CBS 5305 English Translation of a Murashu Brothers Text from the time of the end of Nehemiah’s term

(Transliterated, translated and discussed by Koot van Wyk)

 

Introduction

A summary is online maybe at Wikipaedia but here it is:

“The Murašu Archive is a collection of cuneiform tablets, excavated between 1888 and 1900, from the ruins of Nippur in central Babylonia. Named after the chief member of a single family, the Murašu Archive is a collection of business records that spans four generations. Assembled during the reigns of the Persian kings Artaxerxes I, Darius II, and Artaxerxes II, the Murašu Archive provides the largest and most illuminating view into the business activities and conditions of Persian-ruled Babylonia during the last hundred and fifty years of the Achaemenid kingship.”

 

Original Text, Transliteration and Translation

Original Text appeared in A. T. Clay and Hilprecht 1898 plates 70-71 text 86a

Antiquated Transliteration plus German translation appeared in J. Augapfel 1917: 66-67.

Related (same names Heshbon and Šabbata-a) text CBS 12937 by M. W. Stolper 1985: 147 as text 32.

This Transliteration and English Translation is by Koot van Wyk 24th November 2019, Chongni, Sangju, South Korea.

Transliteration and Translation in English

(Obv.)

1′[mE-a-itti]-šú A šá mA-da-tu4-še LÚ-ARAD šá mdEn-lil-[šum-iddina…]-da-šab-′ A šá mŠabbat-a-a

E-a-itti]-šú, the son of A-da-tu4-še, servant of En-lil-[šum-iddina the son of…]-da-šab, the son of Šabbat-a-a

 

2′ [ina u-u]d lìb-bi-šu-nu a-na mdEn-lil-šum-iddina A šá mMu-ra-šu-[ú ki-a-a]m iq-bu-ú um-ma. ŠE.NUMUN.MEŠ

[in fre]edom of his heart unto En-lil-šum-iddina the son of Mu-ra-šu-[ú likewi]se he spoke: “Your grain

 

3′ [pî] šul-pu [É.gišBAN] bît iu[qašti]-ka šá ina URU Ku-za-bat-túm u URU […u ŠE.NUMUN]MEŠ pî šul-pu [É.gišBAN] bît iuqašti-ka

cultivated bow[shaped?]land which is in the city of Ku-za-bat-túm and in the city of … grai]n cultivated bow [shaped] land of yours

 

4′ [ŠE.NUMUN].MEŠ pî šul-pu […] ŠE.NUMUN.MEŠ pa-[MUŠ4]′-i-[e-tú] [É.UŠ-ti]bît rit-ti-ka ŠE.NUMUN pî šul-pu

Grain cultivated […], grain (certain plant), your house of succession, your cultivated grain

 

5′ iuqašti šá mRa-i-im-DINGIR. MEŠ … šá ina URU Ku-gab-ba-ri… URU Ku-ra-i-mu

bow(shaped) land of Ra-i-im-el … which is in the city of Ku-gab-ba-ri … city of Ku-ra-i-mu

 

6′u li-mi-it URU Ku-gab-ba-ri ŠE.NUMUN.MEŠ …ina URU É Da-a-a-na-tu4 u ina URU a-aš-ba-a

and surrounding city of Ku-gab-ba-ri, grain … in the city of the House of Da-a-a-na-tu and in the city of a-aš-ba-a,

 

7′ šá kišâd ÍD.Nannaru-magir ŠE.NUMUN.MEŠ pî šul-pu […i]uqaštu šá mRa-i-im-DINGIR. MEŠ u mareMEŠ šá ina URU Ti-tur-ru

of the neck/bank of the channel Great-Nannaru, cultivated grain [of] bow (shaped) of Ra-i-im-el and sons which is in the city of Ti-tur-ru,

 

8′′ šá mdEN-Nannaru-magir ina URU u-u-i-e-tú šá [rê′ê]MEŠ URU Iš-qal-lu-nu URU É Ki-Ki-e URU É mAk-ki-e

of the Great Nannaru in the city u-u-i-e-tú of the peoples of the city of Iš-qal-lu-nu, city of the House Ki-Ki-e, city of the House Ak-ki-e

 

9′u [AN]ele-nu ÍD.DINGIR.Nannaru-magir imnu u šumêlu 72 alpuzun um-man-mu šá 18 ia4[ZÁ] inartabu[SÚN] ir-bit-tu4

and height of the Great Nannaru channel, left and right, 72 trained oxen, of 18 stone (objects), sizeable wooden vases,

