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flogging and shaving half the accuser’s head. It is not clear whether
the context is a formal accusation in court.^2148.8 Witchcraft
LH 2 obliquely refers to witchcraft being punished with death and
forfeiture of property to the accuser.- S I
This period is notable for a special category of women dedicated to
a god, the most important of which was the nadìtum. Certain spe-
cial rules of inheritance applied to them.9.1 A nadìtum of Shamash was regarded as the god’s junior wife
(his first wife being a goddess); she was not allowed to marry a mor-
tal but had to live in a type of cloister known as a gagûm.^215 This
did not prevent her from owning property; indeed, such women
actively traded in land and defended their rights through litigation.^216
She received a dowry from her father like any bride, but land was
customarily left to her brothers to exploit. If they failed to give her
a satisfactory allowance from it, she could put it in the hands of a
farmer instead (LH 178). Her dowry was inalienable and would be
inherited by her brothers after her death, unless her father had given
her free disposition of it, in which case she could bequeath it to
whom she wished (LH 179). It was common, however, for a nadì-
tum to adopt a niece, also a nadìtum, as her universal heir. If her
father failed to dower her, LH 180 awards her a full inheritance
share like a son.9.2 A nadìtum of other deities who did not live in a cloister was
allowed to marry but not to conceive children herself; instead, she
relied on a second wife (“ugètum—perhaps also a type of dedicated
woman) or a slave, becoming the mother of their offspring with her
husband through a legal fiction (LH 144–47; see 5.1.5 above). If(^214) See Driver and Miles, Babylonian Laws, 277–80.
(^215) Harris, “The nadìtuWoman”; Renger, “Priestertum.. .,” 149–76.
(^216) Stol, “Care of the Elderly.. .,” 84–116.
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