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ana màrùtim erèbu“enter into adoption with PN”; cf. KAJ 2 and 4).
The document emphasizes the voluntary character of the proceed-
ing (ina migrat ramini“u/“a; cf. KAJ 2:3 and 4:4).5.3.2 The document establishes the new status of the parties^80 by
an express provision of the type “A is her mother; B is her daugh-
ter” (KAJ 3:5–7). Severance of the adoptive tie was formalized by
a solemn declaration of the type “you are not my mother/daughter”
(KAJ 3:9, 11) and bore a pecuniary penalty. Where the adoptee was
not himself a party to the contract, the sources describe the same
situation in an impersonal style, so as to include all parties (“a ina
beri“unu ipasiluni, “whoever among them (i.e. the parties) repudiates
the contract”; cf. KAJ 1:25–26; KAJ 4:21–22).5.3.3 An atypical document, dating from the end of the Middle
Assyrian period, is inscribed on a small object in the form of a lower
leg.^81 In it, a woman states that she saved from the river and raised
a child who is henceforth her son. Any claim regarding the child
will entail a penalty in the form of six sons to be given to the woman.
Four gods are witnesses to the document. The document thus ensures
that an abandoned child will have rights and a status which he could
not otherwise attain.5.3.4 Adoption is a family strategy designed principally to supply
the adopter with an heir and to ensure that he is supported in old
age, that funerary rites are maintained, and that his line is contin-
ued. It is in this light that an uncle adopts his nephew (KAJ 1 and
6), or a woman adopts a foundling (5.3.3 above). It explains the
clause that appears in some documents imposing a duty on the
adoptee to honor and support the adopter (KAJ 1:8–9; KAJ 6:11–16;
KAJ 4:9–10), failing which he will be sold as a slave (KAJ 6:17–23).5.3.5 For the adoptee, the advantage is that it enables him to inherit
from the adoptor (KAJ 1) or guarantees her matrimonial future. In(^80) David, Adoption.. ., 60, wonders whether the written document is merely evi-
dentiary or whether it actually establishes the parties’ status. MAL A 28 and KAJ
6 suggest the latter function.
(^81) Franke and Gernot, “Mittelassyrische fiktive Urkunde...”
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