Stefan Zawadzki's new book is the first comprehensive study on the
rental of houses in the Neo-Babylonian period, owned by private persons
as well by the temples. The book is based on the published, but mostly
unpublished tablets housed in the British Museum, which result in many
important observations made concerning the differences in the time of
rent payment in the case of private owners and the temple; delays in
payment; changes in contract conditions caused by the political
situation; relations between owner and tenants, etc. The new documents
enabled the establishment of a list of house rent collectors of the
Ebabbar temple in Sippar, their social position (and that the same
system was used also in the Esagila temple), the yearly income of the
Ebabbar temple from the rental of houses and the social position of the
tenants (majority of them were members of the temple personnel) and the
annual amount of rent paid by tenants.