 Women and work A modern writer has summarised the daily activities of a woman in the Old Akka- dian period comprehensively. Grinding barley for flour and baking bread in the courtyard oven, going to the river for water balancing the pot on her head, washing clothes in the same river, chatting with neighbors, cooking food over the dung fire, spinning and weaving, nursing her baby (...), taking care of the sick, wailing for the dead, looking around for a suitable wife for her son, preparing for her daughter's wedding (...), and, in old age, giving sage counsel while her daughter-in-law took care of the rest. But that picture was drawn while acknowledging that there was scarcely any evidence of these activities to be found in the texts. Although the sketch fits in with what is generally imagined about a woman's life in ancient Mesopotamia,1 I have not yet seen evidence of a jug balanced on the head, and clothes would more often be washed in a canal than in a river. It was always a woman who pre- pared the food. Not much is said in the texts about the daily work of a woman. It was the task of the man to provide the raw materials for the housekeeping, the grain, the wool, and the rest. The woman's role was to process this material by grinding, baking, spinning, weaving, or some other appropriate skill.2 A good woman was described as follows: The house where there is beer, it is her stand. The house where the cooking pot is, her jug is there. The house where there is food, she is the great cook.3 This can be contrasted with a reproach for a degenerate woman. She cannot card wool, she cannot spin with the spindle. Her hand is no good for working. She is lax about going in and going out.4 1 A. Westenholz in: P. Attinger, M. W fler, Mesopotamien. Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit (= OBO 160/3) (1999) 71. 2 Th. Jacobsen, Studies R. Kutscher (1993) 73. 3 J. J. A. van Dijk, La sagesse sumdro-accadienne (1953) 90 f. 4 'Dialogue of Two Women' B 68 f., cited by K. Volk, Saeculum 47 (1996) 191, ZA 90 (2000) 19; A. W. Sjoberg, Studies E. Leichty (2006) 415 n. 29. ) B-C-D© 2016 Marten Stol, published by De Gruyter Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 340 - Women and work How different from the virtuous woman in the book of Proverbs: She chooses wool and flax and with a will she sets about her work. She holds the distaff in her hand, and her fingers grasp the spindle (Proverbs 31:13, 19). The goddess Inanna tells Dumuzi in a love song that she does not feel like doing housework, which is then followed by a detailed description of how one makes linen cloth, beginning with the flax, and then how to do the carding, the spin- ning, and the weaving. This sequence is technologically interesting.5 At the beginning of this book, in Chapter 1, we saw how the spindle was characteristi- cally a woman's work. One text illustrates how easy it must have been for her to prick herself nastily when using it. A woman who has pricked herself begins to scream. The spindle has stabbed her and stuck in her hand. She goes into all the houses, she appears in all the streets, she shouts, 'Pull it out!'.6 Collecting water was also part of her work and at the court in Mari certain women were allocated to this task.7 Wood was collected by women, or by girls, or by a slave-girl.' A store of firewood was always a concern for the housewife, and she needed to be guaranteed her store of wood. An Assyrian merchant had to give his Anatolian wife 'eight minas of copper every month for her food, her oil, and her wood'. A woman from Mari cried for help because she did not have enough, complaining, 'Since I left my husband, I have not enough food or firewood.'9 In the Bible we read that Joshua required the inhabitants of the city of Gibeon to provide this. From that day he assigned them to cut wood and draw water (Joshua 9:27). 5 Y. Sefati, Sumerian love songs (1998) 120-127 ('The Bridal Sheets'); 290, 293 iv 14-16 ('Dumuzi's Wedding'). See T. Frymer-Kensky, Studies A. W. Sjoberg (1989) 189. 6 B. Alster, Wisdom of ancient Sumer (2005) 94 Instr. Sur. 226-232; TUAT 111/1(1990) 64; M. W. Cha- valas, Women in the Ancient Near East (2014) 63. 7 SAA 1111 no. 2 iv 21; N. Ziegler, Le Harem (1999) 105, 112 f. 8 AbB 7 116:21; L. Waterman, BDHP 25:9. In A. Goetze, Sumer 14 (1958) no.15:4-9, women are obliged to deliver wood. 9 J. G. Dercksen, The Old Assyrian copper trade in Anatolia (1996) 42 n. 142; now Archivum Ana- tolicum 1 (1995) 11, 57, 59; ARM 2 113:18 (suruptu 'fuel'); Ziegler, Le Harem (1999) 233 no.59:18 (surpu). Working outside the home - 341 This must have been a humiliation, for we now understand that this was typically women's work, and the menfolk would not like to be doing that. An invading enemy would first encounter 'the women scooping water at the river bank', a cir- cumstance dramatically elaborated in the poetry of the Ugaritic legend of King Keret. The women gathering wood fled from the fields, from the threshing-floors, The women gathering straw, The women drawing water from the spring, from the fountains, The women filling (jugs).10 18.1 Working outside the home What women did outside the home we learn from the administration archives of the large organisations which had existed in Mesopotamia since the beginning of history. These were concerned chiefly with the businesses of the temple, the king, the matters of state and also of rich individuals. Many women had to do heavy