Endnote 6 – “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh”—The Patriarchal Oath

Thus, the divine symbol can even be listed among the witnesses: T. G. Pinches, Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum, vol. 6 (London, 1898), pl. 22, text a. Also important in this regard are two texts in which those who are to swear stand near the symbol to swear: G. R. Driver, Oxford Editions of Cuneiform Texts, vol. 3 (Oxford, 1924), no. 40:24–25, “Let the elders of the city and the previous witnesses stand by the weapon of the city god and swear their oaths”; and H. H. Figulla, Ur Excavations Texts, vol. 5 (London, 1953), no. 256:1–3, “The copper mace of Ninurta was stationed in the assembly of the city ward, and the witnesses stood by … (and swore).”