shekels of money as her alimony. Th ey swore by Shamash,
Marduk, their king Shamshu-ilu-na, and Sippar.
Contract for Marriage, Thirteenth year of
Nebuchadnezzar II, 591 B.C.E.
Dagil-ili, son of Zambubu, spoke to Khamma, daughter
of Nergal-iddin, son of Babutu, saying: “Give me
Latubashinni your daughter; let her be my wife.” Khamma
heard, and gave him Latubashinni, her daughter, as a
wife; and Dagil-ili, of his own free will, gave Ana-eli-Bel-
amur, a slave, which he had bought for half a mana of
money, and half a mana therewith to Khamma instead
of Latubashinni, her daughter. On the day that Dagil-ili
another wife shall take, Dagil-ili shall give one mana of
money unto Latubashinni, and she shall return to her
place—her former one. [Done] at the dwelling of Shum-
iddin, son of Ishi-etir, son of Sin-damaqu.
IX. DIVORCE
Contract for Divorce, Third year of Nabonidus,
552 B.C.E.
NA’ID-MARDUK, son of Shamash-balatsu-iqbi, will
give, of his own free-will, to Ramua, his wife, and Arad-
Bunini, his son, per day four qa of food, three qa of
drink; per year fi fteen manas of goods, one pi sesame,
one pi salt, which is at the storehouse. Na’id-Marduk
will not increase it. In case she fl ees to Nergal [i.e., she
dies], the fl ight shall not annul it. [Done] at the offi ce of
Mushezib-Marduk, priest of Sippar.From: George Aaron Barton, “Contracts.”
In Assyrian and Babylonian Literature:
Selected Transactions, with a Critical
Introduction by Robert Francis Harper
(New York: D. Appleton and Company,
1904), pp. 256–276.I.196: Of their customs, whereof I shall now proceed
to give an account, the following (which I understand
belongs to them in common with the Illyrian tribe of
the Eneti) is the wisest in my judgment. Once a year in
each village the maidens of age to marry were collected
all together into one place, while the men stood round
them in a circle. Th en a herald called up the damsels
one by one and off ered them for sale. He began with
the most beautiful. When she was sold for no small
sum of money, he off ered for sale the one who came
next to her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives.
Th e richest of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid
against each other for the loveliest maidens, while
the humbler wife-seekers, who were indiff erent about
beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage-
portions.
For the custom was that when the herald had gone
through the whole number of the beautiful damsels,
he should then call up the ugliest—a cripple, if
there chanced to be one—and off er her to the men,
asking who would agree to take her with the smallest
marriage-portion. And the man who off ered to
take the smallest sum had her assigned to him. Th e
marriage-portions were furnished by the money paid
for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens
portioned out the uglier. No one was allowed to give
his daughter in marriage to the man of his choice, nor
might any one carry away the damsel whom he had
purchased without fi nding bail really and truly to make
her his wife; if, however, it turned out that they did
not agree, the money might be paid back. All who liked
might come even from distant villages and bid for the
women. Th is was the best of all their customs, but it
has now fallen into disuse. Th ey have lately hit upon a
very diff erent plan to save their maidens from violence
and prevent their being torn from them and carried
to distant cities, which is to bring up their daughters
to be courtesans. Th is is now done by all the poorer of
the common people, who since the conquest have been
maltreated by their lords and have had ruin brought
upon their families.From: Herodotus, Th e History, trans.
George Rawlinson (New York: Dutton
and Co., 1862). Herodotus: Excerpt from Th e History of the
Persian Wars, ca. 430 b.c.e. Th e Middle Eastfamily: primary source documents 459