Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters Part 24

(M586) This example contains a full description of a house. The specification is rarely so full. But doors are always named, as many as six, in one case. Most of the a.s.syrian deeds of sale mention various adjuncts of the house. Thus the _tar-ba?u_ or "court" is named. This was perhaps an attached walled enclosure.

It is the name given in the Code to the fold where sheep and oxen are kept.(614) Vines might grow in it,(615) and b.u.t.ter was kept there. A _bit kutalli_, or out-house, is named. Often _bit rimki_, or "wash-house," is also mentioned. This was a chamber within the house, and may be rather meant for l.u.s.tration, than for ordinary washing. One house had three of these rooms.(616) Sometimes there was a _buru_, a "well," or cistern, within the house.(617) A "shop," or _bit ?atati_, was often attached.(618) Stables, _bit abusate_, are named.(619) What is meant by _bit iri_ is difficult to determine, perhaps some chamber fitted with beds and couches.(620) The _bit akulli_ had a well in it, but what it was is not clear.(621) The _bitu elitu_(622) may be an "upper story." If so, most houses were one-storied only.

(M587) Another interior apartment is called a _kima??u_. This has usually been taken to be a "tomb." We know that the old Babylonian kings were buried in the palace of Sargon. But this was when the palace was no longer the abode of the living. Ashurbanipal's charter to his faithful general and tutor-in-arms, Nabu-shar-u?ur,(623) seems to contemplate that general's being buried in the palace, though this is not certain. However, the explorations of Nippur demonstrate the existence of vaults for burial, built over with brickwork. It may be that such vaults did exist within the house, and were sold with it.

A "portico," _bit mutirreti_, is named once.(624) Beside the "great house," _bitu dannu_, or _bitannu_, a "second house," _bit anu_, is mentioned. The exit from the house, _mu?u_, a way to the street, was often named, being very important where the house was bounded on four sides by others.

(M588) Most of the houses, of which we have deeds of sale, were situated in Nineveh itself. Occasionally, the house is shut in by more than three others, most often only by three. Then the fourth side is said or implied to be on the street. Hence, we may be sure that in parts of Nineveh, there were continuous blocks of houses, on each side of a street. Sometimes, however, we have a garden, or orchard, as one boundary.

(M589) Contrary to the practice in Babylonia, the size of the house is rarely given. We have the size of the _bitu akulli_ given, in one case,(625) as forty-three cubits long and twenty cubits broad. What seem to be the dimensions of an ordinary house were twenty-two by fourteen cubits.(626)

(M590) Houses in a.s.syria sold for from half a mina up to twelve minas; but as long as we are so ignorant of the form, nature, and dimensions of the house and its adjuncts, the information is of very little interest.

(M591) A number of other buildings or parcels of land were sold with houses or separately. Thus, we read of a _papa?u_, or chamber, which was beneath an adjoining beer-shop.(627) The beer-shop is often mentioned, and was a state-regulated inst.i.tution.

(M592) A term which was long somewhat of a puzzle, the _ki-gallu_, usually written _e-KI-GaL_, or _e-KI-DAN_, is shown definitely by the Code(628) to be a plot of uncultivated land. This might be rented for cultivation and was not necessarily poor land, for it was expected to yield ten _GUR_ per _GAN_. But it might also lie in a city bounded on four sides by houses,(629) or, as often, by three houses and the street. It was then, of course, a building site. Its price was usually about two shekels per _SAR_, but might be as high as eight shekels per _SAR_.(630)

(M593) Another common object of sale was a building called _e KISLA?_, shown by the Code(631) to be really a "granary," or barn, read _makanu_.

These are usually in the city, and the prices paid for them varied from one-third of a shekel(632) to fifteen shekels(633) per _SAR_. They might be surrounded by houses on all four sides, or by a ca.n.a.l, road, and street.(634)

(M594) These examples serve to show that _bitu_ as often denoted a "plot"

of land as a "house."(635) In a.s.syrian times we find the same usage. A fairly common object of sale is what I take to be a "fuller's field," or a "bleaching ground," _bitu ?a??iri pu?e_. It was usually in the city, of small size, given in cubits each way, or a trifle over a homer in area. It was near a stream. It sold for a very high price. Once we find half of it used as a garden. It seemed to have been fenced in. Unfortunately, no one example is perfectly preserved; and the deeds are of no special interest beyond the peculiar nature of the plot.(636)

(M595) The gardens in the time of the First Dynasty of Babylon are generally said to be planted with dates, and sold for "full" price. Once two shekels are given for a garden of fifteen _SAR_.

