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King Apil-Sîn confirms the judgment of Sumulael

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

Extract

IM 85928, the tablet published here, was discovered at Sippar during the first season of excavations conducted in 1978 by the Department of Archaeology, College of Arts, University of Baghdad. The find-spot was Room 29, under Level II. The tablet measures 12.4 × 6.3 × 4.2 cm. It was enclosed in two envelopes. The outer of the two envelopes was not inscribed. The inner envelope is inscribed on obverse and reverse with 45 lines of text. A further six labels (kišib PN) are written at random on the top and left edges. The tablet itself is inscribed on obverse and reverse with 34 lines.

The text is a juridical document which describes a case brought before King Apil-Sîn of Babylon, the grandfather of Hammurapi, by one Šamaš-šarrum and others. A certain Nūr-ilīšu has laid claim to some of the plaintiffs' property. Their case is that the houses in question were granted to them by Apil-Sîn's own grandfather, King Sumulael. The outcome of the royal hearing is that Apil-Sîn returns ownership of the properties to Šamaš-šarrum and his fellow litigants, and Nūr-ilīšu is sworn to forgo any further claim against them in perpetuity. Among the witnesses are well-known notables of Sippar, including the šangûm-priests Lipit-Ištar and Šamuḫ-Sîn, and also the king's aunt, Ayyālatum, daughter of Sumulael. The tablet is dated to “the year following that of Apil-Sîn”, which presumably means his second year.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1997 

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Footnotes

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Department of Archaeology, University of Baghdad.