ams for dates. As a fact, exchange has
never completely died out in these regions, and at the
present day, in Chaldaea, as in Egypt, corn is used in many
cases either to pay Government taxes or to discharge
commercial debts.

The commerce of the chief cities was almost entirely concentrated in the
temples. The large quantities of metals and cereals constantly brought
to the god, either as part of the fixed temple revenue, or as daily
offerings, accumulated so rapidly, that they would have overflowed the
storehouses, had not a means been devised of utilizing them quickly: the
priests treated them as articles of commerce and made a profit out of
them.* Every bargain necessitated the calling in of a public scribe. The
bill, drawn up before witnesses on a clay tablet, enumerated the sums
paid out, the names of the parties, the rate per cent., the date
of repayment, and sometimes a penal clause in the event of fraud or
insolvency; the tablet remained in the possession of the creditor until
the debt had been completely discharged. The borrower often gave as a
pledge either slaves, a field, or a house, or certain of his friends
would pledge on his behalf their own personal fortune; at times he would
pay by the labour of his own hands the interest which he would otherwise
have been unable to meet, and the stipulation was previously made in the
contract of the number of days of corvee which he should periodically
fulfil for his creditor. If, in spite of all this, the debtor was unable
to procure the necessary funds to meet his engagements, the principal
became augmented by a fixed sum--for instance, one-third--and continued
to increase at this rate until the total value of the amount reached
that of the security:** the slave, the field, or the house then ceased
to belong to their former, master, subject to a right of redemption, of
which he was rarely able to avail himself for lack of means.***

* It was to the god himself--Shamash, for example--that the
loan was supposed to be made, and it is to him that the
contracts stipulate that the capital and interest shall be
paid. It is curious to lind among the most successful money-
lenders several princesses consecrated to the sun-god.

** It is easy to foresee, from the contracts of the New
Assyrian or Babylonian Empire, how in this manner the
original sum lent became doubled and trebled; generally the
interest accu