The dissertation examines the legal institution of marriage in Babylonia of the Old Babylonian period on the basis of contemporary cuneiform sources. It is in two parts.

The first part presents an edition of primary legal sources: the published private legal documents related to marriage, the relevant sections of Codex Eshnunna and selected sections of Codex Hammu-rapi.

The second part examines the terminology employed in connection with Old Babylonian marriage and proceeds to a legal analysis of the institution. Three stages are distinguished--betrothal, inchoate marriage, and marriage--and the formation, nature and dissolution of each is discussed in turn. In this context the principal theories of the nature of the institution are considered. Separate chapters are devoted to the special types of property that are associated with marriage and the special characteristics of polygamous marriage.

The central thesis of the dissertation is that marriage is a legal status and must be distinguished from the marriage contract which is incidental thereto. Marriage should therefore be compared to other forms of status such as adoption rather than to forms of contract.