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7.3.2.2 Duties
Guarantors basically had two duties: to secure the presence or avail-
ability of the debtor on the due date (“Gestellungsbürge”),^203 and to
pay on his behalf if he defaulted or failed to be available. The guar-
antor who does not hand over the debtor to the creditor is liable
to pay the original debt plus interest (TPK 1 171) or a fine.^204
Where the duty is to pay for the defaulting debtor, the guaran-
tor may also appear as co-debtor,^205 or both may be jointly liable
for a debt.^2067.3.2.3 Security and Regress
Guarantors could secure themselves against the risk of the debtor’s
insolvency by taking pledges.^207 A guarantor forced to pay for the
debtor enjoyed a right of regress. In a well-documented case,^208 a
man who had been forced to take out a loan in order to be able
to meet his liability as guarantor obtained a verdict from the City
Assembly authorizing him to charge the debtor “interest and inter-
est on interest in accordance with the words on the stela” and to
take the latter’s silver “wherever it is,” hence also when converted
into merchandise.^2097.3.4 Distraint
In distraint, which the debtor could try to resist, there was no ques-
tion of antichretic use. Its effectiveness depended on the debtor’s
wish or need to get back the items seized, and it must have been
similar to that of “holding the debtor by his hem” (the two actually
occur together in CCT 3 12), which prevented him from leaving
and could make him start a lawsuit. For distraint, Old Assyrian uses
katà"um^210 (with its nominal derivate kutu"àtum); its preferred objects(^203) See EL 238, 306; ICK 1 86 + 2 141, TPK 1 171(!); and O 3684 (Garelli,
“Une tablette”).
(^204) EL 308; kt 89/352.
(^205) CTMMA 1, 84a; EL 321 compared with the letter KTH 15:6f.
(^206) EL 226:33–44; BIN 4 4:12ff.; BIN 6 238. EL 325a:5 mentions “a tablet drawn
up for the two of us,” which EL 326:25ff. shows to be debtor and guarantor.
(^207) CCT 5 8a; TC 3 67; kt 91/k 173 (a house); Veenhof, “Security for Debt...,”
122f.
(^208) See Veenhof, “Legislation.. .,” 1722ff.
(^209) Also TPK 1 46:20ff.
(^210) It does not mean surety or guarantee, although this meaning is attested in
Babylonian and later Assyrian, also for the nominal derivative kattû.
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