Part 22 (2/2)

Tablet of Ishtar-ummi and A?atani, daughters of Innabatum.

Innabatum, daughter of Bur-Sin, has dedicated them to Shamash. As long as Innabatum lives, Ishtar-ummi and A?atani shall support her, and after Innabatum, their mother [is dead], no one among her sons, their brothers, shall have any claim on them for anything whatever. They have sworn by Shamash, Malkat, Marduk, and Apil-Sin. Fifteen witnesses (of whom the first two are probably the brothers, the rest females, probably all votaries of Shamash and members of the convent.)

In another case, a mother dedicates her son to Shamash,(575) with the stipulation that the son shall support her as long as she lives.

(M546) In a.s.syrian times we have an example(576) of a dedication of a son to Ninip, by his mother, with consent of her brothers and their sons. A father also dedicates his son to Ninip(577) for the well-being of Ashurbanipal, King of a.s.syria. This is interesting as showing that the dedicator acquired merit, which he could transfer to another. Both tablets are defective. In another case, A?i-dalli, the lady governor of one quarter of Nineveh, purchases a large estate and presents it to some G.o.d ”for the health of the king.”(578) Votive tablets giving the presentation of various articles to some G.o.d are common enough at all periods.

(M547) Testamentary devolution of property was not the rule in a.s.syria or Babylonia, where the law of inheritance was so firmly fixed that it would be naturally illegal. As a rule, children did not inherit under their fathers' will, but by right. However, the Code allows a father to give his married or vowed daughter power to leave her property as she will,(579) and it is probable that he had the same power over at least some of his property. The very frequent cases of adoption, where the adopted child becomes heir, on condition of supporting the parent as long as he lives, and the cases of gift _retento usufructu_, are a sort of testamentary disposition of property.

This developed with time into something very like testament. But we always have to bear in mind that conditions may have been understood which are not actually expressed.

(M548) Some examples from later Babylonian times will serve to ill.u.s.trate how near these transactions came to testament. A very interesting case is where a son, probably childless, if not unmarried, and perhaps not in good health, gives his father his property. The doc.u.ment is very involved, but the chief points are these: A married B and they had a daughter C, who married D. The son of C and D is the testator. He leaves to his father D all the property which he inherited from A and B, which they had left to their daughter's son. It consisted of a house, fields, and slaves. He leaves it to his father ”forever,” only he is to retain the enjoyment of it as long as he lives. He therefore expects his father to survive him.(580)

Here is another interesting example:(581)

The division which A made with his sons B and C. The benefice of dagger-bearer (official slaughterer) in the Ish?ara temple he a.s.signs to B. The benefice of the shrine of Papsukal in the temple of Belit-shami-er?iti, situated on the bank of the ca.n.a.l, and the sown corn-field on the Dubanitu ca.n.a.l he gave to his younger son C. All his property out in business he a.s.signed to his mother and his two sisters. Certain dates in the possession of two of his debtors he gave to his two sisters. A fugitive slave, not yet recovered, to his mother and sisters. The house, which by a former deed he had given to his mother and sisters, shall be theirs according to the former deed. As long as his mother lives, she shall enjoy the property formerly a.s.signed her. The benefice of the dagger-bearers.h.i.+p in the temple of Ish?ara, which he had formerly a.s.signed to his mother, she has freely intrusted to his son B. As long as she lives, B and C shall live in the house with her. The income of his mother his sons shall enjoy with her. She shall give marriage-portions to his sisters, her daughters, from her own marriage-portion.

This is very like a last will and testament. The man clearly expected to die shortly. He had married and had two sons, but seems to have lost his wife. He had evidently brought his mother and sisters to live with him. He provides for his sons, his mother, and sisters. Evidently his mother is the guardian of the boys. She is expected to leave the boys all the property that was his and to dower the sisters from her own fortune.

