Babylonian and Assyrian Literature Part 61

[Footnote 11: By an error, this line is omitted in the French work; the a.s.syrian words are not yet understood.]

[Footnote 12: In the text is nu.]

[Footnote 13: Lacuna.]

[Footnote 14: The pa.s.sage is very obscure; if Dr. Oppert's idea is correct, there is an allusion to the detested custom of circ.u.mcision, the performance of which was regarded as an affliction.]

[Footnote 15: See Lev. xx. 15.]

[Footnote 16: "Gara anna."]

[Footnote 17: In the French work, this pa.s.sage has been left untranslated.]

[Footnote 18: Lacunae.]

[Footnote 19: Here are two very obscure words.]

CONTRACT OF HANKAS

(The fourth monument of the reign of Marduk-idin-akhe is a black basalt stone of nearly the same size and arrangement as the preceding. At the top we also see a.n.a.logous symbols disposed in a similar way. The inscription has but two colums, and occupies but one side of the monument; on the other, the image of the King is engraved, and near the garment of the King, represented by the ba.s.so-relievo, the three lines of the beginning are repeated at the end of the doc.u.ment.)

By this table, the author of the everlasting limits has forever perpetuated his name.[1]

25 hins[2] of corn are sufficient to seed an arura,[3] in a field lying on the bank of the river Besim, belonging to Hankas.

In length[4] above toward the North, adjoining the property of Hankas; in length below toward the South, adjoining the property of Imbiyati; in breadth above toward the West, adjoining the property of Hankas; in breadth below toward the East, limited by the river Besim.

Such is what Marduk-nasir, Captain of the King, has received from the hands of Nis-Bel, son of Hankas. He has paid the price for it. Sapiku son of Itti-Marduk-balat, son of Zikar-Ea, is the measurer[5] of the field.

Weights of 1 Chariot with its team of horses[6] 100 silver 6 Harnesses 300 "

1 a.s.s from Phoenicia 30 "

6 Harnesses, 1 a.s.s from Phoenicia 50 "

Weights of 1 Mule 15 silver 1 Cow (pregnant) 30 "

30 Measures of corn, 60 Measures of 12 epha[7] 137 "

1 Hemicorion, 10 Shovels of 4 epha 16 "

2 Dogs, good 12 "

9 Greyhounds from the East 18 "

1 Hunting dog 1 "

1 Shepherd dog 1 "

1 Dog (bloodhound[8]) 6 "

Total 616[9] (weights of) silver.

Such is what Nis-Bel, son of Hankas, has paid in the hands of Marduk-nasir, Captain of the King, as equivalent of the price of a field of 25 hins of (grain).

At any epoch whatever, in the days to come (or process of time) either an _aklu,[10]_ or a no-servant, or a farmer, or a husbandman, or a workman, or any other guardian who presents himself, and who settles in the house of Hankas, and will endeavor to lay waste this field, will earn its first-fruits, will turn it over, will plough it (mix up the earth), will have it put under water, who will occupy this property by fraud or violence and will settle in its territories, either in the name of the G.o.d, or in the name of the King, or in the name of the representative of the Lord of the country, or in the name of the representative of the house, or in the name of any person whatever, whoever he may be, who will give it, will earn the harvest of the land, will say,[11] "These fields are not granted as gifts by the King"; whether he p.r.o.nounce against them the holy malediction or he swears by these words, "The head is not the head"; and establish anyone therein, in saying, "There is no eye"; or who will carry away this tablet, or will throw it into the river, or will break it into pieces, or will bury it under a heap of stones, or will burn it by fire, or will bury it in the earth, or will hide it in a dark place, that man (shall be cursed):

May the G.o.d Anu, Bel, Hea, the great G.o.ds, afflict him and curse him with maledictions which are not (retracted).

May the G.o.d Sin, the splendid in the high heaven, envelop all his members with incurable leprosy until the day of his death; and expel him to the farthest limits like a wild beast.

May Samas, the Judge of heaven and earth, fly before him; that he change into darkness the light of the day.

May Istar, the Sovereign, the Queen of the G.o.ds, load him with infirmities and anguish of illness like arrows, may she increase (day and night his pains,) so that he runs about like a dog, in the ways of his town.

May Marduk, the King of heaven and earth, the Lord of the eternity without end, entangle his weapons with bonds which cannot be broken.

May Ninip, the G.o.d of crops and boundaries, sweep away its limits and tread upon his crops, and remove its limit.

May Gula, the mother (nurse), the great Lady, infect his bowels with a poison, and that he void pus and blood like water.

May Bin, the supreme Guardian of heaven and earth, inundate his field like a ...[12]

May Serah suffocate his first-born.

May Nabu, the holy minister of the G.o.ds, continually pour over his destinies laments and curses; and blast his wishes.

May all the great G.o.ds whose name is invoked on this table, devote him to vengeance and scorn, and may his name, his race, his fruits, his offspring, before the face of men perish wretchedly.

By this table, the author of the everlasting limits has forever perpetuated his name.

[Footnote 1: See at the end.]

[Footnote 2: These 25 hins represent 75 litres, 16 gallons and a half, for seeding a surface of 207 acres.]

[Footnote 3: The great U, or arura.]

[Footnote 4: Again in this deed no statement is given in account of the measurings. The s.p.a.ce is determined merely by the indication of the boundaries.

This doc.u.ment is also the charter of a royal donation: it is not clear whether the below-mentioned objects are the price, or if, what is much more verisimilar, they are only the accessoria of the field.]

[Footnote 5: Measurer is expressed by "masi-han."]

[Footnote 6: Cf. I Kings x. 29: "A chariot ... of Egypt for 600 shekels of silver; and a horse for 150."]

[Footnote 7: It is a question here of the utensils used for measuring, viz., thirty of one kind, and sixty of another.]

[Footnote 8: The quality of the dogs is somewhat uncertain.]

[Footnote 9: There is evidently a fault in the total number, 616 instead of 716.

A weight of silver may be an obolus, the 360th part of a mina.]

[Footnote 10: The "akli," who were at the royal court, may have been legists.]

[Footnote 11: All these are formulae solennes, as in the Roman law.]