| Explanatory Notes: | Translations are based upon collations of the original tablets by C. Wunsch<br /><br />Synopsis<br />These two records pertain to a clandestine marriage in lofty circles, its legal consequences and final annulment. <br /><br />The son of a courtier has married without his father's knowledge and consent and had an official marriage document issued. The bride is the sister of an subordinate of the official in charge of the king’s private quarters. Although the hierarchical order and social standing of the persons involved cannot clearly be defined there seems no doubt about the son "marrying down", to which the father objects and goes to court to have the arrangement voided. <br /><br />But there may be much more at stake for the father that escapes us. He suspects the one in charge of the king’s private quarters to have been actively involved in the plot to bring the marriage about and brings claim against him. This story background is described (though in terse words) in the litigation record Cyr 312.<br /> <br /> For his purpose the father needs proof. The method he employs is shown in Cyr 311, written before the trial. He obliges the scribe of the marriage document to testify in court that he had acted upon instruction from the one in charge of the king’s private quarters, communicated by one of the latter’s slaves. Should he choose not to testify he has to pay a heavy fine that in itself should be prohibitive. This record makes one wonder if the father tries to force the scribe to give false testimony in court.<br /><br />Three days later the matter is dealt with by the highest-ranking judges (Cyr 312). The one in charge of the king’s private quarters declares under oath not to have anything to do with the marriage arrangement. The brother of the bride admits to have arranged the marriage without the father's consent and the marriage therefore is voided by the judges. His statement helps to exonerate the defendant, probably much to the chagrin of the father. The brother does not seem to face any legal consequences (after all, he is entitled to act on behalf of his sister), though the fact that his sister’s marriage got annulled (after being consummated, as we may suspect) certainly attests to his reputation and standing. His sister faces enslavement should she ever be seen with her not-meant-to-be-husband again. <br /><br /> What happened to the scribe is not clear. The trial record does not mention any statement of his (unless it is lost in the damaged lines, but the preserved words do not point in this direction). Did the one in charge of the king’s quarters put pressure on him not to testify? Did he buy the scribe’s silence (and thereby pay a heavy sum to the father)? The idea that this case lead to out-of-court monetary consequences may be supported by the fact that our records have survived in the archive of a man who was entirely unrelated to the parties involved. The records come from the Egibi family archive. These merchant-entrepreneurs are known to have dealt with difficult financial and legal matters on behalf of noble clients. We therefore can assume the preservation of precisely these records had something to do with the settlement of the those 30 minas of silver mentioned as a penalty in Cyr 311.<br /><br />The name of the bride is given as Kubbuttu in one record, and Tablut in the other, but there is no doubt about her identity. Either one of the scribes was careless (after all, what does the name of the girl matter in this context?) or he employed the girl’s nickname (cf. Joannès)<br /><br />Collation results:<br />Cyr 311: <br />Line 9 read ina É DI*.KU5*, line 12 read mi-t.i*-tu4<br />Cyr 312: <br />Line 15 restore ia-a]-tú im.DUB áš-šu-[ti], cf. Nbn 356:4; line 18 read ]-ma ú-pa-as-si-su (this line does not appear in the copy). |
| Publication: | cf. F. Joannès in Rendre la Justice en Mésopotamie, Saint-Denis 2000, no. 149f. [in French] |
| Source: | J.N. Strassmaier, Inschriften von Cyrus… Leipzig 1890 |
| Date: | 531 BC |
| Language: | Neo-Babylonian |
| Medium: | clay tablet |
| Find Spot: | Babylon |
| Permalink: | http://etana.org/etact/search/rss |
Submitted by bill.hook@vande... on Fri, 2007-06-15 19:10
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