The San Francisco call., 1909-12-26
EARLIEST FARMING
CENTER IN HISTORY
Babylonia Was Blessed With
Rich AIluviaI Soil, Says
Eastern Explorer
Slopes of Luristan and the Plain
of Elan Once Granary
of Persia

ina the wonderful restoration of the
ancient past which has resulted from
the work Of the explorer in the east
nothing is more astonishing than that
the knowledge we have gained of the
social life, manners and customs OF the
ancient inhabitants Of Egypt, Baby
lcnia and other eastern centers of civ
iljzstion.
In this respect the discoveries in
Bsbylonia have been far more enlight-
ening than any others. for in that land
education was more general, extending
TO the lower grades of the community,
and the literary tendency of the people
leading them 10 have a written record
for any event supplies us with mass
OF details Of the affairs of daily life far
more vivid than in the case of any
other people OF antiquity.
Babylonia was the garden of the
ancient east. later tradition made
it the site of the Garden of Eden"
and the ancient Sumerian population
was the earliest organized community
0f sgriculturists Of whom we have
record, says ". ST. Chad Boscawen in
the- London Globe
The nature of the soil. a deep allu-
vial, made it a land Of the richest kind
for the agriculturist, and nature
needed but little assistance at the
hand Of man TO bring forth her richest
and best TO supply his wants.
BECAME GRANARY OF PERSIA
The early Sumerian settlers brought
with them from the home land on the
east Of the Tigris the first elements of
agriculture and soon the plains of lower
Chaldea became covered with corn
0f hp
we possess, that of Manishtu-su, king
of Kish, which must date back TO about
b. c. 1000. If not earlier is a purely
agricultural record and shows that the
principles of agriculture were already
developed and SystematiZed. The value
OF land was estimated on corn vaIua-
tion, and the rights OF landlord and
tenant were clearly defined. More
over, the ancient records show that the
calendar Of those early inhabitants
OF Chaldea was agricultural and started
from the autumnal equinoX-the pc
riod Of the greater harvest"
IN Babylonia the food problem domi-
mated all the affairs Of life. In re-
mote prehistoric times man had been
Ehe pensioner OF nature. dependent on
the supplies she granted him, but now
man by his invention Of agricultural
implements had conquered nature and
by his assistance rendered her far
more lavish in according him supplies
for his wants. The extreme fertility
OF the Chaldean plain soon made 1t
ti7e corn producing center of the whole
of western Asia, and as food was the
equivalent Of money il soon became
the predominant partner in the world
Of commerce.
DEBTS PAID IN GRAIN
AS result Of the old primitive
barter system payments in kind ruled
instead OF cash payments and corn be-
came money. Surplus supplies OF corn
or other foodstuffs became Income or
capital and could minister to the
luxury OF the successful agriculturist.
With the rise OF the village community
and later the city Kingdom this in
crease of wealth became a source Of
revenue on which the heads of the
community could draw for communal
wants. and in this manner there grew
up the first and greatest system Of
revenue ever found in ancient oriental
lands
Ancient Bsbylonia possessed one
feature in which It closely resembled
England in the middle ages-the bulk
of the property was in religious hands.
That IS. the various districts into
which the land was divided were ezch
the fief Of the province god. The tables
from Tel-lo show that all that district
was the fef Of the god MIN gir-su: of
Nippur the fef of Entil. or the older
The revenues were collected by the
temple officials and paid into the
temple treasury and classed as ''the
wealth or property OF the god.
There We're many villages and small
towns in the fief OF the province gods.
and their revenues were collected by.
resident collectors and .either remitted
TO the head city or stored in the local
storehouse. and very careful account
OF them sent TO headquarters.
All the dues were collected at one
time. on the day of harvest" When
the harvest time came it was indeed
time Of business pressure. the culmina-
tion Of the year the great day Of reck-
oning- The deeds which have been re-
covered from the treasures Of the
.BabyIOnisn temples amply prove this
Everything became due on the day
or harvest Thus a loan tablet from
Nippur says: Five and q half shek-
els, which X borrowed from the sun
god to the Sun-god he shall pay back
with the interest on the day Of har-
vest All small tradesmen were paid
1T harvest, and among them the oblig-
ing publican, who had given credit for
beer during the previous months to
his customers All wages were paid
AT hs rve6t time.