Femmes, Droit et Justice dans l’Antiquité orientale

Contribution á l’étude du droit pénal au Proche-Orient ancien

By (author) Sophie Lafont

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Extent: 578 pages

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht

Subjects: Ancient Near East, Law

Series: Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis

Language: French

Hardback (Published)

(December 1999)

ISBN: 9783727812262

Price: $115.00

On back order

Die Entwicklung strafrechtlicher Bestimmungen für Frauen sowie die Arten von Vergehen, die Frauen zugeschrieben werden.


This book offers a critical synthesis on criminal law regarding women in the ancient Near East. Based on inspection of Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, and biblical documents, it attempts to answer two fundamental questions. The first deals with the nature of the offenses committed or sustained by women. As compiled, the pertinent infractions are seen to belong mainly to family and private spheres.A second issue is the nature of criminal legislation specific to women. This study shows how the law conventionally evolved from cultural mores that assign women a standing in the social structure of the community. As a wife, a mother, or a daughter, a woman must submit to rigorous social obligations; but she can profit also from legal stipulations that are often caring and protective. While prostitutes or innkeepers are not expected to lead exemplary lives, they pay the price of escaping male control by their inferior social standing.

  • By (author) Sophie Lafont