Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-12-12
#istellausons 8saains.
BANKING IN ANCIENT BABYLON.
How and BY Whom the Business Was
Carried On.

| CdFTleo OH.
Recent discoveries of the wonders
of Babylonian civilization, REINFORCED
by the fruits of earlier explorations.
show that Business is business" as
a rule Of life is as old as history.
AS far back as 1000 years before
Christ the Babylonians had made such
progress in commercial aptitude that
special laws had to be framed to deal
with those gentlemen who tried short
cuts to wealth. The young man with
expectations realized in those days
with less regard to. the sacredness of
the person and the right to live, bor-
rowed, as his modern prototype not
infrequently does today, from the pro-
fessional money lender.
The Babylonian merchant banked
regularly and issued his brick
cheques" and bills Of exchange, and
the law stepped in, even as 1t does to-
day, to preserve inviolate the rights
Of property. So keen were the busi-
ness instincts of the people that even
the priests were not above a deal in
offerings and in real estate. Indeed,
a great part of the commerce Of
Babylonia was concentrated In the
temples.
The vast quantities Of metals, ce-
reals and other commodities which
either as gifts to the temples or Of
ferings to the gods poured in daily
were sold by the priests, who did not
neglect to get their full margin Of
profit Business ability, indeed, seems
to have been an important qualifica-
ton for admission to the priesthood.
Careful accounts Of revenue and ex-
penditure were kept and these show
that investments in loans and the pur-
chase Of land and other profitable
dealings were a regular part Of the
fiscal activities of the priestly estab-
lishments.
Perhaps the most interesting Of all
the buried records which have come
to light are the contract tablets kept
by a firm Of bankers and money lend
ers known as "the sons Of Egibi," es-
tablished at Babylon before the time
of Sennacherib, probably as early as
1000 B. c., and which existed for sew
eral centuries. These "brfck books"
as they have been called, constitute
the chief source of our knowledge of
life in ancient Babylon.
The firm Of Egibi possessed enor-
nous wealth and influence. and has
been designated the "Rothschilds of
the ancient world" They carried on
every sort Of financial transaction.
They made loans to the state, as well
as to private persons, and the finances
of the court were entrusted to them
for several generations. They col
lected the land taxes, tithes ard dues
for the use Of the public roads and
paid them into the royal treasury.
They also undertook what we should
now describe as agencies" for pri-
vate individuals, and in addition to
their vast money lending transactions
must also have engaged in what we
now term bankers" business; for we
know that documents existed In those
early days corresponding to modern
checks and bills Of exchange. The
various transactions of the firm were
noted down on clay tablets, which
were stored in great earthenware jars
for safety, and there they remained
until they were accidentally discov-
cred some few years ago.
| All bear the names Of contracting
parties and witnesses and most Of
them are dated. The Egibi firm was
not the only great trading firm in an
cient Babylonia, as during the exca-
vations at Niffer there were discov-
cred the records Of another firm,
known as Murasu, which rose to a
position Of great wealth and impor-
tance during the fifth century, B. c.