A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

6.3 Inheritance and Transfer inter vivos

6.3.1 According to Janssen and Pestman,^410 a married couple could

have three different kinds of property:

1. private property of the husband, inherited from his parents.


2. private property of the wife, inherited from her parents.


3. joint property, being goods acquired while the couple was married.
   On termination of the marriage, through death or divorce, two
   thirds were for the husband (or his heirs); one third went to the
   wife (or her heirs).^411

The husband does not seem normally to have inherited from his

(deceased) wife, nor did she inherit from him.^412 While some changes

were possible in the usual sequence of inheritance, there were restric-

tions. Janssen and Pestman assert that “the testator cannot disinherit

his children in favour of other persons, at least not without their

agreement, but he is free to disinherit some of his children in favour

of others or to allot a larger share to some than to others.”^413

6.3.2 The usual heirs were the children. This explains why a man

sometimes adopts his own wife as a daughter, since she could thus

inherit, with less danger of other parties contesting the transfer, as

in the Adoption Papyrus^414 and, perhaps, P. Turin 2021.^415 According

to Seidl, a person could inherit either through a testament or through

the customary rights of inheritance, that is, the eldest son would

normally inherit.^416 He points out that it is not clear whether the

eldest son was then compelled to compensate the mother and other

children of the deceased or, rather, administered the estate in the

interests of all.^417 Explicit wills are rare.^418

(^410) Janssen and Pestman, “Bulaq X.. .,” 164–70. See also Eyre, “Adoption...,”
213.
(^411) Janssen and Pestman, “Bulaq X.. .,” 164–65. See also Allam, “Papyrus Turin
2021.. .,” 24; ’ernÿ, “Will of Naunakhte.. .,” 49.
(^412) Janssen and Pestman, “Bulaq X.. .,” 165–66.
(^413) Ibid., 167.
(^414) See ibid., 166.
(^415) See ’ernÿand Peet, “Marriage Settlement.. .” See also ’ernÿ, “Constitution.. .”;
Allam, “Papyrus Turin 2021...”
(^416) Seidl, Einführung.. ., 57.
(^417) But cf. Allam, “Familie und Besitzverhältnisse.. .,” 36.
(^418) ’ernÿ, “Will of Naunakhte.. .,” 42, lists only three testaments from the New
Kingdom (Naunakhte, Senimose, O. Deir el-Medina 108); one from the Middle
Kingdom, Kahun (pls. 11–13), and one from the Old Kingdom, Wepemnofret.
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