Interest System in Ancient Babylonian Era
Abstract
Interest had been commonely used by Ancient Iraqis. It was represented in the Summerian language by the system MAS and in the Akkadian by the word sbtu. This system had been developed and spread during different historical eras especially in ancient Babylonian one in which private ownership system was widely common. This system reflects how diverse is the economic level between one close and another. This diversity made the poor people borrow money from merchants with interest. This discovered loans which represents a high precent of summerian texts helped us to know the due interest and its perecent as well as its legal terms. loans usually ends with the name of witnesses and date. Tese facts that the Iraqis had a very good knowledge of trade especially in ancient Babylonian era. They followed organized legal terms in determining interest percent. Though this system was common and usual in use, it contrasts with the values and principles of religion