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the inscription, the father-in-law was sworn explicitly not to make
any claims upon the property,^94 indicating that a mulùgu gift was
intended solely for the benefit of the woman (and her children) and
not for her husband (and his family).^955.1.3 Status ofkallatu
Texts listing disbursements to household members include women
identified as kallatu (daughter-in-law),^96 indicating that hers was a rec-
ognized legal status and that her father-in-law’s household was respon-
sible for her maintenance.^975.1.3 Divorce
5.1.3.1 Form
A ›ana text (see 1.2 above) indicates that, as in earlier periods,
divorce was accomplished by verbal declaration.^98 A text from Ur
pertaining to divorce describes peculiar circumstances.^99 A woman
distrained the wife of a man for nap†arùti, thereby causing the hus-
band to divorce his wife (ana nap†arùti ikla“ì-ma a““assu u“èzib“u). When
called before the judge by the husband’s brother and asked why she
had caused the man to divorce his wife, the woman responded that
up until the hearing the man had been having sexual relations with
her. She declares that after the hearing, he will not enter her bed
again. The court then prohibits the man from entering the house of
the woman, day or night.
The key to understanding the legal principle here may lie in what
the text does not report, namely, the status of the woman brought
before the court. She is not married (see 8.3.1 below), and she seems(^94) ana baqrìlàra“ê nì“ilìu I“taran ina narê “uàtu izkur.
(^95) See Westbrook, Marriage Law, 27.
(^96) E.g., Peiser Urkunden 1; PBS 2/2 103; BE 14 58, 126. Possibly, they refer
to a betrothed girl living in her father-in-law’s house until old enough for comple-
tion of the marriage.
(^97) Although note that in BE 14 58, curiously, the woman is included in the list
without a corresponding amount of grain received and, in fact, after the disburse-
ments have been totaled.
(^98) MLC 613: 8–6: “umma mPN mussa anafPN a““atì“u ul a““atì-mi atti iqabbi (If PN 1 ,
her husband, should say to PN 2 his wife, “You are not my wife”); 11–13: u “umma
fPNa““assu ana PN mutì“a ul mutì-mi atta iqabbi(And if PN 2 , his wife, should say to
PN 1 , her husband, “You are not my husband”). Presumably each statement is fol-
lowed by penalties. Passage cited in Podany et al., “Adoption.. .” 48, n. 39.
(^99) UET 7 8.
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