* We find several different examples, during the Second Chaldaeann Empire, of an exchange of corn for provisions and liquids, or of beams 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 accumulated till it was quadrupled, after which, no doubt, the security was taken by the creditor.  They probably calculated that the capital and compound interest was by then equal in value to the person or object given as a security.

*** The creditors protected themselves against this right of redemption by a maledictory formula inserted at the end of the contracts