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2.1.4.3 Only once is a judge (di.ku 5 ) attested in legal texts (RS
16.156). There he appears as witness in one of the exceptional wit-
nessed royal documents.2.2 Functions
2.2.1 Compulsory Service
Free citizens were bound to perform certain services for the king,
of both military and civil nature. These services are almost exclu-
sively attested in deeds of conveyance of landed property. They are
occasionally described in expressions such as “to perform work for
the palace” (RS 16.386) or “to enter the king’s field” (RS 16.348).
But, most often, they are referred to with the standard Akkadian
term ilkuor, rather, pilku, the favored by-form at Ugarit (the Ugaritic
equivalent being unu∆∆u).^7
This pilkuservice was of two kinds. One was directly related to
the estate (e.g., pilkù bìti) and the other was bound to a personal
office or category, such as the pilkuof the maryannus or the pilkuof
the merchants (see also 4.2 below). The king could decree exemp-
tion from services (e.g., RS 15.125 = KTU 2.19).2.2.2 Confirmation
A clause peculiar to the royal deeds of Ugarit refers to what has
been called the king’s involvement in private transactions. Indeed,
several contracts of gift, sale, or exchange of property between two
parties are qualified at the same time as royal grants. It has been
suggested that these final royal transfers or confirmation of owner-
ship, or also “fictive gifts,” were meant to bestow on the new holder
the privileged status of a royal grantee^8 (possibly related to the per-
formance of or exemption from services).^9- L
3.1 The four extant records of litigation shed no light on proce-
dural law at Ugarit. Their main purpose is to record the results of
litigation. In three of them, the king decides the final verdict (dìna(^7) See Márquez Rowe, “Royal Land Grants...”.
(^8) Boyer, “La place des textes d’Ugarit.. .,” 285.
(^9) Cf. Márquez Rowe, “Royal Land Grants...”
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