 

10′a-di ú-nu-ti-šu-nu gamirtimtim u [ana ŠE.NUMUN] 226 GUR ŠE.BAR 6 GUR 3 (pî) 2 (BAR) šekibtu[GIG] 30 GUR šekunâšu[ZIZ.AN.NA]  2 GUR šealluru[šeGÚ.GAL]

unto their utensils totality, and to grain 226 measures [gur], barley 6 measures [gur], 3 (pi), 2 (bar) wheat(1), 30 measures [gur] wheat(2), 2 measures [gur] of chick-peas,

 

11′1 GUR 2 (pî) 3 (BAR) šeGÚ-TUR 6 GUR šešamaššammu[ŠE.GIŠ] 6 GUR šeSUM-SAR 2 GUR šeSUM-SAR-EL(?) u a-na i-ru- tu4 ID.MEŠ

1 measure [gur], 2 (pi), 3 (bar) lentils, 6 measures [gur] sesame, 6 measures [gur] garlic, 2 measures [gur] onion(?) and for the excavation of the channels

 

12′150 GUR ŠE.BAR a-na šeati a-di 3 ta MU.AN.NA.MEŠ [bi]-in-na-an-na-šim-ma i-na MU i-na ITI GU4

150 measures [gur] barley, to us unto 3 years give yearly in the month of Aiaru

 

13′2260 GUR ŠE.BAR 200 GUR šekibtu[GIG] 350 GUR šekunâšu[ZIZ.AN.NA] 20 GUR šealluru[šeGÚ.GAL] 10 GUR šeGÚ-TUR 60 GUR šešamaššammu[ŠE.GIŠ]

2260 measures [gur] barley, 200 measures [gur] wheat(1), 350 measures [gur] wheat(2), 20 measures [gur] chick-peas, 10 measures [gur] of lentils, 60 measures [gur] sesame,

 

14′napar[PAP]2700 (GUR) ebûru[BURU15] 4 GUR sa-lí-e 1 gur ŠE.ŠAM.EBUR SAR 18 GUR ŠE.šûmu[SAM.SAR] 8 GUR ŠE.SUM.SAR.EL(?) 20 GUR šaman kirî

Total 2700 measures [gur] to harvest, 4 measures [gur] watercress(?)/gardencress(?= Lepidium satīvum), 1 measure [gur] harvestable herbal plants(?), 18 measures [gur] garlic, 8 measures [gur] onions, 20 measures [gur] garden-oil

 

15′ina iuma-ši-u rabûu ina mu-i ÍD mdNannaru-magir u man-dat-tum ištenen alpu[GU4] 15 zi-kar 2500 qâta šá kiti

in great (wooden) measures on top of the channel of the Great Nannaru and as a gift an ox, 15 goats, 2500 linnen (hand woven) clothes

 

16′ni-id-dak-ka ár-ku mdEn-lil-šum-iddina iš-me-šu-nu-ti-ma ŠE.NUMUN.MEŠ pî šul-pu ina mi-a-ri-ši-na

you will provide. Far [in a distance] En-lil-šum-iddina gave them the grain cultivated fields in their borders

 

17′72 alpu[GU4] šá 18 ia4[ZÁ] inartabu[SÚN] a-di ú-nu-ti-šu-nu gamirtimtim u ana ŠE.NUMUN 226 GUR ŠE.BAR 6 GUR 3 (pî) 2 (BAR) šekibtu[GIG]

72 oxen of 18 stone (objects), sizeable wooden vases, unto unto their utensils totality, and to grain 226 measures [gur], barley 6 measures [gur], 3 (pi), 2 (bar) wheat(1),

 

 

18′30 GUR šekunâšu[ZIZ.AN.NA] 2 GUR šealluru[šeGÚ.GAL] 1 GUR 2 (pî) 3 (BAR)

GÚ-TUR 6 GUR šešamaššammu[ŠE.GIŠ] 6 GUR ŠE.šûmu[SAM.SAR] 2 GUR ŠE.SUM.EL

30 measures [gur] wheat(2), 2 measures [gur] of chick-peas, 1 measure [gur], 2 (pi), 3 (bar) lentils, 6 measures [gur] sesame, 6 measures [gur] garlic, 2 measures [gur] onion(?),