work there, in particular weaving cloth and grinding flour. We can even calculate comparable statistics, mainly from third-millennium Sumerian texts, because the documentation is very detailed regarding the work they did and where they did it. Anything that cost time and money was always accounted for in writing (what we mean by 'money' is 'payments in barley or silver'). Labour costs were calculated per working day or per part of a working day (pro rata); the rate varied according to the age of the worker." This letter outlining monthly rates of pay in litres of barley may represent the norm. 20 working women: thirty litres each; 15 working women: half a day each; 3 boys: twenty litres each; 1 boy: fifteen litres; 3 boys: ten litres each; 4 elderly working women: twenty litres each; 1 elderly worker, the gatekeeper: thirty litres. Total barley for them: 1265 litres.12 10 AbB 5 232:10; Keret, KTU 14 ii ff. (and par.); D. Pardee in The Context of Scripture I1(1997) 335a. 11 A. Uchitel, 'Women at work. Pylos and Knossos, Lagash and Ur', Historia 33 (1984) 257-282 (esp. 264-274); H. Waetzoldt, 'Die Situation der Frauen und Kinder anhand ihrer Einkommens- verhaltnisse zur Zeit der III. Dynastie von Ur', AOF 15 (1988) 30-44; idem, CUSAS 6 (2011) 418 n. 45, 442b (in Girsu); H. Scheyhing, 'Frauen-Kinder-Arbeitsgruppen im 6.munus des altsume- rischen Lagas. Eine Statistik ihrer Lebensdaten nach den se.ba-Listen', WdO 42 (2012) 187-209. 12 TCS 1 no. 335. 342 - Women and work A modern nutritionist states that an adult man, between 20 and 30 years old and weighing 62 kilos, needs 3337 calories daily. That would correspond to a Babylo- nian payment of 45 litres of barley per month. A woman of the same age, weigh- ing 52 kilos, needs 2434 calories, corresponding to 33 litres of barley per month.'3 Others suggest other figures, with the calories for a man varying from 2400 to 3822. We should also remember the uncertain factors in converting their measures of capacity into our metric units of weight.'4 Usually men received sixty litres of barley per month and women thirty litres.'5 Of course there are variations, with the lowest quantities attested in Assyria, at Nuzi and Uarbu.16 A woman in Assur wrote to a merchant in Asia Minor: By paying me twenty litres, they have reduced me to a slave. Slave-girls eat twenty litres and I also eat twenty litres, not to mention the children.17 We see that in times of crisis weavers received ten litres of barley and five litres of dates, so any deficit in the barley was made up with dates.18 The normal ration of 2:: 1 for men to women (60 litres:: 30 litres) was generally maintained in all periods except in Middle Babylonian Nippur where it was 3:: 2 (60 litres:: 40 litres).19 The fact that women need fewer calories than men only partly justifies the different allowances. In Ebla wages were paid out in silver. There women received only three shekels per month while men received five or six. From that allowance they may have had to buy basic necessities, such as barley, sesame oil and wool.20 A clause in the Hittite laws (§ 158) recommends a lower rate of pay for a woman working at the harvest. If a man hires himself out at harvest time for wages, to bind up the stooks, to load them on to wagons, to stack them in the barn, and to clean the threshing-floor, then his wage shall be thirty bushels of barley for three months. If a woman hires herself out at harvest time, then her wage shall be twelve bushels of barley for three months.21 13 G. G. Aperghis in: J. Andreau, La guerre dans les economies antiques (2000)132, 141. 14 R. J. van der Spek; see B. Jank6vic in: P. Briant, L'archive des Fortifications de Persepolis (2008) 440 f. 15 M. Stol, 'Ration', RlA XI/3-4 (2007) 264-269. 16 C. Kiihne in: H. Klengel, J. Renger, Landwirtschaft im Alten Orient (1999) 186. See, however, note 23. Variations in Ur III: Waetzoldt, 34 f. 17 C. Michel, Ktema 22 (1997) 101, 103 f.; CMK no. 375. 18 Waetzoldt, 43. We observe the same in Lagaba; A. Vandewalle apud D. Charpin in: K. R. Veen- hof, Houses and households in Ancient Mesopotamia (1996) 226. 19 H. Torczyner; M. Jursa in Briant, L'archive (2008) 388. 20 A. Archi, CRRAI 47/I (2002) 1f. 21 R. Haase, 'Zur Stellung der Frau im Spiegel der hethitischen Rechtssammlung', AOF 22 (1995) 277-281, at the end. 1 bushel (parisu) = a half kor = 150 litres. Working outside the home - 343 This difference between the wages of the man and the woman in terms of silver shows that she earned one shekel while he earned three and three-quarters of a shekel. With so much heavy work to be done we can suppose that the women were given lighter tasks and consequently paid less. The Sumerian laws of Ur-Nammu show that female weavers could be hired to do work at harvest time or in winter; for wages of 30 litres in summer and 20 litres in winter.22 Barley was only one of the elements needed for sustenance, and processed mate- rials such as flour and bread were also given as payments.23 Sometimes they were given meat, for there was always an abundant supply of sheep carcasses, or soup.24 The principal ingredients of soup were groats, bran, meat, salt and herbs.25 In Egypt workers in the royal tombs were paid with wheat, barley, leavened and unleavened bread, vegetables, fruit and firewood. On special occasions they also received wine, honey, milk, fish, meat, and clothing. In Babylonia apart from food a monthly allowance of sesame oil and an annual allowance of wool could be given. In the Neo-Babylonian period a man is said to have received the generous quantity of 180 litres (one kor) of barley a month, which would be a 'ration' of six litres every day. One assumes that 'ration' here amounts to his wages, a payment in natural products with which he could trade,26 and from which his whole family could live.27 Women were given five or six days every month free from work, but men were given only two or three,28 a subject to be discussed further in Chapter 22. Most of the women are said to be occupied with spinning, weaving or grinding flour, but some were also pressing oil and moving items of equipment including bricks.29 Sumer was a country full of irrigation canals and women were employed in their upkeep. 'Slave-girls' and weavers used to dig, dredge, repair the dikes, and open the sluices for the irrigation channels. They were also busy in the fields, digging furrows, carrying straw, grass or barley, tying up the sheaves and setting them up vertically, several at a time, as stooks, and winnowing on the thresh- 22 C. Wilcke, Festschrift J. Krecher (2014) 519 f., 564 (§d7a-b). 23 W. Heimpel, Workers and construction work at Garsana (2009) 95; B. Jank6vic in Briant, lar- chive (2008) 442-444. That workers consumed only barley is improbable. They must also have eaten other foodstuff as well, so the appallingly low number of calories computed by C. Kiihne (p. 187) cannot be correct. 24 I. J. Gelb, JNES 32 (1973) 82 f.; Heimpel, 91b. 25 Heimpel, 100, 107 f. 26 Jursa and Jank6vic in Briant, L'archive (2008) 411 f., 441. 27 Jursa in P. Briant, 390 n. 17, 408 f., 411, 416, 441. 28 Waetzoldt, 36 f. 29 Heimpel, 47. 344 - Women and work ing-floor.30 Their husbands are not mentioned in these records because the activi- ties of men and women were registered separately. One text from the Ur III period mentions sixteen little workers (perhaps they were children) and nineteen wives of workers.3' Another text may perhaps indicate that free women could be obliged to work, when they would be called 'slave-girls'. As for their menfolk, they may or may not have received a piece of land from which to sustain themselves.32 18.2 Weavers Cloth, clothing, garments and even carpets were woven throughout the region bordering the Mediterranean Sea.33 This took place in large workshops, but prob- ably work was also carried out in the home on commission. We know this from the administration archives from Pylos in Greece, from representations and models in clay from Egypt, and from Babylonian records. It is obvious to the historian that women were the weavers at that time, though in later periods it was the men who did the weaving and the women who did the spinning (Figure 21). Sumerian weavers were involved in the whole process, and they were chiefly women.34 The goddess of weaving was called Uttu, a name possibly related to the word ettutu, 'spider'. She appears towards the end of the important myth of 'Enki and the World Order'. First Enki created the two rivers and the water systems, then the clouds and the rain, agriculture and cattle, building bricks, meadows and sheep, the distribution of land and finally the law. Then came Uttu, the goddess of weaving. In the 'Debate between Sheep and Grain', closely associated with sheep and wool is 'the thread of Uttu and the handloom'. M. Tanret drew atten- tion to the fact that in that myth 'nature' was transformed into 'culture', thanks to the art of weaving. The production of clothing was a factor in humanising people. In the Gilgamesh epic primitive Enkidu discovered that only by wearing clothes and covering one's nakedness did one become human.35 30 'The Farmer's Almanac' 78-80, ed. M. Civil (1994) 32, 90 f.; A. Salonen, Agricultura Meso- potamica (1968) 302-305. Cf. H. Sauren, Topographie der Provinz Umma (1966) 73-83. Certain other tasks they did not perform; p.75, 79. 31 T. Gomi, ASJ 3 (1981) 173 no.169, with A. Uchitel, CRRAI 47/II (2002) 621a. 32 Uchitel, 621-624. 33 A broad exposition on the manufacture of textiles in the Late Bronze Age is offered by M. van de Mieroop, The Eastern Mediterranean in the age of Ramesses II(2007) 153-166. 34 H. Waetzoldt, Untersuchungen zur neusumerischen Textilindustrie (1972) 92 n. 9, 94. 35 M. Tanret, 'The fruit of the loom. Spinning a yarn about the Sumerian goddess Uttu', Studies Julian Klener (2004) 175-197. Weavers - 345 Fig. 21: A cylinder seal showing a woman spinning on the right, and weaving on the left. 2600 BC. Serpentine, 18 x 20 cm. The Newell Collection, Yale University. What did Uttu actually do? She was mentioned in rituals involving the spinning of thread, a necessary process for making clothing, such as the headdress a priest received on the occasion of his investiture, a sort of turban. Uttu took a thread in her hand, Istar put in order the thread of Uttu, a clever woman per- fected the cloth, an old wise woman (puriumtu) put it in order ... Uttu, the good woman, the daughter of Enlil who begot her, the beloved daughter of Ea, spun the white wool with her hand, the [thread] which she had made from it, she made into a pure turban, while praying for purity. She handed it over to the fuller of the land and he cleansed the turban with pure water.36 In a ritual it was Uttu who spun a black and white magic thread to ward off a curse, though of course that thread was actually woven on earth by mortal women. It had to be wound round the head, hands