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5.3 Adoption
The only adoption document (AT 16) is also quite unique in that
the declaration of the creation of the legal relation between father
and son is formulated from the point of view of the son: “he took
PN as his father.”^42 This formulation may actually disclose, quite
openly, the purpose and nature of the contract, namely the acqui-
sition of real property by the “son” through inheritance (a well-
known strategy of adoption at Nuzi), which may in turn be supported
by the identity of the adoptive son, the noble Ilimilimma.
Another kind of adoption, matrimonial adoption, may be implied
by the marriage contract AT 91 where mention is made of the sta-
tus of “daughter and daughter-in-lawship of the household.”
Dissolution of adoption is provided in AT 16. The motive for
breaking the new legal relation is in the case of the son the failure
to fulfill his duty of support and in the case of the father maltreatment
of his son in some way.^43 The penalty in either case is loss of the
property in question, supporting the view that this is a sale-adoption
on the Nuzi model.6.Property and Inheritance
6.1 Tenure
Two documents describe transfer of real estate. AT 88 is a deed of
gift from one lady to another; the property conveyed consists of two
plots of land of equal extension, a vineyard, and an olive grove. In
AT 87, two other plots, also a vineyard and an olive grove of exactly
the same dimensions, are granted (mortis causa?) by the husband to
his wife.
As to the composition of the estate belonging to a head of the
family, AT 87 includes a house, fields, vineyards, and olive groves.
In a loan document (AT 49), the estate of the borrower which is
liable to seizure by the creditor is described as consisting of field,
house, and vineyard.
AT 17, discussed above, attests to the confiscation of property by
the palace following the execution of its owner.(^42) See Yaron, “Varia on Adoption,” 175ff.
(^43) Note that the expression used, namely, “he would pull at his nose,” is the
same as in the divorce clause in AT 92 (see Malul, Legal Symbolism, 110f.).
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