A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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(locality, creditor’s house, door of the warehouse (bàb kalakki), thresh-

ing floor (ma“kanu), etc.). For bulk goods, the measure (ma“ì¢u) to be

used is also set down, usually that of the creditor. Short-term loans

are common—a few months or even days, until the harvest, for

example. If the debtor died, the debts passed to his heirs. Indicative

of the variety of debt-based relations in this period are the frequent

novations of debt notes^158 and equally the frequency of assignment

of claims.^159 Subrogation of claims is also known in this period.^160

7.4.3.1 In connection with repayment of loans, a number of receipts

are found, with a basic formula of “PN 1 has received (ma¢ir)...from

PN 2 ,” which may then be supplemented with further information.^161

Their number is small in comparison with that of the debt notes.

As they relate to private law, they are drafted before witnesses,

whereas receipts from the domain of public administration (palace

or temple) are unwitnessed.

7.4.3.2 Where there are multiple debtors, each is liable for the total

debt and can be called upon at the creditor’s discretion, as the clause

“whoever is available, will pay” (“a qerbi i††ir) attests (see 7.7 below).

7.4.3.3 Upon repayment, the debt note (u"iltu) is returned or bro-

ken (¢epû).^162 Of the thousands of extant examples, the question of

which belong to debtors’ and which to creditors’ archives has not

yet been thoroughly investigated.^163

7.5 Pledge^164

7.5.1 Objects of pledge are land, houses, prebends, slaves, and mem-

bers of the debtor’s family.^165 Animals and other movables are more

rarely attested, presumably because they were mostly pawned without

(^158) Examples in Petschow, Pfandrecht.. ., 156, sub “Novation.”
(^159) See Petschow, Pfandrecht.. ., 162, sub “Abtretung”; 165, sub “Rechtsnachfolge.”
(^160) Petschow, “Surrogationsgedanke...”
(^161) E.g., NRVN 344–372; BR 6 107–111.
(^162) Petschow, Pfandrecht.. ., 48–50.
(^163) It is now known that various types of documents were used as exercises in
the scribal schools: see Jursa, Archiv...
(^164) See the comprehensive study by Petschow, Pfandrecht.. ., 52ff. (II Abschnitt.
Das Pfandrecht), 146–48. See also Oelsner, “Neo-Babylonian Period,” esp. 301–2.
(^165) Petschow, Pfandrecht.. ., 57–58, 60–71; on pledging a wife, 62–63.
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