A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

6.2.1.2 According to document Foxvog (ELTS 32a) from Adab, a

son inherits a claim to payments.^144

6.2.1.3 Widows inherit the administration of their husband’s estate,

for the benefit of their sons.^145

6.2.1.4 A right of inheritance of brothers, a sister and other mem-

bers of the household of the deceased may be concluded from their

role as witnesses to sales contracts (by which they forego future claims

to the property),^146 especially when the scribes call them “brother”

or “sister of the person,”^147 “brother of the field” or “(member of

the) household of the field.”^148 The “little sister” (nin-) of a deceased

seller receives the last installment of the price at the time of his

funeral.^149

6.2.2 Sargonic Period

6.2.2.1 A commissioner is involved in dividing a woman’s estate at

Adab^150 and in a division of slaves at ΩGirsu.^151 Evidently, the aid of

a law court had been necessary in these cases. The Enlile-maba

archive documents the passage of a disputed estate, called the prop-

erty (zax[LAK 384]) of the deceased, through three generations of

merchants at Nippur.^152 As well as property, responsibility for the

family corvée tax (dusu é-ad-da.k, see 2.1.3.4.2 above) passed on the

deathbed, perhaps to the next eldest brother.^153

(^144) Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 44–47.
(^145) E.g. Grand document juridique, A+B (Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden...,”
48–50).
(^146) E.g. SRU 13 iii 1; ELTS 14 section F (Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden...,”
41; of the two alternatives mentioned, it seems more plausible that the witnesses
are the father and the brothers of the deceased); ELTS 32a (Document Foxvog,
“Funerary Furnishings.. .”).
(^147) “e“lú.k or nin lú.k: see Krecher, “Neue sumerische.. .,” p. 169f.; 4 iii 9; SRU
7 iii 8; 8 iv 3; Visicato and Westenholz, “Some Unpublished.. .,” no. 5 v iii 10.
(^148) Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 36, on ELTS 15 vi 19 (ad sections F,
G, L).
(^149) SRU 35 iv 3; see Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 46f., and “Vom
Verhältnis.. .,” 364.
(^150) OIP 14, no. 90.
(^151) ITT 2 2917 (Foster, “Notes.. .,” no. 10).
(^152) Westenholz, “Old Sumerian.. .,” nos. 44–78.
(^153) Ibid., no. 48 iii 17–iv 5: “In the presence of his wife Urni, Ur-Namma.k,
when dying, burdened E-lu with the corvée tax, ⅔of a pound of silver.. .”; cf.
62 i 1–11.
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