Theft was regarded as a heinous crime, and was invariably punished by death.  Thieves included those who made purchases from minors or slaves without the sanction of elders or trustees.  Sometimes the accused was given the alternative of paying a fine, which might exceed by ten or even thirty fold the value of the article or animal he had appropriated.  It was imperative that lost property should be restored.  If the owner of an article of which he had been wrongfully deprived found it in possession of a man who declared that he had purchased it from another, evidence was taken in court.  When it happened that the seller was proved to have been the thief, the capital penalty was imposed.  On the other hand, the alleged purchaser was dealt with in like manner if he failed to prove his case.  Compensation for property stolen by a brigand was paid by the temple, and the heirs of a man slain by a brigand within the city had to be compensated by the local authority.

Of special interest are the laws which relate to the position of women.  In this connection reference may first be made to the marriage-by-auction custom, which Herodotus described as follows:  “Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were collected all together into one place, while the men stood round them in a circle.  Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and offered them for sale.  He began with the most beautiful.  When she was sold for no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came next to her in beauty.  All of them were sold to be wives.  The richest of the Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the loveliest maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were indifferent about beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage portions.  For the custom was that when the herald had gone through the whole number of the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the ugliest—­a cripple, if there chanced to be one—­and offer her to the men, asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage portion.  And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her assigned to him.  The marriage portions were furnished by the money paid for the beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned out the uglier.  No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to the man of his choice, nor might anyone carry away the damsel whom he had purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money might be paid back.  All who liked might come, even from distant villages, and bid for the women."[268]