were invested into the family fortune, but also in access to the other family’s commodity
business (especially onions), which was concentrated on the Borsippa canal. Iddin-
Marduk had established there a network of connections to local producers and officials.
He, too, had begun to do business with h
̆
arra ̄ nu-companies, on a small scale at first,
then through subordinates and finally even some slaves. The latter now also worked
for Itti-Marduk-bala ̄t.u, the son-in-law, and later became part of Egibi property.
The profits seem to have been invested productively. Business accounts mention
especially slaves, houses and real estate which had been purchased with company
funds and then allocated to shareholding parties, sometimes by drawing lots. Lease
contracts for fields and gardens, rent receipts for houses in Babylon and Borsippa, as
well as payments from slave dues, all record respective incomes. Work or delivery
contracts with craftsmen also show that the Egibi (and their wives) were interested
in gold, silver, precious stones, sumptuous textiles and beautiful beasts – prestige
objects appropriate to members of a wealthy family.
REAL ESTATEThere is no evidence that Sˇulaja, the representative of the first generation, had inherited
or purchased fields and orchards. There is one document, however, that shows him
as leaseholder of palace land somewhere near Babylon. This contract was for an
unlimited period of time and obliged him to cultivate the land with date palms.
Sˇulaja as leaseholder was to receive part (probably half) of the yield. Since the text
is badly preserved and other relevant documentation is missing, we cannot be clear
about details of sub-leasing and production. It was a large area, 400 metres long at
the front side of the canal. Normally strips of cultivation reached one to two kilometres
inland. It is likely that this royal reclamation project helped to get Sˇulaja’s commodity
business off the ground.
It was only under Nabû-ah
̆
h
̆e ̄-iddin’s direction that the first town houses were
purchased, and then, in quick succession during the reign of Nabonidus, agricultural
plots, mainly smaller parcels of less than one hectare, but also some larger ones. Most
were situated in the immediate vicinity of Babylon. In the sale contracts, they are
defined at first generally according to adjacent canals and paths, the nearest city gate
and the administrative district, then follow the names of neighbours on all sides.
This form of localization makes it hard for us to situate these properties with any
certainty; field plans were rarely transmitted and are difficult to relate to the description
of extant sales contracts. Therefore it is unlikely that we will ever be able to make
a map of ‘Babylon environs’.
The Egibi preferred property outside the city wall in the east and south-east of
Babylon, but not exclusively. In fact, their largest contiguous possession was in the
north-west, outside the Enlil Gate.
It can be seen from exchange contracts that they tried to swap small isolated parcels
outside the main holding for those bordering their land.
A comparison of property prices in the area of Babylon does not show an increase
for the years 575 to 510 , the period for which we have enough material for comparison.
Date palm orchards with productive palm trees within the city walls fetched the
highest price, followed by extramural ones. One shequel of silver (the monthly income
— The Egibi family —