Old Assyrian

 

The archives excavated in the houses of Kaneš lower town belong mainly to Assyrian merchants settled there for business purposes during the 19^th and 18^th centuries BCE. This documentation contains relatively few contracts pertaining to family law, presumably because these were kept in Aššur. However, several wills have been found in Kaneš, suggesting the absence of specific rules of inheritance.

 

Assyrians drew up wills (šīmtam šiāmum) that could demonstrate their concern for protecting the financial interests of all the women in their families. The widow’s support was provided for, either by a share in the estate or by the children. The consecrated daughter was usually among the first to receive a share. Certain widows deemed it worthwhile to draw up their own wills to distribute their belongings as they wanted.

In his will, Agūa provided in the first instance for his wife, who received his assets and the use of the house she was living in at Aššur, next his daughter, who inherited gold, silver, and a servant. By constituting his wife “father and mother” (abat u ummat) over the money that she received, Agūa granted her full ownership. She could use her money as she wished, on the condition that it remained in the family so that, at her death, the eldest son would inherit it, along with the family home in Aššur (55).

indicate the absence of specific rules of inheritance; the same is true of the Assyrian archives at Kaniš. Drawing up of wills with a view to providing for inheritance by women shows clearly that women enjoyed important socio-economic status, and the numerous letters found at Kaniš sent to and by women serve to reinforce this impression

 

The archives of Kaneš have yielded several dozens of documents concerning inheritance among which several last wills. Most of these texts date to the 19^th century BCE.

 

Kt o/k 196

 

 

 

 

This text is published by Albayrak 2000, studied within its context by Michel 2000 and Michel to appear no. 54. It commented by Veenhof 2012, 183-184

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Albayrak İ. 20002. Ein neues altassyrisches Testament aus Kültepe, Archivum Anatolicum 4, p. 17-27.

Hecker K. 2004. Altassyrische Texte, in B. Janowski & G. Wilhelm (eds.), Texte zum Rechts- und Wirtschaftsleben, TUAT Neue Folge Bd. 1, Tübingen, p. 43-57

Michel C. 1997. Les enfants des marchands de Kaniš, in B. Lion, C. Michel & P. Villard (ed.), Enfance et éducation au Proche-Orient ancien, Actes de la table ronde, Nanterre, Décembre 1997, Ktèma 22, p. 91-108.

Michel C. 2000.   À propos d'un testament paléo-assyrien: une femme ‘père et mère’ des capitaux, Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie orientale 94, p. 1-10 http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00642823/fr/.

Michel C. To appear. Women from Aššur and Kaniš according to the private archives of the Assyrian merchants at beginning of the IInd millennium B.C., Writings from the Ancient World, SBL, Baltimore.

Veenhof K. R. 1997. Old Assyrian and Ancient Anatolian Evidence for the Care of the Elderly, in M. Stol et S.P. Vleming (eds.), The Care of the Elderly in the Ancien Near East, Leiden, p. 119-160.

Veenhof K. R. 2008. The death and Burial of Ishtar-Lamassi in karum Kanish, in R. J. van der Spek (ed.), Studies in Ancient Near Eastern World View and Society Presented to Marten Stol on the Occasion of his 65^th Birthday, 10 November 2005, and his retirement from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, p. 97-119.

Veenhof K. R. 2012. Last Wills and Inheritance of Old Assyrian Traders with Four Records from the Archive of Elamma. In K. Abraham and J. Fleishman (eds.), Family Cohesion in the Bible and the Ancient Near East. Studies in Honour of Aaron Skaist on the Occasion of his 76^th Birthday, Bethesda, p. 169-201.

von Soden W. 1976. Ein altassyrisches Testament, WO 8 [1976], p. 211-217.

Wilcke C. 1976. Assyrische Testamente, ZA 66, p. 196-233.

 

Page prepared By Cécile Michel