Studies in the Bactrian Legal Documents

Studies in the Bactrian Legal Documents Zur Erlangung des philosopischen Doktorgrades An der Philosophischen Fakultät der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen vorgelegt von Hossein Sheikh Bostanabad Aus Iran Göttingen 2017 ‫הַ כֶסֶ ף ִשבְ עָ ה ְשקָ לִ ים ַועֲשָ ָרה‬-‫ּלֹו אֶ ת‬-‫דֹּ ִדי אֲ שֶ ר בַ ֲענָתֹות וָאֶ ְשקְ לָה‬-‫הַ שָ דֶ ה מֵ אֵ ת ֲחנ ְַמאֵ ל בֶ ן‬-‫וָאֶ קְ נֶה אֶ ת‬ ‫הֶ חָ תּום‬-‫סֵ פֶר הַ ִמקְ נָה אֶ ת‬-‫ וָאֶ קַ ח אֶ ת‬.‫ וָאָ עֵד עֵ ִדים וָאֶ ְשקֹּ ל הַ ֶכסֶ ף בְ מ ֹּא ְזנָיִ ם‬,‫ וָאֶ כְ תֹּ ב בַ סֵ פֶר וָאֶ חְ תֹּ ם‬.‫הַ כָסֶ ף‬ ‫מַ חְ סֵ יָה לְ עֵ ינֵי ֲחנ ְַמאֵ ל דֹּ ִדי‬-‫נ ִֵריָה בֶ ן‬-‫בָ רּוְך בֶ ן‬-‫הַ סֵ פֶר הַ ִמקְ נָה אֶ ל‬-‫ וָאֶ תֵ ן אֶ ת‬.‫הַ גָלּוי‬-‫הַ ִמצְ וָה וְ הַ חֻקִ ים וְ אֶ ת‬ .‫הּודים הַ יֹּ ְשבִ ים בַ חֲצַ ר הַ מַ טָ ָרה‬ ִ ְ‫הַ י‬-‫לְ עֵינֵי כָל‬--‫ּולְ עֵינֵי הָ עֵ ִדים הַ כֹּ ְתבִ ים בְ סֵ פֶר הַ ִמקְ נָה‬ “And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard.”1 Jeremiah, 32.9 –12 1 Translation of Coogan et al, 2010, 1111f. I 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Philip G. Kreyenbroek 2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Michael Job 3. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Klaus Röhrborn Hiermit versichere ich, dass ich die vorliegende Dissertation selbständig angefertigt habe und dass ich keine anderen als die angegebenen Quellen und Hilfsmittel benutzt habe. Des Weiteren versichere ich, dass anderweitig keine entsprechende Promotion beantragt wurde und hierbei die eingereichte Dissertation oder Teile daraus vorgelegt worden sind. II Table of Contents Acknowledge V Tablet of Content VI Figures XI Historical Timeline XIII Preface XIV Introduction 1 Geography of Bactria 2 History: an Overview 2 Legal Formulary in Bactria: Language 6 Discovery of Documents 7 Typology of the Sources 8 The List of the Contracts and the Receipts 9 The Cassification of Bactrian Deeds 10 The Structure of the Bactrian Deed of Conveyance 10 Opening Section 11 Date 11 Title 11 Location 11 Authorities and witnesses 11 Operative Section 12 Volition Term 12 Cause of Agreement 12 Property Description 12 Sale Price 12 Acknowledgment of Receipt and Satisfaction Clause 13 Investiture Clause and Final Clauses 13 Contingency Clauses: 13 Entitlement Clause 13 V No-Contest 13 Warranty 13 Penaltal provision 13 Validity Clause 14 Seals and Signatures 14 Settlements 14 Manumission 14 Marriage Contract 14 Other Corpora 15 Akkadian and Ugaritic Corpora 15 Aramaic Corpora in the Achaemenid Period 17 Elephantine 17 Wadi Al-Daliya 18 Aramaic, Hebrew and Syriac Corpora from the Hellenistic and Roman Periods 18 Documents from the Judean Desert 18 Syriac Sources 19 Syriac Papyri 19 Syriac Juridical Literature 19 Aramaic Inscriptions 20 Nabataean Tomb Inscriptions 20 Palmyrene Inscriptions 20 Greek Corpora 21 Avroman 21 Dura-Europos 21 Euphrates 22 Egypt 22 The Iranian World 22 Pahlavi Deeds 22 Mādayān ī Hazār Dādestān 23 Sogdian Deeds 24 VI Arabic, Persian and Uigur Deeds 23 Rabbinic Works 24 Magic Bowls 24 Methodological Approach 25 Chapter 1: The Format and Opening Section 26 Form of the Documents 27 Simple Document 27 Duplicated Copies 27 Historical Backgrounds of Duplicate Copies 29 Double Copies (Doppelurkunde) 30 Origin of Double Document 33 Opening Clause 35 Outer and Inner Elements 36 Date (Year, Month, and Day) 36 Historical Backgrounds 37 Title 40 Location 41 Historical Backgrounds 42 Authorities and Witnesses 42 Characteristics of Witnesses 43 Freemen 44 Number of Witnesses 45 Mass Witnesses 45 Authorities 46 1-Administration Stuff 46 Historical Backgrounds 48 2-Temple Stuff: Divine Witness 49 Historical Backgrounds 49 Differences 54 Witnesses in the First Lines 55 The Sealing & Signature in Double and Single Documents 56 Authorities’ Seals 57 VII Parties 57 Historical Backgrounds 57 Witnesses 58 Finger Nail 58 Scribe 59 Chapter 2: Operative Section 60 Subjective Style 61 Historical Backgrounds 63 Style in the Aramaic Tradition 64 Style in the Iranian languages 65 Homologia and Non-Homologia 66 Homologia 66 Non-Homologia 69 The λαδο οδο παραλαδο Pattern 70 Perspective 72 Ex latere