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a wife leaves the marital home in order to take refuge with an
Assyrian woman. She is subject to disciplinary measures by her hus-
band and may be divorced without compensation.^755.1.6 Polygamy
5.1.6.1 A man could have two wives at the same time, whether
voluntarily (MAL A 46)^76 or in fulfilment of the levirate (MAL A
30). In the first case, one of the wives became the “principal” wife
(pànìtu) and the other the “secondary” wife (urkittu), her inferior sta-
tus being marked by less favorable treatment. It is not known whether
the same inequality applied to levirate marriage.
5.1.6.2 The levirate allowed the father-in-law to marry his widowed
daughter-in-law to another of his sons. Neither the woman nor her
father could object. The same applies if the levir was already com-
mitted to another family: he will marry his widowed sister-in-law
and the woman previously reserved for him by a betrothal payment
(MAL A 30–31). The children of the levirate marriage are regarded
as those of the deceased. The levirate does not apply if the first mar-
riage had issue,^77 but it may be employed successively with all the
father-in-law’s adult sons until offspring result (MAL A 43).5.2 Children
5.2.1 Filiation
Children born of an adulterous union during the five-year waiting
period prescribed in the case of an absent husband were taken from
their father and assigned to the husband on his return (MAL A 36).
The posthumous son of a widow was not legitimized by the mar-
riage of his mother, even if he grew up in his stepfather’s home
(MAL A 28). (On filiation by adoption, see 5.3 below.)(^75) Lafont, Femmes.. ., 391–96.
(^76) Cf. Cardascia, Lois.. ., 229–30; contra Roth, Law Collections.. ., 172, for whom
the two wives are in succession; cf. also the doubts of Saporetti, Leggi.. ., 80.
(^77) Contra Otto, “Altersversorgung.. .,” 106, with regard to MAL A 46 in fin.:
the marriage of the widow as second wife with one of her brothers-in-law would
take place as the contractual fulfillment of the dead husband’s rights, which passed
to his sons.
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