The Legal Framework of a “Marketless” Economy in the Old Babylonian Period with regard to “Sale and Community”

Abstract

The extent of the legal framework of the economic institution of sale in the Old Babylonian period that can be derived from normative texts as well as from texts from the legal practice refers to very basic structures and a smaller number of special cases. The allocative function of law for economic behavior has therefore to be described as limited. Nevertheless, the rather liberal economic system was restricted by normative measures such as debt release which were closely connected to the idea of justice as a universal concept and thus ensured social and political stability of the community.