From this it would seem that Ikîšā made Rêmanni-Bêl his heir, freeing him from the position of a bondsman, in exchange for his (Ikîšā's) keep, but that Rêmanni-Bêl, declining the advantage and the responsibility, ran away, whereupon the burden fell upon Ikîšā's daughter-in-law, Ê-sagila-râmat. This the last-named seems to have undertaken willingly, and in return, Ikîšā annulled Rêmanni-Bêl's adoption, and bequeathed him, as a slave, to Ê-sagila-râmat and her daughter. Means probably existed for bringing back the runaway, when the news of his return to his old condition would be communicated to him. Ê-sagila-râmat's husband, Iddina-Marduk, is the one who advanced to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu the money to make up the price of their house.
Iddina-Nabû Sells His Egyptian Slave And Her Infant.
“Iddina-Nabû, son of Mušêzib-Bêl, has cheerfully sold Nanaa-ittîa, his slave, and her daughter, a child of three months, Egyptians captured by his bow, for 2 mana of silver, the complete price, to Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, son of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, descendant of Êgibi. Iddina-Nabû has received the money, 2 mana of silver, the price of Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter, from the hands of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu. Iddina-Nabû guarantees against the existence of any liability of defeasor (?), legal claimant, royal service, or freedmanship with regard to Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter.”
Here come the names of four witnesses and the scribe.
“Babylon, month Kisleu, day 23rd, year 6th, Kambuzîa (Cambyses), king of Babylon.
“Besides the contract of 240 gur of fruit, from [pg 467] Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, which was unto (or due from) Iddina-Nabû.”
This document may be held to testify to the reality of Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, which took place in his 5th year (525 b.c.). It is also a proof that the Babylonians took part in the campaign.
It is noteworthy that three copies of this document exist, one being in the British Museum, another in the Museum of Art at New York, and the third in the museum founded by the late Sir Henry Peek at Lyme Regis. The tablet recording the contract for the 240 gur of fruit also exists, and is preserved in the British Museum.
Among the tablets of the time of Nabonidus, translations of all the records known which refer to the family of Ben-Hadad-nathan or Abil-Addu-nāthanu have been given, and examination of the numerous other tablets of the reigns of his predecessors and his successors down to the time of Darius, and perhaps Xerxes, shows that similar more or less complete family histories could be made. One of the most interesting of these, and the most complete on account of the number of documents (by far the greater number of the contracts from Babylon and its neighbourhood, of the period to which he belongs, contain his name) are those referring to Širku, a tablet from whose slave Dâan-bêl-uṣur has been given above (p. [454]). This man's history has been tentatively dealt with by the present author in Part IV. of the catalogue of tablets belonging to the late Sir Henry Peek. From a tablet in the Louvre, we find that Širku was not his real name, but that he was called Marduk-naṣir-âbli. The curious thing about this double naming of Širku, however, is that the majority of the tablets where he is called Širku say that he was the son of Iddina, and the majority of those calling him Marduk-naṣir-âbli say that he is the son of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu. Fortunately documents exist [pg 468] reversing this parentage, and showing conclusively that Širku and Marduk-naṣir-âbli are one and the same personage. Were it otherwise, we should have to credit his slaves with two masters, and his wife with two husbands, a state of things probably unknown in Babylonia.
From a tablet dated in the first year of Darius, we learn that he bought a field before the great gate of Uraš in the province of Babylon, this field being beside that of his wife Âmat-Bau, which she had brought as her dowry. Other documents record that he made loans of silver and produce, both alone and associated with his brothers. In these his proper name is generally used, but sometimes he was called Širku. The hiring and letting of houses, the buying and selling of slaves, etc., are also recorded of them. In the third year of Darius he and his brothers came into considerable property in Babylon, sharing it among them, and there is also record of Marduk-naṣir-âbli paying his father's debts. This increase in their resources naturally enabled them to deal in the produce of their fields, and in all probability they managed his wife's as well, whilst there is at least one record that she lent money on her own account. To enumerate all the interesting points which the tablets reveal to us concerning their various transactions, however, would naturally take too much time and space.