Venditoris 72 Grammatical Notes 73 Time 73 Ergativity 73 Figurae per adiectionem 74 Parties 74 Volition Clause 77 Historical Backgrounds 79 Cause Clause 83 Description of Property 84 Historical Backgrounds 88 Description of the Boundary and the Estate 88 Size of Property 91 Clausula Salvatoria 92 Payment Clause 94 Full Price 95 Historical Backgrounds 97 VIII Satisfaction Clause 103 Historical Backgrounds and Function of Satisfaction Clause 105 Chapter 3: Investiture and Final Clauses 111 Perpetuity Language 114 Historical Backgrounds of Perpetuity Language 115 Entitlement (Pādixšāy) phrase 123 Origin of the (Entitlement) Pādixšāy phrase 123 History of the Entitlement Clause and the phrase ‫שליט‬ 126 ‫ שליט‬in Negative Form 129 The Delineation of Rights 131 In Iranian Languages 131 Heritability Phrase 135 History of the Heritability Phrase 136 Contingency Clauses 138 No-Contest and Warranty Clauses 138 Warranty Clause 139 The Protasis 139 The Apodosis 139 Eviction Clause 140 Penalty (Duplum & Fiskalmult) 141 Duplum 143 Duplum in History 143 Fiskalmult 145 Clausula Salvatoria and Validity Clause 146 Validity Clause 148 Conclusion 153 Apendix 155 Abbreviations 156 Sources 159-199 Summary Zusammenfassung IX Bactria and Adjacent Areas (Vogelsang, 1992, 53) X Northern Afghanistan (Sims-Williams, 2006-2007) XI Historical Timeline Date1 Cuneiform Corpora Mesopotamia Aramaic Corpora Syria & Levant Greek Corpora Iranian Islamic Documents Documents 2500 BCE Sargonic Ur III Period 2000 BCE Old Babylonian Period Old Assyrian Period 1500 BCE Middle Babylonian Period Middle Assyrian Period Mari Alalakh VII Ḫana Alalakh IV Ekalte Ugarit Emar 1000 BCE Neo-Assyrian Empire 625 BCE Neo Babylonian Empire 550 BCE Achaemenid Empire Elephantine Papyri Wadi Al-Daliyah Papyri 311 BCE Hellenistic Period Seleucids 250 BCE Parthian 100 CE Romans Mada’in Salih & Palmyrene inscriptions Judean Desert papyri Avroman Parchments Judean Desert papyri Sasanian Empire 250 CE Dura-Europos Euphrates Mishna & Tosefta Dura Europos Euphrates Parchments Bactrian Byzantine 600 CE 750 CE Palestinian Babylonian Talmuds MHD Sogdian Pahlavi Khotanese Early Islamic Period Egypt Khurasan 1000 CE Bamyan Yarkand Ghur Balkh Azerbaijan 1200 CE 1 The dates are Approximate XII Preface Bactrian1 is an Iranian language that was spoken and written in a vast region in northern Afghanistan and ceased to be used in writing at the end of the 9th century AD at last. Before the 1990s our textual evidence for this language was very small: one complete inscription2 alongside some damaged ones and coin legends3. But since the 1990s the situation has dramatically changed and the amount of textual evidence has considerably increased 4. New discoveries consist of inscriptions 5, legal and economic documents6, letters, etc7. Since then Nicholas Sims-Williams has deciphered, edited and published the texts and written excellent philological and historical commentaries on some of the documents8. In the first edition of legal and economic texts he states: “Ideally, a commentary might have been added in which these documents would be compared with similar documents from earlier cultures (Babylonian, Aramaic, Greek, etc.) and those of neighboring countries (Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, Khotanese, Uighur Turkish, Tibetan, and so on)”9 The goal of our work is to partly deal with this desideratum by writing a commentary on legal formulary in Bactria in Late Antiquity and its historical background. To that aim, we have used Sims-Williams’s elaborate translation of the documents as his literal translation helps us to consult each legal or technical term in the same way each time it occurs. 1 For Grammar of Bactrian see Sims-Williams, 2007, 38-49 and Gholami, 2014. This inscription is called Surkh Kotal inscription where it was found in 1953. For edition of the inscriptions see Davari Djilani, 1982, 53-64. For the new translation see Sims-Williams, 2012a, 78f. 3 For all evidence before 1990 see Sims-Williams, 1988, 345-347 and 1989, 230-232. 4 See Sims-Williams, 1997(2012). 