ment of their claims they
had seized the crops and had, moreover, refused to pay to the king's
officer the proportion of the crops that was due to the state as
taxes upon the land. The governor of Larsam, the principal city in the
district, had rightly, as the representative of the palace (i.e.
the king), caused the tax-collector to make up the deficiency, but
Hammurabi, on receiving the subordinate officer's complaint, referred
the matter back to the governor. The end of the letter is wanting, but
we may infer that Hammurabi condemned the defaulting money-lenders to
pay the taxes due, and fined them in addition, or ordered them to be
sent to the capital for punishment.

On another occasion Sheb-Sin himself and a second tax-collector named
Sin-mushtal appear to have been in fault and to have evaded coming to
Babylon when summoned thither by the king. It had been their duty to
collect large quantities of sesame seed as well as taxes paid in money.
When first summoned, they had made the excuse that it was the time of
harvest and they would come after the harvest was over. But as they
did not then make their appearance, Hammurabi wrote an urgent letter
insisting that they should be despatched with the full amount of the
taxes due, in the company of a trustworthy officer who would see that
they duly arrived at the capital.

Tribute on flocks and herds was also levied by the king, and collectors
or assessors of the revenue were stationed in each district, whose duty
it was to report any deficit in the revenue accounts. The owners of
flocks and herds were bound to bring the young cattle and lambs that
were due as tribute to the central city of the district in which they
dwelt, and they were then collected into large bodies and added to the
royal flocks and herds; but, if the owners attempted to hold back any
that were due as tribute, they were afterwards forced to incur the extra
expense and trouble of driving the beasts to Babylon. The flocks and
herds owned by the king and the great temples were probably enormous,
and yielded a considerable revenue in themselves apart from the tribute
and taxes due from private owners. Shepherds and herdsmen were placed in
charge of them, and they were divided into groups under chief shepherds,
who arranged the districts in which the herds and flocks were to be
grazed, distributing them when possible along the banks and in the
neighbourhood of rivers and canals which would afford good past