RECENT DISCOVERIES TN THE REALM OP ASSYRIOLOGY, ETC. 145 



Thy fruit to me give as a gift ; thou shalt be my husband 

 and I will be thy wife. Mayest thou be caused to have a 

 chariot of lapis lazuli and gold, the body of which shall be 

 gold and diamond its pole," &c, &c' " 



The words " Give to me thy fruit as a gift " (Tnbi-ka ydsi 

 hdsu kisamma), apparently have reference to the words of 

 the extract from the ritual quoted above : " He shall fill 

 abundance to this woman like the fruit (inib, construct case 

 of inbu, oblique case inbi) of a plantation." The phrase is a 

 curious one, however, and probably had some special 

 meaning, now lost. 



From two tablets which, by a strange chance, I had an 

 opportunity of copying some months ago, we find that the 

 wedding contract was made in duplicate, differing slightly 

 in form, though the same phrases, with the essential words 

 ("husband" and "wife") transposed, were used. Each 

 " contracting party " brought special witnesses. It is worthy 

 of note, that the woman, as well as the man, might pro- 

 nounce the words of divorce ("thou art not my husband"), 

 but whereas he was only fined, the woman was regarded as 

 worthy of (practically) excommunication. Infidelity was 

 punished with death. 



III. 



THE CHARACTER OF THE BABYLONIANS. 



From documents of the time of the later Babylonian Empire. 



There is a question which doubtless occurs to many of us, 

 and that is : "I wonder what sort of people the Babylonians 

 were to deal with?" 



It is difficult to say whether we ought to make any 

 distinction between them and the Assyrians. There was 

 probably but slight difference between them. The Baby- 

 lonian seems to have been less warlike than the Assyrian, 

 that is all. The Babylonian was warlike too when the 

 occasion demanded it. 



The Babylonian was a keen trader, careful in money- 

 matters, ever ready to drive a hard bargain. He lent money 

 out at an interest of about 20 per cent, per annum, and took 

 substantial security, as a rule, for the same. In later, as in 



