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ut also among the Hebrews and Arameans, the woman's lord or owner
Balal.
1
From this, the expression marriage is derived.
In this kind. the wifsowas under her husband's authority. or in
his possession. and he alone had the right of divorce.
Contract and dowry were required, but the dowry, as we will discuss
later, was paid to the father of the bride, and was considered as an
addition to his own wealth since he would add it to his flocks. So,
B41-ula marriage was in some ways similar to the marriage by capture
which had the same idea of the wife being, in a sense. her husband's
propertyq but the difference would appear in the dowry which was
offered to the father of the bride which made it a marriage by
purchase. "Here, the suitor made a sum of money known as, -the
2
(Mahr)
dowry to the father or nearest kinsman of the girl he wished to marry,
but it was possible, where the woman was regarded as the prospective -
mother of warriors. for the mah, --r to be very large. " 3
2. Mutla marriage The second kind, Mutla marriage differed from
BuIV'la. marriage in that "its object was not the establishment of a
household or begetting children. but simply to provide a man with a
wife when he was away from home on military service. or for some
other reasons. " 4
It was founded on consent between a-man and a woman,,
without any intervention on the part of the woman's kin. No witness#
or dowry were required for the contract. "All that was needed that
the man should say "suitor" and that the woman should reply* "I wed"
and the marriage straight away was accomplished without witness or
walie" 5
1. Ibid
2. Ibid
3. See Levy, op. cit., P. 95
4. Ibid. P. 115
5. Smith, op. cit., P. 84.
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