in these clauses. Understandably, since many marriages were
arranged, and in the nature of business contracts between the
bride’s and groom’s families. These contracts involved the transfer of
property, often probably quite considerable, from one contracting
party to another. So pre-nuptial agreements acted rather like
insurance policies which would take effect in the event of a divorce or
the death of one of the marriage-partners.
A broad distinction is made, however, between ‘formal’
marriages, and marriages based purely on cohabitation. Whether
or not property transference was associated with the union seems
to have been a significant aspect of the distinction. In the‘formal’
variety, it was customary for the prospective bridegroom to present
his bride-to-be or her family with a gift before an engagement
became official, and then a more substantial‘gift’as part of the
betrothal procedures. This second gift was known as akusata,a
term generally translated as‘brideprice’. Prior to the wedding, the
bride’s father presented his daughter with a dowry. This was her
share of the family estate, and it remained hers for the rest of her
life. Her husband may have become the formal custodian of the
Figure 16.1 A Hittite wedding?
146 WARRIORS OF ANATOLIA