7.2 Features of Contract
7.2.1 The records, whether cuneiform, hieratic, Demotic, or Aramaic,
share the same basic structure: they are styled as the protocol of an
oral proceeding that was performed before witnesses. The descrip-
tion can sometimes be extremely terse, as in debt notes, which con-
sist merely of an acknowledgement that “A owes B x silver.” More
explicit parallels confirm that what is being described is the result
of an oral transaction such as loan, or sale on credit, even if the
particular transaction behind the debt note often cannot be identified.
At the other extreme, the “dialogue documents” of the Neo-Babylonian
and Persian periods give a graphic account of the oral proceeding
itself, albeit still in summary form.7.2.2 The agreements recorded fall into standard categories, easily
identifiable by a key word or phrase. It is rare to find a contract
sui generis, although a recognized type may occasionally have in addi-
tion a unique special term. Certainly, there is no question of each
agreement having been drafted verbatim by the scribes. Of course,
it could always be the case that standardization applied exclusively
to those transactions recorded in writing, but the evidence of the
decrees and law codes does not give that impression. They contain
paragraphs imposing implied terms on various types of contract,
including many that have left no trace in the written record and
may have existed only orally.7.2.3 There is an equally high degree of standardization in the
drafting of individual clauses of the contracts, some of which may
be used in more than one type of contract. Notwithstanding the fact
that they change over time and place, they tend to follow collective
patterns, the idiosyncrasies of individual scribes notwithstanding. The
lexical lists and model contracts attest to the fact that scribal train-
ing involved learning standard contractual clauses.7.2.4 The contracts recorded are bilateral, that is to say, with mutual
obligations. With certain important exceptions, to be discussed below,
they are either fully executed, with only contingent obligations out-
standing, or at least one of the parties has already performed his
obligations, in whole or in part. The important point is that they
are not wholly executory; they do not consist solely of promises for64
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