 

19′u ana i-ru-tú šá ID.MEŠ 150 GUR ŠE-BAR a-na šeati a-di 3ta MU. MEŠ id-daš-šu-nu-ti

and and for the excavation of the channels 150 measures [gur] barley, to us unto 3 years give yearly

 

 

20′ina MU ina ITU GU4 2260 GUR ŠE-BAR 140 (GUR) šekibtu[GIG] 250 GUR šekunâšu[ZIZ.AN.NA]

in the month of Aiaru 2260 measures [gur] barley, 140 measures [gur] wheat(1), 250 measures [gur] wheat(2),

 

 

 

21′20 GUR šealluru[šeGÚ.GAL] 10 GUR 2 (pî) 3 (BAR)

šeGÚ-TUR 60 GUR šešamaššammu[ŠE.GIŠ] napar[PAP]2700 (GUR) ebûru[BURU15] 4 GUR sa-lí-e

20 measures [gur] chick-peas, 10 measures [gur], 2 (pi), 3 [bar] of lentils, 60 measures [gur] sesame, Total 2700 measures [gur] to harvest, 4 measures [gur] watercress(?)/gardencress(?= Lepidium satīvum),

 

 

22′[1] gur ŠE.ŠAM.EBUR.SAR 18 GUR ŠE.šûmu[SAM.SAR] 8 GUR SUM.SAR.EL(?) 20 GUR šaman kirî ina iuma-ši-u rabûu

1 measure [gur] 1 measure [gur] harvestable herbal plants(?), 18 measures [gur] garlic, 8 measures [gur] onions, 20 measures [gur] garden-oil in in great (wooden) measures

 

23′[ina mu]-i ID.DINGIR.Nannaru-magir u man-dat-tum ištenen alpuzun 15 zi-kar u 2500

on top of the channel of the Great Nannaru and as a gift an ox, 15 goats and 2500

 

24′[qâta] šá ki-ti-ú i-nam-di-nu-′

linnen (hand woven) clothes you will provide.

 

 

25′[ultu ITI]SIG4 šá MU.41.KÁM šeatu šu′âti ina pâni-šu-nu ištenen pu-ut šanîi a-na e-ir

From the month of Simânu of the 41st year stands the delivery before first facing its rescue

 

26′[…] šu′âti na- šú-ú ša ki-rib iṭ- ṭir

…that he pays the demand

 

27′mu-ki-nu mDanna-a A šá mNa-din mIdin-Marduk[MU-dAMAR.UTU] A šá mUballi-sudAMAR.UTU mdNIN-IB-nair u mdNIN-IB mu-tir-ri-gimillu

Witnesses: Danna-a son of Na-din. Idin-il-Marduk son of mUballi-su-il-Marduk. Nin-ib-nair and NIN-IB mu-tir-ri-gimillu

 

28′[apleMEŠ-ša] mdNabû-[aḫḫê]MEŠ-iddina[dAG-ŠEŠ. MEŠ-MU]

Nabû-[aḫḫê]MEŠ-iddina

 

29′[mErîba-dEnlil[SU-dEN.LIL]] A šá mdEn-líl-ba-na mBa-la-u A šá mdNIN-IB-ga-mil

Erîba-dEnlil the son of En-líl-ba-na. Ba-la-u the son of NIN-IB-ga-mil

 

 

30′[…]-a-iddina. mBa-la-u A šá. mBel[dEN]-šu-nu. mdNIN-IB-a-iddina A šá. mdEnlil-šum-ibni

[…]a-iddina. Ba-la-u the son of Bel[dEN]-šu-nu. NIN-IB-a-iddina the son of Enlil-šum-ibni

 

 

31′[…]LÚaklu šá abulli rabû A šá mBul-lu-a. mdEn-lil-šum-iddina A šá mTat-tan-nu.

The men standing before the great gates: the son of Bul-lu-a. En-lil-šum-iddina the son of Tat-tan-nu.

 

 

32′[mdBêl-it-tan]-nu A šá mdLamassu-nadin mar-bat-a-nu A šá mZu-um-bu.

Bêl-it-tan]-nu the son of Lamassu-nadin.  ar-bat-a-nu the son of Zu-um-bu.

