Middle Assyrian Laws

Historical source page 54

An Assyrian Law Code 53 belongs to N.N. the son of N.N. 95 within the confines 96 of this city, I wish to acquire [for silver (?)]. 97 Whatever their de- mands 98 and (whatever) claims there may be, 99 let them draw up their documents and in the presence of the recorder 100 let them deposit them, and let them put in a claim 1 so as to make it free 2 to be disposed of. If within this month, fixed as the time limit, 3 they have not neglected 4 to produce their documents and in the presence of the recorder have deposited them, then the man shall take to the full extent of his field. 5 On the day that the surrogated) makes proclamation within the city of Asshur, one as a secretary(?) 6 in place of the king, the city scribe, 7 the surrogate and the recorder of the king shall assemble 8 to dispose of the field and house within the city. (With) the prefect 9 and three magistrates 10 of the city standing by, the " an-na-na mar an-na-na, 'this one, son of this one'. See Meissner, ib., No. 7829. M A-Gdr —ugaru, a term of frequent occurrence in legal documents, and here used to indicate that the property lies within the confines of the city. " a-na [sarpi] (?). * 8 Read [la-a] -ka-su-nu. " Read da-[ba]-ab-M-nu. Cf. Schorr, Altbabylonische Rechtsurkunden No. 149. 16 {dibbati). 100 ki-pu-u-ti, occurring again lines 24 and 43, evidently designates the office of the recorder. 1 li-id-bu-bu — from dababu, for which see Schorr, ib., p. 372 note. 2 lu-zak-[ki]-ti-ma. ■ 3 e-da-nu = adannu, 'time limit' occurs also in Text No. 143. See Muss- Arnolt, Assyrian Dictionary, p. 21a. 4 1 suggest reading la-a ma-Sd-e and combining masu 'forget, neglect,' etc., with the following verb — it-ta-aUlu-ni-en-ni IV, 2 from elu, 'bring up' or 'produce'. 6 a-na si-ir ekli-fal i-sal-lim, literally, 'completing to the border of his field', i. e., the purchaser shall acquire the full estate. " Numeral one, followed by i-na sukkalli Id pa-ni Sarri, which would appear to designate an official acting as the representative of the king. For officials designated by an introductory sa, see, e. g., Johns, Assyrian Deeds and Docu- ments, 2, p. 165. The addition of ina sukkalli I take as a designation of the secretarial bureau, but the entire passage must remain obscure until we find further references to the office intended in some Assyrian legal document. 7 dup-lar (Hi. 8 iz-za-zu, 'stand'. ' fra-zi-a-nu, an official of frequent occurrence in official documents and who appears to have been the prefect. See Johns, ib., Vol. 2, p. 148 seq. 10 Gal(Mes) =rabuti, as above, No. 1, § 44.