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5.1.1 Conditions
Marriage was based on a prior contract between the groom and the
parents of the future bride (several times her mother and/or brother)
or the woman herself, if she was independent. It created betrothal
(see 5.1.2 below), but whether all the terms were agreed at this stage
is not clear. Assyrian marriages could be polygamous, insofar as the
traders could have two wives, one in Assur and one in (a particu-
lar area of ) Anatolia, but never of the same status and never in the
same place. Concubinage (with slave girls) is attested. In most cases,
husband and wife enjoyed equal status: both could divorce, and the
penalties for breach of contract were identical for both.5.1.2 Betrothal and Marriage
The first stage was a betrothal contract, arranged between the future
groom (or his parents) and the parents of the girl,^102 basically a
mutual promise of a future marriage,^103 to be consummated when
the girl had grown up.^104 KTS 2 55 states that a man will marry
the (adopted?) daughter of two women (sic) and that both parties
will have to pay a fine if they break the contract: the parents if they
give their daughter to someone else, the man if he marries another
girl. A man’s refusal to keep such an (oral?) promise resulted in the
verdict EL 275: “PN can give his daughter to whom he wishes”
(complete text!). Two other verdicts,^105 which state that parents can
give a girl to a husband of their choice, probably record the ter-
mination of an inchoate marriage, because in both the girl is already
designated as “the wife of PN.”^106
Marriage contracts usually offer no information on details such as
payment by the groom, dowry, transfer of the bride, and so forth.
Information on ceremonies and verba solemnia is equally lacking,
but in a letter the intention to give a girl in marriage is expressed
by the phrase “I will put a veil on the girl’s head”.^107(^102) E.g., BIN 6 104; VAS 26 64.
(^103) In kt 88/k 625, the brother of the bride states “you gave your word to my
father, so marry your wife!”
(^104) Balkan, “Betrothal.. .,” 4, l. 4ff.
(^105) Kt 78/k 176 and kt 88/k 1095.
(^106) After a divorce, an independent woman “will go to the husband of her choice”
(kt 91/k 158 + 240).
(^107) AKT 3 80:22ff.
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