Similarly, if the agent gave the merchant money in return
for the goods he had received and in token of his good faith, the
merchant had to give a receipt to the agent, and in reckoning their
accounts after the agent's return from his journey, only such amounts as
were specified in the receipts were to be regarded as legal obligations.
If the agent forgot to obtain his proper receipt he did so at his own
risk.
[Illustration: 280.jpg CLAY CONTRACT TABLET AND ITS OUTER CASE]
Dating from the period of the First Dynasty of Babylon.
Travelling at this period was attended with some risk, as it is in the
East at the present day, and the caravan with which an agent travelled
was liable to attack from brigands, or it might be captured by enemies
of the country from which it set out. It was right that loss from this
cause should not be borne by the agent, who by trading with the goods
was risking his own life, but should fall upon the merchant who had
merely advanced the goods and was safe in his own city. It is plain,
however, that disputes frequently arose in consequence of the loss of
goods through a caravan being attacked and robbed, for the code states
clearly the responsibility of the merchant in the matter. If in the
course of his journey an enemy had forced the agent to give up some of
the goods he was carrying, on his return the agent had to specify the
amount on oath, and he was then acquitted of all responsibility in the
matter.
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