Financial difficulties often have us feeling alone, isolated, or ashamed. No one wants to file bankruptcy and we often feel like we can’t reach out the people for help. These difficult situations are scary, but it is not a path you have to walk alone. Bankruptcy and debt relief are thousands of years old, and you will not be the first nor the last person to consider this route. As a former history nerd, I find history can be comforting when facing the unknown or the uncertain. It helps to know that people were in a similar situation years ago and they managed to survive too.
This blog, the first in a series, will go over the very roots of bankruptcy and explain how the practice has evolved to its modern state. Hopefully, you can find comfort in the knowledge that people have been facing similar situations for millennia.
As we trace back the history of debt cancellation and bankruptcy, it quickly becomes apparent that debt relief is a much older practice than you might think. Our journey through the history of bankruptcy takes us back more than 4,000 years ago, to a city-state nestled between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The year is around 2400 BCE, the location: Lagash, situated in the Sumer region, nowadays modern day Iraq. Enmetena, the ruler of Lagash, has just enacted the earliest known debt relief. Inscribed on a tablet under the foundation of a temple, Enmetena "instituted liberty in Lagash. He restored the child to its mother, and the mother to her child; he cancelled interest." This foundational tablet is the earliest known record of governmental debt relief. Following this enactment, many nearby civilizations also began developing the systems for debt relief.
Sometime around 2375 BCE, Urukagina, a successor of Enmetena, rose to power and built upon Enmetena’s debt relief. In addition to purging corrupt officials and supervisors, Urukagina cancelled the practice of debt slavery [working as a slave to pay off your debt] and provided amnesty to all citizens of Lagash, including prisoners. He also outlawed usury [interest rates on debt] and the property seizure for debt repayments. These laws were codified on cones and tablets, and are of the first documents instances of established citizen’s rights.
Following this codification, other nearby civilizations such as Sumeria, Babylon, and Assyria followed suit and created their own forms of citizen debt relief. Debt forgiveness is even mentioned in the Torah where in certain cases, debts were to be forgiven in the last year of the seven-year agricultural cycle. Hammurabi’s code, known for its eye for an eye law, specifically stated that in the cases of natural disasters or crop failures, debtors do not need to need to pay grain to the creditor, the debt is wiped away, and no interest is owed that year. It’s seems that debt relief was needed by quite a few people!
But why should you care about what people were doing more than four thousand years ago? Your financial problems are now! Although, this blog is a very shallow dive into the ancient history of debt relief, it’s clear that debt relief has been around for longer than one might think and people have always needed help.
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Debt relief is an ancient concept and no matter how you might feel, you are not alone in your financial worries. If you would like to talk more about your modern-day options for debt relief and bankruptcy, come talk with Minnesota’s nicest bankruptcy attorneys. Visit www.lifebacklaw.com and schedule a consultation today.
