very care with
which the hero relates all the precautions which he took for
his protection. These two documents are of the XIIth or
XIIIth dynasty--that is to say, contemporaneous with the
kings, of Uru and with Gudea.

Several individuals, as a rule, would club together to hire one of these
boats and freight it with a suitable cargo.* The body of the boat
was very light, being made of osier or willow covered with skins sewn
together; a layer of straw was spread on the bottom, on which were piled
the bales or chests, which were again protected by a rough thatch of
straw. The crew was composed of two oarsmen at least, and sometimes a
few donkeys: the merchants then pursued their way up stream till they
had disposed of their cargo, and taken in a sufficient freight for their
return voyage. The dangers, though apparently not so great as those by
the land route, were not the less real. The boat was liable to sink
or run aground near the bank, the dwellers in the neighbourhood of the
river might intercept it and pillage its contents, a war might break out
between two contiguous kingdoms and suspend all commerce: the merchants'
career continually vacillated between servitude, death, and fortune.

* The payment demanded was something considerable: the only
contract which I know of existing for such a transaction is
of the time of Darius I., and exacts a silver shekel per day
for the hire of boat and crew.

Business carried on at home in the towns was seldom the means of
enriching a man, and sometimes scarcely afforded him a means of
livelihood. Rent was high for those who had not a house of their own;
the least they could expect to pay was half a silver shekel per annum,
but the average price was a whole shekel. On taking possession they paid
a deposit which sometimes amounted to one-third of the whole sum, the
remainder being due at the end of the year. The leases lasted, as a
rule, merely a twelvemonth, though sometimes they were extended for
terms of greater length, such as two, three, or even eight years. The
cost of repairs and of keeping the house in good condition fell usually
upon the lessee, who was also allowed to build upon the land he had
leased, in which case it was declared free of all charges for a period
of about ten years, but the house, and, as a rule, all he had built,
then reverted to the landlord. Most possessors of shops made their own
goods for sale, assisted by