qīptum Loans According to a Legal Document from Old Babylonian period BE 6/1 103

Section: Research Paper
Published
Jun 24, 2025
Pages
469-492

Abstract

The Old Babylonian period (2006-1595 B.C.) witnessed a remarkable an economic activity that led to the discovery of thousands of cuneiform inscriptions concerning economy. It also led the Babylonians to deal with a number of loans from which was the qptum one that was of a commercial nature. It is to be noted that the contracts of such loans were so concise that do not give much information. The inscriptions showed also that the dealing with this type of loans was exclusive to the first Babylonian dynasty. The qptum loan was used in the selling and purchasing transactions, trading travels and trading association business. It was expected that there had been an interest levied on such loans, while the inscriptions did not prove any of that. Nevertheless, when the Babylonian king Ammiaduqa issued the marum, the government called off the prior dealings with the qptum, whereas the references state that it was not included in the marum provisions. However, the present research tries to tackle this point through a legal document which was the only one that shows a dispute happened over a quantity of cereals which was a qptum loan.

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How to Cite

Al-Bakri, M., & محمد. (2025). qīptum Loans According to a Legal Document from Old Babylonian period BE 6/1 103. Adab Al-Rafidayn, 49(78), 469–492. https://doi.org/10.33899/radab.2019.165008