Part 16 (1/2)

(M360) Very singular are the cases in which a votary marries. We know from the Code that this sometimes took place; but the votary seems to have been expected, though married, to keep her vow of virginity. In one case we read that a woman first devotes her daughter, _ullili_, then marries her, and declares at the same time that she is vowed, _ellit_, and that no one has any claim on her.(312)

(M361) (M362) In some cases a sister had the power to give her sister in marriage, with the declaration that no one has any claim on her.(313) We may imagine the sisters orphans, without brothers. The name of their father is, however, given; and his sons and daughters are mentioned. It seems to be closely parallel to the case of the marriage of a king's daughter(314) where a sister also gives a sister in marriage. Here Elmeshu, daughter of the king Ammiditana, is given in marriage by Zirtum, also daughter of king Ammiditana, on the order of her brother, Shumum-libs.h.i.+. The bridegroom was Ibku-Anunitum, son of Shamash-limir and Taram-shullim, his wife. The parents paid for their son only four shekels as _ter?atu_, which Shumum-libs.h.i.+ and Zirtum received. If the bridegroom repudiated his bride, he had to pay half a mina. It is not clear what penalty the bride had to pay if she repudiated her husband. This is dated in the reign of Ammiditana; but in which year of his reign does not appear, as the traces of the year-name do not agree with any in the Chronicle. It must then have fallen somewhere between the seventh and the twenty-second years. Hence the father of the princess was alive at the time. Why had he no hand in the marriage? The history of the reign is not very well known. Perhaps he was away from home. His son and successor, Ammizaduga, whom we may imagine to have been the eldest son, does not appear in the case. Perhaps he also was away. But it is remarkable that the king never does directly take part in any contract. That is probably due to his sacred character. The young princess was not treated with overmuch consideration, judging by the smallness of her dowry.

(M363) We have a very singular case in the marriage of two sisters to one man. This has already been translated and commented upon by Meissner,(315) Pinches,(316) and Sayce.(317) It is, however, too important to omit here.

There are two tablets concerned with it.(318) The first is the contract between the husband and his wives. We may render it thus:

Ardi-Shamash took to wife Taram-Saggil and Iltani, daughters of Sin-abushu. If Taram-Saggil and Iltani say to Ardi-Shamash, their husband, ”You are not my husband,” one shall throw them down from the _AN-ZAG-GAR-KI_; and if Ardi-Shamash shall say to Taram-Saggil and Iltani his wives, ”You are not my wives,” he shall leave house and furniture. Further, Iltani shall obey the orders of Taram-Saggil, shall carry her chair to the temple of her G.o.d. The provisions of Taram-Saggil shall Iltani prepare, her well-being she shall care for, her seal she shall not appropriate (?).

Then follow ten witnesses, but no date.

The second doc.u.ment seems to be drawn up rather from the point of view of the sisters. We may render it thus:

Iltani, the sister of Taram-Saggil, Ardi-Shamash, son of Shamash-ennam, took to wife, from Uttatum, their father. Iltani shall prepare the provisions of her sister, shall care for her well-being, shall carry her chair to the temple of Marduk. The children which she has borne, or shall bear, shall be their children. [If Taram-Saggil] shall say to Iltani, her sister, ”you are not my sister” [the penalty is lost]. [If Iltani shall say to Taram-Saggil her sister], ”You are not my sister,” one shall brand her, and sell her. If Ardi-Shamash shall say to his wife, ”You are not my wife,” he shall pay one mina of silver; and if they say to Ardi-Shamash their husband, ”You are not our husband,” one shall tie them up and throw them into the river.

Here there are eleven witnesses, but again no date.

Meissner deduces from the mention of children that Taram-Saggil was already married. The exact relation between the sisters is not clear. In one case they seem to be daughters of Uttatum, in the other of Sin-abushu.

Or it may be that Iltani alone was daughter of Sin-abushu. If so, perhaps Uttatum had adopted her. Sayce clearly thinks so. But they might be daughters of the same mother by different fathers, one of whom is mentioned in one case, the other in the other. Or they might really be children of Sin-abushu, if their mother afterwards married Uttatum, who was thus their step-father. It is clear that Iltani was to wait on her sister, and, if she repudiated her, was to be treated as a slave. This is exactly parallel to the status of the slave-maid, whom a wife or votary in the Code(319) provided for her husband. Perhaps Taram-Saggil had become a chronic invalid. A comparison of the two texts is interesting in other respects. The penalties differ curiously. If Ardi-Shamash repudiates his wives, in one case, he loses house and furniture; in the other case, he pays one mina. Was one the penalty for repudiating Taram-Saggil, the other for repudiating Iltani? But if they repudiate him, the penalties are different in the two doc.u.ments, unless indeed the _AN-ZAG-GAR-KI_ be an ideogram for the ”steep place” from which they were to be thrown into the water.

