678
In two Syrian tablets, the division is made before the “brothers” of
the heirs’ father (DM 1, 249–61; RE 94).6.3.4.3 Property
Assets included land, slaves, livestock, silver, jewelry, debts collectible
(RE 18—by whichever son survives the plague; RE 37; cf. AO 5:17),
and household gods (TBR 72; Ekalte 21). Heirs were also liable for
the deceased’s debts (TBR 36).6.3.4.4 Shares
Brothers divided equally, with the eldest son entitled to an extra
share (RE 94: kuburu; Ekalte 94: kubrùtu).^46 The proportion was cus-
tomary, possibly a double portion (Emar 176). Where assigned by
testament, it often included the main house (é.gal), together with
which went the household gods (Emar 201; RE 28; TBR 42). The
ancestral cult was the particular duty of the eldest son.^47 Where,
however, the elder and younger took shares in a single house, they
jointly assumed responsibility for the cult (RE 94).
In SMEA 7, a father assigns his cultic office to his eldest son. If
that son dies, however, there is to be “no elder or younger” (gal u
tur iànu) among the remaining four sons, but another son will take
over the office.^48
Each brother was entitled to draw from the estate the payment
for a bride (ter¢atu) as part of his inheritance share.^49 This is some-
times expressed by the phrase “brother will make brother a house:
brother will cause brother to marry a wife” (ASJ 13:23, 25). Litigation
in TBR 83 over undivided “houses and wives” probably refers to
such ter¢atupayments.6.3.4.5 Disinheritance
An adoptee could be disinherited at will by a unilateral declaration,
subject to contractual penalties (see above). In Ekalte 36, an adop-(^46) Scurlock, “ku-bu-ru...”
(^47) “He shall invoke my gods and my dead”—possibly the spirits of dead ances-
tors. See Van der Toorn, “Domestic Cult.. .,” 36–39.
(^48) Cf. Emar 93; RE 25. In Ekalte 36, two sons are designated as elder and
younger but explicitly not as regards inheritance shares, which suggests that the
designation was for the purposes of the cult.
(^49) E.g., Emar 186. In Emar 91, one brother takes the daughter of a slave in lieu
of the ter¢atuowed him for his second wife.
WESTBROOK_f16–657-691 8/27/03 12:29 PM Page 678