(M596) There are not many examples of these sales in a.s.syrian times, but they give some welcome information. There is nothing peculiar about the sale formula. The only interest is in the specifications. The garden is usually said to be planted with the _i?u tillit_, almost certainly "the vine." Hence, we may regard them as "vineyards." The number of plants in them is often given, being as high as two thousand four hundred.(637) Of other plants grown in a Babylonian garden we can recognize with more or less certainty in The Garden Tablet,(638) garlic, onion, leek, kinds of lettuce, dill, cardamom, saffron, coriander, hyssop, mangold, turnip, radish, cabbage, lucerne, a.s.saftida, colocynth.

Other gardens are said to be _kiru ur?itu_, "vegetable gardens." In later times the date-plantations are continually in evidence. Beyond the specification, "planted with dates," and certain obscure references to the condition of the crop at the time of sale, there is nothing to be noted.

(M597) The sales of fields are very numerous. They were usually situated outside the city walls, in the _ugaru_, or townland. They were not, however, reckoned outside the "town." For the town extended beyond its walls, like a parish in England; and was bounded, as a rule, by adjoining towns. In the case of Sippara, many of these _ugare_ are named; but as a rule, the names do not explain themselves. Thus, Azarim, ?iganim, and Shikat Malkat may be named after persons or temples. Other names, like Shutpalu, Nagu, Ible, Tapirtum, may well be significant. Certainly, Ebirtim appears to mean "across" the Euphrates. Once the field is said to be in Sippara,(639) once in ?al?alla,(640) but we cannot press these statements to mean "within the walls" of those cities. Usually, the boundaries of a field are four other fields, with now and then a road, or ca.n.a.l. The price per _SAR_ varied from one-thirtieth of a shekel(641) to more than a mina. Very frequently, indeed, the price is simply said to be "full."

(M598) The fields in a.s.syrian times are often mentioned. Nearly always when a field, _e?lu_, is sold, it is somewhere else referred to as _bitu_, or plot, usually of so many homers in size. There is nothing distinctive about the sale formula. The specifications give most interesting and valuable data as to the topography of the land around Nineveh.(642) The accessories of a field may be named. Sometimes it was corn-land, _e zer_, part was _tabru_, "open land," part _adru_, enclosed by a wall or fence.

Pits or wells, ca.n.a.ls or ditches, courts or folds, occur frequently as adjuncts of a field.

(M599) Larger estates are built up of the simple elements which we have noted. Sometimes the estate was so large as to be styled a "city," _alu e_. These "cities" are generally called after the name of some one, probably a former owner. But the number of people sold in them does not justify the use of any larger designation than "hamlet." A large estate, with a few people on it, obviously its bailiffs and the serfs of its landlord, const.i.tuted the _alu_. Hence, this term, like _bitu_, must have a wider signification than that usually given it. Such hamlets were, doubtless, the germs of future cities, but the term evidently denotes simply a settled abode of a group of people.

(M600) From very early times the Babylonians drew plans of estates, which are in many ways very instructive. The seated statue of Gudea, found by De Sarzec at Telloh, has a plan of his city upon a tablet on his lap, accompanied by a scale of dimensions or a standard of length.(643)

Professor Oppert, Dr. Eisenlohr, M. Thureau-Dangin, and others have discussed at length the plan of a field,(644) which has the sides of several plots given in linear measure and the areas in square measure.

From this was obtained a great variety of results regarding the relations between the measures.(645)

XXIII. Loans And Deposits

(M601) In the first epoch there are many examples of loans. The characteristic word _U-BA-TI_, or _U-BA-AN-TI_, which means "he has borrowed," has been used as a t.i.tle and they are often called _UBATI_ tablets. They are the receipts given for the loans by the borrowers. Here is an example:

"Sixty _GUR_ of corn, royal quality, from L have been received by B." Date. Seal of borrower.

