714
etymology of the expression, however, it may be tentatively suggested
that they designate interest-free loans.^477.3.2 Interest-bearing loans are attested. AT 46^48 contains a provi-
sion concerning the due date when the loan would begin to accrue
interest (ußßab). The text, however, does not mention the rate, reflecting
perhaps the fact that it was fixed by custom. AT 48 mentions that
the interest of the loan is to be paid at the beginning of the year
and that it amounts to two hundred birds. The curious nature of
the interest may be explained on account of the profession of the
borrower, who was a hunter (bà"iru).7.3.3 Interest may be provided through antichretic pledge.^49 In AT
49, the borrower must stay in the house of the lender in lieu of
interest. AT 47 also provides that the debtor together with his wife
are to stay as pledges^50 and work in the creditor’s household (see
also the debt note AT 344). In such cases, the text declares that the
antichretic pledges will receive no hire.7.3.4 The duration of the loan seems to be undetermined. AT 47
and AT 50, for example, clearly provide that repayment must take
place during the lifetime of the debtor (presumably prolonged to the
lifetime of his heirs).7.3.5 Penalties are provided in two documents. In AT 48, if the
debtor cannot pay the interest, namely, the two hundred birds, he
will be put in prison. In AT 49, the penalty for flight of the pledged
debtor is payment of an additional amount of silver (one hundred
shekels). The security, in turn, is not personal but consists of landed
property.(^47) See also ibid., 57.
(^48) For the interpretation of this text, see Márquez Rowe, “A Number or a
Measure?...”
(^49) See Eichler, Indenture.. ., 75–78, and Mendelsohn, “On Slavery in Alalakh,”
66f.
(^50) It has been assumed that the term ¢imudiin l. 9 indicates this type of pledge
on the basis of the context and the parallel to the mazzazànuof the Level VII texts.
The Hurrian word e©elle, taken to designate one of the “social classes” of Level IV
Alalakh, probably also had the meaning of some kind of pledge (Márquez Rowe,
“The King’s Men.. .”).
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