and feet of the sufferer.37 Possibly this honourable task was assigned to the elite group of 'wise old women' who held a special position as part of their temple income, their benefice. For the mortal weavers here on earth any heavenly reflections on their cul- tural task would have lain far beyond their horizons. Their lives were wretched, and their work fit for prisoners-of war. When King Su-Sin announced that he was returning home with rich booty from a campaign, he boasted about doing this and much more. He blinded the young men in their cities which he had conquered, and he put them to work in the date garden of Enlil and Ninlil and the date garden of the great gods.38 And the young women he had conquered in their cities he dedicated to the weaving shops of Enlil and Ninlil and the great gods.39 36 R. Borger, BiOr 30 (1973) 173 ii 41 ff.; M. J. Geller, BSOAS 63 (2000) 332-334; A. L6hnert, Studies Jeremy Black (2010) 187. 37 Surpu V-VI 144-161. 38 For blind people see I. J. Gelb, JNES 32 (1973) 87; Heimpel, 94. 39 R. Kutscher, The Brockmon tablets at the University of Haifa. Royal inscriptions (1989) 78, 90 iv 15-31. Now RIME 3/2 (1997) 304. 346 - Women and work From two consecutive lists of captives who received rations of food dated in the fifth year of his successor Amar-Sin we see how many failed to survive. From an original total of 197 named captives we see that most had died. Of the 167 women on the first list, only 121 were still alive, 46 had died; of 28 children, only 5 were still alive, 23 had died; but two old women were still alive. Among the 121 women who had survived 23 were sick. The second list is dated five months later, and by that time only 39 of the women were still alive. These lists record food distribu- tions, so since they were being given flour and beer, something other than mal- nourishment was the cause of illness and death.40 In addition to the women who had been deported, there were free women working in these workshops as 'slave-girls', probably under duress. A survey of all the weavers working in the five cities of the Sumerian province of Lagash records 6423 women, 109 men, 3141 children and 198 old women. The men acted as workers or fullers to wash the textiles, and they succeeded their fathers into that job.41 Many lists of male and female weavers record the food distributed to them. Half the workers attached to 'The Woman's House' in the province of Lagash were weavers. In one establishment there were 4272 weavers and around 1800 children working with them. When the other personnel, the fullers, the porters and the scribes, are added we arrive at a total of about 6200 people.42 The women worked in groups of twenty, with either a male or a female overseer. They wove wool and sometimes also flax. For high-quality textiles the team consisted of six people.43 In later years the personnel of the weaving sector of the House increased. There were more rations for the women than the men, fluctuating according to produc- tivity, and women from outside were attached to the workforce. This was a labour market in embryo.44 We have a large Old Akkadian tablet formatted in more than ten columns recording the wages for personnel over a period of one month. There are 240 textile workers at the top of that list of 585 female and 105 regular male workers. It seems that the women did the main work and the men provided ancil- 40 TCL V 6039, with Gelb, JNES 32 (1973) 74 f.; B. Lafont in: C. Moatti, La mobilit& des personnes en Mditerranee de l'Antiquit6 d l'poque moderne (2004) 457, 473 f. (translation). 41 A. Uchitel, 'Women at work: weavers of Lagash and spinners of San Luis Gonzaga', CRRAI 47/ II (2002) 621-631; K. Maekawa, ASJ 2 (1980) 112. 42 Waetzoldt, 94. 43 K. Maekawa, 'Female weavers and their children in Lagash - Pre-Sargonic and Ur III', ASJ 2 (1980) 81-125, especially 87, 101 (a 'gang' of twenty women), 89 f. (flax), 109-111 (high-quality textiles). 44 R. Prentice, The exchange of goods and services in Pre-Sargonic Lagash (2010) 54 f., 63, 66, 68, 92 f., 117 (goods for export). Weavers - 347 lary labour. Children are not mentioned on this list, so it could have been a record of labourers in some sort of convent.45 Where children are listed as helpers it is noticeable that most of them were girls, probably the daughters of the weavers. The sons had probably been taken away. They were called 'the cut-off young of a weaver', giving the impression that they had been castrated, though this is not certain. They were put to unskilled work, such as pulling boats on the canals from Lagash to Nippur.46 There were different ranks of weavers. In Old Babylonian Chagar Bazar, of the two women with some responsibility for management, one received 100 litres of barley per month, and the other 60 litres. The individual allowance for the main group of 64 women and 9 men was 40 litres, but five women had only 30 litres, two girls had 20 litres, and four children had 10 litres. In another location we see 174 women and 27 men in the main group. There were almost 1000 people in total who worked in producing textiles.47 Some women who were weavers received a bonus at sheep-shearing time and at New Year.48 In Mari and other cities the wives of patricians directed big textile workshops at their homes.49 In an inventory of the personnel of the house of the 'Amorite scribe' at Mari, we find 32 weavers and 2 flour-grinders with two children.50 The weavers must