597
far retrieved, which either belong to private family archives or deal
with other sectors of the palace economy and administration.6.1.1 There are some references to “fields of the palace.”^111 A few
texts mention plots of land subject to the i“karu corvée/service that
are in the possession of various people, among whom are chariot
drivers. To all appearances, these parcels of land, which belonged
to the palace, were granted to palace officials in return for their
services.^1126.1.2 Members of the royal family, among them an unnamed queen
and the well-known ”ilwa-Te““up, “son of the king,” owned land.
We know nothing about the former’s estates; as regards the latter’s,
there appears to be no connection at all with palace land or admin-
istration.^113
The sphere of private ownership is well documented by the fam-
ily archives. An overall view of the rich textual evidence reveals that
landed property was held by two interacting sectors of the Nuzi free
population: the mass of peasant farmers, who were individual or
joint title holders of their own family land, and a restricted number
of absentee landlords, whose vast estates, scattered all over the
Arraphean countryside, were created mainly by progressive acquisi-
tion from the (impoverished) peasantry.^1146.2 Tenure and Fiscal Burdens
Landed properties belonging to the free sector of the Nuzi popula-
tion were subject to fiscal burdens imposed by the central adminis-
tration. The great majority of real-estate transactions involving transfers
(e.g., sale, exchange, mortgage, inheritance) include a statement that
mentions the person(s) who “will bear (na“û) the ilkuof the field(s).”^115
Quite often the texts further specify that the other contracting party
“will not bear the ilku.”(^111) Cf. Zaccagnini, “Proprietà fondiaria.. .,” 701.
(^112) Ibid., 702.
(^113) Ibid., 702–3.
(^114) Among the vast literature on this subject, cf. the detailed analysis of Maidman,
A Socio-Economic Analysis.. .; Zaccagnini, “Land Tenure.. .,” and “Proprietà fon-
diaria...”
(^115) The Hurrian equivalent of Akkadian ilkuis irwi““u; cf. Zaccagnini, “Proprietà
fondiaria.. .,” 717–18.
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