Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-06-07
BOOK KEEPING 5000 B. c.
A jewelers. Guarantee in the Time OF
Artaxerxes !.

The leading article in Ainslee's
Magazine describes the University OF
Pennsylvania excavations at Nippur.
The article reads in part:
''The mounds which are being ex-
cavated at Nippur cover several dis
tinct cities, each one apparently hav-
ing been founded on the ruins OF the
city which preceded it. 1t would seem
that when temple had crumbled
away new dynasty would level the
ruins by building a platform over
them. On this the new temple would
be built. Five or more such plat
forms have been discovered in Nip
pur, and each one represents an in
terval of centuries. Each city IN
manner became the cellar OF Its sue
cessor, and one can imagine IN the
millenniums that passed some inhabi-
tant discovering a strange passage
way beneath his house winding down
to wonderful caverns. Yet the plat
forms seem to have kept the periods
quite separate. OF course, those OBJ
jects which are comparatively recent
were found not far below the surface
of the mounds. Such, for instance,
were the business records of the firm
of Murashu sons of Nippur, a concern
which thrived in the time of Artaxer-
xes l., 464 years before Christ. These
tablets are, in sense, the oldest
bookkeeping records in the world.
Professor Hilprecht, in telling how ne
found them, says:
"'While exploring the central part
of the northwestern ridge of the ruins
of Nippur we discovered room (5.5
X 2.75 metres wide) about six metres
below the surface. Its ceiling had coll
lapsed long ago; its side walls, for the
greater part, were in ruins, and the
clay floor was covered with earth and
rubbish from above. A gang of
trained Affej workmen was ordered to
remove the debris that filled the
room, when suddenly they noticed
numerous clay tablets lying upon the
floor. A few hours later, the whole
room had been carefully searched and
cleaned. Seven hundred and thirty
tablets were gathered and safely stored
in the castle of our fortified camp.
After critical examination of
the building itself, and of the condi-
ton, position and contents found
therein, it became evident that the
excavated room had been once used
as business archive of the apparent
ly wealthy and influential firm of Muir,
shu sons of Nippur, who lived in the
time of Artaxerxes l. and Darius H..
in whose reigns the documents are
dated
These tablets are mortgages,
notes, legal contracts and agree
ments of all kinds, and to read them
as they have been translated by Pro-
lessor Hilprecht one would almost be-
lieve them to be the work of modern
notary. Perhaps the most remark
able record is the first one translated.
1t is a guarantee that an emerald set
in a gold ring will not fall out for
twenty years. 1t reads as follows:
'Bel-ad-iddina and Belshuna, sons
OF Bel and Hatin of Bazuzu, spoke I'M
to Bel-nadin-shumu, son of Murashu,
thus: AS concerns the gold ring set
with an emerald, we guarantee that
for twenty years the emerald will not
fall out OF the gold ring. If the en-
erald should fall out of the gold ring
before the end of twenty years, Bel
ad-iddina, Belshuna and Hatin shall
pay unto Bel-nadin-shumu an indem-
nifty of ten mana of silver
This is sample of the remarkable
documents found in the archive
room, which in our day would have
been a vault or an iron safe. Murashu
sons must have carried on an extern
sive business, which lasted over fifty
years, during which time they acted
as agents for the wealthy Perisians who
did not care to attend in person to
their large estates in the hot and
malarious Babylonian country, but
leased their fields and other property
TO the firm, and lived from their
revenues in the cities with their man.
fold luxuries and attractions. All
this is quite evident from the many
contracts, leases, bills of sale of land.
orchards. Stoves, oxen, etc., taken from
the debris of that ancient room"