A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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formulated from the buyer’s point of view (ex latere emptoris), as in

the Old Babylonian period, and the latter from the seller’s (ex latere

venditoris), as in the Old and Middle Assyrian periods. The formulary

for immoveable property is fully developed by the late eighth century

(TuM 2/3 8 = BR 8/7 3; VAS 1 70 = Peiser KB 4 158–65); for

movables, from the time of Nabopolassar (625–605; TuM 2/3 28 =

BR 8/7 38). Earlier sale contracts are closer in form to Middle

Babylonian documents. In Hellenistic Uruk both types then merge

into a uniform formulary, although occasional variants are attested.^133

7.1.1 Form

7.1.1.1 Operative Section

The formulary for immoveable property begins with a description

of the object, followed by the clause “the seller has named an amount

of silver to the buyer as equivalent (of the object) and bought it at

its full purchase price” (ittiseller, buyer kî x kaspu ma¢ìra imbèma i“àm

(ana) “ìmì“u gamrùti). In contrast, a sale of movables starts by nam-

ing the seller who “of his own free will (ina ¢ùd libbi“u)^134 has given

the object for its full purchase price to the buyer” (ana x kaspu ana

“ìmìgamrùti/¢arißana buyer iddin).

7.1.1.2 Payment Clause

The operative section is followed by the payment and receipt clause,

which likewise has two versions. The immoveable property clause

reads: “the seller has received all the silver from the buyer as pur-

chase price of the object as the full amount of silver; he is satisfied

(and) free (of further claims)” (nap¢ar x kaspa ina qàtè of the buyer

the seller “ìm of the object kî kasap gamirti ma¢ir apil zaki, with vari-

ants). There is also a supplementary payment (atru), often amount-

ing to about 10 percent of the purchase price. The movables clause

reads: “the seller has received that silver, the purchase price of the

object, from the buyer; he is paid” (kaspa a 4 amount of silver“ìmof

the object the seller ina qàtèof the buyerma¢ir e†ir).

(^133) Petschow, Kaufformulare.. .; Lewenton, Rechtspraxis...From texts published
since these studies it is now possible to trace the development more exactly.
(^134) This clause is already attested in other contexts in the eighth century: see
Leichty, “A Legal Text.. .,” 227–29 (l. 7, record of litigation).
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