A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

550 

7.3.2 Many loan contracts contain a clause giving the creditor a

lien (katû) on the real estate and, ultimately, on the children of the

debtor, in addition to his rights over movable property (KAJ 16, 38,

44, 316).^120

7.3.3 Pledge^121

7.3.3.1 Pledge is constituted principally by land and persons (wife,

children, or slaves of the debtor). It is not regarded as a right in

rem: the creditor can take the object from the debtor, but he can-

not trace it into the hands of a third party; he can only intervene

to prevent its alienation. Koschaker distinguishes between three types

of loan with pledge: Verfallspfand, in which the debtor loses the pledge

if he fails to repay the loan on the due date; Lösungspfand, which

becomes the property of the creditor after maturity, on the judge’s

decision, and which the debtor can release (pa†àru) by payment; and

Nutzungspfand(antichresis), which gives the creditor the income of the

pledge for the duration of the loan in lieu of interest.

7.3.3.2 In antichresis, physical possession of the pledge by the cred-

itor is indicated by a clause specifying, for land, that the principal

does not bear interest and that the property is not rented.^122 Personal

antichresis seems to be rarer:^123 in most pledges of fields, the person

who works the field for benefit of the creditor is a harvester hired

by the debtor. The hire of a person is thus a duty ancillary to the

loan contract. In other forms of pledge, the distinction between pos-

sessory and hypothecary pledge is not always clear. The standard

clause kì“apartu O(bject) C(reditor) ukâl (“the C(reditor) holds/will

hold the O(bject) as pledge”) indicates that the pledge is legally at

the creditor’s disposal but does not reveal whether the debtor handed

over the property when he contracted the loan or whether he has

to deliver it once the term of the loan has expired. Possession seems

(^120) Ibid., 117–18.
(^121) Ibid., 96ff.
(^122) KAJ 13 and Finkelstein, “Cuneiform Texts.. .,” no. 150, quoted by Eichler,
“Indenture.. .,” 94.
(^123) Cf. Koschaker, Neue keilschriftliche.. ., 109, n. 5, 111; Lautner, Personenmiete.. .,
24–26. According to Eichler, “Indenture.. .,” 95, only KAJ 17 is a true example
of personal antichresis: the debtor redeems his son by repaying the capital and no
interest is provided for default.
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