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disposal” (“a qàti“u). A clause in TBR 25 allows the slave to redeem
himself “if he makes one person from the house” (i“tu bìti 1 napi“ta
ippa“) but apparently precludes him from acquiring a substitute from
another for this purpose (i.e., of indebting himself with a third person).4.3.4.3 Release
The king of Emar gave as a “slave of the god [X]” (i.e., freed) a
person who informed him of a treasonous conspiracy. It is not clear
whose slave the person was previously or how the owner’s rights
were overridden.- F^28
5.1 Marriage
The law of marriage is attested in marriage contracts and in clauses
forming part of more comprehensive arrangements, such as adop-
tions, wills, and pledges.5.1.1 Conditions
5.1.1.1 Polygamy
Marriage could be polygamous (ASJ 14:46). The taking of a second
wife might have been conditional on the barrenness of the first (Emar
216).5.1.1.2 Ethnicity
An unusual clause in a will allows the widow to bring into the house
a husband who is Hittite or Babylonian (Semitica 46, 12–14). By
implication, he must not be Assyrian (the enemy?). A prince of
Carchemish specifically refers to his Carchemish wife and his Emar
wife (ASJ 14:46).5.1.1.3 Consanguinity
It was common practice to adopt a son and to give him one’s daugh-
ter as wife (AO 5:14; Emar 29, 69; RE 25, 88; TBR 39, 40, 43).
The couple were usually obliged to support the adopter in his old(^28) Beckman, “Family Values.. .,” 68–71; Arnaud, “Mariage et remariage...”
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