 

33′[…] A šá mIqîšâša-a mTat-tan-nu A šá. mBel[dEN]-šu-nu. mdNIN-IB-ga-mil A šá

[…] the son of Iqîšâša-a. Tat-tan-nu the son of Bel[dEN]-šu-nu. NIN-IB-ga-mil the son of

 

 

34′[…]-a-a. mSi-lim-URU.MEŠ A šá. mŠum-iddina.

[…]-a-a.  Si-lim-URU.MEŠ the son of Šum-iddina.

 

 

35′[…m]Ar-tá-ša-as-su LUGAL.KUR.KUR

[…m]Ar-tá-ša-as-su king of the countries

 

 

(Rev.)

abnukunukku. mdBêl[dEN]-it-tan-nu A šá mdBêl[dEN]-uballi-su. abnukunukku. mApla-a A šá mdBêl[dEN]-balaṭ-su-igbi.

Stone of the cylinder seal: Bêl[dEN]-it-tan-nu the son of Bêl[dEN]-uballi-su.

abnukunukku. mApla-a A šá mdBêl[dEN]-bala-su-igbi.

Stone of the cylinder seal: Apla-a the son of Bêl[dEN]-bala-su-igbi.

 

 

Left Side

abnukunukku. mdEn-lil-šum-iddina A šá. mTat-tan-nu

Stone of the cylinder seal: En-lil-šum-iddina the son of Tat-tan-nu

 

 

 

 

Size                    1 pānu[PI] = 6 BÁN = 36 SÌLA = 0.265 ha

                           1 kur[GUR] = 5 PI = 30 BÁN = 180 SÌLA = 1.323 ha

Volume                                                                   = 30.31 liters

                           1 kur[GUR] = 5 PI = 30 BÁN = 180 SÌLA = 151.56 liters

(Stolper 1985: 128)

 

Notes to the text:

1.      Tattanu in line 33 “Tat-tan-nu the son of Bel[dEN]-šu-nu” is mentioned also in other Murashu Texts (Stolper 1985: 47). He was a mašennu official. It is the combination of IGI+GUB (Stolper 1985: 46 footnote 42 suggested by J. Schawe in 1931 but rejected by B. Landsberger in 1933 however accepted by the Chicago Akkadian Dictionary with reservation. The canal managers acted as subordinates of the mašennu officials (Stolper 1985: 46). Texts where Tattanu’s name appears are listed for the years 24, 32, 35 and 37 of Artaxerxes I (Stolper 1985: 46).

2.     Left Side of the Tablet: “En-lil-šum-iddina the son of Tat-tan-nu”. He was the one who placed the cylinder seal. He was also standing in the Great Gate, see line 31.

3.     Line 30 identifies a brother of Tattanu since they share the same father: “Ba-la-u the son of Bel[dEN]-šu-nu”.

4.     “The managers of canals and other crown interests conferred on the Murašu house two categories of real resources, land and water. The firm, in turn, subleased these properties to its own tenants” (Stolper 1985: 49). In text 25, mentioned on the same page by Stolper, En-lil-šum-iddina the son of Tat-tan-nu was asked to give them water and a land: “Give us (scil. on sublease) the waters of the [royal] reservoir [ ... and the uzbarra field adjoining it, which] you hold [on lease] from Tattannu, who is in charg[e of revenues of the canal NN]”. The uzbarra field is the crown-field (Stolper 1985: 42).

5.       Line 1 is now clearer: “E-a-itti]-šú, the son of A-da-tu4-še, servant of En-lil-[šum-iddina the son of…]-da-šab, the son of Šabbat-a-a”. A-da-tu4-še, was the servant of En-lil-[šum-iddina who was the son of Tattanu. E-a-itti]-šú and another individual, omission]-da-šab, the son of Šabbat-a-a” spoke to En-lil-[šum-iddina. They wanted land at various zones across the Persian empire it seems: land and or water or seed and livestock in Dan, in Akko, in Heshbon, in Ashkelon. Fields next to the Great Nannaru canal were also involved. These farmers had a macro-vision to be involved over such a large territory. Other cities are also mentioned: Titurru, Kugabbari, Kuraimu (are these last two cities actually ku+Geber and ku+Reem?). The owner’s name is also in line 5 given same as the city in line 6: “land of Ra-i-im-el”. See also the interesting co-incidence of the name of the city Kuzabattum as ku+zabattum in line 3 with the name of Sabbata-a in line 1. Geographical dialectics and cross-cultural linguistics can explain the phonetic and phonological variations and many examples can be listed to support the connection. There is also the city of uṣṣietu line 8 and the House of Ki-ki-e in the same line. Is it crude to suggest a phonological attempt ending the connection between Gaza and uṣṣietu? If the theory holds water, then there is a mention of cities of the coast of Palestine from Gaza, Ashkelon a certain Beth-Ki-ki and House of Akko in line 8.

