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to have been the rule for pledge of movables (MAL C+G 3–4) and
the exception for land.^124 An undivided owner may pledge his inher-
itance share. He thereby gives the creditor either the right to enter
into joint ownership with the heirs (KAJ 164 and 175) or a future
right in rem, which will be realized at the moment of division, when
the creditor chooses (nasàqu) land in the share allotted to his debtor
(KAJ 150). The creditor only has a lien over this share, without
being able to demand division of the estate.^1257.3.3.3 Several laws consider the question of alienation of the pledge
by the creditor. Where the pledge is a free person, taken as an
antichretic pledge or seized by force by the creditor,^126 the sale is
null and void and the creditor is subject to pecuniary and corporal
punishment (MAL C+G 2). Punishment is aggravated if the pledge
is sold abroad (MAL C+G 3). Unjustified sale entitles the original
owner (the debtor) to seize his pledged animal in the hands of a
purchaser (MAL C+G 4). In Verfallspfand, the creditor obtains full
ownership of the pledge on default, without the possibility of redemp-
tion by the debtor; if the value of the pledge exceeds the amount
of the debt, he pays the debtor the balance (MAL C+G 7). A free
person will then change status: he is no longer a pledge but becomes
a slave definitively. This is the situation with the Assyrian taken “for
the full price” (ana “ìm gamer: MAL C+G 3 in fin.; MAL A 44). He
is acquired definitively by the creditor, who can sell him abroad; he
is no longer protected by his status as citizen nor by his ethnic
affiliation.^127 Sale of the pledge necessitates an assessment of its
financial value (bullu†u),^128 in accordance with an official tariff(KAJ
168)^129 or with the local rate for real estate (Assur 3 no. 2).(^124) Koschaker, Neue keilschriftliche.. ., 99 and n. 3.
(^125) Ibid., 41ff.
(^126) Interpretation of kî kaspein MAL C+G 2 as referring not to sale but to a
pledge for the capital alone given by Westbrook in a lecture to the École Pratique
des Hautes Études (Paris) in 1996.
(^127) Westbrook, “Slave...,” 1661–62.
(^128) Veenhof, “Figurative Language.. .,” 55–56, for the technical meaning of bullu†u
“to activate (a pledge)” in contracts of loan; contra Freydank, “Anzeichen.. .”
(^129) Freydank, “Anzeichen.. .,” gives the verb “asûthe meaning “to declare” the
value of a thing compared to the official price; for Koschaker, Neue keilschriftliche...,
36, n. 2, the “crying out” is the proclamation of the price, while for Veenhof,
“Figurative Language.. .,” 56, it denotes a public auction or at least a form of
publicity.
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