452
Payment of an agreed sum (in silver) to the parents of the bride,
though probably customary, is mentioned only in TPK 1 161. The
use of the words “the price for her” (“ìmù“a)^108 is not convincing evi-
dence for “marriage by purchase” (Kaufehe), also because a special
term for bridal payment (like the Babylonian ter¢atum) is not used in
Old Assyrian.5.1.3 The Status of the Women
Six marriage contracts concern marriages between Assyrians. Others
record mixed marriages and one a purely Anatolian one (KTS 2 6).
In the Assyrian contracts, the bride can be married as a““atum, “wife,”
and as amtum,^109 which does not mean “slave girl,” but refers to a
status lower than that of an a““atum, (main/first) “wife.” There are
no indications that an amtum wife had fewer rights, but perhaps her
children had if there were also children of an a““atum.^110 Both Anatolian
and Assyrian girls (I 490) could become amtuwives. The choice for
a particular type of marriage was governed by two principles: (a) no
two wives of the same status, and (b) no two wives, whatever their
status, in the same area.^111 Hence an Assyrian amtumwife in Anatolia
for a man who already has an a““atumin Assur (I 490), an (Anatolian)
a““atum in Anatolia and permission to marry a hierodule (qadi“tum)
in Assur (ICK 1 3), and an Assyrian a““atum in Anatolia, but no
hierodule in the same area (“in Kanish and Nehria”; AKT 1 77).^112
Concubinage is attested in EL 287 (division of an inheritance), where
one son has taken a slave girl “in concubinage?” (ana i“tariùti“u), and
his brothers acquire “each one of the slave-girls they have known
sexually.”^113 A number of mainly Anatolian contracts simply forbid
the marriage of “another wife” (a““atum “anìtum).(^108) It also occurs in AKT 1 77 and kt n/k 1414.
(^109) Kt d/k 29; I 490; ICK 1 32; TPK 1 161; 86/k 203. See also Westbrook,
“Female Slave.. .,” 230ff.
(^110) Assumed by Lewy, “Institutions.. .,” 3f., but without proof.
(^111) Very clear in the expression “he shall not make another wife dwell next to
her” (“anìtam!i““a¢ati“a làu“e““ab; AKT 1 77 and kt 94/k 149, where the penalty
for the groom is 5 minas of silver).
(^112) For other permitted or forbidden polygamous marriages, see AKT 1 76; EL
1; TPK 1 161; kt 86/k 203 (“no a““atumin addition to his amtum”), and kt 94/k
149.
(^113) See Westbrook, “Female Slave.. .,” 220f., but note that the last line of this
contract has to be read “their offspring is also theirs” (“unum[ma]).
WESTBROOK_f11–431-483 8/27/03 12:27 PM Page 452