Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-04-01
City Of B. C. 1000
OLD CLAY RECORDS RELATE EVE RYDAY
AFFAIRS IN DiLBAT,
BABYLON.

lows til. names Of the witnesses, and
often also the scribe ol the tablet.
and gcreraly several sgncts of the
persons concerned.
'Le gaily the vcndcr should alwa.s
seal III" tablet, but il he has not 4
sienct. then some or all Of the wit
| nesss applied theirs. Properly speak
] in.g. also. the tablets should have been
in duplicate The first was Inscribed
and baked and copi 4, then a cover
O. soft clay placed over or around il
ana the document rc-engrosSed upon
tbs cover nom the copy, So that il
. could lie lei, rred to at any time by
paying the required fee at the record
Office.
In case OF a dispute as to its &C.
cHraey for an extra sum tn" outer
envelope was broken and compared
with it's interior duplicate text. and
the litigant vino proved to be in error
i'll his alle zation that til" two versions
were not id.,tical paid considerable
forfeit. and a n,w outer case was
placed over the original tablet and
Transcribed. This procedure j. men
toned in the old Testament as in
curing OF the outer and tho inner
tablet Of a decd.
The fellahin with their picks aud
sh"vels have, however. broken most
Il TIE outer covers of the Dilbat docu-
munts. These methods for the en-
REPRESENTATION of transactions ncces-
stating legal formalitics to enable
| them to be cited as evidence in the
| law courts. or the municipal tribunal
| ,f,F. y, iA,N. a lStSf fls N1NDr
was the iudEe) Were similar Ia those
| at other contemporary neiehboring
| cities. but they possess their own pc
| culiar pnraseoloEy, providing that Dill
| bat had his own type of citizen,
though comparatively an nsisnit
| cant town. 50 Furnishing school
OF scribes ana solicitors doubtless
| crowded toe shady corridors of its
| temple and the halls of the gods trib
unal.
Truly its prosperity was but a re-
| fax of that Of Babylon. but the city's
| existence was net ephemeral. for it
! commenced with the first regions of
the great neighhoring cities Kings
and endured until the Persian era.
The ma jorty Of the tablets found
often merely register plots. areas or
| locations. for most Of The litigation
| WAS about boundaries. Others. how
ever are for loans or hiring agree
ments. one being for a period Of thrc"
months only. HuZulum hires bull
from the great temple gods of sip
| para. Shamash and ~ for Il year,
pouhtlcss the joint de l. had a Shrine
| at Dilbat and a farm for sacriticiaI
cattle and did thriving trade in
stud cattle and rams.
People also hired ont chariots and
agricultural implements. but leans
| We're mostly in money and seed corn.
| The interest for the latter sometimes
| amounted IL Sc per cent, but il WAS
| PAYABLE in kind out of what it pro-
| vded, and if the farmer had parted
| in the previous season with his L.
serve of seed. because of q specially
| high offer for it. ne could afford to pay
| such interest 10 obtain a fresh supply.
| Some deeds concern the hiring Of
! harvesters. and they were often reg
istered before the engagement ma
| tuied by the crops ripening. \ clause
was therefore inserted that if the men
contracted for failed to appear the
falmer could hire others at the price
raid that season by the King for his
own estates, and it may be presumed
that the person who had promised to
supply the men made up the difference
! il any.
Such was life ut Dilbat about 1000
years before the Christian era, as re-
vealed by the small clay tablets that
the patient industry of many intel
let's have for the love OF science en-
abled us to read. ''-I.Gndon Standard.