Blood Money in the Old Assyrian Colony Period and Two Unpublished Kültepe Texts Regarding Blood Money

Year 2025, Issue: 28, 235 - 255, 26.12.2025

Hakan Erol , Koray Toptaş

https://doi.org/10.47589/adalya.1849528

Abstract

The Kültepe tablets primarily consist of the personal archives of Assyrian merchants and are predominantly commercial and economic in nature. However, these documents also serve as the principal written sources for understanding the social, cultural, legal, and political structures of Anatolia and Northern Mesopotamia during the first quarter of the second millennium BC. This study examines the legal concept of “blood money” (d mum), a compensation mechanism designed to address the financial or moral losses incurred by merchants in cases of homicide involving either an Assyrian or a local during commercial activities. The study explores the conditions under which this practice emerged, the procedural framework governing its implementation, and the variations in its application between Assyrians and the native population. Additionally, the research presents the transliteration, translation, and interpretation of two previously unpublished documents related to blood money.

Keywords

Assyrian Colony Period , blood money , Kültepe , Assyrians , native Anatolians

Supporting Institution

This study was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TUBITAK) under Project No. 123K488. We would like to thank TUBITAK for its support of the project. We also gratefully express our gratitude to Yusuf Kıraç, Director of the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, for permission to publish the texts, and to the museum staff who assisted us during our work in the museum

References

• Akyüz, F. 2020. “Asur Belgelerinde Kan Parası.” Belleten 84.301:887-906.
• Anderson, A.G. 2020. “Death of an Old Assyrian Salesman.” Chatre ar 1:1-30.
• Avramovi , S. 2017. “Blood-money in Homer - Role of Istor in the Trial Scene on the Shield of Achilles (Il.18, 497-508).” Zbornik PFZ 67.5:723-56.
• Barjamovic, G. 2011. A Historical Geography of Ancient Anatolia in the Old Assyrian Colony Period.
• Copenhagen: The Castern Niebuhr Insititute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies.