The girl’s share of the inheritance upon her marriage
It was the custom in ancient Iraq, before a girl’s relationship with her family was legally severed upon marriage, for her father or her brothers to deduct a portion of his wealth or his estate for her, and it would be recorded in a written contract and given to her upon her marriage. It is the only money the girl receives from her father, as it is equivalent to her share of her father’s inheritance.
The girl also received this share of money when she entered the priestly profession, and it is clear that this amount of money, which was known as (Shirqtum), was usually translated into a dowry.
It was handed over to the husband for his management and development, but the woman sometimes continued to supervise her work and financial activities that she carried out before marriage, and thus she supervised her property in her dowry herself, and the dowry money remained the property of the woman and her children only, and since this money represented the last thread of the financial connection between The woman and her family, the money may return to her family in the event of the death of the unmarried priestess.
A model of a marriage contract from the ancient Babylonian era.
(Ibatum delivered his daughter Sabitum to the house of her father-in-law, Ilosho, as wife to his son, Ward-Kobi, and Sabitum brought with her to the house of Ilosho the effects that her father had given her, which are as follows:
Bed number 2
Chair number 2
One table
Basket number 3
One grinding stone
One mortar
One scale.
As for her dowry, it amounted to 10 shekels of silver given to her by the groom and which Ibatum (her father) received. After kissing her, he tied it to the hem of his daughter Sabitum’s lower garment, and in this way she set off for Ward-Kobi.
If Sabitum one day says to her husband Ward-Kobi, “You are not my husband,” she will be bound and thrown into the river, and if Ward-Kobi one day says to Sabitum, “You are not my wife,” her divorce money, amounting to a third of a mina of silver, will be weighed for her, and her brother Emuk-Adad will be responsible for her word.
Five witnesses, including the writer, date: Tishrei 15, unknown year, during the reign of Amiditana (1683 - 1647 BC).
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