Doing Justice to Others 15Th e gods played a prominent role in treaty making, to the point that it has
been asserted that, strictly speaking, treaties were actually between the gods
themselves, with the humans on Earth merely playing dutiful supporting
roles, acknowledging and illustrating the wills of their respective deities.
Be that as it may, various rituals were involved in the treaty- making pro cess.
A communal meal became a standard feature. Animal sacrifi ce was com-
mon, too (especially the killing of an ass), as well as ritual touchings of the
hems of garments. Th e most important element was the provision of super-
natural sanctions (i.e., punishments) for infractions. Th e treaty makers would
call down curses on themselves in the event of a breach. Th e frequent refer-
ences to touching the throat when making a treaty were indications that
death was the penalty for violation. Over the course of time, the curses
became increasingly elaborate and detailed.
Provisions were made to ensure that treaty obligations would not be for-
gotten with the passage of time. Texts of the agreements were typically de-
posited in temples for safekeeping, and there was periodic public recitation
of the treaties. One treaty that has survived, between the Hittites and Wilusa
(in the northwestern part of present- day Turkey), concluded in the early
thirteenth century bc, even specifi ed that these recitations take place three
times a year.
One point about treaty making of this sort is worth noting. Th at is, the
mere fact of arriving at an agreement was not regarded as suffi cing, in itself,
to produce a legally binding obligation between the parties. What created
the actual obligation was the oath sworn by each party to his own gods.
Th ese treaties, in other words, are probably best regarded as back- to- back,
interlocking, unilateral commitments by the parties. Th is is most apparent
from the sanctions provisions, which envisage that a treaty breaker will be
punished by his own gods for breach of his duty to them.
India
About ancient India, less is known than about either Mesopotamia or China.
In large part, this is because the materials on which written rec ords were
made were more perishable than the well- nigh indestructible clay tablets of
Mesopotamia. But it was also a result of a comparative lack of historical con-
sciousness on the part of Indian writers, in marked contrast to the situation