Article

Lease of agricultural land and sharecropping: a re-examination of CH 45-46

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Abstract

Codex Hammurabi 45-46 deal with the allocation of the risk of accidental destruction of crops in agricultural tenancies. They have been the subject of several studies, the most detailed being Petschow 1984. According to Petschow's interpretation, the advance payment of rent puts the risk upon the cultivator alone, but without it, the lessor and lessee share the risk equally. This interpretation is not convincing for legal and philological reasons. In order to re-examine the problem, the present paper starts with the current typology of lease contracts in the Old Babylonian period and argues that there were two only major types of agricultural tenancies : lease at a fixed rate and sharecropping. In the light of this dichotomy, the author re-visits CH 45-46, proposing a more convincing interpretation. Using the methodology of comparative legal history, the author studies how different legal systems addressed this legal problem. Finally, the paper examines the legal nature of sharecropping from the perspective of cuneiform archival documents, and suggests a new typology for the agricultural partnerships, partnership in labor, and that of labor and capital (land).

How to Cite:

Badamchi, H., (2021) “Lease of agricultural land and sharecropping: a re-examination of CH 45-46”, Akkadica 142(1), 43–62. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99676

Rights: © The author