The text of the Caillou Michaux is written in Babylonian cuneiform signs in an archaic writing style that connects it to an ancient and prestigious writing tradition. The text is a deed recording the gift of farmland by a father, Nirah-nasir, to his daughter, Dur-Sharrukinaia'itu. The text is composed according to a set pattern. The first lines describe the land gifted in the deed followed by the names of the donor and beneficiaries. The young woman's father-in-law swears an oath which provides for a series ofdivine curses in the event the stela is harmed or the donation challenged.
A wedding gift
According to the deed, Nirah-nasir gives his daughter, privately and without royal intervention, a vast swathe of agricultural land as amarriage . This is not strictly speaking a dowry, which was commonplace in Mesopotamia and managed by the husband. The rarer mulugu was a gift made to the wife. It enabled Dur-Sharrukinaia'itu to remain in personal charge of administering the land donated by her father - a rare phenomenon in Mesopotamia in more recent periods, when property was generally managed by men. She could also delegate this task to her father-in-law, mentioned in the text of the Caillou Michaux, who swears not to claim the land for himself.
