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1、Marriage&Fam.bookPage1Friday,August29,20033:17PM1MarriageandFamilyintheAncientNearEastVICTORH.MATTHEWSAnexaminationofthelawsandcustomsthatdealwithmarriageandfam-ilyintheancientNearEastisnecessarilyincomplete.Scholarsarelimitedintheirconclusionsbythefragmentarynatureoftheavailableevidencefromth
2、atdistanttime.Therefore,muchofwhatwillbesaidbelowwillbesubjecttochangeasnewdiscoveriescometolight.Thefollowingview,howeverin-complete,oflifeinancientMesopotamiaisbasedonlawcodes,personalcor-respondence,businessrecords,theannalsofkings,religiousdocuments,andarchaeologicaldata.Thisexaminationofm
3、arriagecustomsandfamilylifewilldealwiththepatriarchalnatureofancientsociety,thearrangementofmar-riagealliances,theimportanceofchildren,socialproblemssuchasdivorceandadultery,andfinallytheprotectionsaffordedtowidows.PATRIARCHYWhiletherearesomewhowouldsuggestthatmatriarchalsocialstructures1existe
4、dorevendominatedintheancientNearEast,theweightofevidenceindicatesthatmaledominancewastheruleandthatpatriarchallineageandinheritancesystemswerethenorminbothEgyptandMesopotamia.Oneoftheclearestindicationsofthissituationisfoundinthemandateforawomantoworshipthepersonalorhouseholdgodofhermaleprotec
5、tor.Thus,ini-tially,awomanwouldworshipthegodofherfather,andthen,oncehermarriagecontracthadbeenarrangedandshehadofficiallyjoinedthenewhouseholdofherhusband,shewouldtransferherworshiptothegodofher2husband.ThispracticeisalsoechoedinthestoryofRebekah’sbetrothalto1JohannJakobBachofen,MutterrechtundU
6、rreligion:EineAuswalhl(Stuttgart:A.Kröner,1954).2SeeKarelvanderToorn’sdiscussionin“TornBetweenViceandVirtue:StereotypesoftheWidowinIsraelandMesopotamia,”inFemaleStereotypesinReligiousTraditions,ed.RiaKloppenborgandWouterJ.Hanegraaff(Leiden:Brill,1995),pp.1-2.Forreferencetoasalu-Marriage&Fam.bo
7、okPage2Friday,August29,20033:17PM2MARRIAGEANDFAMILYINTHEBIBLICALWORLDIsaacandherquickdecisiontoleaveherfather’shouseholdoncethemar-riagecontractwasconcluded(Gen24:50-60).Theheadofhouseholdorpaterfamilias,whetherthefather(theeldestmale)o
