Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters Part 28

(M681) The names of the witnesses are here given in full because of their exceptional interest. Until we are sure of his nationality it is scarcely safe to suppose the princ.i.p.al's name was really p.r.o.nounced Ishtar-kitilla-the latter part of the name may well be an ideogram. The name of his father ending also in _TIL-LA_ suggests that that group of signs is separable. If so, the signs read Ishtar-_KI_ may perhaps be ideographic also. It is evident that Te?ip is from the same root as It?ip, and the form looks Semitic.

Kibia, Palia, Ur?ia are Semitic, but Irishenni and Taishenni remind one of the Erisinni, of the son of U'alli, King of the Mannai in Ashurbanipal's time. Still, neither can be said to be non-Semitic with certainty, when we recall the many names ending in _enni_ or _inni_ formed from verbs and compare the names formed from _ereu_, _eresu_. Names containing the name of the G.o.d Teshup were known long ago, as ?u-Teshup, Kali-Teshup, Kili-Teshup, where the other element of the name does not seem to be Semitic. Egyptian records give us other compounds of the name of this G.o.d, who was the sky-G.o.d among the pre-Semitic peoples of Mesopotamia

Here we have A?li-Teshup, Gil-Teshup, and Durar-Teshup. With the former, Professor Hommel compares A?lib-shar. With the next compare the Mitanni name Gilia, also Gilua. A?li-Babu is a closer parallel.

Of the other names, Sh.e.l.lu, Kushshu, ?ulu??u, and Zinu seem to be Semitic; at any rate they occur frequently, or in cognate forms, well known among the a.s.syrians and Babylonians. The others are all very unfamiliar. We are as yet so imperfectly acquainted with the onomastics of the nations surrounding the Semites that it is hazardous to attempt to locate these people. Supposing them to be all of one race, they may belong to a colony settled near Sippara, but the whole style of the language is so unlike the Sippara doc.u.ments that we can hardly suppose that to be the case.

XXVII. The Laws Of Trade

(M682) The oldest form of business in Asiatic life is _commenda_: the commendatist gives a fixed sum of money to the agent with which he does his business. The former takes a fixed share of the profit, say half, in addition to the original sum invested. The agent usually secures guarantees for the capital. This method of carrying on business is customary in the early times. The Code regulates the relations between princ.i.p.al and agent. The former is called _tamkaru_, usually rendered "merchant," and the latter is _amallu_, often rendered "apprentice." The merchant is, however, a trader in many ways, and in the Code he is usually named, where we expect lender or creditor. Hence there is little doubt that his name is derived from _magaru_, or _makaru_, with a meaning "to traffic" (?). He seems to have been a monied man, who was ready to make to cultivators advances on their crops-a practice always liable to great abuses, which the Code aims to check.

(M683) The merchant princ.i.p.al also furnished goods, among which are mentioned corn, sesame, oil, wool, wine, and manufactured articles. The agent did the trading, and regularly rendered his accounts to his princ.i.p.al. He travelled from place to place to find a market for his goods, or to make purchases, which could be profitably sold at home. The princ.i.p.al paid no salary, but received again his capital, or the value of his goods, and an interest or share of the profit. It is clear that the merchant also moved from place to place, and there is evidence that many of them were foreigners. The travelling agents with their goods formed the caravan.

(M684) This kind of trading was regulated by the Code.(729) Unfortunately, the opening sections of the part dealing with the relations of princ.i.p.al and agent are lost; but from what is left we see that it insisted on exact accounts being taken, on both sides, of the amounts of money or value of goods thus invested. If the merchant intrusted money to his agent, he was to take a receipt for it. If the agent received goods, he was to enter their money value and obtain his princ.i.p.al's acknowledgment of the amount of his debt. If he suffered loss of goods from his caravan by bandits, or in an enemy's land, he could swear to his loss, and be exempt from repayment to his princ.i.p.al. But if he did not prosper in his business, or sold at a loss, he had to make good the capital, at least, to his princ.i.p.al. The Code leaves nothing to chance. If the agent is foolish enough not to obtain a sealed memorandum of the amounts received, or a receipt for what he pays to his princ.i.p.al, it is enacted that money not sealed for cannot be put in the accounts. Much was clearly left to the good faith of the agent. The princ.i.p.al was tolerably secure of receiving back his money and had hope of profit. Against that he had to set possible loss by robbery of the caravan. But he was not bound again to employ the same agent. An agent detected defrauding his princ.i.p.al had to pay threefold. But it speaks well for the Code as protector of the weak that it made the capitalist who defrauded the agent repay sixfold.

