A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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(LÚ.)SUKKAL = Akk. sukkallu), “district commander (?)” (Akk.

¢alßu¢lu),^9 and “mayor” (Akk. ¢azannu).^10

2.1.2.2 Information as to the limits of the powers of mayors is pro-

vided by an extraordinary corpus of court depositions that record

the misdeeds of Ku““iharbe, mayor of Nuzi, against a vast multitude

of private citizens (AASOR 16 1–14). The astonishing variety of

crimes of which Ku““iharbe (and a number of his fellow criminals)

is accused sheds significant light on the wide range of administra-

tive functions of an Arraphean mayor, in his official relationship with

the king/palace on the one hand, and with individuals belonging to

urban and peasant communities on the other.

2.1.2.3 Very little is known about royal/palace real estate and its

administration. In spite of the lack of documentary evidence, it is

beyond doubt that the “palace” owned fields and (farm)-houses.

Nothing is known about how such land was defined or used. The

queen and other members of the royal family (see, e.g., ”ilwa-Te““up,

“son of the king”) also owned land. There is every reason to believe

that Prince ”ilwa-Te““up’s estates were not managed as part of the

“public” sector of the economy: they did not differ from those of

other (wealthy) private landowners and businessmen active at Nuzi.^11

2.1.3 The Courts

The Nuzi archives offer a wealth of information about the organi-

zation and procedure of the courts, which in part has parallels in

the Mesopotamian documentation of the earlier second millennium.

In spite of its modest local setting, the Nuzi judicial world is notable

for its special complexities (see sec. 3 below). The following are the

principal officials involved in the administration of justice.^12

(^9) See, however, Maidman, “The Office of ¢alsu¢lu.. .,” who suggests that the
main task of the ¢alsu¢luwas to determine the dimensions of fields and to assign
or confirm ownership title to new owners or to those whose title had been chal-
lenged.
(^10) Cf. Cassin, “Heur et malheur.. .,” and Zaccagnini, Review.. ., 130–31.
(^11) Cf. Zaccagnini, “Proprietà fondiaria...”
(^12) For a general overview, see Hayden, Court Procedure.. ., 8–19.
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