Febru.vry 1, 1896. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



45 



the time, would have fallen far short of what we are accus- 

 tomed to in most of the houses of Europe to-day. Life 

 outside, in a tent, would certainly have been preferable. 

 To a monotheist, also, the heathen practices of the poly- 

 theistic Babylonians must have been far from sympathetic, 

 however much he might have admired their intelligence, 

 their philosophy, their civilization, their love of justice, 

 and their kind-heartedness, which was, to all appearance, 

 often thoroughly disinterested. 



In judging the character of the people of that time, with 

 their manners and customs, and their morals, so different 

 from ours, we are bound to take in consideration the 

 influence of their surroundings. For them and their 

 contemporaries there was nothmg wrong in polygamy and 

 the possession of concubines, and slaves were chattels to 

 do as one liked with : and it is in consideration of these 

 customs that we must look upon the possession of two 

 wives, as the following, from a tablet in the British 

 Museum, shows : — 



T.-VBLET RECORDING THE MaRKIAGE OF TwO SiSTERS TO 



One Husband. 



"Arad-Samas, son of Ili-ennam, has taken Iltani, sister 

 of Taram-Sagila, from Samas-tatum, ' their father, as his 

 wife. Iltani is his consort. He will provide for her, he 

 will care for her, he will carry her seat to the temple ol 

 Merodach. The children, as many as have been born, 

 and as they will bear, are their children (i.e., the children 

 of Iltani and her sister). If she (Taram-Sagila) say to 

 Iltani, her sister, ' Thou art not my sister,' then . . . . | 

 [if Iltani] say [to Arad-Samas] ' Thou [art not my 

 husband] ,' then he may set a mark on her and sell her for 

 silver; and if Arad-Samas say to his wife, 'Thou art not 

 my wife,' then he shall pay her one maneh of silver.] 

 And they (two), if they say to Arad-Samas, their husbanl. 

 'Thou art not our husband,' then (the people may) 

 strangle (■?) them, and throw them into the river." j 



The names of the witnesses close the inscription. 



Impression of a CTlindei--Seal sucli as was used iu sealiii'; 

 contracts. Deities and worshipper, witli tlie name of the owner 

 of the seal, his fatlier, and the deity lie served. Ahout 20O0 n.c. 



When two sisters were wedded to the same man each 

 had a tablet very similar in wording to the above, but 

 with the position of tlieir names changed. Snch a tablet 



* Or Samassatuin. 



t Apparently one or the other was an adopted daughter of Samas- 

 tjituni, as, logically, a real relationship, such as that of sister, cannot 

 he changed by the utterance of «)/// tormuhi. 



X This was the act of divorce, the penalty for whicli, in the ease of 

 a man, was a money paynuMit only. 



§ See Meissner, " beitriigi :um all-habi/lonisr!/en Friralreclt." 

 No. 89. lie (luotes also a tablet (92) in the iJerlin Museum which is 

 very rcnuu-kablo for its form: "Akha-nusa Inis given Xapirtuni 

 to a husband; no one sliall part her asunder. One slickel of silver is 

 lier dowry, ilc wlio slanders her has committed sin. No one shall 

 part lier a^^uuder." 



was, in fact, a woman's marriage certificate, and testified 

 to her respectability. In all probability she had but httle 

 chance of re-marriage without it, for the reputation of a 

 woman was a most important thing to her in the ancient East. 

 It is a noteworthy fact that the ancient Babylonians 

 were at all times great lovers of legal forms, for they 

 invested every transaction of life that could be so treated 

 in the robe of the law. Not only the wedding ceremony, 

 but the hire of a slave, a loan, a gift, an exchange, a sale, 

 were all upon the same footing with partnership and its 

 Dissolution, adoption, inheritance, etc. Whenever a 

 difficulty arose (and disputes were not infrequent), a judge 

 wag taken to pronounce a decision upon the merits of the 

 case. These legal actions often (perhaps generally) took 



Impression of a Cylinder such as was used in sealing contracts. 

 Deity and worshipper, with the name of the owner of the seal, 

 his father, and the god he served. About 2000 B.C. 



place in the temple of Samas, the Sun-god, this deity being 

 regarded as the great "decider of decisions" and "the 

 judge of the world," the pronouncements of whose judges 

 he was supposed to direct. 



The following will give an idea of the circumstance 

 attending a deed of gift : — 



" Lamasu, their mother, has given to SiU-Samas one 

 slave (named) Ana-Samas-kalama and 10 shekels of 

 silver; 10 shekels of silver, and 10 shekels of silver (as) 

 the wedding-gift (of the wife that he has taken), to Sin- 

 mubalit, his brother ; and 15 shekels of silver to Taribu, 

 his brother. Never shall Sih-Samas, Sin-mubaht, his 

 brother, and Taribu, his brother, have any claim upon 

 what Lamasu, her son Apil-ili, her son Amat-Bammani, 

 and MAd-Rammani, her daughter, have and will possess. 

 She has written (this) with their consent. At no time 

 .'-hall they make any claim. They have sworn by Sin, 

 Samas, and Khammurabi the King." 



The names of several witnesses (whose seals are im- 

 pressed) follow, after which comes the date : — 



" Month Adar, of the year Khammurabi the King renewed 

 for Istar and Nanaa the temple Ivtur-kalama." 



The sale of a house was couched in similar terms: — 



" One sar (of land), a house on a platform (^•.'), beside the 

 house of Sili-NauAa, (and) beside the property of the sons 

 of I'bar-Sin, (one) end the street, and (the other) end the 

 house of Sin-a/.u. From Minanu son of MigratSin, and 

 Ili-turam his son, Sili-NanAa sou of Hi — ■■, and .\pil-ili 

 his brother, have bought it for 8] shekels of silver, its 

 complete price. At no future time shall they litigate 

 against each other (concerning the house). They have 

 invoked the name of the King." 



Here follow the names of nine witnesses. 



" His seal and the seals of the witnesses have been 

 impressed. l\Ionth Sebat, day 2(;th, year of Rim-Sin, 

 when the enemy who was wicked (smote (".') the lands). " 



That slavery was in full swing may be gathered from 

 the above texts (see the deed of gift), and sales of slaves 

 bimilar to the following were therefore very commou ; — 



