Collectors of
both secular and religious tribute sent reports directly to the king,
and if there was any deficit in the supply which was expected from a
collector he had to make it up himself; but the king was always ready
to listen to and investigate a complaint and to enforce the payment of
tribute or taxes so that the loss should not fall upon the collector.
Thus, in one of his letters Hammurabi informs the governor of
Larsam that a collector named Sheb-Sin had reported to him, saying
"Enubi-Marduk hath laid hands upon the money for the temple of
Bit-il-kittim (i.e. the great temple of the Sun-god at Larsam) which is
due from the city of Dur-gurgurri and from the (region round about the)
Tigris, and he hath not rendered the full sum; and Gimil-Marduk hath
laid hands upon the money for the temple of Bit-il-kittim which is due
from the city.of Rakhabu and from the region round about that city, and
he hath not (paid) the full amount. But the palace hath exacted the full
sum from me." It is probable that both Enubi-Marduk and Gimil-Marduk
were money-lenders, for we know from another letter that the former had
laid claim to certain property on which he had held a mortgage, although
the mortgage had been redeemed. In the present case they had probably
lent money or seed-corn to certain cultivators of land near Dur-gurgurri
and Rakhabu and along the Tigris, and in settlement of their claims they
had seized the crops and had, moreover, refused to pay to the king's
officer the proportion of the crops that was due to the state as
taxes upon the land.
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