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the beneficiaries are within the normal circle of heirs. Nonetheless,
there appears to have been a wider discretion than with male inher-
itance, and in the case of marital gifts, the husband often placed
conditions on that discretion, with the aim of keeping the property
within the family.^59 The most restrictive was to name the widow’s
heir (AO 5:15). It was customary, however, to give her the discre-
tion of bequeathing it to persons who provided her with support.
The class could be restricted to her own children (TBR 69; Westenholz
14; Ekalte 75; cf. Emar 111) or to a relative from the testator’s fam-
ily (RE 15; TBR 50; cf. ASJ 16, pp. 231–38 and ASJ 13:23). In
special circumstances, where the sole heir refused to support her,
she might bequeath it to anyone who would. The general rule, how-
ever, was that laid down in RE 15: she may not bequeath it to an
outsider (nikari).^60 Nonetheless, a remarkable clause states that she
may “throw it in the water, give my estate wherever she pleases”
(TBR 47; likewise ASJ 16, pp. 231–38).- C
7.1 Sale
Sale was an oral transaction before witnesses, sometimes accompa-
nied by ceremonies. The Emar tablets only record the sale of land
and slaves, for which the tablet acted as a document of title. A
record of litigation shows that, as elsewhere, payment of the whole
price was necessary before ownership could pass (ASJ 12:11). Exchange
of land is also attested (ASJ 12:6; Ekalte 18).7.1.1 Land^61
Most of the documents are stereotypically phrased, following earlier
traditions from Mesopotamia, with Syrian variants already found at
Alalakh.^62 The transaction is recorded from the purchaser’s stand-
point.^63 While they have similar operative clauses, the Syrian and(^59) The same rationale lay behind the dispossessing of a widow who remarried
outside her husband’s family; see 5.1.4.1 above.
(^60) At Ekalte called sarràruand defined as the opposite of “my seed” (Ekalte
19:26–27).
(^61) Zaccagnini, “Ceremonial Transfers.. .”; Beckman, “Real Property Sales...”
(^62) Skaist, “”ìmu gamru...”
(^63) A few atypical documents are from the seller’s standpoint and are more free
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