ple, there may be a time gap, during which, again, the judicial
authority may be approached with the request for a judgment: “May
he render a judgment in this case!”^903.3.7 An alternative to the oath is the river ordeal. It seems to
have been practiced quite frequently, as a large list with seventeen
short protocols of ordeals and another fragmentary tablet, both from
Nippur, show.^91 A single tablet reports a river ordeal and a declara-
tory oath.^92 The protocols of the large tablet succinctly mention the
object in dispute, the party who “went down to the divine River,”
the opponent, and a commissioner. Most disputes are over fields,
some over silver, barley, oxen, and sheep; one is about a slave. In
the fragmentary text, the issue is a “stolen slave from Isin.”3.3.8 The final step is a promissory oath of the losing party not
to bring up the same issue again, normally phrased as in contracts:
“not to return to it he/they swore by the name of the king.”^933.4 Self-help
In the course of a dispute over a debt, the creditor seems to have
taken two small children of the debtor in lieu of the debt. The debtor
then “stole” his children, but the creditor took them back.^943.5 Settlement
A complicated dispute over a family inheritance (Enlile-maba archive)
contains settlements in and out of court.^95(^90) See the previous note.
(^91) SRU 98 (= Westenholz, Early Cuneiform.. ., no. 49); 99 (= ibid., no. 159).
(^92) Owen, “A Unique.. .” I translate: “Ur-Dumuzida.k came, he had come forth
for Ur-En-lila.k from the place of (the goddess) Nin¢ursaºg.k from the divine River
and he swore for him the declaratory oath. (Now Ur-Enlila.k) has renounced the
claim. (Witnesses). They are its witnesses.”
(^93) See in general Oelsner, “Klageverzicht(sklausel)” and SRU p. 223f. s.v. mu;
pa; pà; Krecher, “Neue Sumerische.. .,” p. 264 s.v. mu; mu...pà.
(^94) SRU 89.
(^95) Westenholz, Old Sumerian.. ., no. 48 iii 6–15.
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