Amat-Mamu (daughter of Sin-ilum)
{{short description|Babylonian priestess}}
{{good article}}
{{Distinguish|text=the nadītu scribe Amat-Mamu}}
Amat-Mamu was a Babylonian nadītu priestess in Sippar from the 18th century BC who was the subject of legal proceedings involving her inheritance. Amat-Mamu was chosen as the heir of fellow nadītu Belessunu, who bequeathed Amat-Mamu her land and slaves. In exchange, Amat-Mamu was to provide for Belessunu until her death. The estate was claimed by two of Belessunu's cousins, but the mayor ruled in favor of Belessunu and Amat-Mamu. Amat-Mamu then lost the deeds when they were kept in her uncle's home, requiring her to have them reconstituted in a new tablet. This tablet was preserved, and its description of Amat-Mamu's inheritance provides insight into Babylonian inheritance practices.
Family and inheritance
File:Tablet of Shamash (2).jpg
Amat-Mamu was a nadītu, a priestess to the god Shamash.{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=63}} She was the daughter of Sin-ilum (also transcribed as Sîn-ilum or Sin-ili). Sin-ilum was the son of Sin-tajjār, who in turn was the son of Akšāja.{{Sfn|Harris|1969|p=138}} Amat-Mamu had a cousin, an aunt, and a great aunt who were all nadītus as well.{{Sfn|Harris|1969|p=137}} Nadītus were sometimes allowed to choose their own heirs, including potential heirs outside of their own families.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|pp=280–282}} Such an option was allowed to the nadītu Belessunu, daughter of Mannium, as part of the terms of her own adoption as the heir of her aunt Naramtum,{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=64}}{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|p=281}} and Belessunu adopted Amat-Mamu as her heir.{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=63}}
Amat-Mamu inherited four fields totaling forty-six acres: a five-acre field and a twenty-acre field in the Pzur-Ilaba district, a nine-acre field in the Akbarum district, and a twelve-acre field in the Pahuşu district. She also inherited two plots of land: one and one-third sar of partially developed land in the cloister and six sar of undeveloped land of Sippar-rabum. Amat-Mamu inherited three slaves from Belessunu: Ana-pani-Šamaš-nadi, Sin-mašmaš, and Sin-mašmaš's brother.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|pp=117–118}} Also inherited were a house, two copper pots,{{Sfn|Harris|1969|p=138}}{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=64}} and two axes.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=118}} Amat-Mamu was given the deeds, or "mother tablets", entitling her to Belessunu's property.{{Sfn|Jacquet|2013|p=77}}
Per the terms of the agreement, Amat-Mamu was required to pay Belessunu's debts and provide for her while she lived.{{Sfn|Harris|1969|p=138}}{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=64}} The debt totaled two-thirds mina, six shekels of silver. To provide for Belessunu, Amat-Mamu was required to provide Belessunu with six gurs of grain, twelve minas of wool, twenty-four liters of oil, six feasts, twenty liters of flour, and two pieces of meat each year. The agreement specified that this agreement was only with Amat-Mamu, and no other person could lay claim to Belessunu's estate by providing for her.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=118}}
Two years after the agreement was made, two of Belessunu's cousins and fellow nadītus—Amat-Šamaš and Nīši-īnīšu—laid claim to the fields.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|p=281}} The mayor of Sippar, Zimri-Erah, ruled that the inheritance was rightfully Belessunu's. The cousins were penalized for making a false claim over property, and they were forced to give Amat-Mamu a tablet that relinquished their claims.{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|pp=64–65}} Professor Rivkah Harris speculated that Belessunu passed over her cousins in favor of Amat-Mamu because Amat-Mamu was a member of a wealthy family and therefore better able to support Belessunu during her life.{{Sfn|Harris|1976|pp=131–132}}
Reconstitution of the tablets
The cuneiform tablets confirming Amat-Mamu's inheritance were stored in the home of her uncle, Ikun-pī-Sîn.{{Sfn|Jacquet|2013|p=77}}{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|pp=281–282}} They were kept separate from the family archive so as not to suggest that the inheritance was part of the family estate.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|pp=282–283}} It is unknown why they were kept in her uncle's house, though such storage arrangements with family members were not uncommon.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|pp=282–283}}
When they were lost, her father Sîn-ilî had a deposition taken from the uncle admitting to their loss.{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|pp=64–65}} Amat-Mamu was forced to go to the court so the judges could authorize the creation of new tablets.{{Sfn|Jacquet|2013|p=77}} The tablets that Belessunu received as a girl during her own adoption were not reconstituted, for her and her witnesses to that contract had already died.{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|p=63}} The court also ruled that should the previous tablets be found, they were still the sole property of Amat-Mamu.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|pp=282–283}}
The sequence of events describing both the legal dispute and the tablets' loss was documented on the reconstituted tablet.{{Sfn|De Graef|2016|p=281}}{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=119}} The reconstitution meant that some details were lost and inconsistencies were introduced, primarily in the description of the fields.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=111}} The tablet is dated to the 14th year of Samsu-iluna's rule, placing its creation in 1736 BC. It has been preserved and is designated by archeologists as CT 47.63.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=110}} Amat-Mamu's story is listed on the tablet alongside that of Belessunu, including Belessunu's dedication as a nadītu and her adoption by her aunt.{{Sfn|Charpin|2023|p=111}} The tablet is used in the modern era as a reference to understand Babylonian property and inheritance law.{{Sfn|Jacquet|2013|p=77}}{{Sfn|Charpin|2010|pp=63–65}}
Notes
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References
- {{Cite book |last=Charpin |first=Dominique |url=https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/15948 |title=Writing, Law, and Kingship in Old Babylonian Mesopotamia |year=2010 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-10159-0}}
- {{Cite book |last=Charpin |first=Dominique |chapter=Old Babylonian Law and Justice according to Letters and Legal Documents |title=Judicial Decisions in the Ancient Near East |editor-last=Démare-Lafont |editor-first=Sophie |editor-last2=Fleming |editor-first2=Daniel E. |year=2023 |publisher=SBL Press |isbn=978-1-62837-486-5 |pages=103–222 |doi=10.2307/jj.8784672}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Rivkah |year=1969 |title=Notes on the Babylonian Cloister and Hearth: A Review Article |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43079057 |journal=Orientalia |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=133–145 |issn=0030-5367 |jstor=43079057 }}
- {{Cite journal |last=Harris |first=Rivkah |year=1976 |title=On Kinship and Inheritance in Old Babylonian Sippar |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200036 |journal=Iraq |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=129–132 |doi=10.2307/4200036 |issn=0021-0889}}
- {{Cite book |last=Jacquet |first=Antoine |chapter-url=https://www.openstarts.units.it/entities/publication/95ef590d-127a-4357-9b5a-8db4c4414c8c/details |chapter=Family Archives in Mesopotamia during the Old Babylonian Period |title=Archives and archival documents in ancient societies: Legal Documents in Ancient Societies IV: Trieste 30 September-1 October 2011 |year=2013 |publisher=Edizioni Università di Trieste |isbn=978-88-8303-460-2 |editor-last=Faraguna |editor-first=Michele |pages=63–85}}
- {{Cite book |last=De Graef |first=Katrien |chapter=Cherchez la femme! The Economic Role of Women in Old Babylonian Sippar |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781614519089-016 |doi=10.1515/9781614519089-016 |title=The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East |year=2016 |editor-last=Lion |editor-first=Brigitte |editor-last2=Michel |editor-first2=Cécile |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-908-9 |pages=270–295}}
Category:18th-century BC clergy