Middle Assyrian Laws

Historical source page 25

24 Morris Jastrow, Jr. house, 12 he must pay three times the amount. 13 And if he denies it and says that he did not know, they take him to the river; 14 and if the man in whose house the man's wife was seized returns from the river, 15 he must pay three times the amount. If the man whose wife in his face was carried off of her own accord, returns from the river, 16 he is free 17 — the river (sc. ordeal) settles all for her. 18 And if the man does not cut off the ear 19 of his wife who in his face, of her own accord, had been carried off, he takes his wife back and imposes nothing further upon her. 24 If a woman is retained in her father's house 20 and her husband has died, the brothers of her husband may not divide 21 (the estate) even though she has no son. Whatever her husband has voluntarily 22 assigned to her, the brothers of her husband cannot annul 23 ; it is not to be included in the division. As for B Clearly, the wife of the man into whose house the woman was taken is meant and who (according to line 48 above) had nothing to do with the crime. Instead of the sign for woman (Dam) I read Nin =belit, as in line 48, and supply biti at the end of the line. A confusion between Dam and Nin is easily possible. The original probably has Nin. 13 1, e., of the purchase price as above given or 37,800 shekels in lead. " To submit to an ordeal as above, § 15. 15 1, e., survives the ordeal, by not being drowned, which survival appar- ently saved him only from the death penalty. 16 He also must submit to an ordeal, because of the denial of the charge that he has brought against his wife and her seducer. 17 za-arku. 18 gi^im-ri-id, literally, 'all of her', i. e., the ordeal on the part of the two men decides her fate. 19 Which he has a right to do, as above (col. 3, 57) set forth. Schroeder's text by a slip has asSat-su 'his wife' (accidentally repeated because of its occurrence in the next line) instead of uz-ni-ld 'her ear'. so A standing phrase to indicate that she is being supported by her father and does not live with her husband. The Hammurabi Code, § 142, likewise implies that the woman separated from her husband goes to her father's house. 81 1, e., the whole pf the estate among themselves. M du^mar^-lfi, a word occurring here for the first time, so far as I can see, and which is found again, Col. 3, 97 (§ 25) and 5, 22 (§ 37). The context makes it clear that it designates what her husband has of his own accord given to his wife during the time that she lived with him. I take the word from the stem damdku, 'to be gracious'. 23 &aZ-£tt-ii-m, literally 'destroy'.