6.       This text is not a contract but a report of the contract because it gives the contract and its envelope text as well. In those days, the contract clay tablet was placed in a clay envelope in which the content in the tablet was repeated on the outside for the receiver’s eye. Discrepancies could be checked and controlled in this way. This text gives both readings.

7.     There was a Belshunnu in BE 8, 126 cited by Tilini Gauthier in his study on Women in the Murashu Texts, as the “daughter of [Ah-ereš]” (Gauthier dating the text to 427 or 37th year of Artaxerxes I, see Gauthier 2012: 4, confirmed as the daughter of Ah-ereš in BE 9, 58). Her nailmark is on the tablet. Was she the mother of Tattanu?

8.     If Balau in line 30 is the son of Belshunnu as it says, and Balau is the son of NIN-IB-ga-mil in line 29. Quite a number of texts read supports the first and the other texts the second in Clay 1904 page 41.

9.      In BE 9, 58 she is the wife of Shum-iddin the son of Zabadu.

10.  Shum-iddin is the son of Zabadu (see Gauthier 2012 in BE 8, 126 on page 4).

11.   The Murashu Brothers had a jail or detention center for those who cannot pay the debt.

 

Reflections on the tablet mentioning Heshbon.

Sabbath in the Murashu Texts

The Jewish name “the son of Šabbat-a-a” appears in line 1 at the end. The text dates to the year 423 BCE which is the 41st year of Artaxerxes I or the last year in his reign (see line 35).

 

Nehemiah high official of Artaxerxes I

Nehemiah the cupbearer or Vice-President or Foreign Secretary Advisor to Artaxerxes I , came to the Jerusalem area in 444 BCE.

 

Nehemiah very wealthy

Nehemiah was very wealthy to have such expensive meals provided for his laborers over the 52 days of their wall-building operations.

 

Multiple Shushan’s theory and evidence

Ran Zadok’s Geographical Names According to New- and Late-Babylonian Texts, Répertoire Geographice des Textes Cuneiformes 9 (Wiesbaden, 1985) and Israel Ephal speaks about Topographical names in the texts. They pointed out that there are nearly 4 different Shushans, and a number of duplications of other cities.

 

Multiple Babylons theory and evidence

We already have the study on the many Babylons in history of the past where Larsa, Nippur, Niniveh and other cities before Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar’s day were also called “Babylon”. It is because Babylon is also a region, besides city, but also a kind of denominative “title” attached to a city giving it character, personality, identification. It is the center of religious activity of a specific empire of the past. This is very important since the role of Babylon in the Bible is just that: every empire’s main capital was “Babylon” and in Peter’s writings in the New Testament we learn of Babylon as Rome. Peter was not wrong. He was ancient near eastern in historiography.

The Babylons in history study is that in RAI 51 by Stephanie Dalley “Babylon as a Name for Niniveh and Other Cities”. It can be downloaded from the internet.

Now, if Zadok and Ephal is claiming in their publication supra that Heshbon and Ashkelon in this text is the same as Babylon, namely just another region or city in the area around Nippur where the Murashu Brother’s financial institution was, then one has to take exception to this view. Ontologically, it is customary for colonialists to bring their city-names from their motherland and transplant it in the new zone where they settled and many examples exist in Newzealand, Australia and South Africa of such duplication of cities. The likelihood is that it could also have happened in the days of the Murashu Brothers or earlier in the time of the transplanting of the Israelites in 723 BCE or 597, 586 BCE. But then the name Heshbon and Ashkelon in the texts would be in many texts clearly indicating just that, namely that it is just a zone around the author of the scribe of the tablet from Niniveh, or Babylon or Nippur or even Sushan and Persepolis. I speak under correction, but I do not think such a text exists, namely outside the Murashu Brother’s mention of these cities to verify that Heshbon and Ashkelon in text CBS 5305 is nothing but just a regional Mesopotamian reference cancelling any reference to a Transjordan and Palestine reference in the Persian Period of Nehemiah’s times.

