Codex Hammurabi 49â52 and the esip-tabal Contracts from Susa
In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the OrientSearch for other papers by Dr. Hossein Badamchi in
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Abstract
The so-called esip-tabal contract is a particular type of agricultural transaction known from Codex Hammurabi and the Akkadian legal texts found in Susa. The Akkadian phrase esip-tabal is a statement made by the owner of the field to the other party, which is commonly understood to be a tenant. Modern scholarship first interpreted this contract as a lease. Later it was considered an antichretic loan, a loan in which the creditor takes over the debtorâs agricultural land as security. However, the place of this contract in the long-term history of law is still unknown and scholars have not made any analogies from other legal cultures. Using the methodology of comparative legal history, and drawing especially on Islamic law, this essay offers a new interpretation of the esip-tabal contract as a sale of future crops. The essay then discusses the rationale behind the contract and its possible continuity into later periods.
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Codex Hammurabi 49â52 and the esip-tabal Contracts from Susa
In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the OrientSearch for other papers by Dr. Hossein Badamchi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Professor Guido Pfeifer in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
The so-called esip-tabal contract is a particular type of agricultural transaction known from Codex Hammurabi and the Akkadian legal texts found in Susa. The Akkadian phrase esip-tabal is a statement made by the owner of the field to the other party, which is commonly understood to be a tenant. Modern scholarship first interpreted this contract as a lease. Later it was considered an antichretic loan, a loan in which the creditor takes over the debtorâs agricultural land as security. However, the place of this contract in the long-term history of law is still unknown and scholars have not made any analogies from other legal cultures. Using the methodology of comparative legal history, and drawing especially on Islamic law, this essay offers a new interpretation of the esip-tabal contract as a sale of future crops. The essay then discusses the rationale behind the contract and its possible continuity into later periods.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 704 | 117 | 6 |
| Full Text Views | 49 | 8 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 111 | 16 | 0 |