(M685) From the contemporary doc.u.ments we learn that the name for the business was _girru_. That this was also the name for an "expedition,"

warlike as well as peaceable, points to its connection with the caravan trade. The sign for _girru_, also used for _?arranu_, a "journey," came in later times to be used for all kinds of business transactions. That the relations noted in the Code actually were carried out in practice, many tablets show. Thus we read:

One shekel of silver, price of one hundred and eighty _E_, and three shekels of silver which Zuzana lent Apla son of Edishu, for five _years_, to enter on his _girru_. He shall pay one hundred and eighty _E_ and three shekels of silver to take back his sealed receipt.(730)

Here the capital intrusted was a quant.i.ty of corn worth a shekel, and three shekels in money. This was in order to enter on a business journey.

The agent Apla had to return the capital in full, as the Code enacts, to take back his bond. There is no agreement as to profits, which might be wanting; that was left to be understood. As a rule, the time was shorter, generally "one year." The agent appears to have often borne the name of _muttalliku_, "one who wanders about," "a hawker." The same may be denoted by _A?-ME-ZU-AB_, a group of signs whose reading is not yet clear, but may be a variant of the ideogram for _amallu_.

(M686) Business was also done, as the Code shows, as speculation in futures. Thus(731) we read:

Sibbat-ase-iddina hired as "business" the produce of a field from three men. The produce of the business was to be three and seven-fifteenths _GUR_ of corn, according to the standard measure of Shamash paid in Kar-Sippar, and one shekel was to be profit.

This was what he had to pay, and evidently, if the crop yielded more, that was his profit; if less, he had to stand the loss. Similarly, other crops were let on the terms that at harvest, or at the end of the "business," a specified amount should be paid.

(M687) We learn from many hints, that caravan trade was always active. The name of ?arran in Mesopotamia is supposed to be derived from the numerous caravan routes that crossed there. The Tell el Amarna tablets tell us of the complaints made by the kings of Babylonia of the robbery of caravans in districts nominally under the control of Egypt.

(M688) In the more private doc.u.ments of the later Babylonian times, there is again plentiful evidence that this form of trade was common. The money was loaned out "to buy and sell." It was given _ana ?arranu_, "for hawking trade." Then whatever profit was made upon the money, the agent "will give" to the princ.i.p.al. The agent binds himself to undertake no other agency. He gives a guarantee for the money. The princ.i.p.al had no further responsibility for the business, and would not meet any further call. It is obvious that in a sense the princ.i.p.al and agent were partners, and many transactions in later times are difficult to distinguish from cases of partnership in the ordinary sense.

(M689) It has long been recognized that the ca.n.a.ls controlled the prosperity of the country, but it is only lately that their importance as waterways has been fully realized. In the early period we read of flour sent by ship to Nippur for certain officials.(732)

(M690) The Code has much to say about ships. Temples owned them, as well as private persons. It was a crime, punishable with death, to steal a ship.(733) We read of fees for building or navigating various ships.(734) The responsibilities and damages in collisions and wrecks are apportioned.(735) A shipowner might hire a captain to navigate a ship for him, or might hire the captain and ship together. The usual freight included corn, wool, oil, and dates, but many other things were also carried. The wages of a captain was six _GUR_ of corn yearly. There are frequent references to ships in the contemporary letters.(736) They were named according to their carrying capacity, which was five or more _GUR_.

