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NUZI

(Akk. Nuzi)

Since the early 20th century the Nuzi texts have played a major role in the comparative study of the OT. More than 4000 cuneiform texts were uncovered from the Hurrian site of Nuzi (modern Yorghan Tepe) in northern Iraq. Most documents date from ca. 1500-1350 b.c. and deal with legal matters, social and family customs, and myths. Nuzi was apparently part of the small principality of Arrapḫa, which was subject to the large kingdom of Mitanni. A significant percentage of the personal names at Nuzi are Hurrian, although the texts are written in Akkadian. These texts reveal a thriving palace, textile production, and metalworking industry.

As land could not be legally sold but only inherited, Nuzi had an institution of pseudo-adoption, whereby one was adopted by presenting his or her “father” a gift which was in fact the purchase price. The practice of indenture is also attested. An individual pledged to serve a family for a period of time after which he was free; in return, the family of the indentured person gained access to various resources. A number of institutions existed at Nuzi which are generally analogous to those in early Israelite society, including levirate marriage, a system of bridewealth and dowry, and the formal adoption of daughters in the absence of male offspring. These women were allowed to act legally like male heads of families, and thus could arrange their own marriages, care for the family domestic gods, and have their husbands move into their homes.

The Nuzi marriage contracts, adoptions, and herding agreements provide important comparative material for interpreting many of the patriarchal narratives, especially those concerning Jacob and Laban. Moreover, the Nuzi texts allowed a father to provide security for his daughters by selling them into adoption for purposes of marriage. The law in Exod. 21:7-11 somewhat resembles the Nuzi texts in that it allows a father to sell his daughter to a buyer who was then required to see that she was married. The adoption of the daughter, however, is never mentioned in the biblical text.

The Nuzi texts in general appear to reflect common Mesopotamian legal practice (as now known from Emar on the Syrian Euphrates), and thus cannot be used to fix the date of certain biblical traditions in the 2nd millennium.

Bibliography. B. L. Eichler, “Nuzi and the Bible: A Retrospective,” in Dumu-E2-dub-ba-a, ed. H. Behrens, D. Loding, and M. T. Roth (Philadelphia, 1989), 107-19; M. J. Selman, “Comparative Customs and the Patriarchial Age,” in Essays on the Patriarchal Narratives, ed. A. Millard and D. Wiseman (Winona Lake, 1983), 91-139; Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians 1-5 (Winona Lake, 1981-1995), 7– (Baltimore, 1995–).

Mark W. Chavalas

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NUZI

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)