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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



people, their plans, their needs, and the 

 things against which they guarded, which, 

 it might be said, are the same as those 

 familiar to us in the present day. 



A TRIBUTE TO THE BABYLONIANS 



Again and again are we forced to ex- 

 claim as we become acquainted with the 

 doings of the ancients from these sources 

 that our boasted civilization has devel- 

 oped very little in the essentials of life. 



These documents are so numerous that 

 we will know individuals of certain pe- 

 riods more intimately than we know of 

 some of the centuries of our Christian 

 era. When the tablets, for example, of 

 the first dynasty of Babylon, about 2000 

 B. C, have been published, the history 

 and geneaologies of many families cover- 

 ing several generations will be known. 

 In the late period several old families of 

 Babylon and Erech can be traced for 

 centuries, notably the Egibi of Babylon 

 and such families as Ekur-Zakur, Ak- 

 hutu, etc., of Erech. 



SAFEGUARDS AGATNST FORGERY 



Not a few of the contracts, especially 

 of the early period, were encased in a 

 thin layer of clay, which served the pur- 

 pose of an envelope. The contents of 

 the document are usually duplicated on 

 the case, which also contains the seal of 

 the obligor. It was less difficult to alter 

 amounts on a clay tablet than it is at pres- 

 ent upon paper ; when the document was 

 encased and the envelope bore the seals 

 of the obligor, and in many instances of 

 the witnesses, the obligee, who held the 

 document, could alter the envelope, but 

 he could not change the tablet ; for if he 

 peeled oft the case which contained the 

 impressions of the obligor's seal he could 

 not replace (see page 179). 



The number of official and personal 

 letters of most periods that have been 

 found is also quite large. From the royal 

 letters, such as those of Hammurabi to 

 one of his governors, or those found in 

 the library of Ashurbanipal. considerable 

 information is gained dealing with the 

 civil affairs in the land and with foreign 

 affairs of other lands, especially Armenia 

 and Elam. 



The letters of Hammurabi that have 

 been found were addressed to one of his 

 governors, stationed at Larsa. They had 

 been encased, and the envelope contained 

 something like "To Sin-idinnam." On 

 the receipt of the letter the case was 

 peeled off. It began : "Unto Sin-idin- 

 nam, thus says Hammurabi." 



His letters show that he gave personal 

 oversight to the minor affairs of his king- 

 dom. Special attention is devoted to the 

 construction and dredging of canals. He 

 superintended the collection of revenues 

 and exercised control over the priesthood. 

 He punished money lenders for extortion 

 or for failing to cancel mortgages after 

 they had been satisfied. 



REGULATING THE CALENDAR 



One of his letters shows how the cal- 

 endar was regulated. As the Babylonians 

 observed the lunar month, it became nec- 

 essary to insert an intercalary month 

 every third year. In a letter to Sin-idin- 

 nam, after calling attention to the fact 

 that the year was deficient, he ordered 

 that the month upon which they were en- 

 tering should be called "Second Elul" 

 instead of Tishri, the month that fol- 

 lowed Elul. 



But he added: "Instead of the tribute 

 arriving in Babylon on the 25th day of 

 Tishri, let it arrive in Babylon on the 

 25th day of Second Elul." That is, he 

 pushed forward the calendar ; but he was 

 unwilling to wait a month for his reve- 

 nues. 



The letters of a private character throw 

 light upon personal affairs. These deal 

 with all the different phases of life. The 

 father is reminded of a broken promise ; 

 his son writes him that "thou, my father, 

 didst say that when I went to Dur-Ammi- 

 Zaduga . . . T will send a sheep and 

 five minas of silver, in a little while, to 

 thee.' " 



A tenant desires a good cow and a 

 creditor compels his debtor to meet his 

 obligations. A prisoner pleads with his 

 master for deliverance, calling the jail a 

 starvation house, and asserting that he is 

 not a robber, but the victim of the Sutu. 

 who fell upon him and took away the oil 

 he was carrvinsr across the river. 



