which show how the Babylonians sought to structure society.2 We also have thousands of legal texts, including ninety marriage documents describing how they did in fact operate.3 I shall therefore draw heavily on Old Babylonian texts to develop a picture of ancient Near Eastern marriage.4 Biblical narratives are another rich source. One of the most informative passages about the preliminaries to marriage is found in Genesis 24, which tells how Abraham’s servant was sent by Abraham to find a wife for