A ship of seventy-five _GUR_ is named. They carried wood, for King ?ammurabi ordered seven thousand two hundred pieces of _abba_ wood to be brought to Babylon, three hundred pieces in a ship. A number of boat captains or perhaps shipping agents were ordered to proceed from Larsa to Babylon and arrive with their ships in Adar. He gave orders for the furnishing of the crews. We further have a correspondence concerning the invasion of certain fishing rights by boats from another district. In the contemporary contracts we meet with several long lists of ships divided into little groups, of five, six, or seven, each with its captain named, each group under a head captain, all set down as at anchor at the port of Shamash, or the like.(737) There is a case of the hire of a boat of six _GUR_ freight by two persons for two months.(738)

(M691) In a.s.syria, ca.n.a.ls served chiefly for water-supply. Except when the a.s.syrian kings went outside their own lands to Babylonia or Mesopotamia, we hardly read of ships. Sennacherib's ships were built abroad and served abroad. There is no hint of their ever coming up to the walls of Nineveh.

The contracts only once mention a ship(739) in which booty was brought from somewhere.

(M692) In the later Babylonian times there are many references to the hire of boats and their crews. They appear to be a regular conveyance of goods:(740)

One shekel and a quarter of silver for the hire of a ship which brought three oxen and twenty-four sheep from the king's son [Belshazzar], for Shamash and the G.o.ds of Sippara. Further, fifty _?A_ of dates for the rations of the two boatmen.

Thus the receiver paid carriage and expenses. The daily hire of a boat is now one shekel, and the wages of the crew amount to half as much.(741) A boat might be bought for twenty shekels or half a mina.(742) The wages of the boatmen included corn, dates, salt, and onions. The freight was exceedingly varied as before. One boat appears to have carried fresh meat.(743)

(M693) There are less obvious references to roads in the literature; but that they were in excellent condition has been conjectured from the many evidences of postal service and ready carriage even in early times.

Convoys travelled from Agade to Lagash as early as the time of Sargon I.(744) Innumerable labels are found on lumps of clay with the name and address of the consignee. These were attached to consignments of money and goods.

(M694) The Code contemplates consignments being sent from a great distance, even from abroad.(745) It regulates the charges for a wagon, with oxen and driver,(746) or a wagon alone.(747) There are several cases in the contracts of the hire of wagons, for varied prices per year, one-third of a shekel(748) to twelve shekels;(749) but it is not certain that these were for conveyance from place to place. They may have been for agricultural purposes only. The usual means of conveyance seems to have been by a.s.ses.

(M695) In a.s.syrian times we find it part of the duty of a founder of a city to open up the roads leading to it.(750) The land was intersected with roads in all directions, so that a field often had two roads as its boundaries. The whole plain outside Nineveh was cut up by roads, which here take the place of the ca.n.a.ls of Babylonia. In this period we find horses and camels in use as beasts of burden as well as the a.s.ses.

XXVIII. Partnership And Power Of Attorney

(M696) a.s.sociation, or partnership, makes its appearance very early and in a highly developed state. Some forms are very simple, as when two or more men buy or hire a piece of land together. There may, or may not, be any family relationship between the partners. In some cases we learn nothing about the terms of partnership. But where we are able to discern them, they follow the natural course that profits were divided, _pro rata,_ according to the capital contributed. More obscure is the question how far the personal exertions of each partner were pledged to the benefit of the firm. There is a suggestion that some partners were content with furnishing capital, and obtaining a fair return upon it, while the others were actively engaged in the business of the firm. Prolonged study and comparison are, however, needed before all these points can be definitely decided.

(M697) The name for a "partner" is _tappu_, and the sign _TAP_ serves as ideogram. This sign consists of the two horizontal strokes used to denote "two," and may have been used to denote "union," or partnership, and so from its name _tap_ have given rise to the name for "partner." In the new Babylonian times the ideogram is the sign usually read _?arranu_, also formed of the two horizontal strokes crossed by two connecting strokes or bonds. There is little doubt that in early times this was read _girru_, when denoting "business," undertaken in a.s.sociation. Later the dualism of the partnership was marked by the addition of the dual sign to _?arranu_.