In place of corn we may have money, dates, wool, or almost anything.

Sometimes a date for repayment is given. In the examples there are usually no references to the interest to be paid for the loan. They may be regarded as advances made to temple tenants, or serfs, to be repaid at harvest from crops.

(M602) The greatest value of these tablets lies in their dates. The dates are usually events. Many of these have already been collected and registered, especially by Dr. H. Radau.(646) But there is even more to be done, when further examples are published. Many tablets contain two dates referring to loans contracted at different times. By this means the sequence can gradually be determined. The seals are also of great interest and often of value, as may be seen from Dr. Radau's work.

(M603) Advances of all sorts were freely made both with and without interest. For convenience we may separate money from corn loans and advances of all kinds of commodities; but we must not forget that corn, at any rate, was legal tender; and silver loans might be repaid in corn.

This, however, was early recognized as an inconvenience and it is quite common to find a direct stipulation that what was lent shall be repaid in kind. It soon became usual to state that if the loan was repaid otherwise, it must be according to a fixed ratio between silver and corn.

(M604) A very large number of loans take the form of _Abstract schuldscheine_, loans without statement of any cause for the debt. They are merely promises to pay, that is, acknowledgments of indebtedness. Thus we read: "Five shekels of silver which A has given to B. On such a date B shall pay five shekels of silver to A." A penalty may be added for not paying on the fixed date. Usually this takes the form of interest. The rate is one shekel _per mina_ each month, or twelve shekels _per mina yearly_, that is, twenty per cent. There is no clear case of money lent as an investment to bear interest. That was done in quite another way. The lender entered into relationship with an agent, to whom he furnished capital and who traded with the money and repaid it with interest.

(M605) Most of the loans were evidently contracted to meet temporary embarra.s.sment. Usually it was in connection with the need of cash to pay the expenses at harvest-time. The loan was then repaid at harvest. It might be repaid in corn.(647) The time was usually short-fifteen days is named.(648) The lender had his reward in obtaining his money's worth in corn, when its price was cheapest. But he was evidently not expected to charge interest. A similar kind of loan is half a mina of silver to pay the price of a piece of land. Here the money was lent until the land was bought, and was to be repaid with interest of three _GUR_ of corn.(649) So half a mina for certain land to be paid, when the land was cultivated.(650)

(M606) Another reason for borrowing was the need of money to pay taxes, _ana ilkim suddanim_.(651) In one of these cases the stipulation is added that the borrower shall bring the receipt of the tax-collector and then may take back his bonds.(652) Here the "sealed tablet" is in one case the receipt for the tax, in the other the receipt which the borrower gave for his loan. But there is no mention of his repayment. Perhaps the lender owed the tax, half a mina, and as it was a considerable sum, sent it by a third party, but made him give a receipt for it. But such a receipt would differ in no respect from the sort of bond mentioned above, and would render the messenger liable to repay the money; so he was to have his receipt back, on handing over the tax-collector's receipt showing that he had paid the tax.

(M607) In several cases the G.o.d is represented as lending the money. It is obvious that such advances were made from the temple treasury.(653) It is usual from such instances to expatiate on the temple, or the priests, as the great moneylenders. This is a view easily misunderstood. It is quite true that the temples were great landowners, and had steady incomes, and possessed treasuries; but there is no evidence that they lent on usury. It seems rather that these loans without interest (except as a fine for undue retention of the loan) were a kindly accommodation. We know that under certain circ.u.mstances a man might appeal to the temple treasury to ransom him from the enemy. He might also borrow in case of necessity without interest. Moneylending proper existed, but was kept in narrow bounds by the temple itself.

(M608) In view of the many questions that arise as to the nature of the money at this period, it should be noted that the silver is often said to be _kanku;_ literally "sealed." Whether this means that the silver bars, or ingots, were sealed while the metal was soft enough to receive a mark which would authenticate its weight and purity, or whether it means that the money was enclosed in sealed sacks, is hard to say. Against the latter may be urged that such a small sum as one and two-thirds shekels would not be sealed up.(654) But it may be that _kanku_ means "sealed for," that is, acknowledged by the receipt.

