以古巴比倫時期西帕爾城的神圣場所"隱修院"為劃分地標,西帕爾城女性的婚姻生活是在父權制威權下被迫展開和推進的,可以分為居于"隱修院"內的"圣婚"以及"隱修院"外的世俗婚姻。"圣婚"中的新娘"沙馬什的那迪圖"嫁給神靈,除了表層的宗教因素之外,更多的動機是出于維護和擴大自己家族的經濟利益,她們廣泛參與土地買賣、房屋租賃、出租奴隸等交易事務,還通過控制女性奴隸的婚姻進一步確保家族利益。世俗社會中的女性階層分布較廣,其中,"馬爾杜克的那迪圖"的婚姻既有宗教獻祭的因素,還有世俗傳統的融入與影響,其他自由身份的女性按部就班地完成簽立婚約、訂婚、呈送聘禮、婚禮、入住夫家等程序,而女性奴隸的婚姻則完全是受其主人操控。

In Old Babylonian Period,the cloister in Sippar is the important holy place that also serves as a socioeconomic landmark. The marriage of females in Sippar under the control of patriarchal power can be divided into two kinds: the sacred marriage in the cloister and the secular marriage out of the cloister. In the sacred marriage,the nadītu of Shamash is the bride,and the groom is the god. The family of the bride is involved in the sacred marriage to maintain and enlarge their family’s economic interests while finishing their religious duty.The nadītu of Shamash widely participates in land sale,housing lease,and slave rent; they ensure their family’s interests by controlling the marriage of their female slaves. Among the secular female classes,the nadītu of Marduk marries with the ordinary male under both religious and traditional influences. Other free females are faced with the regular process of marriage,including signing the marriage contract,engaging,sending betrothal gifts,holding wedding ceremony and entering husband ’s house,while the marriage of female slaves is completely controlled by their owner.