A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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operating within the palace or private spheres of the kingdom of

Arraphe. Such, for instance, is the case with persons from the king-

dom of Hanigalbat (= Mittani), Arraphe’s suzerain. Among them,

we can single out (1) some private subjects who resided in various

Arraphean cities and appear to be totally integrated into the local

legal and socio-economic milieu; (2) a number of palace personnel,

including female singers; (3) military personnel of different kinds and

ranks, among whom is a considerable quantity of chariot drivers; (4)

diplomatic personnel of medium and high rank temporarily residing

at Nuzi: màr “ipri(lit: “messenger”) and, most frequently, ubàru(“res-

ident alien”).^48

4.1.4.1 Hanigalbatean citizenship, or place of origin, does not seem

to imply a special status, with the obvious exception of ambassadors

and other envoys, whose personal treatment followed the customary

rules of diplomatic etiquette current in international relations between

Late Bronze Age courts.

4.1.5 Several people from Babylonia and Assyria are also recorded

in the Nuzi palace and private documents: their status ranges from

official diplomatic envoys down to simple refugees seeking personal

protection and sustenance by casting themselves into lifetime servi-

tude. Again, customary Nuzi legal institutions and practices in the

sphere of private law are fully operative, regardless of the original

citizenship of these people. The same holds true for all other for-

eigners mentioned in the Nuzi documentary corpus.

4.2 Social Classes

Nuzi social stratification is fairly complex but finds appropriate par-

allels in contemporary documentary sets from northern Mesopotamia

and Syria.^49 The textual evidence of palace and private archives

attests to a multitude of terms qualifying personal status, rank, pro-

fessional activities, and temporary functions of Arrapheans—males,

in the great majority of cases. Another major problem has been to

isolate the factors determining discrete classes in Arraphean society,

(^48) For a comprehensive overview, see Zaccagnini, “Les rapports.. .,” 11–25.
(^49) Cf. Serangeli, “Le liste di censo.. .” (Alalakh); Liverani, “Ugarit” (Ugarit).
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