"To my lord say, thus saith Ibgatum thy servant: As, my lord, thou hast heard, the enemy has carried off my oxen. Never before have I sent to thee, my lord. Now I have caused a letter to be brought to thee, my lord, Do thou, my lord, send me one young cow. I will weigh out and send five shekels of silver to thee, my lord. My lord, what thou sayest, under the command of Marduk, thy protector, what pleases thee, no one can hinder thee, my lord. My lord, do thou make her worth the five shekels of silver that I have weighed out and sent to thee. Do thou, my lord, treat seriously this request, do not trifle with my wish. Let my lord not wonder at this request, which I send my lord. I am thy servant. I will do thy will, my lord. As to the young cow, which thou, my lord, dost send, let her be on credit, and either to Basu, or wherever is convenient to my lord, do thou send. With Iliikisham, my brother, let the young cow come. And I, in order that my lord should quickly consent and send the young cow, will forthwith weigh out and send fifteen shekels of silver to thee, my lord."[3] Sayce has suggested that the five shekels of silver was the amount he paid annually for the lease of his farm, and that he sent it at this time to further influence the landlord to grant his request. Another interpretation has been put upon it that he sent the five shekels as a payment down, but did not propose to pay the full price until he saw the particular cow sent him. Letters were enclosed generally in an envelope of clay. Powdered clay was sprinkled over the letter to prevent its clinging to the cover. Because the envelope of clay had to be broken before the letter was read, safety and privacy was proven by the unbroken cover. Again the tablet upon which the letter was inscribed was sometimes covered with a linen wrapper and the ends held by a seal--a lump of clay pressed down with the impression of the seal upon it. Few of these clay or linen envelopes have been found, for they were regarded as valueless and were cast aside. A very fair postal system was maintained in Mesopotamia.