5 For inscriptions see Sims-Williams and Falk and Sims-Williams & Cribb, 1996-97, Sims-Williams & Lee: 2003, And Sims-Williams, 1998a, 2004(2008), 2015a. 6 See Sims-Williams, 2000 (revised edition 2012). 7 Sims-Williams, 2007. 8 See Sims-Williams, 1998b, 1997(2000), 2001(2005), 2003(2007), 2005(2009). 9 Sims-Williams, 2000, 7. 2 XIII For other documents that have been properly translated into English, we have made use of their translations. Otherwise, we have translated the text from the original ourselves and produced it, along with the original text, in the original language, wherever possible. So far we know that there are only two articles on legal practices in Bactria, one by B. Waghmar, where he analyses “Bactrian diplomatics” and compares it with documents from various regions of Central Asia such as Gandhara, Tibet, etc1. The other one, by J. Cheung, is a philological discussion of two words in Bactrian deeds and compares them with an Arabic document from 11th-century AD Egypt. Our study places the Bactrian legal formulary in the context of Near Eastern legal practice 2. We are, nevertheless, well aware of the weaknesses of our study, which is only a first step in the study of Bactrian legal culture, but we hope that future studies will further advance the field. 1 2 Waghmar, 2010. Chueng, 2009. XIV Conclusion Legal practice in the ancient Near East changed and evolved over time in various languages and societies throughout the region. In this regard, Bactrian deeds reflect some of these changes and developments. Hereupon, our goal in this study was to demonstrate the similarities and differences between the Bactrian and other traditions in the region. We can follow these changes and developments throughout history by using documents to retrace their trajectories. The structure of legal documents in Bactrian was established in the Achaemenid period, and while some changes occurred during the Hellenistic period, it remained mostly stable. Later, in the Kushan and Sasanian periods, Bactrians made minor changes to documentary forms, but did not alter the overall structure. Based on these developments and changes, we can divide the history of Bactrian legal formulary into three phases: Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Kushano-Sasanian. It it seems that its structure was similar to that of other Aramaic legal documents from the Achaemenid Empire. However, some elements in Bactrian documents that are not attested in Aramaic documents from other Satrapies of the Persian Empire, such as the clausula salvatoria and nail press instead of sealing, were borrowed from Mesopotamian tradition. Structures changed in some places in the Hellenistic period. The declaration clause was changed from indirect to direct subjective, and the Greek form of declaration, homologia, was introduced, as in other Near Eastern lands. The witnesses are mentioned in the first lines; however, it is likely that the inclusion of witness names was introduced later, in the time of the Kushans. Furthermore, the final version of the validity clause was incorporated into legal terminology din the same time period. At the same time, a financial penalty in double (duplum) for breach of contract was introduced, to be paid to both the state (Fiskalmult) and the offended party. In this time, double copies became common throughout the Near East. Despite the fact that this practice died out in the eastern territories of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, Bactrians continued to use it until the Islamic formulary succeeded and it vanished forever. Some amendments and developments were introduced after the Bactrian language became the official idiom in Bactria in the second century AD, such as the cause clause, location in an official place, title, naming the witnesses 153 in the first lines by name, and adding complementary words and phrases to the text to make the content of the contract more explicit. After, the Muslims conquered the region and significantly changed the legal norms and eventually, the formulary. They introduced the Greek legal formulary from Egypt with some changes based on their beliefs; however, some dropped terms and clauses from earlier times come up sometimes in fossilized form in contracts.1 The Bactrian Legal Formulary is a synthesis of several traditions, ranging from Mesopotamian to Greek. Our research focuses on the micro level (specific terminology) and shows how closely the Bactrian tradition was related to others such as Aramaic and Greek. When we examine this tradition on a macro level (the level of legal ideas),2 we will discover many more connections and affinities between the Bactrian and other legal traditions. 