The change from the third person to the second is noteworthy, and may have been caused by the necessity of distinguishing between the son and the messenger to whom the writer referred. Rêmat was evidently the writer's wife.
The following is a letter of a different nature, and leads to speculations as to the state of things—
“Letter of Marduk-zēr-ibnî to Šulâ his brother.
“May Bêl and Nebo bespeak the peace of my brother.
“Why dost thou destroy my house? thou goest before the destruction of thine (own) house. When thou hadst taken the responsibility of holding the field, my field was sold, and the date-palms which I grow have been destroyed. And thou (remainest) contented in thy house![137] Now (as for) the corn which I have planted in my field, thou (always) takest the whole. I am now sending to my lord: Come, enter my field, and give me my harvests. Behold, the corn which has been got ready thou (always) deliverest: Ikîšā and Nabû-âḫa-iddina, if they wish, can take it. Speak to the judges about it.”
Apparently the writer of the letter was vexed because his friend (and lord) had not fulfilled his undertaking to look after his interests.
Letters of a business nature are not unfrequent, and are generally dry and uninteresting. The character of the inscriptions of this class which least exhibit these defects may be gathered from the following text, which also has an interest because the sender was a slave. The original belongs to the collection of tablets acquired by the late Sir Cuthbert Peek for his father, the late Sir Henry Peek:—
“Letter from Dâan-bêl-uṣur to Širku, my lord. I pray to-day to Bêl and Nebo for the preservation of the life of my lord.
“Concerning the lambs which my lord sent, Bêl and Nebo indeed know that there is a lamb (for them) from thee. I have made the irrigation-channel and the wall. Behold, send thy servant with the sheep and thy servant with the lambs, and a command that they may cause a sheep to be brought up as an offering (?) to Nebo (?), for I have not acquired a single lamb for money. (On) the 20th day I worked for Šamaš; lo, (there were) 56—I caused 20 head to be bought for my lord from his hand. (As for) the garlic [pg 455] for the governor, which my lord bought, the lord of the fields (? the chief overseer), when he came, took possession of (it), and it was sold to the governor of the district of our fields for silver, but enough (?) thereof I have retained (?); and as my lord said thus: ‘Why hast thou not sent the messenger? the ground is suitable (?)—I sent thee a number (?) of (them).’ Let one messenger take thy message (?), and depart.”
Portions of this inscription, especially towards the end, being very obscure, the translation is not so sure as could be wished. Nevertheless, it may be taken as indicating fairly well the drift of the whole, and thus answer the purpose for which it is given, namely, to show what texts of this class generally refer to, and how excellently they reveal to us the conditions of Babylonian life at the time when they were written.