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Chaldaean period some official or semi-official “charters” were writ-
ten, in which the king regulates the affairs of the temples.^61.3 Kudurrus
Until the end of the seventh century, in addition to the original (sealed)
clay document, copies of important legal transactions were engraved
on stelae or tablet-shaped stones (known as kudurru in the Kassite
period), often adorned with reliefs, which were displayed publicly,
presumably in temples. Most of them relate to acts of the king (or
high officials and temples), often donations or tax exemptions, but
some private transactions between individuals are also documented
in this way.^71.4 Private Legal Documents
1.4.1 The bulk of the extant documents consists of many thousands
of clay tablets containing contracts of a private character (so far only
partly published). The legal transactions recorded are in general com-
parable to those of the Old Babylonian period, although often the
legal formulae have changed.^8 As in earlier periods they are objec-
tively formulated. Another type is found, however, the so-called “dia-
logue document” (one party speaking to the other), which was mostly
used if there existed no standard formulary.^9 The documents end
with a list of witnesses, name of the scribe, place of origin and date.
The sealing practice changed in the course of time.^10 Tablets were
no longer enclosed in clay envelopes. Instead, duplicates were often
written for each of the contracting parties.1.4.2 A large part of the material preserved originates from family
archives, containing the business documents of economically powerful
families. The largest available to date are those of the Ea-ilùta-bani(^6) E.g., the term was used for YOS 6 103; see Cocquerillat, Palmeraies.. ., 108
(so-called “edict” of Bèl-“ar-ußur, 549 B.C.E.).
(^7) Slanski (Kudurrus.. .) suggests “entitlement narû” in preference to the customary
term kudurru.
(^8) Cf. the general remarks of San Nicolò, “Zur Entwicklung...”
(^9) Petschow, “Zwiegesprächsurkunde.. .,” and “Hilprecht-Sammlung Jena,” 38f. E.g.,
BR 8/7 37:1–5: “PN came to PN 2 and said as follows: ‘Give me fPN 3 , the female
slave of PN 4 , who is at your disposal.’ PN and PN 2 agreed, and PN 2 paid.. ., etc.”
(^10) Oelsner, “... Siegelpraxis.”
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