Tablet BM 30363

NaBuCCo ID 1136
Museum No. BM 30363
CDLI P-Identifier
Place of issue
Type and content Real estate - Other
Archive
Period Each
Year BCE 525
Editio princeps Camb. 286
Paraphrase Agreement about the measurement of a field after the sale and after the seller’s death.
A purchased 1 kor (13500 m2) of arable land (zēru) from B (ana kaspi mahāru) in Šabāṭ of Cambyses 2nd year. Part of the land is already cultivated (mērešu), while the other part is newly prepared for cultivation (taptû) and it includes scattered date palms. On the day of the purchase, they put the agreement down in writing in a sealed document; the buyer took a written and sealed copy of the agreement (kanāku - leqû), which also specifically clarifies (šūdû [edû]) that they will check the measurements of that field. Should it be found larger or smaller (atru u maṭû) than what was originally calculated, they will compensate each other (ahāmeš apālu ). However, the seller died before the land could be measured. After a gap in the tablet, the text resumes and mentions the name of C, possibly a neighbour whose plot of land extended up to the dam of the hanšû (makallû ša hanšānē). The passage is too broken to determine the exact context. At the end of the document, A agrees with D (no doubt the seller’s legal successor) that they will not make claims against each other about the measurement of the field. To seal the deal, they both pronounce an oath. Names of 6 witnesses and the scribe.
 
A = Itti-Marduk-balāṭu/Nabû-ahhē-iddin//Egibi; B = Bazūzu/Etellu//Išparu; C = Marduk-rēmanni/N[abû-…]; D = Bēl-ahhē-iddin
Transliteration Transliteration available on Achemenet
Babylonian Date (year-month-day): Cam. yy-VI-dd