That both _?arranu_ and _girru_ are used as words for "way," "journey,"

"expedition," may well point to the prominence of the idea of trade journeys with caravans. But partnerships were made with less ambitious aims and confined to holding and sharing in common varied sources of income.

(M698) To make a partnership, _tapputam epeu_,(751) it seems that each partner contributed a certain amount of capital, _ummanu_.(752) Yearly accounts were rendered and the profit then shared. This took place by a formal dissolution of partnership, when each partner took his share. This in no way prevented a renewal of partnership. For the satisfaction of the partners sworn declarations as to the property held in common and the profit made were deposed before judicial authorities. These often take the form of a suit by one partner against the other, but it seems that they might be only formal suits to clear up the points at issue and secure a legal settlement.

(M699) A considerable number of tablets are drawn up to embody a settlement on dissolution of partnership. Some do not make any reference to a law officer as arbitrator; but all contain a careful setting-forth of each partner's share and an oath to make no further claim. It is practically certain that these were drawn up with the cognizance of the local law-court.

(M700) The Code has nothing to say as to partnership, unless its regulations on the point were embodied in the lost five columns.

A good example of partnership doc.u.ments is the following:(753)

Erib-Sin and Nur-Shamash entered into partnership and came into the temple of Shamash and made their plan. Silver, merchandise, man-servant, and maid-servant, abroad or at home, altogether they shared. Their purpose they realized. Money for money, man-servant and maid-servant, merchandise abroad or at home, from mouth to interest, brother with brother will not dispute. By Shamash and Malkat, by Marduk and ?ammurabi, they swore. Then follow seventeen witnesses. The doc.u.ment is not dated.

(M701) The word for plan, _?emu_, means the basis of partnership, that is, its terms. Here it was "share and share alike." The phrase _babtum_, "merchandise," includes all the material in which they traded, excluding the living agents. The phrase _a ?arranim_, literally "on the road," may well have denoted the merchandise not in warehouse, but in circulation.

Whether _?arranu_ actually referred to a caravan may be doubtful. We often read of goods _a su?i_, "on the street," in the same sense, "out on the market." If the partners dealt in corn, and had a quant.i.ty lent out on interest, that was _a su?i_. Whether a distinction between _a ?arranim_ and _a su?i_ was kept up is not clear. But if they invested their capital in merchandise which they sent to a distant market for sale, the former phrase would be more appropriate, while if they bought wool to manufacture into cloth or garments and to sell in the bazaars of their own town, _a su?i_ would be more suitable. The gate of the city was a market, and money or goods _a babi_, "at the gate," was as we should say "on the market."

In contrast to these phrases, _ina libbi alim_, "in the midst of the town," answers to our "in stock." While the term _mit?ari_ literally means "altogether," "without reservation," it implies exact equality of share. The _amatu_ was the "word," literally, but, applied to business, means the agreement as to their mutual transactions. The completion of that was reached when they took the profits and divided them. It might include the mutual reckoning of profit and loss. The phrase "from mouth to interest" is very idiomatic. The "mouth," or verbal relationships, included all they said, the terms they agreed upon. The word "interest"

here replaces the more usual "gold;" both mean the "profit," or the balance due to each. Usually we have the words "is complete," the idea being that no verbal stipulation has been overlooked, no money or profit left out of reckoning.

(M702) As will be remarked, such pregnant forms of expression evidently presuppose a long course of commercial activity. They can only have arisen as abbreviations of much longer sentences. Clear enough to the users of them, they do not admit of literal rendering, if they are to be intelligible to us. But they are eloquent witnesses of an advanced state of commerce.

(M703) Traces of partnership are difficult to find in the a.s.syrian tablets which have reached us. We must not confuse with partnership the holding in common of property or lands, which may be due to heritage. Two or more brothers may sell their common property, for greater ease of division, but they are not exactly partners.

(M704) In the later Babylonian times, as is natural to expect with the larger number of private doc.u.ments, there is much evidence regarding the many forms of a.s.sociation for business. We have such simple forms as the following:(754)