Debt Bondage in Late Period Egypt (8th – 5th Century BC)

E.A. Karev
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Abstract

Abstract This paper argues, in contrast to some previous scholarship, that debt bondage was not practiced in Egypt’s Late Period (c. 8th–5th centuries BC). The phenomena of self-sales into slavery and the inclusion of children in lists of security in loan contracts have been offered as evidence of debt bondage in past studies: in the former, arguing that self-sales were a means to satisfy debts; in the latter, that seizure of children into bondage was precipitated by default on a debt. But there is no evidence for these manifestations of debt bondage in practice. In an examination of all relevant self-sales and loan contracts of the period, it can be shown that in no case was a person seized for security or in distraint, and that self-sales did not occur specifically as a result of debtor default. In practice, creditors likely pursued punitive measures such as fine or high interest rather than the potentially expensive and troublesome seizure of debtors. The conditional clauses regarding seizure or distraint reflected in loan documents must thus be regarded as notional rather than actionable, more representative of the social rather than financial capital at stake when one defaulted on a debt. Excluding debt bondage from the Egyptian socio-economic landscape of the period opens the discussion to the implications for social practice, family life, and credit systems.
晚期埃及的债务质役(公元前 8-5 世纪)
摘要 本文与以往的一些学术研究相反,认为债务质役在埃及晚期(约公元前 8-5 世纪)并不存在。在过去的研究中,自卖为奴和将儿童列入贷款合同担保清单的现象被作为债役的证据:前者认为自卖为奴是偿还债务的一种手段;后者认为拖欠债务会导致儿童被扣押为奴。但在实践中并没有证据证明这些债役的表现形式。对这一时期所有相关的自售和借贷合同的研究表明,在任何情况下,都没有人因担保或扣押而被扣押,自售也不是专门因债务人违约而发生的。在实践中,债权人很可能采取罚款或高额利息等惩罚性措施,而不是扣押债务人这种可能既昂贵又麻烦的做法。因此,贷款文件中反映的有关扣押或扣押的条件条款必须被视为名义条款而非可诉条款,更能代表一个人拖欠债务时所涉及的社会资本而非金融资本。将债务质役排除在这一时期埃及的社会经济景观之外,就可以讨论其对社会实践、家庭生活和信贷系统的影响。
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