Looking at what evidence exists for the care of the elderly in the Ancient Near East, this text investigates how the various cultures countered this problem. It studies the strategies used when there was no son at hand to honour father and mother , and examines legal texts, testaments and other sources for evidence. In a testament, for example, the testator can assure his maintenance; in other cases a dowry or other gift may take care of a surviving widow; a son could be installed by adopting a wealthy adult person, or a slave set free under the condition of serving the manumitter until his death. Unmarried women appointed daughters for the same purpose. The role of the public sector (in this case the temple or palace) in taking care of the destitute remains a matter for debate in this study. All regions with rich source materials are covered: Egypt, ancient Sumer, the Old Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian peiods in the history of Mesopotamia, the Old Assyrian colonies in Anatolia and Emar.