The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia

The Work Upon A Plantation.

“(The duty) of doing the work, digging (the irrigation-channels), raising (?) embankments (?), protecting the plantation, restoring what is wanting of the date-palms, raising water, Nabû-šar-îlāni undertakes. (If) he contravene (this contract), he shall compensate (to the extent of) 1 mana of silver.”

Here follow the names of three witnesses and the scribe, the date being—

“City of Sûqâain, month Elul, day 26th, year 11th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

The Dead Slave.

After the names of three witnesses and the scribe, is the date—

“Upê, month Marcheswan, day 7th, year 40th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

A Right Of Way.

The Purchase Of The House At Borsippa.

After the names of two witnesses and the scribe comes the date—

“Barsip (Borsippa), month Iyyar, day 3rd, year 5th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

As this tablet was written two years and three months after the house at Borsippa was bought, it is clear that the money had been advanced, but the indebtedness of Abil-Addu-nathānu had not been placed, until the date of the second tablet, on a legal footing. Probably he intended to pay the money, but had not the wherewithal, and this being the case, the lender agreed to allow the debt to remain unpaid, stipulating only that the interest should be paid at the usual rate of one mana upon every mana monthly. As will be seen from the other documents, the principal was not paid for many years after this. There is no record whether any payment of interest had been made in the meanwhile, but, in any case, the rate is far beyond what at the present time is considered fair.

A First Payment Made After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

This is a small tablet similar in shape to the last, and is now preserved in the Museum of Art at New York.

“There is to be no abatement (?).”

As the loan was contracted in the second year of Nabonidus, it cannot be said that Iddina-Marduk had been by any means pressing in the matter. The numerous documents which exist show that the Babylonians were good at making contracts, but they were probably not so strict in keeping them, and certainly not so merciless (to judge from the history here unfolded) as the people of the modern West in enforcing them.

The phonetic spelling of the name of the husband, Ablada-nathānu, is interesting, as it shows the Babylonian pronunciation. Ben-Addu-nathan, however, was a possible form, and may have been even a fairly common one.

The Legal Action After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

“Bunanitu, daughter of Ḫariṣâa, said thus to the judges of Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon—

“The judges heard their words, they read the tablets and contracts which Bunanitu brought before them, and they caused Aqabi-îlu not to have power over the house at Barsip, which had been bequeathed to Bunanitu instead of her dowry, over Nabû-nûr-îli, whom she and her husband had bought for silver, or over anything of Abil-Addu-nathānu; Bunanitu and Abil-Addu-amara, by their tablets, they caused to be confirmed. Iddina-Marduk pleads for (?), and will receive, the 2-½ mana of silver which had been given towards the price of that house. Afterwards Bunanitu will receive the 3-½ mana of silver, her dowry, and her share besides. Nûbtâ will receive Nabû-nûr-îli, according to the contracts of her father.

“By the decision of this judgment.

Two copies of this document exist, neither of them being the original. They were probably made for persons interested in the result of the judgment.

It has been suggested that the claim of Aqabi-îlu to all his brother's property was based upon the fact that he was the eldest of the family. This, however, is hardly likely to have been the case, the Babylonian law concerning the wife's dowry—i.e. that it was her own in any event—being clear and incontrovertible. The probability therefore is, that he claimed the property hoping that she might not be able to prove her right. The clear statements of this document, and the common-sense judgment delivered by Nabonidus's judges are full of simplicity and dignity, and show well the Babylonian character.

The Final Repayment Of The Loan To Iddina-Marduk.

Thus ends the life-story of this Babylonian family, as far as at present known.

The names of four witnesses and the scribe follow. Date: “Babylon, month Iyyar, day 9th, year 13th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.” Postscript: “At the sitting of Bissā, daughter of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin.”

From this it would seem that Ikîšā made Rêmanni-Bêl his heir, freeing him from the position of a bondsman, in exchange for his (Ikîšā's) keep, but that Rêmanni-Bêl, declining the advantage and the responsibility, ran away, whereupon the burden fell upon Ikîšā's daughter-in-law, Ê-sagila-râmat. This the last-named seems to have undertaken willingly, and in return, Ikîšā annulled Rêmanni-Bêl's adoption, and bequeathed him, as a slave, to Ê-sagila-râmat and her daughter. Means probably existed for bringing back the runaway, when the news of his return to his old condition would be communicated to him. Ê-sagila-râmat's husband, Iddina-Marduk, is the one who advanced to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu the money to make up the price of their house.

Iddina-Nabû Sells His Egyptian Slave And Her Infant.

“Iddina-Nabû, son of Mušêzib-Bêl, has cheerfully sold Nanaa-ittîa, his slave, and her daughter, a child of three months, Egyptians captured by his bow, for 2 mana of silver, the complete price, to Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, son of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, descendant of Êgibi. Iddina-Nabû has received the money, 2 mana of silver, the price of Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter, from the hands of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu. Iddina-Nabû guarantees against the existence of any liability of defeasor (?), legal claimant, royal service, or freedmanship with regard to Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter.”

