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PART 1V. SEMINARS

MIDDLE-ASSYRIAN LAWS

By Walter G. Veniaminov

The most ancient law system of Assyria dates back to the so-called middle-Assyrian period (XV-XI c. BC) that is why they are called Middle-Assyrian Laws (MALs here and after).

MALs were discovered in clay tablets and fragments allegedly on the site of a local courtyard, somewhere around the temple of gods Anu and Adad and the palace of Ashur town, and also in private homes and in town temple archives. Totally around 14 MAL tablets and fragments have remained for us.

MALs as a general establishment of law were conceptually split into groups or "branches" where certain classified regulation norms handled crimes or offences. Every "branch" had a clay tablet where norms were gathered to handle a particular range of cases. Unfortunately the whole text of MALs did not remain intact through years, nor did classified "branches" either. Only one tablet has remained. It regulates women's legal norms. This regulation has III sign or a letter. Also we possess tablets for regulation of land, credits, etc.

Unlike the laws of Bilalama and laws of Hammurabi MALs seem to have no bearing on any Assyrian king, and no-one knows when these laws were articulated or came into effect. It is commonly acknowledged that these laws most probably were conceived no later than in 15t11 century, in other words, before a powerful Assyrian kingdom was set up.

MALs actually were made in the middle-Assyrian dialect of the Akkadian language.

Studies of MALs and other known law systems of Mesopotamia (laws of Shulga, earlier known as laws of Ur-Nammu, laws of Lipit-Ishtar, laws of Bilalama and of Hammurabi) enable a modem lawyer to track down the ancient conception and principles of law, its institutions, forms, court process and types of punishment.

Code of legal forms found in writing happened to be MALs specialty, which is second to none not only among ancient Mesopotamian, but also among any other further law systems in the world history.

MALs seem unique primarily due to the method of their systematization. For example, law norms are grouped into " A " (III) on the principle of one single "branch" according to the type of legal regulation. Here the subject of legal regulation is the woman. MALs render woman as one being under the power or authority of "man" who is the only owner of property. As a matter of fact, this man can be father, brother, husband, sons, brother's of husband, etc. Somewhere MALs handle woman who is not a subject of man's power and authority.

Around 60 clauses under tablet " A " III make regulation of different legal relations, whereby the woman acts both as subject and object. For example, norms for clauses 1 to 8 in tablet "A"(III) set responsibilities for crimes committed by woman, whereas clauses 9, 10 and 12 set responsibilities for crimes committed against woman, this way woman becomes the subject of legal life. Meanwhile woman becomes the object on points 30 and 31, which handle bride money and other things alike. Also, woman is the object again in clause 39, where she is in pawn.

In case of a detailed analysis of the text in tablet " A " and. in view of the legal norm arrangement in it, one can discover a certain system of text formation in the tablet. For example, crimes committed by woman, as described above, are grouped in points 1 to 8. Clauses 13 to 16 also gathered in one small group set that responsibility for crimes made by woman in complicity.

We are not supposed to highlight merits or demerits of the MALs method in question for the modem legal conception does not accept legal norms which regulate conjugal and family relations to be found in one "branch" with norms to set responsibility for crimes.

It must be assumed that MALs as legal norms methods can give modem lawyers an opportunity to study the first ever made method of legal norms systematization conditioned by the level of society and public relations, and on the other hand, by the legal level of the Middle-Assyrian period.

MALs are the only legal systems known down in the history, which describe norms, which set responsibility for crimes against the state as then viewed. No other legal description of norms known in Ancient Mesopotamia or in Laws of Hammurabi has similar norms. One can only suppose that responsibility for crimes against the state was set by a regular legal norm.

MALs render "scandalous" word; "high treason" or obscene words (clause 2 " A ") pronounced by woman and set personal responsibility of woman for a particular crime. Besides there is one more clause (1 " A "III) that handles crimes against the state, this one sets responsibility for stealing church possessions. In clause 47 of tablet " A " (III) the lawmaker sets a trial procedure for proving guilt in case of man or woman's accusation of witchery also rendered as crime against the state.

Studying MALs texts the modem reader will be unpleasantly surprised to find very long phrases and complex Grammar in them. Any way one should bear in mind that this material is over 3,000 years old and besides these MALs like any other old legal manuscripts of Ancient Mesopotamia enable us to find more about earliest steps in the law-making process. So these MALs still have a great value indeed.

Our reference: Walter G. Veniaminov is a lawyer and leader of Assyrian Association of Novorossiysk and Krimsk (Krasnodar district).