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6.1 Real Property
While there is ample evidence of ownership of houses by Assyrian
traders, there is none for fields.^133 Neither in Assyria nor in Anatolia
are there conveyances of fields, and fields are also absent from last
wills and lawsuits involving inheritance. In Assur, traders invested
rather in expensive houses, which could be pledged or put up for
sale when they ran into financial problems. Ownership of fields in
Anatolia is attested for the local population (sold, pledged, inherited)
but not for Assyrians, not because of a legal prohibition,^134 but because
investment in commercial activities was much more profitable. Among
Anatolians, fields were sold (see 7.1.4 below), offered as security (TC
3 238:9f.), and inherited.6.2. Inheritance
Our knowledge of inheritance law is based on a few testaments and
scattered references in letters and records. The relationship of the
testaments to traditional law is difficult to discern: they may, for
example, have ameliorated the entitlements of women. The most
detailed, “Tablette Thierry,” moreover, is a special case, since the
testator did not have children of his own and divided his property
between his (half ) sisters and (half ) brothers.^1356.2.1 Testaments
Property was inherited on the basis of “testamentary dispositions”
(“ìmtum, “ìmti bètim) made by its owner before his death. Women could
also make testaments, but the cases we know concern widows.^136 In
nearly all cases where a division of a paternal estate (bèt abim) is at(^133) For a single exception in a somewhat later deed of adoption, where the adop-
tive son will inherit his father’s field, see 5.2.2 above and Veenhof, “Manumission...”
(^134) As suggested by Kienast, Kaufvertragsrecht..., 6.
(^135) Garelli, “Tablettes.. .,” III, 131f.; I follow the interpretation of Wilcke, “Testa-
mente.. .,” 204ff., who assumes that the testator’s father had married twice and
divided his inheritance between sons, his (half ) brothers and (half ) sisters. See also
Veenhof, “Care of the Elderly...,” 139f.
(^136) Kt 91/k 453, the testament of I“tar-lamassì. In kt 91/k 423, this lady, “on
her deathbed” and in the presence of witnesses, actually divides her assets among
her sons and the amounts of silver given to two of them match those mentioned
in her testament. See, for these records, Veenhof, “Care of the Elderly...,” 137f.
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