A history of Babylon from the foundation of the monarchy to the Persian conquest . ards forced toincur the extra expense and trouble of driving the beaststo Babylon. The flocks and herds owned by the kingand the great temples were probably enormous, andyielded a considerable revenue in themselves apart fromthe tribute and taxes levied upon private and herdsmen were placed in charge of them,and they were divided into groups under head-men, whoarranged the districts in which the herds and flocks wereto be grazed. The king received regular reports fromhis chief shepherds and herd
A history of Babylon from the foundation of the monarchy to the Persian conquest . ards forced toincur the extra expense and trouble of driving the beaststo Babylon. The flocks and herds owned by the kingand the great temples were probably enormous, andyielded a considerable revenue in themselves apart fromthe tribute and taxes levied upon private and herdsmen were placed in charge of them,and they were divided into groups under head-men, whoarranged the districts in which the herds and flocks wereto be grazed. The king received regular reports fromhis chief shepherds and herdsmen, and it was the dutyof the governors of the larger towns and districts ofBabylonia to make tours of inspection and see that duecare was taken of the royal flocks. The sheep-shearingfor all the flocks that were pastured near the capital tookplace in Babylon, and the king used to send out sum-monses to his chief shepherds to inform them of the daywhen the shearing would take place.^ Separate flocks, 1 See the five letters of Ammi-zadugaj in Letters of III., pp. 162 i6^ o^ PORTION OF THE CODE OF HAMMURABI, COLS. Deleg. en Perse, Mem. 11, pi. 4. AGE OF HAMMURABI 169 that were royal and priestly property, were sometimesunder the same chief officer, a fact that tends to showthat the king himself exercised a considerable measureof control over the sacred revenues. In the regulation of the pastoral and agriculturallife of the community, custom played a very importantpart, and this was recognized and enforced by royalauthority. Carelessness in looking after cattle waspunished by fine, but the owner was not held responsi-ble for damage unless negligence could be proved on hispart. Thus a bull might go wild at any time and gorea man, who would have no redress against its if the beast was known to be vicious, and its ownerhad not blunted its horns nor shut it up, he was obligedto pay compensation for damage. On the other hand,the owner of cattle or asses
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1915
