Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters Part 5

(M88) -- 42. If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no corn to grow on the field, he shall be held responsible for not doing the work on the field and shall pay an average rent.

-- 43. If he has not cultivated the field and has left it alone, he shall give to the owner of the field an average rent, and the field which he has neglected he shall break up with mattocks and plough it, and shall return it to the owner of the field.

(M89) -- 44. If a man has taken a piece of virgin soil to open up, on a three years' lease, but has left it alone, has not opened up the land, in the fourth year he shall break it up, hoe it, and plough it, and shall return it to the owner of the field, and shall measure out ten _GUR_ of corn for each _GAN_ of land.

(M90) -- 45. If a man has let his field to a farmer and has received his rent for the field but afterward the field has been flooded by rain, or a storm has carried off the crop, the loss shall be the farmer's.

-- 46. If he has not received the rent of his field, whether he let it for a half, or for a third, of the crop, the farmer and the owner of the field shall share the corn that is left in the field, according to their agreement.

(M91) -- 47. If a tenant farmer, because he did not start farming in the early part of the year, has sublet the field, the owner of the field shall not object; his field has been cultivated; at harvest-time he shall take rent, according to his agreement.

(M92) -- 48. If a man has incurred a debt and a storm has flooded his field or carried away the crop, or the corn has not grown because of drought, in that year he shall not pay his creditor. Further, he shall post-date his bond and shall not pay interest for that year.

(M93) -- 49. If a man has received money from a merchant and has given to the merchant a field, planted with corn, or sesame, and has said to him, "Cultivate the field and reap and take the corn, or sesame, that shall be grown"; if the bailiff has reared corn, or sesame, in the field, at harvest-time the owner of the field shall take what corn, or sesame, has been grown in the field and shall pay corn to the merchant for his money that he took of him and its interest, and for the maintenance of the bailiff.

-- 50. If the field he gave was [already] cultivated, or the sesame was grown up, the owner of the field shall take the corn, or sesame, that has been grown in the field, and shall return the money and its interest to the merchant.

-- 51. If he has not money enough, he shall give to the merchant sesame, or corn, according to its market price, for the money which he took from the merchant and its interest, according to the king's standard.

-- 52. If the bailiff has not reared corn or sesame in the field the debtor's obligation shall not be lessened.

(M94) ---- 53, 54. If a man has neglected to strengthen his dike and has not kept his dike strong, and a breach has broken out in his dike, and the waters have flooded the meadow, the man in whose dike the breach has broken out shall restore the corn he has caused to be lost. [54]. If he be not able to restore the corn, he and his goods shall be sold, and the owners of the meadow whose corn the water has carried away shall share the money.

(M95) -- 55. If a man has opened his runnel for watering and has left it open, and the water has flooded his neighbor's field, he shall pay him an average crop.

-- 56. If a man has let out the waters and they flood the young plants in his neighbor's field, he shall measure out ten _GUR_ of corn for each _GAN_ of land.

(M96) -- 57. If a shepherd has not agreed with the owner of the field to allow his sheep to eat off the green crop and without consent of the owner has let his sheep feed off it, the owner of the field shall harvest his crop, but the shepherd who without consent of the owner of the field caused his sheep to eat it shall give to the owner of the field, over and above his crop, twenty _GUR_ of corn for each _GAN_ of land.

-- 58. If, after the sheep have come up out of the meadows and have pa.s.sed into the common fold at the city gate, a shepherd has placed his sheep in a field and caused his sheep to feed in the field, the shepherd shall keep the field he has grazed, and, at harvest-time, he shall measure out to the owner sixty _GUR_ of corn for each _GAN_ of land.

(M97) -- 59. If a man without the consent of the owner has cut down a tree in an orchard, he shall weigh out half a mina of silver.

(M98) ---- 60, 61. If a man has given a field to a gardener to plant a garden and the gardener has planted the garden, he shall train the garden four years; in the fifth year the owner of the garden and the gardener shall share the garden equally, the owner of the garden shall gather his share and take it. [61]. If the gardener, in planting the garden, has not planted all, but has left a bare patch, he shall reckon the bare patch in his share.

-- 62. If he has not planted the field which was given him as a garden; then, if it was arable land, the gardener shall measure out to the owner of the field an average rent for the years that were neglected, and shall perform the stipulated work on the field (_i.e._, make it into a garden), and return it to the owner of the field.

-- 63. If the land was uncultivated, he shall do the stipulated work on the field, and return to the owner of the field and shall measure out for each year ten _GUR_ of corn for each _GAN_.

(M99) -- 64. If a man has given his garden to a gardener to farm, the gardener, as long as he holds the garden, shall give the owner of the garden two-thirds of the produce of the garden and shall take one-third himself.

-- 65. If the gardener has not tilled the garden and has diminished the yield, the gardener shall pay an average rent.

Here came the five erased columns, of which the three following sections are restored from copies in Ashurbanipal's library:

(M100) -- X. [If a man has borrowed money of a merchant and has given a date grove] to the merchant and has said to him, "Take the dates that are in my grove for your money"; that merchant shall not consent, the owner of the grove shall take the dates that are in the grove and shall answer to the merchant for the money and its interest, according to the tenor of his agreement, and the owner of the grove shall take the surplus of the dates that are in the grove.

