501
- F
Evidence for family law is meager.
5.1 Marriage
5.1.1 Conditions
5.1.1.1 There are a group of texts known as †uppi zununnê/†uppi
a¢uzzatithat are related to marriage (see 5.1.2 above). In a separate
text, a father is said to buy a girl as wife (lit., for daughter-in-law-
ship) for his second son (ana kallùti ana PN màrì“u terdinni ilqì“i).^865.1.1.2 Slave and married status were not incompatible, although
a man could not marry his own slave (i.e., give her the status of
“wife”) without giving that woman her freedom.^87 In one case, a girl
was taken from the charge of one “aknuby another.^88 She was then
taken by yet another “aknu, who handed her over to a weaver. Finally,
her husband presented himself and she was released to him; in com-
pensation to the weaver from whom she was taken, another girl was
given in her place. It seems likely that the first girl had the status
of a wife as well as of a slave, and perhaps her husband was able
to retrieve her because the claim of a husband outweighed the claim
of an owner.^89 At the same time, however, the weaver from whose
charge the girl was removed was entitled to equivalent compensa-
tion. When a father purchased a girl as a wife for his son (see 5.1.2),
she would have had the status of wife vis-à-vis her husband.5.1.2 Formation
5.1.2.1 According to one text, a merchant purchased a girl for
daughter-in-lawship for his son (ana kallùti ana PNmàrì“u terdinni ilqì“i).
The sellers are the girl’s parents, who receive garments worth two
shekels of gold with the remainder of the price to be paid in food.(^86) CBS 12917 (= Brinkman MSKH 9).
(^87) So implied by the text cited in 4.4.2.3 above.
(^88) UET 7 1.
(^89) Although Gurney suggests that the husband may have had no legal rights and
that by returning the girl to her husband, “the “aknuwas acting ex gratia” (Middle
Babylonian.. ., 19).
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