 

Heshbon

If they are claiming that the Heshbon in this text (line 6) is not Heshbon but another area near Nippur then I seem to contest that view. Line 6: “and in the city of a-aš-ba-a”.

 

Ashkelon

The spelling of Ashkelon is in line 8 with the way it was transliterated in from with other Akkadian texts. Line 8: “of the peoples of the city of Iš-qal-lu-nu”.

So the next step will be to see what Radok and Ephal said about these names in their book. A. T. Clay and Hilprecht 1898 took it for Heshbon and Ashkelon.

 

Jerusalem?

There is also the interesting name si-lim-URU.MEŠ  which was the common way in which Jews wrote their names with the plural sign attached. It is almost the reverse of Jeru-Salem. In the case of Melchizedek the priest/king of Salem in Genesis 14:18 in the days of Abraham in 2142 BCE, would have been written as follows in Akkadian of those days or Sumerian: URU si-lim = Jeru-salem. URU is always attached to the names of cities in Sumerian and Akkadian. Literally the person’s name would be “si-lim cities” meaning cities attached to his function or power of authority with Jerusalem as the center of the power. That may be a reference to Nehemiah as representative for the king Artaxerxes I or the one after Nehemiah in control of the area. Was Nehemiah also in control of the whole region of Transjordan and Palestine while working at Jerusalem to build the walls? The Bible does not say that.

 

Power of Nehemiah and his influence over the Murashu Brothers?

The power of Nehemiah in 432 BCE is illustrated in the following way: that may be the year that he complained about the debt and interest charges by the Murashu Brother’s institution and similar charges local in and around Jerusalem. What is interesting is that in that year the activities of the Murashu Brothers dropped significantly so that contracts were kept to the minimum, since tablets are non-existent for this year or if so, only a few (compare the diagrams of analysis of the Murashu Texts by W. Stolper in his publication, online available of 1985). However, in the first year of Darius II enormous amounts of debts were incurred by the Murashu Brothers as one can see in W. Stolper 1997 mentioned by Gauthier 2012: page 9.

 

Dan

There is the interesting reference to the city of Dan read and vocalized by the Akkadian Persian scribe at the Murashu Brothers as line 6: “in the city of the House of Da-a-a-na-tu”. The –tu is optional and not always used as other examples from the Murashu Texts indicates. The scholars like Stolper et al would suggest the reading Dayyana. Beth-Dayyana? Vocalization or pronunciation to the Eastern Semitic scribe by a Western Semitic scribe may lead to additions in vowels in the ear of the scribe but not in the brain or mind of the Jewish speaker. I argue for Dan in Palestine.

 

Akko and Ashkelon

Also to mention is the city of Akko near the city of Ashkelon in the text. Line 8 at the end: “city of the House Ak-ki-e”. The vowel differences should not disturb us since these are cases of cross-cultural geographical dialectics and linguistics where phonology and morphology creates a interaction in influence. The scribes hand is pushed by his ear trying to simulate with his own baggage what he heard was spoken by the Jewish speaker. Grammatical regionality is not going to work here in such a case. Look for example at the phonics and spelling of the person with the name of Sabbath at the end of line 2.

 

Sabbath and Nehemiah Sabbath Reform in Nehemiah 13

Sabbath is important because Julius Wellhausen et al are trying to suggest that Moses and his Decalogue has a late origin. As Clay et al indicated, this name Sabbath in line 2 is proof that the Decalogue was in place long before since this person can only be called by his mother and father Sabbath, if Sabbath of Moses fame, existed in the father and mother’s time earlier.

 

Nehemiah’s name in some Murashu Texts

A couple of texts from the Murashu Brothers used the name “Nehemiah”. See W. Stolper 1985 at text 89 line 2 as Namanu (Na-a-ma-nu). In three texts from the later son of Artaxerxes I, Darius II at the Murashu Brothers Texts a similar name as Nehemiah is used: 118, 128, 127 as Mi-na-a-i-im, Mi-na- a-i –mu (see the text by A. T. Clay in 1917 from the time of Darius II of the Murashu Brothers, download from internet at archive search).

 

Debt in the Days of Nehemiah and Murashu Texts

Debt in the days of Nehemiah is relevant from a citation by W. Stolper in 1985: 33.

