Since the classic essay of Alt (1934), it has been conventional to distinguish two main kinds of law in the ancient Near East: casuistic (conditional, defining specific legal cases) and apodictic (unconditional, imperative). The former is widely used in ancient Near Eastern law-collections, whereas apodictic law is relatively rare outside the Bible. The essence of the latter is a categorical prohibition, which may take various forms, including: • ‘Whoever … [offence] shall be … [punishment]’ (e.g.