The objective of this project was to compare the rules of inheritance in Mesopotamia based on legal provisions as well as documents that provide information about the practiced customary law and deviations from the ususal mode, and to show their development.

The practical aspects of inheritance law were to be examined on the basis of private documents (inheritance documents, dowry documents and receipts, asset transfers, information in purchase deeds, etc.): how inheritance divisions were realized, what the extent of inheritances were, what influence the mode of division had on the family structure and the economic resources of the next generation, and with which marriage strategies (dowries) the effects of these divisions were compensated.

Only by looking at the docuemnts in their archival context can one see how and to what extent the usual heritable succession was circumvented (e.g., through gifts, transfer of assets in the event of death, skipping a generation, or adoption), therefore the archival analysis had priority. It was also necessary to check what leeway was accorded to the testator for such testamentary dispositions.

Thus, the research project was intended to be interdisciplinary beyond legal historical aspects and contribute to answering socio-economic and demographic questions.

The rich cuneiform sources for inheritance law in ancient Mesopotamia already published were intended to be included, as well as unpublished archival material, for example from the British Museum, where possible.

On completion of the project, it can be said that the research into inheritance law has brought many new insights, particularly with regard to the distribution of inheritance, the passing of assets in the female line, the relationship between legal and testamentary inheritance, the connection between inheritance and support benefits, and the various forms of adoption with their respective effects on inheritance.

Publications (Dr. C. Wunsch)

• (2002) „Du hast meinen Sohn geschlagen!“ In: C. Wunsch (ed.): Mining the Archives. Festschrift for Christopher Walker on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday (Babylonische Archive, vol. 1). Dresden: ISLET, pp. 355–364.
• (2003a) Women's Property and the Law of Inheritance in the Neo-Babylonian Period (electronic publication)
• (2003b) Urkunden zum Ehe-, Vermögens- und Erbrecht aus verschiedenen neubabylonischen Archiven (Babylonische Archive, Bd. 2). Dresden: ISLET.
• (2003c) Mesopotamia: Neo-Babylonian Period (2.1.4.5, 3–6). In: R. Westbrook, A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law (Handbuch der Orientalistik, Bd. 72) Leiden und Boston: Brill, Bd. 2, 920–944 (with R. Westbrook).
• (2003–04) Findelkinder und Adoption nach neubabylonischen Quellen. AfO 50 [publ. 2005], S. 174–243.
• (2020) Grundzüge des babylonischen Erbrechts in neubabylonischer und frühachämenidischer Zeit. In: J. Baldwin/J. Matuszak (eds.), mu-zu an-za3-še3 kur-ur2-še3 ḫe2-ĝal2. Altorientalistische Studien zu Ehren von Konrad Volk (dubsar 17). Münster: Zaphon, pp. 453–509.