who married into the family brought rich property values whereas the daughters of
the Egibi had comparatively modest settlements. Obviously, it must have been
lucrative as well as prestigious to marry into this part of the family, at least since
the third generation.
Nuptaja, the wife of Itti-Marduk-bala ̄t.u, not only brought, as mentioned already,
24 minas of silver but also the infrastructure of her father’s business; she was also
assured by contract of a third of the paternal inheritance – an unusual directive,
probably explicable by the fact that only one son and one daughter had to be considered.
Nuptaja’s eldest daughter, according to her dowry contract, was also meant to marry
one of her father’s business friends but only received ten minas of silver and five slaves
as her dowry. Ten years later, however, another document asserts that nothing of this
had yet been handed over. The woman had died in the meantime, either before the
marriage was consummated, or before she had any children. Her fiancé (or husband)
was now offered the second sister but she was to get only a property of one kur
(= 1. 35 hectare) and three slaves. This dowry corresponds to the amount specified
for her in her father’s will 12 years earlier, when her elder sister was still alive and
she herself was not yet betrothed. On the same day the youngest daughter, who could
not have been older than nine years, was promised, for the same conditions, to a man
who, among other things, wrote her father’s business documents.
The dowry of her sister-in-law, who was married to Marduk-na ̄s.ir-apli, is on a
quite different scale. She brought 30 minas of silver, a property of two kur, five slaves,
jewellery and abundant household equipment into her marriage to the future head
of the Egibi firm.
The dowry silver could be invested into business by the husband (unless it was
contractully reserved for the quppubox of the wife) but not without transferring other
property of equal value (real estate, slaves) for the wife’s security. Also dowry slaves
or plots had to be compensated for if the husband wanted to sell them, because while
he had the right of use and income, he could not dispose of them at will. Furthermore,
as long as no children had been born, the dowry belonged in principle to the wife’s
family and had to be given back intact if she should die without issue. This is why
the handing over of the dowry or of particular items was often delayed until the birth
of children. They shared the dowry after the mother’s death. Dowries unite the
interests of two families and three generations which explains why relatively many
documents about dowry provisions, receipts and compensations have been preserved
in private archives.
NABÛ-AH
̆H
̆E ̄-IDDIN AS ROYAL JUDGE
Nabû-ah
̆
h
̆e ̄-iddin, the head of the Egibi family in the second generation, officiated,
as has been mentioned, for 12 years, until his death, as a judge under Nabonidus.
Committees of royal judges consisted of three to eight judges, presided over by the
governor in charge (sˇa ̄ kin-t. ̄mie ) or a supreme judge (sartennu,sukkallu) and assisted
by usually several legal clerks. They were recruited from a very limited circle of
persons, and never were two members of the same family represented in a single
committee. Their family names are also well documented in business records of this
period which proves what was to be expected at any rate: the well-established and
influential circles also had access to the most important offices.
— The Egibi family —