Babylonian and Assyrian Laws Contracts and Letters

1tbratl? of Bnctent 1htscrtpttons

BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN LA'VS,

CONTRACTS

AND LETTERS

)

THE LIBRARY OF ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS PREPARED

BY

Leading Scholars in America and Europe UNDER THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP

CHARLES wootsar

FOSTER

OF

KENT,

Pu.D.

PROFESSOROF BIBLICALL1TERATUI1EIN YALE UNIVEl\SrrT A:'1D

FRANK KNIGHT

SANDERS,

PH.D., D.D.

PROFESSOROF BUlUCAL IIISTORYANDARCIUEOLOGYIN YALE tn."IVERSITY ARRANGEMENT

gF VOLUMES

I. History of the Dlscoveryanel Decipherment of the Ancient Inscriptions PART L Semitic Inscriptions. KE.~T. Ph.D. PART IL Egyptian Inscriptions. rector of the Hearst Archroologlcal

By Professor

CIIA1U.ES FOSTER

By Dr. GEORGE A. RElSNEII, DI· Expedition In Egypt.

II. Oleland New Babylonian Historical Inscriptions By Professor Unlver5lty.

CIIRlSTOPIIER JOa.~STON, Ph.D.,

of Johns

Hopkins

111. Assyrian Historlc:al Inscriptions By Professor Pennsylvania.

MORRIS JASTROW, Jr.,

Ph.D.,

of the Unlvl'rsUy

IV. Inscriptions of Palestine, Syria, and Arabia By Professor verslty.

CIIARLES CUTLER TORREY, Ph.D., D.D.,

Or Yale

V. Bgyptian Historical and Biographical Inscriptions By Professor W. MAx MUi.um, Ph.D., of the Reformed Church

Seminary,

of

Unl·

Episcopal

Phlladelphla.

VI. Bahylonlan and Assyrian Laws, Contracts, and Letters (Now Ready) By the Reverend

C. H. W. JOlIllS, M.A., of Cambridge

University.

VII. Egyptian Tales, Proverbs, Poems, and Belles Leltres By Professor G. MASPERO, D.C.L., I'Antlqult6 In Egypt.

VIII. Babylonian and Assyrian Bpla, erbs, and Religious Texts By Professor

Dlrccteur

Penitential

de In Service

de

Psalms, Prov-

FRIEDRICH DELITZSCH,Ph.D., of Berlin University.

IX. Egyptian Religious, Magical. Medical. and Sc:Ientiflt to be exchanged garden, or house, of a levy-master, warrant-officer, or tributary, such an official shall return to his field, garden, or house, and he shall appropriate the property given in exchange. BeSB.0nsl. § 4fl. If a man has hired a field to cultivate and has caused no ~d.t:~. com 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 r-::...-..::..-.. 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. The rent of § 44. If a man has taken a piece of virgin soil to open up, on a unbroken land 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 OUR of com for each OAN of land. Loasofcrop § 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 ram, 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 com that is left in the field, according to their agreement. Landlord § 47. If a tenant farmer, because he did not start farming in the cannot re.~ strain a early part of the year, has sublet the field, the owner of the field ftJ eatisfactory • " f,)~W~t~~~m shall not object; his field has been cultivated; at harvest-time he :r shall take rent, according to his agreement. Abatement § 48. If •a man has incurred a debt and a storm has flooded his "of debt on /7 accoun;of field or carried away the crop, or the com has not grown because of -( ~torm.uood. or .!.~nght drought, in that year he shall not pay his creditor. Further, he I' shall post-date his bond and shall not pay interest for that year. ;::-., RIghts in § 49. If a man has received money from a merchant and has given acrop • for to the merchant a field, planted with com, or sesame, and has Said J to him, "Cultivate the field and reap and take the corn, or sesame, that shall be grown ~'; if the bailiff has reared com, or sesame, in the ~field, at harvest-time the owner of the field shall take what com, or buyer of

real estate

c;:.-)

lY

1..)~:~eA

-' :::!~:nt

'!:t

·

U , f:v-" I

J-l. s~~ed

.

RIPARIAN

RESPONSIBILITIES

49

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. ) § 5~. If the bailiff has not reared corn or sesame in the field the debtor's obligation shall not be lessened. §§ 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. § 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 j plants in his neighbor's field, he shall measure out ten GUR of corn for each GA.N of land. § 57. If a shepherd has not agreed with the owner of the field to )allowhis 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 ownerof 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 GA.N of land. § 58. If, after the sheep have come up out of the meadows and ,havepassed into the common fold at the city gate, a shepherd has placedhis 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 outto the owner sixty GUR of corn for each GA.N of land.

Riparian

re.ponol. bllitlea

Penalty for neglect to abut off water

Damage done to growing crop by

.beep

50

THE

CODE OF IJAMMURABI

§ 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. permission Rent ofa §§ 60, 61. If a man has given a field to a gardener to plant a garden• plot garden and the gardener has planted the garden, he shall tram the garden four years; in the fifth y'ear 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. § 6~. 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. fi:\, § 63. If the land was uncultivated, he shall do the stipulated work ~v 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. Garden § 64. If a man has given his garden to a gardener to farm, the rented on .bareS 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. Cuttln~ ~

~~:ttree

illy de1lned

The Code

silent

PARTNERSHIP

AND POWER OF ATTORNEY

of the partnership was marked by the addition of the dual sign to Q,a,l'l'dnu. That both Q,a,rrdnu and .uil'1'U 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. To make a partnership, tapputam epe'§u/ it seems that each partner contributed a certain amount of capital, um'J'1'l4nu.' 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 judi. cial 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. 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. 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 documents is the following :" Erib-Sin and Nfrr-Shamash entered into partnership and came into the temple of Shamash and made their plan. Silver, merchandise, 1M.

