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is recorded, namely, property rights to two orchards and a house.
Then both parties are said to “enter before the king” (ana pàni “arri
erèbu), presumably the ruler of Hazor, who finally decides in favor
of the female defendant. Before the break in the tablet, the text stip-
ulates the pecuniary penalty imposed on any of the parties who
should raise claims again.
The text, though brief and isolated, thus provides some informa-
tion on the law of late Old Babylonian Hazor. The king, sitting
alone, functions as a court of first instance. There is private owner-
ship of property, and women have the capacity not only to own
property but also to appear in court as litigants on their own behalf.TTL
Only two terse indirect references of a legal nature can be found in
this small corpus.^3 Letter no. 2 mentions laconically what seems to
be a diplomatic arrangement for a marriage (hatnùtu).^4 The author
of letter no. 1 is concerned, among other matters, with the redemp-
tion of a slave girl. The means of redemption explicitly consists of
the payment of ransom money (kasap ip†eri).TAL
The bulk of the correspondence in the archive was written by the
Egyptian vassal rulers in Syria and Palestine. These letters are mostly
concerned with the local and international political situation. Limited
information may be gleaned on the Egyptian administration of this
Asiatic territory as well as some aspects of legal practice.The Administration^5
The Egyptian provinces in Western Asia amounted to two or perhaps
three, with capitals in Gaza and Kumidu and possibly also Íumur.
At the head of each province, the pharaoh had appointed a high
official or governor (Akk. ràbißu; WSem. sàkinu) who presumably had
responsibility for tax collection, public works, and the administration(^3) Hrozny, “Keilschrifttexte aus Ta"annek,” nos. 1 and 2.
(^4) Cf. Na"aman, “Pharaonic Lands.. .,” 180.
(^5) Cf. Moran, The Amarna Letters, xxviff. (with the most relevant literature).
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