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injury and theft (254, 256)^46 and a boundary dispute (249). In Elam,
it seems to have been used for disputes over property and inheritance.3.3.4.3 As with the oath, use of this procedure was probably a mat-
ter for the court’s discretion. In the sources from Elam, it is stressed
that the ordeal was undergone freely and voluntarily (e.g., MDP 23
242:1–5 ina †ubàti“u ina nar"amàti“u), but it could still have been ordered
by the court. The subject could refuse to undergo the ordeal, thereby
losing the case.3.3.4.4 The reasons for using the ordeal are unclear. It had the
advantage of giving an immediate divine judgment, whereas with the
oath, divine punishment would have to be awaited. It may also have
been the last resort when all other attempts to ascertain the truth
had failed. In CT 29 42–43, after the plaintiffhad twice rejected a
judgment based on the oath, the king sent the parties to “the river
god, the judge of truth.”^47- P S
4.1 Citizenship
4.1.1 AS 3, 5, 6, and 9 annul the debts of an “Akkadian or Amorite.”
This phrase appears to base citizenship upon an ethnic criterion,
either limiting it to the two groups in question or including all native
inhabitants by way of merism. A second criterion is found in the
same document, that of place of birth. The phrase “son of GN” is
commonly used to designate a freeborn native of a city. AS 20,
which directly decrees release from debt slavery, is directed to the
natives of particular cities: “a son of Numhia, a son of Emut-balum,
a son of Idamaraz, etc.” A similar slave-release provision in NBC
8618 (= Hallo, “Slave Release.. .”) adds to the list “a son of the
land” (màr màtim), a phrase which is used in LH in contrast to a
“son of another land,” a foreigner (281–82). This suggests that the
lists of cities are synecdochic for the whole of Babylonia.(^46) Lafont argues, contrary to Durand’s explanation (“L’Ordalie,” 515, 534), that
254 concerns two charges: severely injuring a slave woman by beating and misap-
propriation (“AEM 1/1 254...”)
(^47) Following the reading of Wilcke, “Diebe.. .,” 77, n. 106.
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