A. P.,

78.

2M. A. P., p. 13.

TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP

~89

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 Hammurabi, they swore. Then follow seventeen witnesses. The document is not dated.

The word for plan, {emu, means the basis of partnership, u~~~ Explana• that is, its terms. Here it was "share and share alike." terminology The phrase babtum, "merchandise," includes all the material in which they traded, excluding the living agents. The phrase sa lla;rranim, literally" on the road," may well have denoted the merchandise not in warehouse, but in circulation. Whether 1Jarranu actually referred to a caravan may be doubtful. We often read of goods sa 8U~i, "on the street," in the same sense, "out on the market." 1£ the partners dealt in corn, and had a quantity lent out on interest, that was sa 8Y ~i. Whether a distinction between sa lwrl'anim and sa 8U~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, sa 8u~i would be more suitable. The gate of the city was a market, and money or goods sa Mbi, "at the gate," was as we should say" on the market." In contrast to these phrases, ina libM alim, "in the midst of the town," answers to our "in stock." While the term mit~ariJ literally means" altogether," "without reservation," it implies exact equality of share. The amdtu. 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

"

~90

PARTNERSHIP

AND POWER

OF ATrORNEY

"mouth," or verbal relationships, included all they said, the terms they agreed upon. The word "interest" here reo places 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. Evidence of As will be remarked, such pregnant forms of expression Iong-estab. ~~:~~,;.evidently presuppose a long course of commercial activity. toms 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. In M8yr1an Traces of partnership are difficult to find in the Assyrian literature • • 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. In later In the later Babylonian times, as is natural to expect with Babylonian !~d:n8~Chthe larger number of private documents, there is much evi· common dence regarding the many forms of association for business. We have such simple forms as the following: 1 One mina which A and B have put together for common business.

All that it makes is common property.

Or thus: Two minas each, A and B, have as barran'U. All that it makes, in town and country, is in common. Rent of the house to be paid from capital. 2 Tbe many

1'Irled detal1a

They had a house, as shop and warehouse, the rent of which was a charge upon the business. Slaves might be partners with free men, even with their masters. A partlNbn.199.

2Nbk.88.

DISSOLUTION

OF PARTNERSHIP

291

ner might merely furnish the capital or both might do so, and commit it to the hands of a slave or a free man with which to do business. The slave took his living out of such capital, and the free man received either provisions or a fixed payment. Thus we read: 1 Five minas and six hundred and thirty pots of aromatics belong to A and B as partners. This stock is given to C, a slave, and D, another slave,with which to do business. Whatever it makes is A and B's in common. C and D take food and clothing from the profits where they go.

It is not unlikely that each slave was to look after his own master's interests. For we read:' Six minas belong to A and B and are given to C the slave of B as capital. A and B share what it makes. A will give another slave D to help C.

Even women entered into business as agents. We read:

S

Two-thirds of a mina belonging to A and B are given to a free woman with which to trade.

As in earlier times, the dissolution of partnership usually dissolution A formal Involved a reference to the Iaw-courts, Thus we have 4 a OfP~hTp reckoning before judges of two brothers and a third who were in a partnership from the eighth year of Nabopolassar to the eighteenth of N ebuchadrezzar. "The business is dissolved" (girru pap·at). All the former contracts were broken and shares are assigned to each. The first two brothers were in possession of fifty shekels which were to be divided. Provisional reckonings were constantly made at frequent Reckonings intervals, but did not involve dissolution of partnership, nor need to be referred to a Jaw-court," •

lNbo.572. 4Nbk.116.

2 Nbn. 6 A.

653.

B. P., ii., 59.

I

Nbn, 652.

fl9fl

PARTNERSHIP

AND POWER

OF ATTORNEY

Some cases are interesting for additional items of infor. mation. Thus we note: 1 A manufactnrlng..

Two partners put in each fifty GUR of dates. Whatever it makes . common. 'I'hey ta ke a house m . B'orslppa rtor one year at to be in rent of half a mina. The rent is to be paid out of profits. B holds the house and apparently carries on the business. At the end of the year he returns it and all the utensils to A.

partDerebip IS

It seems likely that he carried on some kind of manu-

facture. A held the south house, next door. B also paid the tithes. A similar case where some manufacture from dates is supposed, is thus stated t " A lends one hundred GUR of dates, fifty GUR of corn, sixty large pots, to Band C two of his slaves, on a partnership. They are to take in common whatever it makes, in town and country. The venture is to last three years. But, in this case, they are to pay interest two minas per annum. At the end of the three years, the two slaves returned all.

Power of

attorcey recognized and frequently need

They were given a house for which they paid no rent. Closely allied with agency is the power of attorney. In the Code 3 a son in his father's house could not contract, buy or sell, or give on deposit, except by power of attorney empowering him to act :for his father. The same was true of the slave. The contemporary documents contain many references to business done by agents on the order of their principals:' The Assyrians also make frequent mention of persons acting as bellpdt4ti, having the power of another's hands, being in :factallowed to act as their attorney or agent. The king was represented in the Iaw-courts by his agent.5 Sometimes the agent was called bel pal;