ABSTRACT
In Sumer and Akkad, from the earliest times, property in land was vested in individuals, or in social groups. pre-Sargonie deeds of sales afford precious evidence for this. The temples had their fields and their orchards; the ishakku's wife and children their private lands. The little house of the poor man was not always immune from the greed of the rich, and his mother's plot was too often plundered by the priest. Already, apparently, the prince rewarded his faithful servants by grants of land, either in perpetuity, or simply in usufruct.
