- P I
6.1 Tenure
6.1.1 Private ownership of fields and houses (and later of slaves
and animals) is attested from the earliest sources. Although the evi-
dence is not conclusive, it is safe to assume that the transactions
recorded on the earliest stone documents are purchases of land. The
areas changing hands can be extensive, sometimes amounting to lat-
ifundia: according to the En-¢eºgal tablet, the i“ib priest Lugal-kigala
acquired an area of 150 bùr, (15 km by 650 m).6.1.2 Dependents of temples and of the state held prebend land
(a“a 5 .g “uku-ra.k) or could lease fields from their employer (see 2.1.3.4
above). The hereditary nature of prebends may have led to a fail-
ure to distinguish between prebend and private property. Practically
all the alleged abuses of power in Iri-kagina.k’s edicts can be under-
stood as the exercise of prebend privileges, in which case the reforms
would be, inter alia, an attempt to replace the old system of prebend
holders with one comprising officers of temple and state.6.2 Inheritance
6.2.1 From ED I to the Pre-Sargonic Period
6.2.1.1 Information on inheritance is only indirect. Some of the
earliest stone documents recording field sales point to an underlying
division of inheritance, for example, ELTS 1 divides a total area of
fifty-five bùr coming from four people, three listed for fifteen bùr
each and the fourth for ten (cf. ELTS 3; 8). Similarly, in the major-
ity of Fàra period land sales, two or more persons receive the price.
It is clear from sections A+B of the Grand document juridique that
a wife and her son not only inherited the property of the deceased
head of the household but also his obligations.^142 The dissolution of
a common inheritance may be seen also in ELTS 14–15,^143 22–23,
and 32.(^142) Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 47–67:A+B (mother and son), F (brothers),
M (2 brothers and the wife of the third one), P+Q+R (children of 3 brothers?),
V (brother and sister), W-CC (descendants of PN and the wife of one of them: 2
generations).
(^143) Wilcke, “Neue Rechtsurkunden.. .,” 38; 41–43.
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