“Thirdly, in many receipts for rents and taxes, the recipients are required by the terms of the document to enter and clear the payment in the accounts of others; it is assumed here that the recipients were agents of the persons in whose accounts they were to clear the receipts 119. These assumptions are mutually consistent: in numerous cases, the "servants of PN" had "in (their) possession" (ina qate) lands belonging to their masters 120; or they acted on written authorization of their masters 121; or they were required to clear receipts in their masters' records 122 .

Mortages The second part of the discussion (Chapters V-VII) turns by degrees to the

immediate political and economic context of the Archive. It begins with an examination of the largest single category of texts in the Archive, certificates of obligation secured by pledges of land- here loosely called "mortgages". Other text types reflect the Murašus' dealings with property owners of diverse rank and situation, but in the mortgages the debtors are occupants of bow fiefs only. As other commentators have seen, the temporal distribution of mortgages in the Archive is irregular. The remarks on lines of control in preceding sections allow the formation of a hypothesis which explains the incidence of mortgages not simply as a function of the Murašu firm's commercial policies, but as a reflex of activities in the political arena: the disturbances which brought Darius II Ochos to the throne in 424/3 B.C. caused a sharp rise in the indebtedness of Babylonian feudatories.”

 

Genre of texts from the Murashu brothers

[citation continues from Stolper 1985]: “Appendix 11 includes copies and transliterations of 120 texts, arranged in groups determined by functional characteristics: leases issued to the Murašus (Nos. 1-10); leases and subleases issued to the Murašus' tenants and subordinates (Nos. 11-30); a reciprocal agreement on the possession of lands (No. 31) and fragmentary leases (Nos. 32-33); receipts for payments of rent (Nos. 34-49); receipts for payments of taxes (Nos. 50-55); other receipts (Nos. 56-61); "mortgages", i.e., notes of debts secured by pledges of real property (Nos. 62-82); other records of debt (Nos. 83-89); contracts for procurement of goods or performance of work (Nos. 90-98); arrangements for release of and/or surety for distrained debtors or workers (Nos. 99-105); documents dealing with litigation (Nos.l06-lll); miscellaneous texts and fragmentary texts of uncertain functional type (Nos. 112-120).”

 

Sources:

Stolper, M. W. Management and politics in later Achaemenid Babylonia; new texts from the Murasu archive (Diss. Ann Arbor, 1974) = Entrepreneurs and Empire: the Murasu Archive, the Murasu Firm, and Persian Rule in Babylonia. Leiden, 1985. Free Download from Internet.

Clay, A. T. (1904). Business Documents of Murashu Sons of Nippur Dated IX The Reign of Darius II (424-404 BC). Philadelphia.

Gauthier Tolini. "Women and family solidarities in the Murashû Archive (Nippur Fifth century B.C.)" REFEMA Women and Economy in Ancient Mesopotamia : the household setting 2nd & 3rd November 2012 Nanterre

 

Summary of the finding of Gauthier on Debts with the Murashu Brothers: the sudden “kindness of the Murashu Brothers” releasing detainees of debt

 

"We can notice an extraordinary peak of the preserved documentation during the first year Darius II (423 B.C.).The principal actors of the Murašûs firm are Enlilšumiddin and his nephew RemutNinurta. Their economic activities illustrate especially a man’s world. Indeed, The members of this family manage lands belonging to the Persian crown which were entrusted to : soldiers, great administrators of the Persian Empire and male members of the Persian nobility. So, it’s not a surprise, if we just found very few names of women in this archive. In fact, we have only 27 female names inside the 2200 names mentioned in the Archive" (Gauthier 2012: 1).

1) Three women belong to the Iranian nobility.

2) Six women are slaves, they are mentioned in sale contracts

3) Eighteen women can be identified as free women and inhabitants of the region of

Nippur.Gauthier focused on these women.

Independant and active women

Women acting inside their family group in a situation of debts

Women mentioned in promissory notes

Women in connection with the prison

Women detained in prison

Women asking for the liberation of a relative

To face a need of credits, a family can use two ways of solidarity to obtain silver or barley :

1) People borrow goods inside their family, this “horizontal solidarity” between the members of a same family doesn’t produce written documents.

2) But when the resources of a family are not enough to face the needs, people can borrow silver or barley to the members from the urban notability as the Murašûs’sons. This “vertical solidarity” produces a lot of written documents.

Numerous members of his family are guarantors for the penalty : his two sons, his wife, AmatBelet, and his brotherinlaw : BE 9, 53.

