Muškenum
A muškenum, muschkenum ( Sumerian maška, Akkadian muškenum) referred to a free citizen who, unlike the avilum, did not belong to the ruling family. Literally translated, the term means: "who bows down to the earth". In cuneiform documents from the 3rd millennium BC First mentions of the Muschkenum can be found in the area around Nippur .
In legal disputes, the Muschkenum had lower claims for damages against the Awilum:
“If he [meant a man] breaks a man's bone, one should break his bone. If he destroys the eye of a Muschkenum or breaks a bone in a Muschkenum, he should weigh a mine of silver against it. "
A Muschkenum was also downgraded in other legal matters (such as the theft of his property). In terms of class, a Muschkenum stood legally above the Wardum (slave) and below the Awilum. A Muschkenum could be the owner or leaseholder of royal land, but was obliged to provide services to the state. Initially, the term Muschkenum was not viewed as a social valuation, since such a person could well have considerable wealth.
In later times the word Muschkenum experienced a change in meaning. In Aramaic one meant poor, poor people . Via the Arabic language , the term miskin (poor person) came to mesquino, mesquin (poor) in the Italian and French language areas .
literature
- Horst Klengel : King Hammurabi and the everyday life of Babylon . Artemis 1991, pp. 200 f., 240 ff., ISBN 3-491-69122-2
- Dietz-Otto Edzard : History of Mesopotamia , CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-51664-5