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probably a widow continuing her husband’s business.^22 Women did
not usually witness documents, but there were exceptions (RE 82:29).
The qadi“tu(Sum. nu.gig) class of priestess may have been more inde-
pendent (RE 49).4.3 Slavery
Nearly all the documents relating to slavery are of the Syro-Hittite
type.4.3.1 Categories
4.3.1.1 Slavery is to be distinguished from amèlùtu, a special form
of antichresis at Emar (see 7.3.2 below) and similar servile conditions.4.3.1.2 Many of the documents concern enslavement for debt and
contain redemption clauses. There is no direct evidence of a cate-
gory of irredeemable chattel slaves, although it may be the case with
slaves that are the object of purchase, inheritance, or gift (e.g., Dalley
5; Emar 214; TBR 70, 75; Ekalte 24).4.3.1.3 Many of those entering debt-slavery were citizens. Where a
slave’s family members were exempted from slavery, they were ex-
pressly referred to as citizens (Sigrist 2; ASJ 14:46). There is refer-
ence to a foreigner in TBR 79, where a female slave used as payment
for services is called a “Sutaean” and may have been a chattel slave.4.3.2 Creation
4.3.2.1 Most of the recorded cases of entry of free persons into
slavery are by reason of debt or famine or both.^23 Some documents
refer to a general calamity, for example, “in the year of famine when
three seah of barley cost one shekel of silver” (ASJ 13:37: mu.kala.ga
ki 3 sila “e.me“ana1 gín kubabbar izzaz), “in the year when enemy
troops besieged the city and one seah of barley cost one shekel of
silver” (TBR 25).^24 Others refer to personal disaster, e.g., that “her(^22) Tatta“e/Ra"indu, Emar 23, 24, 25. See Durand, “Minima.. .,” 37 sub (c).
(^23) Adamthwaite, Late Hittite Emar, 133–54; Zaccagnini, “War and Famine...,”
92–105.
(^24) Cf. Emar 83, 121, 215; Sigrist 1; ASJ 13:36, 37; ASJ 10:E; TBR 25, 44, 52;
Ekalte 28.
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