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7.1.2.2 A few documents record the receipt of silver for the purchase
price of a house (ana“ám é), with the stipulation that the balance
is to be paid within a certain number of days and a document of
sale drafted.^128 There would have been no point in giving (and record-
ing) a partial payment if it did not give the buyer some rights to
the property.7.1.2.3 In some otherwise standard sale documents, the payment
clause contains the Sumerian form “he shall pay” (ì.lá.e) instead of
the expected “he has paid.” San Nicolò ascribed this anomaly to
scribal error,^129 but it appears too often to be dismissed in this way.7.1.2.4 Cash sale was therefore not the only recognized form of
sale in the Old Babylonian period. San Nicolò’s observations nonethe-
less rightly draw attention to the emphasis in the documents on cash
sale. The reason may lie in the law of inheritance. Ownership might
pass without cash payment, for example, by gift, but the vested rights
of the heirs would restrict the recipient’s ownership to the lifetime
of the donor. Payment of the price would therefore be necessary to
overreach the rights of the heirs and make the buyer’s title permanent.7.1.3 There are many variations, both regional and chronological,
in the standard sale formula, both as regards content and order of
clauses. There is no consensus as to the legal significance (if any) of
these variations.^1307.1.4 Barter is not recorded, but contracts of exchange (pu¢um)
are occasionally found. They are always like for like, either land or
slaves, except that a prebend could be exchanged for land, being
deemed a type of real estate (BE 6/2 39 = UAZP 115). Any difference
in value was compensated by an additional payment (nipiltum: see
LH 41).(^128) Discussed by Skaist, Loan Contract.. ., 67–72. They are to be distinguished
from payment to an agent for the purchase of property (see below).
(^129) San Nicolò,Schlussklauseln.. ., 92–94.
(^130) See esp. Wilcke, “Kaufverträge.. .,” and “Law of Sale...”
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