808
loan of five deben (of the Treasury of Heryshef ) within one year.
There are six witnesses, all apparently priests.7.2.2 Another loan (of grain) is P. Louvre E 3228b (700—reign of
Shabaka).^269 This text mentions interest (of unspecified amount) if
the original debt is not repaid by a certain time. One party declares
that he will pay back the debt, “without any contesting the matter
with you.” This transaction is witnessed by eight persons. The state-
ment of the debtor is repeated in connection with each of the wit-
nesses. An interesting feature of this document is that it has been
annulled, if that is the correct interpretation of the twelve vertical
lines which have been drawn through the text.^2707.2.3 Tablet MMA 35.3.318, recto and verso, preserves two loans
from the time of Taharqa. The first is a grain loan in which inter-
est (ms.t) of some 75 percent per annum is charged. In the second
money loan, the interest seems to be 40 percent yearly.^2717.2.4 In the block statue Cairo CG 559, the official declares that
he never compelled a man in difficulties to pay back his (grain) debts:
“I did not compel him to give his property to another in order to
pay the debts of that which he had received. I satisfied him, by buy-
ing from him what he had, giving double or triple for it.”^2727.2.5 Menu suggests that in the Late period there is a tendency to
strengthen the rights of the creditor, in that the debtor more pre-
cisely delineates how he is to repay the debt and the conditions
under which penalties are imposed.^273 Whereas in the New Kingdom,
the oath was the chief guarantee for the repayment of the loan, in
the Third Intermediate period and then, more developed, in the
Demotic material, there comes into being a true pledge or surety,
which forms a security for the loan.^274(^269) Malinine, Choix.. ., 5. See also Seidl, Ägyptische Rechtsgeschichte.. ., 57.
(^270) Malinine, Choix.. ., 5.
(^271) ’ernÿand Parker, “Abnormal Hieratic Tablet...”
(^272) Jansen-Winkeln, Ägyptische Biographien.. ., 13. See also Théodoridès, “Papyrus
des adoptions.. .,” 652.
(^273) Menu, “Prêt.. .,” 117.
(^274) Ibid., 118.
westbrook_f22_775-818 8/27/03 1:34 PM Page 808