Abstract
(joint research project with Guido Pfeifer, Professor of Ancient Legal History at Goethe University Frankfurt)
The institution of ordeal occupied a significant place in the judicial systems of the ancient Near East, serving as a mechanism for resolving disputes when conventional evidence proved insufficient. This paper examines the practice and legal meaning of ordeal in Susa during the first half of the second millennium BCE, drawing on approximately 600 Akkadian legal texts from Susiana. These documents constitute the most important source for the study of law in Elam during the Old Babylonian period and offer a unique perspective on the interaction between local traditions and broader Mesopotamian legal culture.
The study focuses on references to the water ordeal in both judicial records and contractual documents. Particular attention is given to the terminology of ordeal, the role of the deity Šazi, and the differing functions of ordeal clauses in litigation and legal contracts. While previous scholarship has interpreted these references either as evidence of a river ordeal or as formulas invoking divine punishment, the present analysis argues that a distinction must be made between trial proceedings and contractual stipulations. Judicial texts indicate the use of a genuine river ordeal comparable to those attested elsewhere in the Old Babylonian world, particularly in the Mari archives, whereas contractual clauses may have functioned primarily as sanctions against false claims and breaches of legally protected agreements.
Through new collations, translations, and comparative analysis of the Susa corpus, this paper reassesses the nature of ordeal as both a judicial procedure and a legal-religious institution. By situating the Susian evidence within its broader Old Babylonian context, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between law, evidence, divine authority, and social order in the ancient Near East.
The speaker
Hossein Badamchi is Associate Professor of Ancient Iranian History at the University of Tehran, and a Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow. At present, he is a fellow at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften at the invitation Guido Pfeifer, Professor of Ancient Legal History at Goethe University Frankfurt.
Participation
Closed event. Contact: Beate Sutterlüty; E-mail: b.sutterluety@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de