have worked in a work- shop and what they produced must have been sold. The two flour-grinders only worked for the needs of the house. A king who removed a weaver, promising two as replacements but did not keep his promise, was confronted with the plea, 'My house is being ruined; there is no-one to make the clothes'.5' In the Middle Assyrian period deported women were again put to work as weavers. A list has all their names (including foreign ones), and the amounts of wool they were given and the clothes they were expected to manufacture. Simple people wore a certain sort of garment, which was mass-produced by specialised weavers. Some weavers were expected to produce two garments a day, but for others it could be up to six. One woman made cloth for tents.52 45 MAD 1163 with I. J. Gelb, RA 66 (1972) 3 f., G. Visicato, ASJ 19 (1997) 238 ff. (Group 1). 46 Maekawa, ASJ 2, 81, 112. 'Castrated' is unlikely according to D. 0. Edzard and J. Bauer, AfO 36-37 (1989-90) 88b (rather 'absondern'). 47 Ph. Talon, Old Babylonian texts from Chagar Bazar (1997) 17-24. In Mari female weavers also received different quantities, depending on their ages: 50, 40, 30 litres; ARMT 23 (1984) p.554. 48 Waetzoldt, 35 f. 49 D. Charpin in: K. R. Veenhof, Houses and households in Ancient Mesopotamia (1996) 223. 50 B. Lion, Amurru 2 (2001) 127:22, 24. 51 Lion, 105. 52 S. Jakob, Mittelassyrische Verwaltung und Sozialstruktur (2003) 412-425. 348 - Women and work From the Neo-Babylonian period we know that women wove in the temples.53 Widows worked there and they were forbidden 'to go and live with a citizen', meaning that they could not marry and leave. We see that weaving was also carried out at home, for wool was delivered to a person's house. Five minas of woven cloth, worth ten minas of wool, the property of the Lady of Uruk and Nanaya, accounted to T. the daughter of B. She shall give the cloth in month 4. The names of witnesses follow. It is dated in month 10, so that was enough mate- rial to last them for six months.54 In the Apocryphal book of Tobit we see Anna doing the work at home. At that time Anna my wife used to earn money by women's work, spinning and weaving (drithos), and her employers (kurioi) would pay her when she took them what she had done. One day (...) they not only paid her wages in full, but also gave her a kid from their herd of goats to take home (Tobit 2:11-12). In the Persian period, according to the administration archives from Persepolis from the time of Darius, the quantity of food distributed to men and women did not differ much in the textile industry.55 Often they received equal quantities, but that could depend on rank. A leading woman received fifty litres of barley plus thirty litres of wine and one-third of a beast from the small livestock. However men mostly received thirty litres of barley a month and women twenty, and in addition they might receive wine and meat. After the birth of a child a woman would receive an increased allowance for five months: twenty litres of grain and ten litres of wine or beer if the baby was a boy, but half that if it was a girl.56 This fits in with the observation made by Herodotus. I, 136. After bravery in battle what ranks next as particularly courageous is when someone begets many children, and the one who can point to the greatest number of children, receives presents from the king. 53 F. Joannes in P. Briant, L'archive (2008) 472f. 54 M. Jursa, Iraq 59 (1997) 108 no.13; F. Joannes in: C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch, Textile terminologies in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from the third to the first millennia BC (2010) 404. Note 'one roll (kirku) of home-made cloth', M. T. Roth, Babylonian marriage agreements (1989) 108 no. 34:16. 55 H. Koch, 'Frauen im Achamenidenreich', Studies 0. Klima (1994)125-141; P. Briant, Histoire de l'empire perse de Cyrus d Alexandre 11996) 444 f. 56 Briant, 448. For this, see also G. G. Aperghis in: J. Andreau, La guerre dans les economies antiques (2000) 133. Weavers - 349 The loom was positioned horizontally above the ground, kept securely in place with stakes in the ground. Weaving was certainly a profession. In Old Babylonian letters there is at least one request for slave-girls who were weavers. My girls have died. Have one slave-girl brought to me, and whatever else she may be let her be a weaver.57 The administration archives give us an insight into the sequence of tasks neces- sary to produce the finished cloth.58 The raw material was wool from the flocks on the grasslands, and the end-product garments known to have been produced in Babylonia. In the Bible we find a reference to that as a stamp of quality, when a man took 'a coat from Shinar (the name for Babylonia), a beautiful garment' from the spoils of Jericho (Joshua 7:21). Beautiful robes were the ultimate luxury and were exchanged as gifts between kings.59 The weaving shops mainly produced cloth from which clothes could be made, but clothes could also be produced there. More than once differentiating cloth from clothes in a text is hard.60 In the Neo-Babylonian period we find some specialist weavers, such as those who wove multicoloured cloth, and one woman who produced linen garments.61 In the weaving workshops where the wool was processed they reckoned to get wool weighing two minas from one fleece of a sheep. The cloth was woven to standard measurements: in the Ur III period a standard length was no bigger than 7 x 8 els (= cubits), in the Old Assyrian period 9 x 8 els, and in Nuzi 15 x 5 els. The weight of a standard length of cloth was six minas overall.62 Among the mathe- matical problems set for schoolboys was how long it would take to weave a length of cloth 48 els long, given that a weaver would normally weave a third of an el in a day. The solution was that the work would last for 144 days. That is longer than has been proposed from calculations based on actual practice.63 57 OBTR 122:21-24; A. al-Zeebari, ABIM 20:80 f.; AbB 6 4:26, 156:6. 