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8.1 Treason
According to Emar 17, a plot against the king by “soldiers of Emar,
¢up“u, and brothers of the king” was uncovered. The king “killed
half of them and put half in fetters.” In several of the land sales by
dNIN.URTA and the City, it is said that the land in question hadbeen confiscated to dNIN.URTA by its owner because “he commit-
ted a great sin against his lord and the city of Emar” (RE 16; cf.
ASJ 12:7; Emar 144; 197; RE 34). This may refer to treason, but
it could cover a range of crimes against the state, including prosaic
matters like failing to pay one’s taxes.8.2 Theft
In Emar 257, a man stole a slave and was caught with him in his
possession. The judgment of the court is that he be handed over as
a slave to the owner of the stolen slave. He avoids this sentence by
handing over his sister as a substitute.- S I
Emar 124 contains an exceptional arrangement. A qadi“tu priestess
establishes a man as her “husband” but then marries him offto the
first of her four daughters in what looks like a typical adoption of
a son-in-law. The penalty clauses for divorce, however, are as between
the qadi“tuand the man, declaring “You are not my husband” and
“You are not my wife,” respectively. Even if we take the words “hus-
band” and “wife” as referring also to son-in-law and mother-in-law
at Emar,^80 it is a curious clause. Possibly the special status of a qadi“tu,
who may have been prohibited from having natural issue, explains
this unconventional use of terminology.(^80) Cf. Beckman, “Family Values,” 69.
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