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cleared (zakû) by the ordeal or “returned” (târu), that is, not cleared;^57
that persons asked not to be sent to the ordeal;^58 and that persons
refused to take the ordeal.^59 As with refusal to take the oath, refusal
to submit to the ordeal meant a willingness to settle.3.3.4.2 The ordeal is attested in legal documents from Ur and
Nippur and in a narû recording a decision rendered at the royal
court (presumably in Babylon). Although the texts report unequivo-
cally that both sides were sent to the ordeal, they do not tell us if
both sides were to plunge into the river. The ordeal is prescribed
in cases of theft, rival land claims, and a dispute over a runaway
slave. When there were counter-accusations, the ordeal also deter-
mined the question of false accusation.^603.3.4.3 The ordeal was prescribed by a priest,^61 a judge,^62 a per-
son likely to have been the mayor (¢azannu),^63 and the king.^64- PS
4.1 Citizenship
4.1.1 In sale documents, children being purchased—for slavery or
marriage—may be described as wilid màt Kardunia““born of Babylonia,”
that is, “native born.”^654.1.2 If the qualification for citizenship is to be “native born,” then
slave status and citizenship are not incompatible. A text regarding
the status of a woman refers to the time “when (the king) freed the
(native-born) women of Nippur” (see 4.3.1 below), indicating not only
that citizens could be enslaved but that they retained their citizen-
ship-status and might eventually be returned to their freedom.(^57) UET 7 9.
(^58) UET 7 5 (?).
(^59) UET 7 9 and TuM 5 64 (= Petschow MB Rechturkunden 8).
(^60) See esp. UET 7 11 and 73.
(^61) E.g., UET 7 5.
(^62) E.g., UET 7 9.
(^63) TuM 5 64 (= Petschow MB Rechturkunden 8).
(^64) UET 7 11, 73; BBSt. 3, BBSt. 9.
(^65) UET 7 2, 21, 24; CBS 12917 (= Brinkman MSKH 9).
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