(M364) Marriages are not infrequent which impose conditions upon the husband and wife with relation to outside parties. Thus a mother gives her daughter in marriage to a man, on condition that she shall continue to support her mother as long as she lives. In this case, if the husband put away his wife, he was to pay one mina of silver; while, if she hated her husband, she was to be thrown from a pillar, _dimtu_.(320) This pillar may be the real meaning of the _AN-ZAG-GAR-KI_, which looks very like an attempt to express _zigguratu_, a tower, in an ideographic way. A very similar case is where a lady takes a girl to be wife to her son but stipulates that the wife shall treat her as mistress. If she shall say to her mother-in-law, ”Thou art not my mistress,” she shall be branded and sold. As long as the mother lives, they two together shall support her.(321) One may suspect that such maternal power, as is here shown over the children, arises from their having been adopted by their mother in order to provide for her in her old age. This was often done. The children may have been slaves before adoption. In the second case, the mother leaves her son all she has, or may acquire.

XI. Divorce And Desertion

(M365) Divorce is regulated by the Code. The Sumerian laws seem to regard the marriage-tie as dissoluble on the part of the man by an act of simple repudiation, accompanied by a _solatium_, fixed at half a mina. The wife, however, was punished by death for repudiating her husband.(322) The Code limits the facility of divorce for the man and renders it possible for the woman to obtain.

(M366) Divorce of either a wife or concubine involved her being given a maintenance. The divorced wife had the custody of her children, if any.

They were not disinherited by the divorce. The divorced woman retained the marriage-portion which she had brought to the home. She had a share with her children in the divorced husband's property at his death. If he married again, the children of both marriages shared equally. She was also free to marry again, but apparently not until her children had come into their share of the late husband's property, therefore not during his life.(323)

(M367) Divorce was permitted on the ground of childlessness. The husband gave back to his wife all her marriage-portion. Also he had to give the bride-price which he had paid to her parents during his courts.h.i.+p, and which they had returned to him, as a rule, on marriage.(324) If this bride-price had not been given, then he paid her a fixed sum of money; one mina, if he was a patrician, a third, if he was only a plebeian.(325) A slave does not seem to have had the liberty of divorce.

(M368) The wife might take a dislike to her husband and set her face to leave him and deny him conjugal rights. This was probably equivalent to desertion. Then a judicial inquiry was required. If his ill treatment or neglect was made clear and she was blameless, a divorce was granted. She took her marriage-portion and went back to her family. But as this was of her own seeking, she received no alimony.(326) It is a.s.sumed that it was an unhappy marriage from the first and that there were no children.

If it were proved that she was a bad wife, she was treated as an adulteress and drowned.(327) On the other hand, even if she were a bad wife, the husband might repudiate her simply without paying any price for divorce. In this case there was no suspicion of her infidelity. Or the husband might degrade her to the position of a slave.(328) There is no mention in these cases of a return to her father's house.

Chronic illness on the part of a wife was not a ground for divorce. The husband had to maintain her. He might, however, take a second wife.(329) If she did not care to remain in his house in such conditions, she could leave him, take her marriage-portion and return to her family.(330)

(M369) We have already seen that the Code regulates the questions arising out of divorce.(331) The examples at this period are but few. In one case a man put away his wife and she received her price of divorce. It is expressly stated that she may marry another man and her former husband will not complain.(332) This doc.u.ment is, however, little more than an agreement to abide by the terms of the divorce.

In another case a marriage-contract names the penalty a man shall pay for divorcing his wife.(333) In all these cases the word for divorce, _ezebu_, is literally ”to put away.” But a man divorced his wife by the simple process of saying, ”You are not my wife.” He then paid her a fine, returned her marriage-portion and so on, as laid down in the Code.(334) It was far harder for a woman to secure a divorce from her husband. She could do so, however, but only as the result of a lawsuit.(335) As a rule, the marriage-contracts mention death as her punishment, if she repudiates her husband. The death by drowning is usually named. This was in accordance with Law V. of the Sumerian Code.

We may regard repudiation of husband and wife, one by the other, and desertion as leading to divorce; and therefore these may be appropriately considered next.

(M370) Desertion of a wife by her husband might be involuntary. The Code deals with the case of a man captured by the enemy. If the wife were left at home well provided for, she was bound to be true to her absent husband.