GIURAMENTO, PROMESSA O INVOCAZIONE. I VINCOLI ORALI NELLA DOCUMENTAZIONE PALEO-BABILONESE

Abstract

The different expressions of oral bond, an essential element in social, political and religious relations, are
often brought under the category of oath. However, Old Babylonian archival documentation makes it possible
to analyze the multiple forms of bonding found in royal and private correspondence as well as in legal
texts, highlighting not only the peculiarities peculiar to oaths but also the points of contact and substantial
differences compared to informal forms of bonding (“informal oaths”), such as the promise or the declaration
of intent.
The analysis of these forms proposes a new interpretive perspective on the immutable solemnity of the oath
and the value attributed to different expressions for oral bonds depending on the type of document and the
social dimension in which they act.