Neo-Babylonian trial records /
by Shalom E. Holtz.
- xvi, 272 páginas ; 24 centímetros
- Writings from the ancient world ; number 35 .
- Writings from the ancient world ; no. 35. .
General Historical Context -- The Trial Records and Neo-Babylonian Archival Texts -- Imagining the Courtroom Drama -- The Adjudicatory System -- On the Organization of This Book -- Preliminaries to Trials -- A Confession -- Apprehension for Cultic Crimes -- Reports about Theft in High Places -- An Accusation of Burglary -- An Interrogation about Sheep -- An Interrogation about Missing Gold -- Testimony about a Stolen Ox -- Examination of a Tablet as Evidence -- A Conditional Verdict -- Another Conditional Verdict -- Prelude to a Trial for Manslaughter -- Requirement to Present Witnesses -- An Oath to Argue a Case -- A Counterclaim Regarding Misappropriated Sheep -- A Summons to Babylon -- Testimony and a Summons -- A Summons to the Esagil at Babylon -- A Settled Case -- Chapter 2 Completed Trials -- A Dispute over the Sale of a Slave -- A Slave's Attempt at Self-Liberation -- A Misappropriated Temple Slave -- A Boatman's Fraud -- Inheritance -- Undivided Inheritance -- A Property Dispute -- A Property Dispute with the Eanna Temple -- A Dispute over a House -- Dispute over a Theft -- An Attempted Fraud -- A Violent Theft -- The Case of a Branded Temple Servant -- Settling a Debt -- A Case from the Ebabbar at Sippar -- A Case regarding Prebends -- A Widow and Her Husband's Creditors -- Settling Dowry Obligations -- Chapter 3 Four Trial Dossiers -- The Infamous Gimillu (Documents 37--41) -- Suspected Misappropriation -- Gimillu on Trial -- The King's Court of Law -- Oral and Written Evidence -- A Suspicion of Contract for Murder -- The Case of Anu-sarra-usur's Branded Sheep (Documents 42--43) -- Testimony regarding Five Branded Sheep -- A Decision regarding Branded Sheep -- The Case of La-tubasinni and Her Children (Documents 44--48) -- La-tubasinni's Marriage Contract -- Nabu-eda-usur's Slave Wages -- Sale of Four Slaves -- Sale of a Slave -- The Status of La-tubasinni's Children -- An Unauthorized Marriage (Documents 49--50) -- A Guarantee for Testimony -- An Unauthorized Marriage.
"The written records of legal proceedings make fascinating reading regardless of the medium on which they are inscribed. Such is certainly true of these written remains from sixth-century B.C.E. Mesopotamia, which afford a close-up, often dramatic, view of ancient courtroom encounters and shed light on facets of that society's legal culture and daily life. An explanatory essay precedes each of the fifty texts transliterated and translated in this volume. In addition, the book offers an introduction to Neo-Babylonian social history, archival records, and legal materials. Beyond its interest to scholars interested in the history of law, it can also be used as a classroom text in advanced Akkadian."--Back cover.