A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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1.2.2.2 The bulk of Nuzi texts consists of private legal documents,

belonging to family archives of various dimensions. Some cover the

entire duration of the kingdom of Arraphe; others are restricted to

the time span of two or three generations. A considerable number

of texts still lack archival identification.^5

1.2.2.3 This impressive wealth of documentary evidence covers

almost all sectors of private law. Nuzi legal documents include transfers

of real estate; personal adoption of sons, daughters, brothers, sisters,

daughters-in-law, etc.; gifts; exchange of land (and sporadically also

of movables); marriage and related agreements; loans with or without

personal or real-estate securities; self-bondage contracts; testaments

and related post mortemdispositions.

1.2.2.4 In addition, there is ample evidence of judicial acts and

court procedures, such as records of trials with final verdict, pre-

liminary or interim depositions in court before or in the course of

pending litigation, records of settlement of litigation. The above list

by no means exhausts the rich vein of Nuzi documentary evidence,

which still requires further study, notwithstanding the many mono-

graphs on the main types of juridical records, continuing contribu-

tions on matters of detail and repeated historical and comparative

interpretations.^6

1.2.2.5 Worthy of notice is a stylistic feature typical of most of the

Nuzi legal documents: the type of transaction recorded is stated in

the heading or, less frequently, at the end of the tablet. The stand-

ard formulation is: “Tablet of (†uppi) adoption/exchange/marriage

(agreement)/testament/etc.” Alternatively, the documents are for-

mulated as a statement issued by one of the contracting parties:

“Tongue of PN—he has declared:... (li“àn“u “a PN... iqtabi)” or

(^5) For a reconstruction based on prosopographic analysis, see Maidman, A Socio-
Economic Analysis... Among the ongoing projects, note especially G. Wilhelm’s
complete (re-)edition of the vast archive of Prince ”ilwa-Te““up (Wilhelm, Das
Archiv.. .). For the most recent assessment, see Jas, “Old and New.. .”
(^6) Feverish interest in the puzzling intricacies of the Nuzi records, stimulated to
a great extent by the possibility of new parallels with the Old Testament, dates
back to the late twenties—immediately after the discovery of tablets in the course
of the first campaign on the mound of Yorghan-Tepe.
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