235
ble yoke”), and the other is a longer en-ma-decree (ARET XIII 8).
Both deal with two matters: (a) the donation by Yirkab-damu to Ti-
“a-Li-imof lands (ki-ki) bought (níg-sa 10 ) at Ìr-pé“kiand Gú-ra-balki, not
far from Emar (XIII 7 [1–2] // 8 [1–4]); (b) dispositions concerning
persons (na-se 11 -na-se 11 ) under Ti-“a-Li-im’s control (XIII 7 [3–4] //
8 [5–8]), including their sustenance and the safety and freedom of
movement of merchants (lú-kar) traveling in the areas under Yirkab-
damu’s and Ti-“a-Li-im’s control (XIII 7 [5–6] // 8 [9–11]). The
verdict adds a summarizing clause (ARET XIII 7 [7]): “therefore:
the king has given the land, (and) Ti-“a-Li-im’s people have been
moved by the king.”6.5 Some “accounts” (“id) are inventories of movable property, and
frequent among them are those dealing with royal goods. One account,
75.2304 lists the movable property of the house (é) of the queen of
Emar, Ti-“a-Li-im.^39- C
7.1 Information about the current prices may be gleaned from the
administrative records, where níg-sa 10 , “price; (to) purchase” (= gary-
atumin VE 67) occurs hundreds of times, in reference to all sort of
goods.^407.2 Some thirty passages in administrative texts show the use of
the Eblaitic term for “interest-bearing loan,” “e-SAGx›A-mul and
var. (untranslated in VE 674), probably a graphic variant of “e-
”U.›A-mul = ¢ubullum(VE 673).^41 The beginning of ARET VII 82
suggests very high interest: one EN-sa-gi-su had received from the
palace, for two years, 380 gú-barmeasures of barley (corresponding
to 3,10 minas of silver), and the palace received (mu-ti) 500 gú-bar
of barley as repayment of the entire amount of barley lent (in “e-
“e), which bore interest (“e-SAGx›A-mul). The contract 76.749 and
the administrative text 75.1919 refer to an interest-bearing loan of(^39) ”id: Archi, “Un autre document...”
(^40) Archi, “Prices, Workers’ Wages...”
(^41) Gathered by Archi, “‘Debt’...”
WESTBROOK_F6_227-239 8/27/03 1:42 PM Page 235