Here come the names of four witnesses and the scribe.

“Babylon, month Kisleu, day 23rd, year 6th, Kambuzîa (Cambyses), king of Babylon.

This document may be held to testify to the reality of Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, which took place in his 5th year (525 b.c.). It is also a proof that the Babylonians took part in the campaign.

It is noteworthy that three copies of this document exist, one being in the British Museum, another in the Museum of Art at New York, and the third in the museum founded by the late Sir Henry Peek at Lyme Regis. The tablet recording the contract for the 240 gur of fruit also exists, and is preserved in the British Museum.

From a tablet dated in the first year of Darius, we learn that he bought a field before the great gate of Uraš in the province of Babylon, this field being beside that of his wife Âmat-Bau, which she had brought as her dowry. Other documents record that he made loans of silver and produce, both alone and associated with his brothers. In these his proper name is generally used, but sometimes he was called Širku. The hiring and letting of houses, the buying and selling of slaves, etc., are also recorded of them. In the third year of Darius he and his brothers came into considerable property in Babylon, sharing it among them, and there is also record of Marduk-naṣir-âbli paying his father's debts. This increase in their resources naturally enabled them to deal in the produce of their fields, and in all probability they managed his wife's as well, whilst there is at least one record that she lent money on her own account. To enumerate all the interesting points which the tablets reveal to us concerning their various transactions, however, would naturally take too much time and space.

Under the name of Marduk-naṣir-âbli, he appears before us principally in the character of an agriculturalist and dealer in produce, combining with this money-lending on occasion. As Širku, he dealt largely in ships, and apparently also in boats for pontoon bridges. In the fifth year of Darius he was in Elam, and there is a reference to the sending to him of a messenger, “with the charioteers of Bêl-âbla-iddina, captain of Babylon.” Many years afterwards Širku is said to have received the rent of a house situated “upon the giššu of Borsippa,” and the question naturally arises, whether giššu may not be for gišru, “bridge,” though a house upon a bridge crossing a comparatively narrow canal near Babylon is certainly not what one would expect.

On the 16th of Sivan in the twenty-sixth year of Darius, Širku was the scribe who drew up a contract referring to two ships, one apparently for service on the Euphrates, the other for the bridge. Later on, he borrowed some money upon the security of two of his female slaves, Mušêzibtum and Narû, the wrist of the former being inscribed with the name of one of his relations, the other with his own name, Širku (it is given as Šišku on the tablet). This loan is distinctly stated to be for the purpose of acquiring “a ship for the bridge” (êlippu ša giširi), and this he seems to have bought two months later, unless there was another contract for a vessel which has not come down to us. In the Peek collection is a large tablet referring to the completed bridge, the traffic upon it, and the ships moored to it, suggesting that a portion of it at least was used as a quay or landing-stage. More research is needed, however, ere its precise nature will be clear—perhaps the etymology is misleading, and gišru or giširu means, in Babylonian, “pier” or “landing-stage” simply.

The following is one of the inscriptions which refer to his hiring a ship—

“(Concerning) the ship of Iddina-Bêl which is with Šamaš-iddina, son of Bêl-iddina, for navigation. He has given the ship for hire as far as bištum ša ṣêrûa (= birtum ša ṣêrûa, ‘the fortress of ṣêrûa’) for 1/3 of a mana of white silver, coined, to Širik (Širku), son of Iddinā, descendant of Êgibi. The silver, 1/3 of a mana, the hire of the ship, and its provisions, he has received. The ship shall not cross the great (water), if it pass, he shall pay 5 mana of silver. Each has taken (a copy of this contract).”

The names of three witnesses and the scribe follow this, after which is the date—

“Babylon, month Adar, day 6th, year 26th, Darius, king of Babylon and countries.”

The tablets in which Marduk-naṣir-âbli, alias Širku, are mentioned, prove that Babylonia maintained its character as a maritime nation to a very late date. As, however, voyages on the ocean are not provable, it is doubtful whether their ships sailed to any great distance—in all probability they confined themselves to making coast-voyages only. Judging from the penalty attached to taking the ship across the great (water), the question naturally arises, whether the sea (the Persian Gulf) may not have been intended. The word used in the original is rabbu, which would then correspond with the last word of the poetic expression, “the rolling main.”

Interesting in the extreme would it be, if we could know what the Jews thought of the country and the city of their captivity. In that enormous walled tract known as the city of Babylon were large open spaces covered with gardens, and cornfields, and orchards, mostly, perhaps almost exclusively, of date-palms, the fruit of which formed such an important part of the food of the people. These were the trees, in all probability, on which the Jewish captives hung their harps when, in their captivity, they mourned for the city of Sion, from which they were so far away. The rivers of Babylon, of which the well-known psalm speaks, were the Tigris and the Euphrates, with the innumerable canals and watering-channels which the nature of the country rendered so necessary to the fertility and productiveness of the land, and without which it would have been a desert.