58 H. Waetzoldt, Untersuchungen zur neusumerischen Textilindustrie (1972); idem, 'Die Textilpro- duktion von Garsana', CUSAS 6 (2011) 405-454; M. Stol, Mesopotamien. Die altbabylonische Zeit (= OBO 160/4) (2004) 965-970. 59 Van de Mieroop, The Eastern Mediterranean (2007) 164. 60 Cloths: Michel, Nosch, Textile terminologies, 150 (Ebla), 230, 261-264 (Old Assyrian), 406 (Neo-Babylonian). 61 CAD I/J 253 f. 62 C. Zaccagnini, SCCNH 1 (1981) 360 f. Ur III: lengths of three to six metres are attested; Waet- zoldt, CUSAS 6 (2011) 411-413. 63 Waetzoldt, Untersuchungen, 139. 350 - Women and work Fig. 22: The grinding room in the palace of Ebla. Barley was ground between a large lower millstone and a cylinder-like upper millstone. Ebla. 2000 BC. 18.3 Grinding flour To grind flour a person had to kneel on the ground and rotate the upper millstone over the lower flat millstone. Excavators at Ebla discovered many millstones in one room, meaning that many women would have all been working there together (Figure 22). One text mentions ninety millers.64 We also find an account with 950 people in a workshop, but that may include some weavers. The monthly ration could vary slightly.65 Much information can be gathered from texts concern- 64 M. G. Biga, La Parola del Passato 46 (1991) 302 f. 65 Survey: L. Milano, 'Miihle', RIA VIII/5-6 (1995) 397-399, § 4, 'Work at the mill'. Grinding flour - 351 ing the processing of barley to make flour from the Ur III period.66 First we have the working time made available by the state, expressed in terms of working days, and the amount of barley to be processed. Then we have an overview of the work actually carried out, in which we see how many workers were actually employed. Calculations show that there were fixed times for processing the barley into spe- cific sorts of flour. The coarser the flour the less time taken to produce it: twenty litres of groats could be ground in a day, but only ten litres of 'fat flour', and the rate of production of finer types of flour ranged from 6.66 to 8 litres per day. A particular type of millstone was required to produce a particular type of flour.67 At the bottom of the tablet we find how many days of work were in deficit or in surplus when compared to the standard production expected. The time needed to produce a given amount of flour could be calibrated in terms of silver, the means of payment used by the merchants. One shekel of silver equated to ninety days of work. It is difficult to track down the fixed exchange values which pertained. These uniform standards were linked to the introduction of weights and the new law-book written by King Sulgi, the so-called 'Laws of Ur-Nammu'. Converting the rates and calculating them according to fixed standards led to the study of applied mathematics in scribal schools. Later we see the almost proverbial stand- ard of flour to be ground per day equated with an amount of ten litres, one sutu in Akkadian (one seah in Hebrew).68 According to the administration archives of the temple of Inanna of Nippur it seemed that female flour-grinders worked in 'the women's house', where they received payment in various commodities including wool. Each person was referred to by name and after the name we regularly find the gloss 'infant boy' or 'infant girl'.69 Outside Nippur on three occasions we find a blind woman grinding barley.70 It is known that people could be deliberately blinded and then put to work as a flour-grinder or as a weaver or a singer. The blind singer will be dis- cussed later in this chapter.7' Samson was blinded and then made to grind grain. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes (...) and he was set to grinding grain in the prison (Judges 16:21). 66 H. J. Nissen, Frfhe Schrift und Techniken der Wirtschaftsverwaltung im alten Vorderen Orient (1990) 86-89, 125-130; R. K. Englund, Organisation und Verwaltung der Ur III-Fischerei (1990) 79-90; JNES 50 (1991) 255-280. 67 AbB 7 19:24. 68 Milano, 398a; M. Stol, JCS 34 (1982) 154 f.; idem, Mesopotamien (note 58), 757 f. 69 R. Zettler, The Ur III temple of Inanna at Nippur (1992) 261, 4 NT 213 i 1-20, with p.174 f. 70 W. Farber, ZA 75 (1985) 223 (35) (Chagar Bazar); B. Lion, Amurru 3 (2004) 223 (Mari). 71 Lion, 223. In general see W. Heimpel, Kaskal 6 (2009) 45 f. (Ur III). 