A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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to adopt the subject as a younger son (ana tardennu: AnOr 8 14),^106

thus denying him the extra share due to the first-born. In BR 8/7

1 a man agrees to adopt another’s son only on condition that the

latter assign and transfer the son’s inheritance share with him.

6. P I

6.1 Tenure

6.1.1 Already under the Neo-Babylonian kings^107 but primarily in

the Achaemenid period, a number of persons who received land

from the king had to fulfill military services.^108 In the texts the cor-

responding allotments of land are called bow-land (bìtgi“qa“ti), horse-

land (bìt sìsê), and chariot-land (bìt gi“narkabti), according to the

incumbent’s duties.^109 There is also sometimes mention of a “throne

house” (bìtgi“kussî), the exact nature of which is not clear. It was evi-

dently possible to equip the corresponding military personnel in sub-

stitution for personal service. Besides military service, there was a

tax (ilku) payable to the king.

6.1.2 Land granted on this basis was called ¢a†ruand its holders

designated by an added ethnicon, profession, or function. The oper-

ation of the system can be best be seen in the archive of the Mura“û

family (1.4.2 above), a firm managing such fiefs when given as secu-

rity for a loan.^110

6.2 Inheritance

6.2.1 The basic system from previous periods prevailed, in which

on the death of the paterfamilias, his sons divided his estate in equal

shares, with the eldest son taking a double portion as his preferen-

tial share. The sons of deceased sons inherited per stirpes. Wives and

(^106) Edited BR 6 4; see also Roth, “Women in Transition...,” 132–33. Other
examples are OLZ 7 (1904), 39; YOS 17 1 (the brother’s inheritance, cited above);
and BM 78543 and ROMCT 2 37 (cited by Van Driel, “Care.. .,” 184 and 190,
respectively).
(^107) Jursa, Der Tempelzehnt.. ., 13–18.
(^108) See the discussion by Joannès in TEBR, 19–45.
(^109) “Bow-land” could be leased out; leasing is not attested for the other types of
land.
(^110) Stolper, Entrepreneurs.. .; see also Cardascia, “Lehenswesen,” and Oelsner,
“Grundbesitz...”
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