A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

3.2.5.1 Witnesses

Oral testimony was the most common form of evidence. The parties

were competent witnesses on their own behalf. Women were com-

petent witnesses; slaves may have been, but their appearance in this

role is notably rare. Testimony could include hearsay. Witnesses did

not initially give their evidence under oath; the court might then

order them to take an oath. It was possible to have witnesses of

a trial, that is, persons present at the proceedings who at a later

stage of the case or in a different case would testify about the ear-

lier hearing.

3.2.5.2 Documents

Documentary evidence was usually decisive for a case but was not

irrefutable. Documents recording transactions might need to be

authenticated in court by witnesses, and their record could be con-

tradicted by witnesses to the transaction, who were named on the

document. Precautions were taken at the time of drafting to protect

the authenticity of contractual documents, for example, encasing a

clay tablet in a clay envelope on which the terms were repeated, or

rolling and sealing a papyrus scroll before witnesses, whose names

were appended on the outside, along with a summary of the trans-

action. The personal seals of parties and witnesses, impressed on

documents or on tags affixed to them, were a prime means of authen-

tication.^25

3.2.5.3 Physical Evidence

Examples of physical evidence are the bloodstained sheet that attests

to a bride’s virginity (Deut. 22:13–17) and the remains of a sheep

that a shepherd must bring to prove that it was devoured by a wild

beast (Exod. 22:12). In a Neo-Babylonian trial for the theft of two

ducks, the carcasses of the stolen ducks are brought into court for

examination.

3.2.5.4 The Oath^26

The declaratory oath was a solemn curse that the taker called down

upon himself if his statement were not true. Two types of oath are

attested in the sources.

(^25) See Gibson and Biggs, eds., Seals and Sealing...
(^26) On the oath, declaratory and promissory, see the essays in Lafont, ed., Jurer
et maudire.
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