A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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household. The adopter was not necessarily without sons (RS 29.100),

or he could envisage such a possibility (RS 17.21/33), in which case

stipulations concerning inheritance rights were included.

5.3.2 Adoption could be terminated on the initiative of either adopter

or adoptee. In the former case, the adopted son would leave with

a sum of silver (100 shekels in RS 15.92) handed over by the adop-

tive father; in the latter, with empty hands. (Note the symbolic expres-

sion “he will wash his hands and leave” in RS 15.92.)^26 Upon the

death of the adoptive father, the adoptee could repudiate his “adop-

tive mother,” in which case she would take her marital property and

leave the matrimonial home (cf. 5.1 above).

Examples of special or fictional adoption are also attested. In RS

16.295, it masks a gift or an otherwise irregular succession (the

donor/adopter is the adopted son’s maternal grandfather) and, in

RS 16.200, an estate sale (the adopted son is said to acquire the

adoptive mother’s estate after contributing 500 shekels of silver to

the household).

5.3.3 The example of a gift ana kallùtiin RS 16.141 is not con-

clusive for the existence of matrimonial adoption.^27

5.3.4 Adoption in brotherhood (ana a¢¢ùti) is attested in three doc-

uments.^28 In one (RS 21.230), the adoption is said to be ina màrùti

ammati (see 5.3.1 above). But it is clear from the content that we are

dealing here with a contract of undivided ownership^29 in which both

parties, the adopting sister and the adopted brother, enjoy equal sta-

tus (“there is no elder and no younger among them both”).^30 The

adopted brother brought with him a large quantity of goods to the

adopter’s household.

5.3.5 As in adoption in sonship, dissolution could be the unilateral

act of either party. If the adoptive brother or sister dissolved the

(^26) Cf. Yaron, “Varia on Adoption,” 182; Malul, Legal Symbolism.. ., 97ff.
(^27) See Cardascia, “Adoption matrimoniale.. .,” 120f.
(^28) Cf. Rainey, “Family Relationships in Ugarit,” 20f. (RS 25.134 was not then
published.)
(^29) Cf. the clause on survivorship, also in RS 25.134.
(^30) For the interpretation of this text, see Westbrook, Property.. ., 130ff.
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