Assyria, Its Princes, Priests and People Part 6

Fishing was carried on with a line merely, and without a rod. The fisherman sat on the bank, or else swam in the water, supporting himself on an inflated skin.

These inflated skins were largely used in warfare for conveying troops and animals across a stream. The chief officers, along with their chariots and commissariat, were ferried across in boats, but the soldiers had to strip, and with the help of the skins convey themselves, their arms, the horses, and other baggage to the opposite bank.

At times a pontoon-bridge of boats was constructed, at other times the a.s.syrian army was fortunate enough to meet with bridges of stone or wood. In fact, such bridges existed on all the main roads which it traversed. Western Asia was more thickly populated then than is at present the case, and the roads were not only more numerous than they are to-day, but better kept. Hence the ease and rapidity with which large bodies of men were moved by the a.s.syrian kings from one part of Asia to another. Where a road did not already exist, it was made by the advancing army, timber being cleared and a highway thrown up for the purpose.

As road-makers the a.s.syrians seem to have antic.i.p.ated the Romans. Both their military and their trading instincts led them in this direction.

It was only when they came to the water that their career was checked.

Excellent as they were as soldiers, they never became sailors. The boats of the Tigris and Euphrates were either rafts or circular coracles of skins stretched on a wooden framework. When Sennacherib wished to attack the Chaldeans of Bit-Yagina in their place of refuge on the Persian Gulf, he had to transport Phnicians from the west to build his galleys, and to navigate them afterwards. It was the Babylonians 'whose cry was in their ships;' the a.s.syrians fought and traded on sh.o.r.e.

It was not until the rise of the Second a.s.syrian Empire that the trade of a.s.syria became important. The earlier kings had gone forth to war for the sake of booty or out of mere caprice; Tiglath-Pileser II and his successors aimed at getting the commerce of the world into the hands of their own subjects. The fall of Carchemish and the overthrow of the Phnician cities enabled them to carry out their design. Nineveh became a busy centre of trade, from whence caravans went and returned north and south, east and west. The old Hitt.i.te standard of weight, called 'the maneh of Carchemish' by the a.s.syrians, was made the ordinary legal standard, and Aramaic became the common language of trade. Not unfrequently an Aramaic docket accompanies an a.s.syrian contract tablet, stating briefly what were its contents and the names of the chief contracting parties. These contract tablets have to do with the sale and lease of houses, slaves, and other property, as well as with the amount of interest to be paid upon loans. We learn from them that the rate of interest was usually as low as four per cent., and when objects like bronze were borrowed as three per cent. House property naturally varied in value. A house sold at Nineveh on the sixteenth of Sivan or May, B.C.

692, fetched one maneh of silver or 9, the average price of a slave.

Thus, three Israelites, as Dr. Oppert believes, were sold by a Phnician on the twentieth of Ab or July, B.C. 709, for 27, retractation or annulment of the sale being subject to a penalty of about 230, part of which was to go to the temple of Istar of Arbela. Twenty years later, however, as many as seven slaves, among them an Israelite, Hoshea, and his two wives, were sold for the same price, while we find a girl handed over by her parents to an Egyptian lady Nitokris, who wished to marry her to her son Takhos, for the small sum of 2 10_s_. The last deed of sale, by the way, proves that wives in a.s.syria could sometimes be bought.

All deeds and contracts were signed and sealed in the presence of a number of attesting witnesses, who attached their seals, or, if they were too poor to possess any, their nail-marks, to the doc.u.ments. It was then enclosed in an outer coating of clay, on which an abstract of its contents was given. Sometimes a further doc.u.ment on papyrus was fastened to it by means of a string.

It was only in the case of the monarch himself that the signatures of attesting witnesses were dispensed with. The British Museum possesses a sort of private will made by Sennacherib in favour of Esar-haddon, when the latter was not as yet heir-apparent to the throne. In this no witnesses are mentioned, and it is considered sufficient that the doc.u.ment should be lodged in the imperial archives. It runs as follows: 'I, Sennacherib, king of legions, king of a.s.syria, bequeathe armlets of gold, quant.i.ties of ivory, a platter of gold, ornaments and chains for the neck, all these beautiful things of which there are heaps, and three sorts of precious stones, 1 manehs and 2 shekels in weight, to Esar-haddon, my son, whose name was afterwards changed to a.s.sur-sar-illik-pal by my wish. I have deposited the treasure in the house of Amuk. Thine is the kingdom, O Nebo, our light!' Payments, it must be remembered, were still made by weight, coined money not having been introduced until after the time of Nebuchadnezzar.

