"He took him as his son" adoption in Old Babylonian Sippar

Abstract

Traditionally, adoption in the Old Babylonian Period has been viewed from a strictly legal perspective (David 1927, Klíma 1940, Westbrook 1993). Only recently has a study focusing on social and economic aspects of adoption in Old Babylonian Nippur appeared (Stone/Owen 1991). The present article aims to lay a basis for a study of adoption as a socio-economic phenomenon in Old Babylonian Sippar. It presents the Sipparean corpus of adoption documents and, as a first reconnaissance of the corpus, analyzes its composition and some of its salient features. The study includes two case studies that illustrate socio-economic motives for adoption. © P.U.F. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.