(M415) But the slave had a great amount of freedom, and was in no respect worse off than a child or even a wife. He could acquire property, marry a free woman, engage in trade, and act as principal in contract with a free man. Only, his property, at his death, fell to his master. He was bound to do service without pay, though he had the right to food and drink. He could not leave his master’s service at his own will, but he might acquire enough property to buy his freedom. He was tied to one spot, not being allowed to leave the city, but might be sent anywhere at command. (M416) His status was, however, a complex of seeming inconsistencies. Yet it was so well understood that we rarely get any hints as to the exact details. It is only by collecting a vast mass of statements as to what actually occurred that we can deduce some idea of the actual facts. Professor Oppert in his tract, _La Condition des Esclaves à Babylone, Comptes Rendues_, 1888, pp. 11 ff.; and Dr. B. Meissner, in his dissertation, _De Servitute Babylonico-Assyriaca_, have gathered together the chief facts to be gleaned from the scattered hints in the contracts. Professor Kohler and Dr. Peiser discussed the question thoroughly in their _Aus Babylonische Rechtsleben_. Many articles discussing the contracts, and most of the histories touch upon the subject. We shall come back to it later under the head of Sales of Slaves. It is very difficult to disentangle facts from the mass of scattered hints, often consisting of no more than a word or two in a long document. (M417) The institution of slavery dates back to the earliest times. We cannot in any way attempt to date its rise. Already in the stele of Manistusu we find a slave-girl used as part of the price of land and worth thirteen shekels;(412) while nine other slaves, male and female, are reckoned for one-third of a mina apiece. This remained a fair average price for a slave in Babylonia down to the time of the Persian conquest. For the variations, see later under Sales of Slaves.(413) The Code shows that the slave was not free to contract except by power of attorney,(414) and that it was penal to seduce him from his master’s service,(415) or to harbor him when fugitive.(416) It fixes a reward for his recapture,(417) makes it penal to retain a recaptured slave,(418) and deals with his re-escape.(419) It shows that he was subject to the “levy.”(420) It also determines the position of a slave-woman who bears children to her master,(421) or of a slave who marries a free woman.(422) In each case the children are free. It fixes the fees to be paid by the slave’s master for his cure,(423) deals with injuries done to a slave,(424) damages being paid to his master;(425) enacts that if captured and sold abroad he must be freed, if re-patriated,(426) and a native of Babylonia, otherwise he returned to his master.