Apprenticeship Contracts from Achaemenid Babylonia

There are rare references to professional training in Mesopotamian sources mainly because this used to be done in the family, from father to son. Nevertheless, there are some 35 apprenticeship contracts from the Neo-Babylonian period which open a unique window to the social, legal and economic aspects of professional training. The present article edits and translates 3 such apprenticeship contracts from the Achaemenid period and studies the form and content of these contracts. The documents demonstrate economic specialization among the Babylonian craftsmen and the role of private sector within the society.