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are slaves. Although not based on contractual agreement, it did not
require a court order, and it was also practiced by the lìmuofficial
in Assur (TC 2 46:7).7.3.5 Borrowing by the Creditor^211
A last device to help a creditor get his money from a defaulting
debtor, first attested among the Old Assyrians, is a clause in the
debt note which authorizes the creditor to borrow what is owed to
him from a moneylender.^212 It is likely that the creditor charged the
debtor double interest, for reasons similar to those which allowed a
guarantor who had borrowed to pay for the debtor to charge “inter-
est on interest” (see 7.3.2.3 above).7.3.6 Debt and Social Justice
The traditional Mesopotamian royal measures to promote equity and
social justice apply primarily to common citizens who have become
poor by economic distress and debt-ridden by taking out loans for
consumption. Hence we hardly expect them in the records of a trad-
ing society, where debts generally were of a commercial nature,
belonging to the types enumerated in paragraph 5 of Ammißaduqa’s
Edict as not affected by the royal measures.^213 Their impact, how-
ever, is attested in the local Anatolian society, where a small num-
ber of debt notes stipulate that this debt has to be paid “even when
the (local) ruler washes away the debts” (¢ubullam masà"um). Anatolian
creditors, like their Mesopotamian colleagues, took care to record
that a particular debt was contracted after the royal measure and
hence was not affected by it.^214
There is also proof of social measures in Assur itself, not cancel-
lation of commercial debts but a measure to counter their negative
effects on family property. TPK 1 46 reveals that the god Assur,
apparently acting through the initiative of his ruler and the deci-
sions of the City Assembly, “had mercy on his city” (ll. 22f.). This
meant a measure which made it easier for debt-ridden Assyrians,
who had to sell their paternal houses because of huge debts, to(^211) See Veenhof, “Modern Features.. .,” 351ff., and “Silver and Credit.. .,” 82f.
(^212) Examples are AKT 1 34; EL 87 and 185; ICK 2 95 and 147; I 475.
(^213) See Kraus, Verfügungen.. ., 172, 205f.
(^214) See for the evidence, Balkan, “Cancellation of Debts.. .” There is an unpub-
lished debt note which uses the noun anduràrum in this context.
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