The lady Indibî lends sixteen minas of silver, royal standard, to D. In the month of Tishri, he shall pay the money in full; if not, interest shall be two shekels per mina monthly. A vineyard in the village of Bêl-aḫê, next to that of Ḥabašu, next to that of Si'banik, next to that of the chief scribe; also these slaves, Dâri-Bêl, his wife, three sons, and two daughters, along with his household, four fat cows (?); Ḥudi-sharrûtu and his daughter; all are pledged as security. If they die or run away, the loss shall be D's. The day that D shall refund the money, with the interest, his slaves and vineyard shall be released. Dated the ninth of Ab, b.c. 688. Six witnesses.
Or again:[688]
A loan secured by a field
Five homers of land belong to D, in the city Kâr-Au. The lender L gives D two-thirds of a mina of silver. This two-thirds of a mina of silver L shall acquire from the field and when D thus has given L his money back, he shall release the field. Dated the sixteenth of Iyyar, b.c. 680.
In the following case a maid is assigned outright for a loan. It is doubtful whether this is a sale, or a pledge:[689]
By the service of a maid
In lieu of money, Bêlit-ittîa, the maid of the šakintu, is assigned to the lady Sinki-Ishtar. As long as she lives, she shall serve her. Dated the fourteenth of Iyyar, b.c. 652.
By the borrower's service
A very similar case occurs in the loan of corn and a cow by the bêl paḫâti of the Crown Prince, to a certain Nargî of the city of Bamatu. Nargî was to serve the lender for the corn and cow. When his service had become equivalent to the value of the advance, he could go free.[690]
Antichretic pledge was very common in later Babylonian times. The most typical examples are houses. The lender [pg 265]