3 1 See for example Frantz- Murphy, 1988, 106 for the satisfaction clause. We borrow these two terms from Wells, 2012, 127. 3 We can give here such studies between the cuneiform and Jewish traditions. For example see Westbrook & Wells, 2009 and Greengus, 2011 also see Levine, 2002 and 2004 and Holtz, 2001. 2 154 Appendix Structure of the Bactrian legal formulary and historical backgrounds of its elements Elements Date-Formula at Beginning Title Place Witness at the first line Declaration Subjective Volition clause Cause clause Description of property Clausula salvatoria Full price Satisfaction clause Entitlement clause Non-contest clause Warranty clause Fine in duplum Fiskalmult Validity clause Double copies complements signature Nail press Tradition Aramaic Bactrian Aramaic and Greek Bactrian Aramaic Subjective indirect in the Achaemenid period+ Greek and Aramaic in Hellenistic Period subjective direct Mesopotamian Bactrian Mesopotamian From east Aramaic Mesopotamian Mesopotamian Mesopotamian Aramaic Aramaic Aramaic Greek Greek Greek Final version Greek (Mesopotamian) Bactrian Greek Mesopotamian 155 Zusammenfassung Baktrisch war eine ostiranische Sprache der mitteliranischen Periode, die im heutigen Nordafghanistan gesprochen wurde. Sie war Sprache des Kuschan- und Hephthalitenreiches und wurde vom 2. bis zum 9. Jh. vor allem für profane Dokumente und Inschriften verwendet. Seit den 1990er Jahren wurden zahlreiche Texte auf Baktrisch gefunden. Unsere Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit baktrischen Urkunden, die zwischen dem 4. und dem 8. Jh. Geschrieben wurden. Die Arbeit hat zwei Ziele: Erklärung der Rechtsform in Baktrien und sein historischer Hintergrund. Für das erste Ziel haben wir zunächst die Ausdrücke und Klauseln sorgfältig untersucht und ihre Funktion in den Urkunden geklärt. Danach haben wir den historischen Hintergrund der Ausdrücke und Klauseln untersucht. Dazu haben wir andere Urkunden aus anderen Ländern im Nahen Osten mit einbezogen. Chronologisch gesehen sind unsere frühesten Quellen die Keilschrift-Urkunden, die uns besonders auf Akkadisch überliefert sind. Aber unsere wesentlichen Quellen für diese Untersuchung sind aramäische Urkunden, die meistens zwischen dem 5 Jh v. Chr. und dem 3. Jh verfasst worden sind. Ferner haben wir andere Urkunden in griechischer Sprache oder Dokumente in semitischen Sprachen wie Hebräisch oder Aramäisch aus hellenistischer Zeit, also der Spätantike, untersucht. Nachdem die Muslime Baktrien erobert hatten, änderten sie das Verwaltungssystem und schließlich die Rechtsform. Sie führten ihre eigenen rechtlichen Normen in Baktrien ein, obgleich man sich manchmal beim Aufsetzen von Verträgen in versteinerter Form der neupersischen Sprache bedient. Im Übrigen sind mit der Einführung der islamischen Rechtsform einige sehr alte Dokumentationsformen wie Doppelurkunde und Fingernagelabdruck, die bis zum achten Jahrhundert C.E überlebt hatten, in Baktrien für immer verschwunden, und islamische Muster haben ihren Platz eingenommen. Die Rechtsform in Baktrien ist eine Fächerung verschiedener Traditionen von mesopotamischen über aramäischen bis zu griechischen Normen und Regeln. Unsere Studie konzentriert sich auf die Mikro-Ebene (die Ebene der spezifischen Terminologie) und zeigt, wie eng die baktrische Tradition mit anderen, wie z.B. aramäischen, mesopotamischen und griechischen Traditionen, verknüpft war. Wenn man unsere Arbeit weiterführend auf der Makroebene (der Ebene der rechtlichen Ideen) untersucht, wird man mit Sicherheit viel mehr Verbindungen und Ähnlichkeiten zwischen der baktrischen und anderen rechtlichen Traditionen, z.B. der mesopotamischen, finden.