Ordeals, ancient Near EastBRUCE WELLS

The only ancient Near Eastern ordeal for which

there is clear evidence is the river ordeal,

despite the claim that some texts describe

a drinking ordeal (Frymer-Kensky 1981). The

river ordeal, best known from Mesopotamia,

was a suprarational judicial procedure (like

the judicial oath) whereby a party to a trial

(or a substitute) entered a river so that

the river’s god could render an immediate ver-

dict. Specific details are lacking. Some have

suggested that if the person sank, the person

was in the wrong, whereas floating meant

judicial victory (Bottero 1981). Others have

suggested that the person had to swim or

wade across the river (Durand 1988: 518–21).

One text appears to speak of the person carry-

ing a millstone during the crossing (Cardascia

1995). While the ordeal could lead to drown-

ing, one who failed the ordeal could be

retrieved alive and punished in another way.

River ordeals are attested for trials concerning

adultery, treason, sorcery, theft, and for prop-

erty disputes.

The first mention of the river ordeal comes

around 2500 BCE (Wilcke 2007: 168). Refer-

ences to it appear thereafter in a variety of

genres (e.g., law collections, trial records, con-

tracts, literary texts) and in most periods of

Mesopotamian history, down through the end

of the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. 600 BCE). With

the advent of the Neo-Babylonian period, the

river ordeal disappears, surprisingly, from legal

texts and does not appear to regain its judicial

role (Wells 2008: 209–11). The river ordeal is

mentioned in documents from regions other

than Mesopotamia, including texts from

Anatolia (Gunbattı 2001) and texts from the

Hebrew Bible. References in the latter, how-

ever, are confined to cosmological contexts

(McCarter 1973). The river ordeal does not

appear to be a feature of Israelite/Judahite

judicial practice. It is not known at all from

ancient Egypt.

SEE ALSO: Law, ancient Near East; Oaths, ancient

Near East; Oracles, Greece and Rome; Oracles,

Pharaonic Egypt.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Bottero, J. (1981) “L’ordalie en Mesopotamie

ancienne.”Annali della scuola normale superiore di

Pisa 11, 4: 1005–67.

Cardascia, G. (1995) “L’ordalie fluviale dans la

Mesopotamie ancienne.” Mediterranees 3:

269–88.

Durand, J.-M. (1988) “L’ordalie.” In Archives

epistolaires de Mari 1, 1 (Archives royales de Mari

26/1): 509–39. Paris.

Frymer-Kensky, T. (1977) “The judicial ordeal in

the ancient Near East.” PhD diss., Yale University.

Frymer-Kensky, T. (1981) “Suprarational legal

procedures in Elam and Nuzi.” In M. A. Morrison

and D. I. Owen, eds., In honor of Ernest R.

Lacheman: 115–31. Winona Lake, IN.

Gunbattı, C. (2001) “The river ordeal in ancient

Anatolia.” In W. H. van Soldt, ed., Veenhof

anniversary volume: 151–60. Leiden.

McCarter, P. K., Jr. (1973) “The river ordeal in

Israelite literature.” Harvard Theological Review

66: 403–12.

Wells, B. (2008) “The cultic versus the forensic:

Judahite and Mesopotamian judicial procedures

in the first millennium BCE.” Journal of the

American Oriental Society 128: 205–32.

Wilcke, C. (2007) Early ancient Near Eastern law:

a history of its beginnings – the Early Dynastic and

Sargonic periods. Winona Lake, IN.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 4928–4929.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah01149

1