Dr. Louis Katzoff 1
Nuzi and the Bible
The Nuzi tablets are a primary source of information concerning everyday life in northern Mesopotamia in the mid-second millenium BC. Nuzi was not far from Paddan-Aram, the homeland of the Patriarchs, and thus the tablets shed light on customs reflected in the patrlar-chal narratives. Although the biblical Patriarchs lived several hundred years before the era of the Nuzi tablets, the tablets are still helpful in discerning customs of the times of the Patriarchs since customs in the Ancient Near East were tenacious and lasted for long periods of time.
Customs described in the Genesis narrative which sound strange, even incomprehensible, to us today are seen to be common practices in the ancient world of the Bible. Beyond that, the Nuzi tablets demonstrate that the patriarchal narratives accurately reflect life in the time frame specified by the biblical chronology and are not the product of much later storytellers as a number of critics maintain.
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In the northeastern area of present-day Iraq, near the oil fields of Kirkuk, at the foothills of southern Kurdistan, an ancient city by the name of Nuzi was excavated some fifty years ago by a team of archaeologist under the Joint auspices of the American School of Oriental Research (of Baghdad), Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Nuzi was part of the Hurrian Mitanni empire – mentioned in the Bible as Hurim, Horites or Hurrians – who held sway for several centuries over the western side of the Mesopotamian fertile crescent. Thousands of tablets from private and public archives were uncovered, which shed light on the lives and customs of the Hurrians and are of special importance for biblical studies, particularly of the patriarchal period. Much of the knowledge derived from the tablets fits into the pattern and background of the general society in which the patriarch Abraham moved about, and is reflected in some of the narratives which we have in the book of Genesis. I should like to point out three of these.
Say That Thou Art My Sister
A critical situation is shaping up for Abraham and Sarah as they approach the land of Egypt in their escape from the famine in their newly found land of Canaan. A frightening sense of insecurity settles upon Abraham: There was a famine in the land, and Abraham went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Saril, “I am well aware that you are a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘She is his wife,’ and they will kill me, but let you live. Say then that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you” (Genesis 12:10–13).
How shall we explain Abraham’s recourse to a lie, claiming Sarah as a sister? Of course, we may try to Justify a lie, a white lie if you will, under such stressful circumstances which could lead to loss of life. Furthermore, one can bring in the fact that, indeed, Sarah was really his half sister, as he himself attests in a later and similar situation, not in Egypt but in the land of Gerar – And moreover, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father – but not the daughter of my mother – and so she became my wife (20:12).
It would be more difficult – impossible to give such a response in a comparable crisis – this time when Isaac declares Rebecca to be his sister, as we read in a later chapter – And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. And the men of the place asked him of his wife – and he said: ‘She is my sister,’ for he feared to say: My wife – lest the men of the place should kill him for Rebecca -because she was fair to look upon (26:7).
Can the Nuzi tablets shed some light on this puzzling behavior? A custom reflected in the Nuzi tablets provides a legal background for the thrice-repeated tale of a patriarch introducing his wife as a sister, twice with Abraham and one with Isaac. In the society of the Horites a wife enjoyed both greater protection and a superior position when she had the Juridical (legal) status of a sister. In such a case, two separate documents were drawn up: one for marriage and the other for sistership.
Apparently, both Sarah and Rebecca enjoyed this higher status – of a wife and of an adopted sister. This status of wife-sister can be
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the legal basis for the assertion of both Abraham and Isaac in the three instances of danger which, from the reading of the text, arouses no question of conscience.
What Canst Thou Give Me
At the beginning of chapter 15 we find God assuring Abraham a noble destiny. And suddenly, Abraham strikes out belligerently toward God – so unlike his usual character. How shall we explain it?
Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, ‘Fear not, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, ‘O Lord God, what can you give me, seeing that I continue childless, and the one in charge of my household is Damesek Ellezer!’ Abram said further, ‘Since You have granted me no offspring, one of my household will be my heir.’ The word of the Lord came to him in reply, ‘That one shall not be your heir; none but your very own issue shall be your heir’ (Genesis 15:1–4).
Can the tablets of Nuzi have something to say in revealing the connection between God’s initial assurance and Abraham’s reflexive outcry?
In the Hurrian society there were two types of heirs; direct – that is, natural born sons – and indirect -outsiders adopted by a man who had no sons. The adopted son had to respect his parents by caring for their physical needs – and by seeing that they received a proper burial. In return, he became the sole heir unless a natural son is subsequently born. The latter-the natural son – then becomes the principal heir and receives a double share. This then is the importance of God’s response to Abraham: (vs. 4) Your steward will not be your heir; none but your very son will be your heir.
The Maid Is In Thy Hand
We now come to the third and final reference to the Nuzi tablets from the Genesis narrative:
Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, ‘See, the Lord has kept me from bearing. Consort with my maid; perhaps I shall have a son through her.” And Abram heeded Sarai’s request So Saril, Abrams’s wife, took her maid, Hagar the Egyptian – after Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan ten years – and gave her to her husband Abram as concubine (Genesis 16:1-3).
What is the importance of the phrase, And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai? At this stage of his life, Abraham apparently did not believe in polygamy, as was the custom among others all about him. But, now Sarah urges and prevails upon him to take another wife – not with a full status of a mate – but within the mores of the society – as a second wife.
But now we come to an upsetting situation. Hagar behaves haughtily toward her mistress, whereupon Sarah turns on her husband, declaring caustically: (vs. 5) My wrong be upon thee. I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and when she saw that she conceived, I was despised in her yes. The Lord judge between me and thee.
Abraham’s reply is more incomprehensible. Without an ounce of compassion, he tells Sarah: (vs. 6) Behold thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her that which is good in thine eyes.
In a similar confrontation – in a later chapter – Abraham reacts angrily toward Sarah, as he stands
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up for Hagar’s rights.2 But here in coolness and apathy, he lets Hagar go from the house. Can the Nuzi tablets be of some help here too?
In addition to the institution of adoption, the Hurrians also practiced the custom of concubinage whereby the wife, if childless, had to provide her husband with a handmaid in order to bear children. Thus, chapter 16 is in perfect conformity with such customary law.
The same custom is reflected once again in the time of Rachel, who, being without child, presented her maid Bilhah to Jacob, for the purpose of bearing children.
The Nuzi tablets go on to say that the wife continues to have the legal right over the handmaid -though now a secondary wife – and over the child born from this union as well.
Abraham is actually citing the customary law when he says: Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as you think right.
Reprinted by permission of Dor Le-Dor, 29a Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem, Israel. Vol. 13 (1985), No. 4, pages 216–219.