A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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7.1.2 Nature

7.1.2.1 As in earlier periods, sale is normally on a cash basis and

of specific goods.^139 That sale on credit was also possible is gener-

ally regarded as doubtful. In Uruk in the fourth and early third cen-

turies a few sale documents are drafted in the form of a receipt for

the price (e.g., BaM 21, no. 13; TCL 13 234; VAS 15 51—in the

last two examples, the receipt is followed by warranty and joint lia-

bility clauses, as in a normal sale contract).^140 In these cases, com-

pletion of the sale and payment of the price presumably had become

separate transactions. Given the small number of examples, they

could be simply a deviation from the norm.

7.1.2.2 The formula “the buyer has named the price with the seller

as x shekels” (itti seller, buyerkî x kaspu ma¢ìra imbèma) in the state-

ment of sale of immoveable property has been interpreted as refer-

ring to a public declaration made upon transfer of land and prebends.

It must have taken place before conclusion of the sale.^141 The change

in the formulary in the Seleucid period is connected with the aban-

donment of this procedure at that time.^142

7.1.2.3 The final clauses protect the buyer from vindication and

other third party claims, and in addition give a warranty against

hidden defects, insofar as these can be substantiated.^143 Comparison

with earlier periods shows an expansion of the range of possible

cases. At the same time, oath and curse formulae decline in impor-

tance and are ultimately abandoned.

7.1.2.4 A number of quit-claim clauses are attested, mostly from

Hellenistic Uruk. In contrast to earlier periods, the promise not to

raise claims, which in the first millennium is also added to other

types of contract, is no longer supported by an oath.^144

(^139) Koro“ec, Keilschriftrecht, 192–93.
(^140) Doty, Cuneiform Archives..., 81.
(^141) Petschow, Kaufformulare.. ., 12–13.
(^142) Ibid., 69. It should be noted, however, that a few texts use composite for-
mulae: see Doty, Cuneiform Archives.. ., 69.
(^143) Petschow, Kaufformulare.. ., 28–38, 55–68.
(^144) Oelsner, “Klageverzicht(sklausel),” 13 §13; and see Lewenton, Rechtspraxis.. .,
33–39; Krückman, Babylonische.. ., 47–53.
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