XXII. Sales

(M549) Alienation of property in perpetuity was a matter for serious consideration, where all property was as much that of the family as of the individual. A change of owners.h.i.+p, particularly in the case of land or house, also directly concerned the neighbors. Hence the deeds of sale are imposing doc.u.ments. Whether the object sold was a piece of land, a house, or a slave, the same general treatment was accorded to it.

(M550) There were the same formalities as in all deeds. First the purchaser approached the vendor and there was an interchange of ideas, often through a third party, prolonged over a considerable s.p.a.ce of time.

When etiquette had been satisfied and all the preliminary haggling was over, the parties agreed upon a scribe, who was made acquainted with the terms of the sale, already verbally agreed upon, and he set down in the imperishable clay the legal instrument which should bind the parties to their contract forever.

(M551) Undoubtedly both parties took a copy, and it seems clear that a third was deposited in the temple archives as a sort of registration of t.i.tle. It seems probable that each party sealed the copy held by the other, but this surmise awaits confirmation. As a rule, the same seal seems to have been used for all copies, and the witnesses in early times also affixed their seals. A more exhaustive study must be made before this can be regarded as certain. Even where duplicates exist in our museums, it has been usual to publish only one.

(M552) As a rule, the scribe followed a very definite plan. First he made clear the ident.i.ty of the property. This was the specification. In the case of land, neighbors were set down, boundaries given, in some cases the size of the plot. In each sale the specification is very important. The personal ident.i.ty of the parties was usually sufficiently fixed by appending to their names those of their fathers. In many cases, the office or rank held by a party is added. Occasionally the name of the grandfather, or clan-father is added. When either party was a stranger, his nationality, or city, or tribe, is given. As a rule, the same information is attached to the names of witnesses. These notes of personal ident.i.ty are very valuable, for they furnish means for reconstructing long genealogies, and they throw much light on the intercourse of varied peoples. Babylonia seems always to have had a very mixed population.

(M553) Having made it impossible for any mistake to arise as to the property sold or the parties concerned, the scribe proceeded to guard against errors regarding the nature of the transaction. The house or other property ”was sold,” ”the money paid,” ”in full,” and so on. Then he sought to make it clear that there could be no withdrawal from the bargain, nor after-claims raised. There was danger that the family might put in a claim to the property. An ill.u.s.tration of this is a suit brought to reclaim a house sold, which was the claimant's reversion-an actual redemption of ancestral property. From such perils the buyer was protected by heavy penalties on the seller, who in fact engaged to indemnify him.

(M554) These and many other complicated questions must have long been the subject of consideration in Babylonian legal circles. As a consequence, the scribe usually drew up the deed, in set terms, with a formula consecrated by long use, every turn of which was important.

The following is a good example of the way a scribe drew up a deed of sale:(582)

(M555)

Tappum, son of Iarbi-ilu, ”has bought two _GAN_ of field, in the Isle, next to the field of ?asri-kuttim, and the field of Sin-abushu, son of Ubar-Ishtar, from Salatum, daughter of Apilia, the _GI-A-GI_ (?) and has paid its full price in silver. The business is completed, the contract is valid, his heart is content. In future, man with man, neither shall take exception. By the name of Shamash, Marduk, Sin-mubali? and the city of Sippara, they swore.”

Then follows a list of about twenty witnesses, the names of whose fathers are also given. Usually the date is added. Here, however, it is either omitted or has been lost.

(M556) In this particular case the words within quotation marks are written in Sumerian. The variations are slight as a rule, but enough to show that the scribe understood what he wrote and could make correct changes when needful. The use of such a large amount of Sumerian in these deeds, along with Semitic names and specifications, has often been compared to the retention of Latin words in the body of legal doc.u.ments in European countries, almost to the present day. It will be noted that this portion const.i.tutes the formal body of the doc.u.ment, and might well have been kept ready written, blanks being left to fill in the names and specifications. It is not, however, easy to find proof that this was done in early times.

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