The business-like character of the trading community of Nineveh will best be gathered from the doc.u.ments themselves which have been left to us. It will, therefore, not be out of place to add here translations of some of the contract tablets:-

I. 'Ten shekels of the best silver for the head of Istar of Nineveh, which Bil-lubaladh has lent on a loan in the presence of Mannu-ki-Arbela [here follow three seals]; the silver is to have interest paid upon it at four per cent. The silver has been given on the third day of the month. (Dated) the third day of Sebat, in the eponymy of Rimmon-lid-ani. The witnesses (are) Khatpi-sumnu, Rahu, Ziru-yukin, Neriglissor, Ebed-Nebo of Selappa, Musezib-a.s.sur, Nebo-sallim-sunu, Khanni, and Bel-sad-ili.'

Then follow two lines and a half of Aramaic, the first of which contains the name of Mannu-ki-Arbela.

II. 'Two talents of bronze, the property of Istar of Arbela, which Mannu-ki-Arbela gives to the G.o.ddess in the month Ab, in the presence of Samas-akhi-erba; if they are given, interest shall be paid on them at three per cent. (Dated) the eleventh day of Sivan, in the eponymy of Bamba (B.C. 676), before the witnesses: Istar-bab-esses, Kua, Sarru-ikbi, Dumku-pani-sarri, and Nebo-bilua.'

III. 'Four manehs of silver, according to the standard of Carchemish, which Neriglissor, in the presence of Nebo-sum-iddin, son of Nebo-rahim-baladhi, the superintendent of the Guards at Dur-Sargon (Khorsabad), lends out at five shekels of silver per month interest. (Dated) the twenty-sixth day of the month of Iyyar, in the eponymy of Gabbaru (B.C.

667). The witnesses are: Nebo-pal-iddin, Nebo-nirar, the holder of the two pens, Akhu-ramu of the same office, a.s.sur-danin-sarri of the same office, Disi the astronomer, Samas-igir-sumeli (?), Sin-kasid-kala, the executioner, and Merodach ... the astronomer.'

IV. 'The nail-mark of Sar-ludari, the nail-mark of Atar-suru, the nail-mark of the woman Amat-Suhla, the wife of Bel-dur, belonging to the third regiment, owners of the house which is sold. [Then follow four nail-marks.] The whole house, with its woodwork and its doors, situated in the city of Nineveh, adjoining the houses of Mannu-ki-akhi and El-kiya, near the markets (?), has been sold, and Tsil-a.s.sur, the astronomer, an Egyptian, has received it for one maneh of silver, according to the royal standard (9), in the presence of Sar-ludari, Atar-suru, and Amat-suhla, the wife of Bel-dur. The full price has been paid. This house has been bought. Withdrawal from the contract and agreement is forbidden. Whoever shall act fraudulently (?) at any time, or from among these men who have sworn to the contract and agreement with Tsil-a.s.sur, shall be fined ten manehs of silver (90). The witnesses are: Susanku-khatnanis, Kharmaza, the captain; Rasuh, the pilot; Nebo-dur-sanin, the foreign traveller; Kharmaza, the chief pilot; Sin-sar-utsur and Zedekiah. (Dated) the sixteenth day of Sivan, in the eponymy of Zaza (B.C. 692), the Governor of Arpad. In the presence of Samas-yukin-akhi, Latturu, and Nebo-sum-utsur.'

V. 'The seal of (Dagon-melech) the master of the slaves.-Imannu, the woman U ... and Melech-ur [Melchior], three persons, have been sold, and thou, O Enuma-ili, the holder of the highplaces which have been erected at the entrance to Dur-Sargon, hast received them from Dagon-melech for three manehs of silver (27) according to the standard of Carchemish. The full price hast thou paid. These slaves have been bought and taken. Withdrawal from the contract and agreement is forbidden. Whoever shall act fraudulently (?) at any time, and shall deceive and injure me (?), whether Dagon-melech or his brothers, or the sons of his brothers, whether small or great, who have sworn to the contract and agreement on behalf of Enuma-ili, his sons and grandsons, shall pay ... (manehs) of silver, and one maneh of gold to Istar of Arbela, and shall return the price to the owners with ten per cent. interest. Then he will be quit of his contract and agreement, and will not have bought. The witnesses (are): Adda the astronomer, Akhu-irame the astronomer, Pakakha [Pekah] the chief of the ..., Nadbi-Yahu [Nadabiah] the princ.i.p.al ... Bel-sime-ani, Bin-dikiri, Khim-Istar, and Tabni the astronomer, the recipient of the doc.u.ment. (Dated) the twentieth day of Ab, in the eponymy of Mannu-ki-a.s.sur-lih'

(B.C. 709).

It will be noticed that the Israelitish witnesses to the last deed of sale, Pekah and Nadabiah, hold public offices, though the exact nature of them is at present unknown. We may conclude from this that some of the Samaritan captives were allowed to live in Nineveh, and so far from being in a condition of slavery were able to be in the service of the state. Among the earliest known examples of Israelitish or Jewish writing are seals which probably belong to a period anterior to the Babylonish Exile, and have been found at Diarbekr and other places in the neighbourhood of the Tigris and Euphrates. It is also possible that the great banking firm of Egibi, which flourished at Babylon from the time of Sennacherib and Esar-haddon to that of Darius and Xerxes, and carried on business transactions as extensive as those of the Rothschilds of to-day, was of Israelitish origin. At all events the name Egibi is not Babylonian, while it is a very exact Babylonian transcript of the Biblical name Jacob.