 

For now, we can see that BE 10, 2 and 3 have many common points :

1) They were drafted the same day in Nippur,

2) They evoke an enormous quantity of silver which are very close,

3) They involve women as debtor

4) Women put their home as security for the debt

5) The loans contain an interest

6) The women seem to take back a debt that had been contracted in a first time by their son.

 

In conclusion about these promissory notes of barley and silver, we can notice that:

1) The promissory notes are drafted at the end of the Babylonian year, when the stocks of barley are very low or when people have to pay their taxes (> texts BE 9, 58 ; IMT 93 ; BE 10, 2 & BE 10, 3)

2) The women involved are never alone, they are in relation with their sons (> texts 4, 5a & 5b) or with their relatives (> IMT 93). But we notice that their husbands are never mentioned. Maybe Husband’s absence weakened the family circle of the horizontal solidarity and force the women to request barley and silver to the urban elite.

3) Some loans are without interest (> BE 9, 58 & IMT 93) and some others are with interest and pledge (> texts BE 10, 2 and BE 10, 3).

The urban elite takes advantages of this situation of need :

1) It’s a way for the creditors to control the new harvests when the debtors have to pay back their loan with barley (> BE 9, 58).

2) It’s a way to take possession of real estates when the debtors put their home or land as security (> texts BE 10, 2 & BE 10, 3).

3) It’s a way to obtain a dependant workforce when the debtors have to work for the

creditors until the pay off their debts. This legal procedure raises numerous problems because this penalty is never mentioned in promissory notes. So, we have to suppose that when a debtor cannot pay back, this penalty is a tacit sanction not written in the contract. About this last point, we can see that the Murašûs’sons have a prison where the debtors work for them. In this case, Women’s solidarity is also visible with the contracts in which they ask for the liberation of their relatives.

 

In the First Millennium in Babylonia, the Murašûs’sons are the rare persons to possess a private jail named bīt kīli. Most of the time, the bīt kīli concerns the temple like Ebabbar in Sippar or Eanna in Uruk. As Guillaume Cardascia said, the bīt kīli is not strictly speaking a prison, but more probably a “working house”. A creditor holds his defaulting debtor in the bit kili until he gets his money back with the work of the debtor. So, more than 10 people are attested in the Murašûs’jail in Nippur. Most of the texts do not specify the reason of the detention. > Text IMT 103 speaks about a harvest arrears” which the debtors have to pay to the Murašûs sons.

 

Some texts mention women detained in the Murašûs’jail. In the first contract, IMT 103, a group of three people are held : two men Nidintu, Gadiy’a and a woman Bazita, the wife of Nabunadin

The text specifies the reason of their presence in prison: they are still debtor of a part of the harvests to Enlilšumiddin (Gauthier 2012: 7).

 

In the second text, TuM 2/3, 203, two women are detained. We notice that they are not quoted by their own names but only as wife of their husband: the wife of Nadir, son of Hašdaia, and the wife of Belibni, son of Nanaiaduri. Because of this fact, it seems that these anonymous women were not the debtors of the Murašûs’ sons but their husbands were probably the debtors but they sent their wife in Murašûs’jail instead of them (Gauthier 2012: 7).

 

We can consider them as a kind of work contract : the Murašûs’sons give to members of their firm the workers whom they hold in prison, maybe because they want to send them to work in another place under the control of their own servants or because they want that they do a specific work outside their bīt kīli.

 

"The end of Artaxerxes I and the beginning of Darius II that we find a majority of text which deals with the Murashus' bit kili, at this time the prison seems to be full of people (men and women too)." (Gauthier 2012: 9).

 

"So the women’s solidarities role to find credit and to request the freedom of their relatives takes place in a short period of economic crisis where a lot of people needed silver and credit. But as Van Driel remarked, the people including women didn’t pay back the Murašûs’ sons, indeed, we found these promissory notes inside the Murašû Archive, this fact means that the members of the firm didn’t give the contracts back to the debtors because the debtors didn’t settle their debts. It’s very interesting because in the same time, we can see that the Murašûs’ sons cancel the promissory notes of silver and they accepted to release people from their prison. We can wonder where this kindness comes from ? New king’s wish ? Or Murašûs’sons own decision?" Liberators came and released the detainees." (Gauthier 2012: 10). Is it the effect of Nehemiah's policy here? This is the best explanation not mentioned by Gauthier or Van Driel here.