A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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linked with antichretic pledge, that is, the hirer was also a creditor

of the owner and hire and interest were set offagainst each other.

Should the slave then run away, the owner had to pay the hirer the

slave’s fee (mandattu) or the wages lost.

4.4.5.4 Agency

Slaves frequently carried out assignments for their masters, in which

capacity they were known as “messenger” (màr “ipri).^78 Thus a slave

might purchase another slave on his owner’s behalf or receive pay-

ment of a debt on the orders (ina qibî) of his owner. Often, business

transactions would be conducted entirely through slaves acting as

agents, as where A, the slave of B, received a payment of rent for

land from C, the slave of D, “in accordance with the sealed, writ-

ten order” (“ipirtu ù kunukku) of his master.^79

4.4.5.5 Slaves engaged in the same transactions as free persons. They

themselves bought and sold slaves and other property. They leased

fields and date-palm orchards for cultivation, in return either for a

fixed rent or one-third of the harvest, and in turn hired laborers, free

or slave. Slaves who earned money from third parties were obliged to

pay their owners an annual fee (mandattu).^80 Slaves could even enter

into contracts with their owners; they borrowed money from their

owners and leased land from them.^81 In the latter case, the slave would

have to pay his owner the slave’s fee (mandattu) addition to the rent.

4.4.6 Peculium^82

In all the above transactions, property held by the slave was regarded

as entirely separate from the owner’s. Thus a landowner warns two

of his slaves to repair a canal which they had rented from him,

because water from it is causing damage to his field. The slaves

agree that if they do not repair the canal, “we will pay compensa-

tion from our own assets.”^83 On the other hand, there is no doubt

that ultimately the property belonged to the owner and not the slave.

(^78) Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 308–19.
(^79) BE 9 66a, discussed by Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 316.
(^80) “Quitrent”: Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 379–83.
(^81) Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 345–78 (esp. the career of Madanu-bèl-ußur, a slave
of the Egibi family), 387–88.
(^82) Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 320–97.
(^83) BE 9 55: ultu ramànìni nittirma. Discussed by Dandamaev, Slavery.. ., 387.
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