Babylonian Loans In Intercalary Months

Abstract

Th e Babylonian calendar is characterized by the use of intercalation. To reconcile the difference between the lunar and solar calendar, intercalary months were inserted. In this brief study a cuneiform economic text from the Early Achaemenid period (6th cent. B.C.) is put under scrutiny. A special feature of the tablet, recorded in the reign of Darius I, is the fact that it was written in an intercalary month. In this study I intend to present an analysis on Babylonian interest-bearing loans and intercalary months.