- Path:
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The Precarious Inheritance Rights of Adopted Slaves During the Old Babylonian Period
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Periodical
- Title:
- Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History
- Publication:
-
Berlin: De Gruyter
- Note:
- Gesehen am 27.02.14
- Scope:
- Online-Ressource
- ISSN:
- 2328-9562
- ZDB-ID:
-
2759401-4
- Keywords:
- Zeitschrift
- Classification:
- Geschichte
- Collection:
- Geschichte
- Copyright:
- Rights reserved
- Accessibility:
- Eingeschränkter Zugang mit Nutzungsbeschränkungen
- Title:
- Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History
- Publication:
-
Berlin: De Gruyter
- Note:
- Gesehen am 27.02.14
- Scope:
- Online-Ressource
- ISSN:
- 2328-9562
- ZDB-ID:
-
2759401-4
- Keywords:
- Zeitschrift
- Classification:
- Geschichte
- Collection:
- Geschichte
- Copyright:
- Rights reserved
- Accessibility:
- Eingeschränkter Zugang mit Nutzungsbeschränkungen
Article
- Title:
- The Precarious Inheritance Rights of Adopted Slaves During the Old Babylonian Period
- Publication:
-
Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025
- Language:
- English
- Information:
- Abstract: Adoptions during the Old Babylonian period were driven by various social, economic, and legal motivations. In the case of adoptions of slaves, it automatically resulted in their manumission, granting them a new status as “son and heir” along with associated rights – mostly inheritance ones – and duties. Thus, adoption-manumissions transformed slaves into freed heirs. However, while laws clearly protected the inheritance rights of freeborn children, the legal situation of these freed adoptees has yet not been fully explored. By examining a corpus of 10 documents, this paper shows that the situation of freed heirs was precarious when compared with free heirs. On the one hand, their former status as slaves meant that adoption-manumission contracts included provisions for their (re-) enslavement in the event of a contractual breach. On the other hand, no specific legal regime governed and protected their inheritance rights, which were therefore entirely contingent on the contract drafted by the adopters. As a result, the fate of adopted slaves was at the mercy of their adopters. This study reveals that the inheritance rights of freed heirs were often inferior to those of free heirs. This was due to the ability of parents to add ancillary clauses to the adoption-manumission contracts to favor preexisting free heirs. However, adopters could also insert protective clauses to secure the inheritance rights of freed heirs, especially in competition with future free heirs. Through a new reading of texts concerning adopted slaves, this paper outlines for the first time their inheritance rights, highlighting the complexity and flexibility of Mesopotamian law.
- Scope:
- Online-Ressource
- Note:
- Kein Open Access
- Archivierung/Langzeitarchivierung gewährleistet
- Keywords:
- slaves ; adoption ; manumission ; inheritance ; Old Babylonian period
- Classification:
- Geschichte
- Sonstiges
- Collection:
- Geschichte
- Sonstiges
- Copyright:
- Rights reserved
- Accessibility:
- Eingeschränkter Zugang mit Nutzungsbeschränkungen
- Title:
- The Precarious Inheritance Rights of Adopted Slaves During the Old Babylonian Period
- Publication:
-
Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025
- Language:
- English
- Information:
- Abstract: Adoptions during the Old Babylonian period were driven by various social, economic, and legal motivations. In the case of adoptions of slaves, it automatically resulted in their manumission, granting them a new status as “son and heir” along with associated rights – mostly inheritance ones – and duties. Thus, adoption-manumissions transformed slaves into freed heirs. However, while laws clearly protected the inheritance rights of freeborn children, the legal situation of these freed adoptees has yet not been fully explored. By examining a corpus of 10 documents, this paper shows that the situation of freed heirs was precarious when compared with free heirs. On the one hand, their former status as slaves meant that adoption-manumission contracts included provisions for their (re-) enslavement in the event of a contractual breach. On the other hand, no specific legal regime governed and protected their inheritance rights, which were therefore entirely contingent on the contract drafted by the adopters. As a result, the fate of adopted slaves was at the mercy of their adopters. This study reveals that the inheritance rights of freed heirs were often inferior to those of free heirs. This was due to the ability of parents to add ancillary clauses to the adoption-manumission contracts to favor preexisting free heirs. However, adopters could also insert protective clauses to secure the inheritance rights of freed heirs, especially in competition with future free heirs. Through a new reading of texts concerning adopted slaves, this paper outlines for the first time their inheritance rights, highlighting the complexity and flexibility of Mesopotamian law.
- Scope:
- Online-Ressource
- Note:
- Kein Open Access
- Archivierung/Langzeitarchivierung gewährleistet
- Keywords:
- slaves ; adoption ; manumission ; inheritance ; Old Babylonian period
- Classification:
- Geschichte
- Sonstiges
- Collection:
- Geschichte
- Sonstiges
- Copyright:
- Rights reserved
- Accessibility:
- Eingeschränkter Zugang mit Nutzungsbeschränkungen