352 - Women and work A letter from Mari reads: Do not sell those men. Have their eyes 'touched' and put them to work grinding barley, or have their tongues [cut off], so that no word gets out. That seems to us barbaric,72 but perhaps these people were not totally blinded. An Assyrian king made this improbable boast. I slaughtered their hordes. I blinded 14,000 survivors and took them as booty.73 These survivors may have been blinded in just one eye. In the epilogue to the laws of Ur-Nammu youths are cursed with blindness: May the young men of his town be blind, may the young women of his town be infertile.74 In the Neo-Babylonian period we sometimes find women grinding in the 'flour house',75 a house which according to one letter measured 10 x 7.5 metres. Another place where flour was ground was the prison, and there from as early as the Sumerian period it was men who did this.76 There is some evidence to say that women ground the special types of flour. In this later period women were also put to work to fatten poultry, ducks, geese and pigeons.77 One Sumerian text may have been a fragment of a song sung by the grinders as they worked.78 This work-song is called an elalu in Sumerian, and would be comparable with the alala, a similar song sung while ploughing and harvesting. In Assyrian royal inscriptions we read that whenever the alala rang out over the fields prosperity abounded. By contrast, a proverb shows that it would be prefer- able not to have to sing the song because there was no millstone available. As they say, 'I do not know the work song. If it (the millstone) gets lost, I will not suffer.' 72 ARM 14 78, end, with J.-M. Durand, LAPO 18 (2000) 66-68. Cruelty in Mari: D. Bonneterre, MARI 8 (1997) 537-561. 73 RIMA 1(1987)184, Shalmaneser I no.1:73-5, with P. Machinist, Assur 3/2 (1982) 18. Cf. H. Frey- dank, OLZ 80 (1985) 233 f. (poor eyesight, 'sehschwach'). 74 CUSAS 17 (2011) 246 g 16 f., 252b. 75 F. Joannes in: P. Briant, L'archive des Fortifications de Persepolis (2008) 470-472. 76 F. N. H. al-Rawi, Nisaba 24 (2009) no.5. 77 Jursa and Joannes in Briant, L'archive (2008) 390 n. 16, 474. 78 M. Civil, 'The Song of the Millstone', Studies J. Sanmartin (2006) 121-138. Women as musicians and singers - 353 The Sumerian song pictures the need to create friction between the millstone and the harder stone on which it has to be rotated, and both are needed. Both appear again in a myth about stones, where they are given their place in life in primae- val times. The god Ninurta decreed that 'an insignificant, weak person' (that was the woman flour-grinder) would be given to the stone 'to fight the hunger in the land'.79 18.4 Women as musicians and singers Female musicians include both singers and instrumentalists. The singers were called zammiru, derived from the Semitic word zamdru, 'to sing', and the instru- mentalists were called ndru, derived from the Sumerian word nar. We group these musicians together since the instrumentalists are also regularly depicted sing- ing.80 A Sumerian proverb says, A musician (nar) with good breathing - that is a real musician (SP 2.57). There are also illustrations of singers without an instrument.8' On one side of the Standard of Ur found in the royal tombs of Ur are scenes of life in times of peace, and on the other side there are wartime scenes. On the right of the top row of the peacetime section is a man standing with a lyre, and behind him we can make out a woman who is perhaps a singer (Figure 23).82 On two Old Sumerian reliefs we see a woman with a lyre and a man with a harp.83 In the royal tombs of Ur the women were holding lyres. It seems that women played the lyre and men the harp (Figure 24). A seated, beardless man (though it could be a woman) is playing a 79 The proverb: CUSAS 2 (2007) 29 f. with Civil, 122; M. W. Chavalas, Women in the Ancient Near East (2014) 86. The myth is Lugale, lines 448-462 (Civil, 133 f.). 80 D. Shehata, Musiker und ihr vokales Repertoire. Untersuchungen zu Inhalt und Organisation von Musikerberufen und Liedgattungen in altbabylonischer Zeit (2009) 30. 81 'Sanger, S ngerin', in der Bildkunst, RlA XI/7-8 (2008) 503-506. For a singer visibly singing see Joan Rimmer, Ancient musical instruments of Western Asia (1969) plate XIV, b; M. Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik (2004) Tafel 35 no.84 (in the middle, with his hand at his throat). 82 Rimmer, Ancient musical instruments, frontispiece; J. Reade, Mesopotamia (1991) 52 fig. 51; D. P. Hansen in: R. Zettler, L. Horne, Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur (1998) 44-47, 54 (grave PG 779). Drawing in A. Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East I1(1995) 35 fig. 2. 83 W. Orthmann, Der Alte Orient (1975), plates 82, 83 ('Weihplatte'); Schuol, Hethitische Kult- musik, Tafel 27 nos. 67, 68. 354 - Women and work Fig. 23: A scene which represents peacetime. A man is playing a lyre with eleven strings; the woman behind him must be a singer. She has the same hairstyle as the singer Ur-Nanse from Mari. The 'Standard of Ur'. Ur. 2600 BC. Mosaic made of shells, lapis lazuli and lime- stone. Height 5 cm. British Museum, London. Fig. 24: A votive plaque showing a woman playing a lyre. A similar plaque shows a man playing a harp. Gypsum. Height 24.6 cm. Nippur. Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Women as musicians and singers - 355 Fig. 25: After being beaten by the Assyrians in 653 BC, the Elamites greet their new viceroy. Their rulers bow before him. The men and women parading behind include eight playing an upright harp, two a double flute, and one a tambourine. They are followed by fifteen women and children clapping in accompaniment. In the river below the corpses of those killed in the battle can be seen floating along. Nineveh palace relief. British Museum, London. vertical harp.84 This type of harp was held in the lap, the string arm horizontal, the box upright in front of the player's chest.85 Reliefs in the Assyrian palaces show women with such a harp and men plucking a horizontal harp with a plec- trum.86 A palace relief of King Ashurbanipal shows subjugated Elamites greeting 84 H. Frankfort, The art and architecture of the Ancient Orient (1954) plate 59, B; Orthmann, Der Alte Orient, plate 185, a; Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik, Tafel 30 no. 74; S. N. Kramer, Le mariage sacre (1983) 101. On an Old Babylonian terracotta a man is playing the horizontal harp; Kramer, 192. 