R E V I E W OE BOOKS 447 Seven) a n d t h e law of p r o p e r t y as following t h e dissolution of m a r r i a g e b y divorce ( C h a p t e r E i g h t ) . C h a p t e r Nine c o n t a i n s several conclusions concerning t h e law of m a t r i m o n i a l p r o p e r t y a n d a s c r u p u l o u s analysis of some clauses of t h e „will" of N a u n a k h t e d a t i n g f r o m t h e 2 0 t h d y n a s t y .
T h e a u t h o r p r o v e s t h a t d u r i n g t h e m a r r i a g e t h e m a r r i e d w o m a n can own a p r o p e r t y a n d a p p e a r s t o be entitled t o one t h i r d in t h e p r o p e r t y of her h u s b a n d or i n t h a t p a r t w h i c h he h a s acquired d u r i n g m a r r i a g e . She has t h e r i g h t t o dispose of her p r i v a t e p r o p e r t y a t her will a n d freely. Some m a t r i m o n i a l goods which belong t o t h e w i f e a r e p u t in t h e h a n d s of t h e h u s b a n d w h o is f r e e t o a d m i n i s t e r a n d dispose of t h e m . A f t e r t h e dissolution of m a r r i a g e t h e ex-h u s b a n d is obliged t o give b a c k tex-hese goods (or t ex-h e v a l u e of t ex-h e m in m o n e y ) . If t h e m a r r i a g e is dissolved a division of p r o p e r t y t a k e s place a n d each of t h e f o r m e r spouses t a k e s t h e t h i n g s t o w h i c h he is e n t i t l e d . T h e r e p u d i a t e d wife receives m o r e o v e r f r o m her f o r m e r h u s b a n d a f i n e r e m u n e r a t i o n .
T h e t h i r d p a r t of t h e w o r k (Conclusion) e m b r a c e s C h a p t e r T e n in w h i c h is a discussion of t h e deeds which m a y b e d r a w n u p in view of m a r r i a g e a n d divorce as well as t h e q u e s t i o n of t h e legal s t a t u s of t h e w o m a n ( C h a p t e r E l e v e n ) . As t o t h e legal position of t h e w o m a n t h e a u t h o r p r o v e s t h a t in A n c i e n t E g y p t she h a s n o t only de iure b u t also de facto a completely e q u a l position t o t h a t of t h e m a n . A f t e r t h e c o n q u e s t of E g y p t b y A l e x a n d e r t h e G r e a t t h e legal position of t h e E g y p t i a n w o m a n becomes w e a k e r a n d g r a d u a l l y equalizes w i t h t h a t of t h e Greek w o m a n in E g y p t . I n t h i s p a r t of t h e b o o k we f i n d f u r t h e r t h e genealogical trees, a c o m m e n t a r y t o t h e d i a g r a m s placed a t t h e e n d of t h e work, a copious b i b l i o g r a p h y , a D u t c h s u m m a r y of t h e b o o k a n d v e r y good indexes of s u b j e c t s a n d sources.
[ U n i v e r s i t y of Lodz] C. Kunderewicz
B u r k h a r t К i e η a s t , Die altassyrischen Texte des Orientalischen Seminars der Universität Heidelberg und der Sammlung Erlenmeyer-Basel. Untersuchungen zur Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie ( E r g ä n z u n g s -b ä n d e zur Z e i t s c h r i f t . f ü r Assyriologie u n d v o r d e r a s i a t i s c h e n Archäologie, N e u e Folge) B a n d 1. Mit 32 T a f e l n K e i l s c h t i f t a u t o g r a p h i e n u n d 8 T a f e l n P h o t o s v o n Siegelabrollungen. W . de G r u y t e r et Co. Berlin 1960. P p . X I I |
-125. Price D M 42.
T h e collection of t h e Old Assyrian t a b l e t s e d i t e d b y B. K i e n a s t consists of t h r e e p a r t s . T h e f i r s t c o n t a i n s 53 t a b l e t s f r o m t h e Orientalisches S e m i n a r of H e i d e l b e r g U n i v e r s i t y (nos 1 - 5 3 ) , t h e second — 22 t a b l e t s owned b y F r a u P r o f . M. L. E r l e n m e y e r (nos 54 — 75), t h e t h i r d — t h e descriptions of t h e seal impressions on t h e e d i t e d t e x t s . I n a n a p p e n d i x t o t h e second p a r t t h e r e is p u b l i s h e d a t a b l e t owned b y Mr E . M a t t h i e n s e n f r o m F r a n k f u r t a. Main.
448 С. KUNDEREWCZ
The origin of all the texts is unknown. An analysis of their writing, grammar, style and contents as well as of the seal impressions preserved on the clay-envelopes prove that these texts are Old Assyrian-Cappadocian and that they correspond to the finds in the level II of Kanis-Kültepe. As to the contents the published texts are legal documents, business letters and various fragments. The person whose name appears most frequently in the edited texts is the well known Old Assyrian merchant Pusuken (cf. P.v.d. M e e r , Une correspon-dance commerciale assyrienne de Cappadoce, Roma 1931). The texts nos 1-6,54 and 75 are the loans of copper, silver and corn; nos 7-9 are notes which concern debts; nos 10-12 are notices concerning deliveries of goods; no 12 — a notice which concerns various commercial transactions. Number 13 deals with the right of recovery of a surety; no 14 is a notice concerning the outstanding claims; no 15 concerns the payement of interests; no 16 is a deed of renunciation; nos 17-19 concern the deposit of gold, silver, tin and other goods. The nos 20-24 are records of judicial proceedings. The most interesting of them is no 24 in which the parties appear to be children of the dead partners Pusuken and Amuristar, both well known Old Assyrian merchants. This document gives very precious information on Old Assyrian commercial partnership. Nos 25-48, 58-66 and 76 are business letters which throw much light on business transac-tions in goods and money trading in the Old Assyrian period. Nos 49-53 and 67-74 are fragments of clay-envelopes or fragments of various texts con-cerning commercial transactions. The no 55 contains the excerpts from the texts on 11 clay-envelopes of legal documents; no 56 — a part of the clay-en-velope 1909/587 = EL II, no 328 in Edinburgh — is a judgement and the no 57 — a notice about the silver, a sheep and the corn left with some per-sons. The texts are provided by the editor with rich explanatory notes and German translations.
This carefully edited collection is undoubtedly a valuable contributiou to our knowledge of the law and the economic history of the Old Assyrian period.
[University of Lodz] C. Kunderewicz Reuven Y a г о n, Introduction to the Law of the Aramaic Papyri (Oxford
at the Clarendon Press, 1961), XIV, 135 S. I
Der Titel des Ruches bedarf, bevor man noch auf den Inhalt eingeht, der Erklärung und Verteidigung. Der Laie, d.h. jeder der nicht Spezialist in diesem Zweig der Rechtsgeschichte ist, wird leicht dazu neigen, ihn als eine „Einfüh-rung in aramäisches Recht" zu lesen. Und in der Tat spricht Luzatto als einer der ersten Rezensenten des Ruches von einer „introduzione alio studio del