(M101) -- Y. [If a man has let a house] and the tenant has paid to the owner of the house the full rent for a term of years, and if the owner of the house has ordered the tenant to leave before his time is up, the owner of the house, because he has ordered his tenant to leave before his time is up, [shall repay a proportionate amount] from what the tenant has paid him.

(M102) -- Z. [If a man has borrowed money of a merchant] and has not corn or money wherewith [to pay], but has goods; whatever is in his hands, he shall give to the merchant, before the elders. The merchant shall not object; he shall receive it.

After the loss of about thirty-five sections the Code resumes:

(M103) -- 100. [If an agent has received money of a merchant, he shall write down the amount] and [what is to be] the interest of the money, and when his time is up, he shall settle with his merchant.

-- 101. If he has not had success on his travels, he shall return double what he received to the merchant.

(M104) ---- 102, 103. If the merchant has given money, as a speculation, to the agent, who during his travels has met with misfortune, he shall return the full sum to the merchant. [103]. If, on his travels, an enemy has forced him to give up some of the goods he was carrying, the agent shall specify the amount on oath and shall be acquitted.

(M105) -- 104. If a merchant has given to an agent corn, wool, oil, or any sort of goods, to traffic with, the agent shall write down the money value, and shall return that to the merchant. The agent shall then take a sealed receipt for the money that he has given to the merchant.

-- 105. If the agent forgets and has not taken a sealed receipt for the money he gave to the merchant, money that has not been acknowledged by receipt shall not be put down in the accounts.

(M106) -- 106. If an agent has taken money of a merchant, and his princ.i.p.al suspects him, that princ.i.p.al shall prosecute his agent, put him on oath before the elders, as to the money taken; the agent shall pay to the merchant threefold what he misappropriated.

(M107) -- 107. If the princ.i.p.al has overcharged the agent and the agent has [really] returned to his princ.i.p.al whatever his princ.i.p.al gave him, and if the princ.i.p.al has disputed what the agent has given him, that agent shall put his princ.i.p.al on oath before the elders, and the merchant, because he has defrauded the agent, shall pay to the agent sixfold what he misappropriated.

(M108) -- 108. If the mistress of a beer-shop has not received corn as the price of beer or has demanded silver on an excessive scale, and has made the measure of beer less than the measure of corn, that beer-seller shall be prosecuted and drowned.

(M109) -- 109. If the mistress of a beer-shop has a.s.sembled seditious slanderers in her house and those seditious persons have not been captured and have not been haled to the palace, that beer-seller shall be put to death.

(M110) -- 110. If a votary, who is not living in the convent, open a beer-shop, or enter a beer-shop for drink, that woman shall be put to death.

(M111) -- 111. If the mistress of a beer-shop has given sixty _?A_ of _sakani_ beer in the time of thirst, at harvest, she shall take fifty _?A_ of corn.

(M112) -- 112. If a man staying abroad has given silver, gold, precious stones, or portable goods to another man to transport, and if that man has not delivered the consignment, where he has carried it, but has appropriated it, the owner of the consignment shall prosecute him, and the carrier shall give to the owner of the consignment fivefold whatever was intrusted to him.

(M113) -- 113. If a man has a debt of corn, or money, due from another and without the consent of the owner of the corn has taken corn from the granary, or barn, the owner of the corn shall prosecute him for taking the corn from the granary, or barn, without his consent, and the man shall return all the corn he took, and further lose whatever it was that he had lent.

(M114) -- 114. If a man has no debt of corn or money due from a man on whom he has levied a distraint, for each such distraint he shall pay one-third of a mina of silver.

(M115) -- 115. If a man has corn or money due from another man and has levied a distraint and the hostage has died a natural death in the house of the creditor, he cannot be held responsible.

-- 116. If the hostage has died of blows or want in the house of the creditor, the owner of the hostage shall prosecute his creditor, and if the deceased were free born, the creditor's son shall be put to death; if a slave, the creditor shall pay one-third of a mina of silver, Further, he shall lose whatever it was that he lent.

(M116) -- 117. If a man owes a debt, and he has given his wife, his son, or his daughter [as hostage] for the money, or has handed someone over to work it off, the hostage shall do the work of the creditor's house; but in the fourth year he shall set them free.

-- 118. If a debtor has handed over a male or female slave to work off a debt, and the creditor proceeds to sell same, no one can complain.

-- 119. If a man owes a debt, and he has a.s.signed a maid who has borne him children for the money, the owner of the maid shall repay the money which the merchant gave him and shall ransom his maid.

(M117) -- 120. If a man has deposited his corn for safe keeping in another's house and it has suffered damage in the granary, or if the owner of the house has opened the store and taken the corn, or has disputed the amount of the corn that was stored in his house, the owner of the corn shall declare on oath the amount of his corn, and the owner of the house shall return him double.

(M118) -- 121. If a man has stored corn in another man's house he shall give, on each _GUR_ of corn, five _?A_ of corn, yearly, as the rent for storage.

(M119) -- 122. If a man has given another gold, silver, or any goods whatever, on deposit, all that he gives shall he show to witnesses, and take a bond and so give on deposit.

-- 123. If he has given on deposit without witnesses and bonds, and has been defrauded where he made his deposit, he has no claim to prosecute.