Unpublished Babylonian Lease contracts from the Iraqi Museum

Abstract

Cuneiform texts in general, and economic texts in particular, including the rental contracts  under study, are of great importance in providing insight into daily life and economic interactions among members of society in ancient times.

 Furthermore, the clauses in these contracts reveal the economic systems that prevailed at the time Rental contracts demonstrate the extent of commitment to applying the law in daily life, as these contracts contained clauses and conditions based on mutual consent and benefit between the parties to the contract. The first party, the lessor, was the owner, while the second party, the lessee, was the beneficiary for the duration of the lease. These clauses were based on the legal formulas and customs prevalent at the time.

Rental contracts can generally be divided into two types: leases of immovable property and leases of movable property.

In this research, we studied rental contracts in the Old Babylonian period and identified the formulas and clauses used in writing them.  

Four unpublished cuneiform texts were studied, two of which included leases of immovable property and two of which included leases of movable property