There are less obvious references to roads in the literature; but that they were in excellent condition has been conjectured from the many evidences of postal service and ready carriage even in early times. Convoys travelled from Agade to Lagash as early as the time of Sargon I.[744] Innumerable labels are found on lumps of clay with the name and address of the consignee. These were attached to consignments of money and goods.
A regular tariff for land-transportation
The Code contemplates consignments being sent from a great distance, even from abroad.[745] It regulates the charges for a wagon, with oxen and driver,[746] or a wagon alone.[747] There are several cases in the contracts of the hire of wagons, for varied prices per year, one-third of a shekel[748] to twelve shekels;[749] but it is not certain that these were for conveyance from place to place. They may have been for agricultural purposes only. The usual means of conveyance seems to have been by asses.
Roads in Assyria of prime importance
In Assyrian times we find it part of the duty of a founder of a city to open up the roads leading to it.[750] The land was intersected with roads in all directions, so that a field often had two roads as its boundaries. The whole plain outside Nineveh was cut up by roads, which here take the place of the canals of Babylonia. In this period we find horses and camels in use as beasts of burden as well as the asses.
XXVIII. Partnership And Power Of Attorney
Partnership in business common from early times
Association, or partnership, makes its appearance very early and in a highly developed state. Some forms are very simple, as when two or more men buy or hire a piece of land together. There may, or may not, be any family relationship between the partners. In some cases we learn nothing about the terms of partnership. But where we are able to discern them, they follow the natural course that profits were divided, pro rata, according to the capital contributed. More obscure is the question how far the personal exertions of each partner were pledged to the benefit of the firm. There is a suggestion that some partners were content with furnishing capital, and obtaining a fair return upon it, while the others were actively engaged in the business of the firm. Prolonged study and comparison are, however, needed before all these points can be definitely decided.