7.4 Pledge
No direct information is available. Nonetheless, several sale contracts
give the impression that the field sold had been pledged before.^206
This might mean that the creditors, at least in these cases, could
not execute their claim directly by appropriating the object pledged.7.5 Suretyship
7.5.1 Suretyship is mentioned as dangerous already in a version of
the “Instructions of ”uruppag” from the Fàra period.^207 The earli-
est documents come from the Sargonic period.^2087.5.2 The formula used is “u-du 8 -a-ni/bi tùm/§re 6 : the surety “brings”
PN (away) either as his (-ni) “bound person”^209 or as its (-bi) “bound
person” (i.e. of the case in question).^210 In Old Akkadian, the for-
mulation is: qàtàt PN wabàlum“to bring the hands of/for PN,”
following the Sumerian wording and differing from later qàtàtPN
leqû.^2117.5.3 The transaction behind the taking of a surety may or may not
be mentioned: an amount of silver^212 (doubtless to be provided in
due course) or the purchase of a slave^213 (probably guaranteeing that
she is not owned by someone else, or that she will not run away).7.5.4 Another form of surety is the guarantor in purchase contracts,
to date attested only in northern Babylonia (see 7.1.5.3.2 above).7.6 Hire
7.6.1 No house rentals are attested. A lease of land from the gov-
ernor () is mentioned in an account from Mugdan about the(^206) See, e.g., ibid., 50–51, 53 (Grand document juridique, A-C, G)
(^207) Alster, The Instructions.. ., 11 ii 7 (l. 19 of the Old Babylonian version).
(^208) Not the OS period as erroneously maintained by Wilcke, “Neue sumerische
Merkwürdigkeiten,” 624.
(^209) SRU 69–70.
(^210) Krecher, “Neue sumerische.. .,” no. 23.
(^211) Wilcke, “Neusumerische Merkwürdigkeiten,” 623–26 (very fragmentary).
(^212) SRU 69.
(^213) Krecher, “Neue sumerische.. .,” no. 23.
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