The contract tablets throw a good deal of light upon a.s.syrian law. In its main outlines it did not differ much from our own. Precedents and previous decisions seem to have been held in as high estimation as among our own lawyers. The king was the supreme court of appeal, and copies exist of private pet.i.tions preferred to him on a variety of matters.

Judges were appointed under the king, and prisons were established in the towns. An old Babylonian code of moral precepts addressed to princes denounces the ruler who listens to the evil advice of his courtiers, and does not deliver judgment 'according to the statutes,' 'the law-book,'

and 'the writing of the G.o.d Ea.' The earliest existing code of laws is one which goes back to the Accadian epoch, and contains an express enactment for protecting the slave against his master. How far it was made the basis of subsequent Semitic legislation it is difficult to say; in one respect, at all events, it differed considerably from the law which followed it. This was in the position it a.s.signed to women. Among the Accadians, the woman was the equal of man; in fact, she ranked before the husband in matters relating to the family; whereas among the Semites she was degraded to a very inferior rank. It is curious to find the Semitic translator of an Accadian text invariably changing the order in which the words for man and woman, male and female occur in the original. In the Accadian the order is 'woman and man,' in the a.s.syro-Babylonian translation, 'man and woman.'

The high-roads were placed under the charge of commissioners, and in Babylonia, where brick-making was an important occupation, the brick-yards as well. Certain of the taxes, which were raised alike from citizens and aliens, were devoted to the maintenance of them.

Unfortunately we know but little at present of the precise way in which the taxes were levied, and the principle on which they were distributed among the various cla.s.ses of the population. In Babylonia, however, the tenant does not seem to have paid much to the government, since we are told of him that after handing over one-third of the produce of an estate to his landlord, he might keep the rest of it for himself. There is no hint that any portion of it was distrained for the state.

As in modern Turkey, the imperial exchequer after the time of Tiglath-Pileser II was supplied by fixed contributions from the separate provinces and large towns. Thus Nineveh itself was a.s.sessed at thirty talents. The best way, however, of giving an idea of the a.s.sessment is by a translation of the few fragments of the a.s.sessment lists of the Second Empire which have been preserved to us.

I. 'To be expended on linen cloths. Fifty (talents).

Thirty talents. The tribute of Nineveh. Ten talents for firewood (?).

Twenty talents of a.s.syria, from the same city, for the equipment of the fleet.

Ten talents of a.s.syria, a fresh a.s.sessment. In all (from a.s.syria) 274 talents.

Twenty talents for the harem of the palace. Expended on linen cloths.

Five talents. The tribute of Calah. To be expended on firewood (?).

Four talents of a.s.syria, from the same city. Thirty talents for the highlands.

Ten talents from the city of Enil, for the lowlands.

... talents from the city of Nisibis. Twenty talents for 600....

( ... talents) from the city of Alikhu, for 600 dresses.

( ... talents) for six vestures of linen. Three talents for _epa_.

( ... talents ...) for keeping the gates in repair.

( ... talents) for the tax-gatherer. Two talents from the city of Alikhu.

( ... talents) for chariots and for wheels.

( ... talents) for the astronomer. Three talents for women's robes.

( ... talents) for the throne of the palace in the middle of the city. Two talents for gala dresses.

( ... talents) for the throne of the palace (in the middle of the city). Two talents ten manehs 500 (shekels).

... in the city of a.s.sur ... again.

... the city of Kalzu[7], two talents (for) three conduits.

( ... talents) from the city of Enil, for the persons of the overseers.

(a.s.sessment of) the country of a.s.syria; two talents for the house of the tax-gatherer; two talents for the right side (of the house); five talents for the completion (of the a.s.sessment).

( ... talents) from the n.o.bles, and two talents from the librarians, for firewood (?) each year.

[7] Now Shamameh, south-west Arbela.

To be expended on linen cloths: ten talents from the land of Risu.

(For) the servants of the palace and the people of Nineveh.

... (for) seats, five talents from their attendants (Levied) every year from the lowlands.

The payment to be made by the tax-gatherer: two talents for the male and female spinners.

(For) the house of the Master of the Singers: one talent for their coverings.

Also for the house of the singing men themselves.

... for the keep of the war-chariot. In all 190 talents ten manehs.

... manehs for his awning. To be expended in full.

... manehs for the broad streets of the public road: seven talents ten manehs besides.

Forty manehs and a shekel and (?) a sleeved dress; twenty-two talents for wood.

At six per cent. on each shekel let him put out the money at triple interest.

Two talents without the linen. Fifteen talents ten manehs for the same personage.