Temple Lending in Ancient Mesopotamia

How temples and palaces in ancient Mesopotamia stored grain and silver and made loans with interest, and how the Code of Hammurabi regulated lending around 1750 BCE.

Banking began long before coins.

Temples as banks

In ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), temples and palaces stored grain and silver.
They lent to farmers and merchants, often charging interest.
Records were kept on clay tablets.

Interest

Interest rates were often around 20 percent for silver and 33 percent for grain loans.

Hammurabi’s code

The Code of Hammurabi (around 1750 BCE) set maximum interest rates and rules for loans and deposits.

Debt relief

Kings sometimes declared debt cancellations to prevent social crises, as historian Michael Hudson and anthropologist David Graeber described.

Why it matters

These early institutions show basic banking functions: safekeeping, lending and record-keeping.

The clay tablet

A Babylonian farmer borrows barley from a temple before planting, and a scribe records the loan on a clay tablet to be repaid at harvest.

Thinking banking began with coins or modern banks

Mesopotamian temples lent grain and silver thousands of years ago.

Key takeaways

Mesopotamian temples stored and lent grain and silver.
Interest rates were set, often around 20 to 33 percent.
Hammurabi's code regulated lending around 1750 BCE.
Kings sometimes cancelled debts.