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2.2.3 Petitions
At least under Assyrian rule Babylonians could appeal to the king by
“uttering the word of the king” (amàt “arri qabû). In that case the per-
son would be sent by officials to the king, who would hear his case.^38- L
3.1 Parties
3.1.1 The parties to litigation were normally men in the role of head
of household, who represented the interests of members of their fam-
ily. Women appear in inner-family disputes when their rights in prop-
erty are affected, for example, the whereabouts of dowry assets or
the validity of property settlements, or in disputes with third parties
over the same.^393.1.2 Slaves and freedmen could appear before the court in person
on the question of their status. A slave could, for example, claim to
be a free citizen, in which case the burden of proving his slave sta-
tus lay with the owner.^403.1.3 A temple could also appear as a litigant in a property dispute
with a private person. The temple would be represented by senior
officials (BIN 2 134 = Joannès, “Textes judiciaires.. .,” no. 170).3.2 Procedure
3.2.1 There was no division between civil and criminal procedure.
Most of the documented litigation comes from private archives and
involves disputes over debts or inheritance, but a few criminal trials
are recorded, in particular in the temple archives, when the temple
was the victim of theft or corruption by its employees. Matters within
the internal jurisdiction of a temple could be dealt with by an admin-
istrative procedure.^41 An investigative committee would report its
findings to senior officials.^42(^38) As in the examples given in Postgate, “Royal Excercise...”
(^39) Roth, “fTa“mètu-damqat...”
(^40) Nbn. 1113, the case of Là-tubà“inni, discussed by Wunsch, “Und die Richter.. .,”
62–67.
(^41) Bongenaar, Ebabbar Temple.. ., 22–23.
(^42) Spar, “Trial Depositions.. .,” 163–68.
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