(M609) Even more common than money loans are the corn loans. Here the loans were generally for a short time just before harvest, when the repayment was expected. The period is usually short, five days,(655) or a month.(656) Interest is sometimes demanded, at the rate of _one hundred ?A per GUR_, or one-third, that is, _thirty-three and a third per cent_. This was probably the rate _per mensem, four hundred per cent. per annum_. But in one case the interest is _one hundred ?A per GUR per annum_,(657) once it is expressly said to be nothing,(658) usually it is not referred to at all. Sometimes a loan was partly in money, partly in corn.(659)

(M610) Other things were lent, as sesame, skins, bricks, and the like, but these loans exhibit no peculiarity. They are merely letting the borrower have goods on credit, to be paid for, or returned, after a time.

We may take, as an example of this kind of transaction, a rather more complicated case:(660)

(M611)

Two and seven-thirtieths of a _GUR_ of corn, Shamash standard measure, which Ilu-kasha, son of Sharru-Shamash, gave to Belshunu, Ilushu-abushu, and Ikash-Ninsa?. Ilu-kasha brought the corn and returned one _GUR_ and one-tenth and took for himself two hundred and twenty _?A_. Later he paid one-tenth of a _GUR_ to Ilushu-bani, Ikash-Ninsa?, and Shumma-Shamash, and they remitted in all three _GUR_, the former and later debt.

In the second case only one of the former debtors is left. The loan was partly repaid, a fresh loan contracted, and then partly repaid. It is not clear whether the arrears were remitted or extracted by distraint. Nor is it clear whether Ilukasha was debtor or creditor. As a rule such points are clear. It is only the conciseness of the formula which here causes the obscurity.

(M612) Another fairly common type of doc.u.ment contains a number of sections, each containing the record of one sum. But it is not clear that these were loans. They may be allowances for food or salary. Thus in B1 247 we have so much corn for the women weavers, so much more for the votaries, so much for other officials, from the first of one month to the thirtieth, so much for the Suti who was watching the field, so much for a boatman, and so on. These are perhaps a temple steward's accounts. Their interest lies only in the incidental notices. We also note that here a month had thirty days. It is interesting to find that the celebrated Suti nomads who later gave so much trouble, were already in the country and were employed to watch the fields. Was this watching done on the principle of "setting a thief to catch a thief"? Perhaps it was necessary to employ a Suti as custodian, of course at a salary, if one was to preserve the crop from the depredations of his fellow-tribesmen.

Some of these tablets expressly state the amount of corn loaned, giving the date for repayment.(661) Hence we see what a narrow margin divides the proper bond from the mere receipt, or even the memorandum of the loan.

(M613) A number of tablets deal with advances of wool or woollen yarn made by temple officials to weavers and dyers to work up. As a rule they contain a number of words connected doubtless with the weaver's craft which are not yet made out. The following is a fairly simple example:(662)

One talent of wool belonging to the palace, price ten shekels of silver, property of Utul-Ishtar the _abi ?abe_, which Ishme-Sin, son of Sin-bel-aplim, Marduk-mushallim, son of Sin-idinnam, Ilushu-ibni and Belshunu, sons of Sin-eribam have borrowed. The day that the tax-collector of the palace demands it they shall pay the money of the palace.

Elsewhere the time of loan may be stated, two months for example.(663) The price is always reckoned at six minas of wool for a shekel. It seems that the borrowers were not obliged to repay until a certain date, or until a demand was made for certain taxes. They then must pay in silver.

(M614) In the a.s.syrian examples of money-loans the same general features constantly recur. The most common are loans _ana pu?i_, which may be taken to mean "for consideration," as the word _pu?u_ means an "exchange." But there is never any statement of what the consideration was. Some have thought, that as the bond was invariably given to the creditor to be broken up on the repayment of the loan, the exchange referred to was a restoration of the bond in return for the money. But the consideration, which is a legal presumption, may have lain in the fact that the borrowers were tenants on the metayer system and had a right to borrow of their landlord, free of interest, at seed-time and harvest. On such loans interest is only demanded when the debtor fails to repay at the fixed date.