Le conseguenze sociali ed economiche dell’adozione nel periodo paleo-babilonese: un’analisi comparativa tra la Mesopotamia e l’Elam

Abstract

For many centuries, the legal institution of adoption has been a social and economic device designed to protect the Ancient Eastern society. Thanks to a comparative analysis, which involved the collection, the classification and the cross-comparation of documents related to the practice of adoption, it was possible to retrieve information about the complexity of social and economic structures of the centres of Nippur and Sippar in Mesopotamia and Susa in Elam during the Old Babylonian period. The results shed a light on the flexible nature of this legal institution, through which the parties involved could obtain mutual benefits. The agreement, indeed, caused essential social and economic transformation for all parties involved.