85 Rimmer, Ancient musical instruments, 21; the horizontal harp is described on p. 30 f. 86 Reliefs: A. Moortgat, The art of ancient Mesopotamia (1969) plates 287, 288; SAA III (1989) 15 fig. 4 (= Rimmer, Ancient musical instruments, plate XII). 356 - Women and work him while playing musical instruments and singing (Figure 25). We follow the description of the scene by S. Macgregor.87 Five male instrumentalists, six female instrumentalists, and then six women and nine chil- dren who appear to be clapping to the music. Seven of the eleven instruments played by the male and female musicians are vertical harps. Vertical harps were clearly a popular instrument throughout the centuries in the ancient Near East, perhaps because they had the largest pitch-range of any musical instrument. The other musical instruments in the Elamite procession are one horizontal harp, two divergent double pipes and one cylindrical drum. The horizontal harp appears to be a gender-specific musical instrument and is only played by male musicians. Men, often accompanied by the harp, sang the laments which were part of the cult liturgies. Many terracottas show a woman playing a tambourine, holding it with both hands across her chest.88 Women often danced to the accompaniment of a tambourine or framed drum. An ivory ointment box (pyxis) from the palace of Calah shows three women with a double flute, tambourine and a sort of zither (Figure 26).89 In third-millennium art we sometimes see a drum, almost the size of man, a kettledrum, being played either by a man or by a woman.90 Old Baby- lonian texts associate women with the instrument tigi, a drum or tambourine.91 From a Sumerian song about Dumuzi and Inanna: My girlfriend was dancing with me in the square, she ran around with me, playing the tam- bourine (ub) and the recorder (gis PA), her chants, being sweet, she sang for me. 87 S. L. Macgregor, 'Foreign musicians in Neo-Assyrian royal courts', Studies Anne D. Kilmer (2011) 137-159, esp. 148-152 (good photos with an old drawing of the scene). Neo-Assyrian music: S. L. MacGregor, Beyond hearth and home. Women in the public sphere in Neo-Assyrian society (= SAAS 21) (2012) 29-54; this scene: p.36-41. 88 M.-Th. Barrelet, Figurines et reliefs en terre cuite de la Mesopotamie antique (1968) nos. 340-364; Sumer-Assur-Babylon (Hildesheim 1978) no.108. 89 J. E. Curtis, J. E. Reade, Art and Empire (1995) 150 no.121; Rimmer, Ancient musical instru- ments, plate VII, a. Drawing in S. Emerit, Le statut du musicien dans la Mediterranee ancienne (2013) 26. 90 N. Ziegler, Florilegium Marianum IX (2007) 74 (the alO); Moortgat, The art of ancient Meso- potamia, plates 199 (drawing: Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik, Tafel 30 no. 73), 200. 91 D. Shehata, Musiker, 40-44. Women as musicians and singers - 357 Fig. 26: Ivory ointment box (pyxis) from the Assyrian palace at Calah Three women are playing a double flute, a tambourine and a sort of zither. British Museum, London. These verses suggest that the girl is playing the instrument uppu and the boy is dancing (melulu).92 This scene is known from terracottas where a woman is playing and a boy is squatting or dancing (Figure 27).93 The lute was played only by men on joyful and informal occasions. On an earthenware disc two female dancers are depicted with two smaller men with a lute in between them, and behind them are three seated monkeys.94 It is not easy to distinguish beardless men from women. On a relief of Sen- nacherib we see two priests, without beards and wearing pointed hats, holding horizontal harps, parading from left to right, and three figures who could be women. One of these three holds a tambourine, another a cymbal (?) and another a tambourine.95 92 Y. Sefati, Sumerian love songs (1998) 186 f., lines 15-17. 93 Catalogue Das vorderasiatische Museum Berlin (1992) 103 no. 47. 94 Orthmann, Der Alte Orient, plate 186, b with p. 303; Sumer-Assur-Babylon, no. 109; Schuol, Hethitische Kultmusik, Tafel 32 no. 78. 95 A relief in two parts: D. Collon in: K. Watanabe, Priests and officials in the Ancient Near East (1999) 24, 41 f., figs. 28 f. Drawings: C. J. Gadd, The Stones of Assyria (1936) Pl. 22 (after p. 104, with p.176); Moortgat, The art of ancient Mesopotamia, 154 fig. 109. 358 - Women and work Fig. 27: A terracotta showing a woman with lyre on the left and a man with a tambourine on the right. 1800 BC. Terracotta. Height 13.7 cm; width 10.4 cm. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. A statue from the court of King Iblul-Il of Mari (2500 BC) shows the leader of the musicians96 with the inscription, For Iblul-Il, king of Mari, Ur-Nanse, the great musician, has dedicated his statue to the goddess Inanna-...y' 96 Moortgat, plate 68 f.; Orthmann, Der Alte Orient, plate 24 with p. 165 f. 97 I. S. Cooper, Sumerian and Akkadian royal inscriptions 1(1986) 88 f., Ma 5.2. Women as musicians and singers - 359 Fig. 28: Statue of the prominent singer and musician in Mari Ur-Nanse, looking like a