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Hammurabi: End
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Ultimately, Hammurabi and the Mesopotamians went the way of extinct civilizations, but Factoring invoices endured. Just about every civilization that valued industry has practiced some form of Receivables funding, including the Romans who were the first to sell actual promissory note at a discount.The first rampant, documented use of Accounts receivable loan was found in the American colonies before the revolution. Amid this time, cotton, furs and timber were shipped from the colonies. Merchant bankers in London and other parts of Europe transferred funds to the colonists for these raw materials, before they accomplished the continent. This empowered the colonists to go on with to harvest their new land, free from the burden of waiting to be cash by their European customers.
Hammurabi's rigidly centralized system prospered from tribute and taxes, both used to compensate state dependents and to finance extensive state irrigation and building projects. However, these projects placed a heavy fiscal load on subject territories and created a mood of disenchantment with the state. Following Hammurabi's death, distant provinces broke away immediately and the continued loss of revenues weakened the crown. In an attempt to slow down the tendency toward disintegration, the bureaucracy was expanded. In the end, Hammurabi's successors became figureheads dependent on locally controlled goods and resources. The outcome was somewhat predictable: centralized institutions collapsed, autonomous local groups reasserted control, and the city-state pattern once again prevailed.
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Like other emperors, Hammurabi operated a protection racket, offering towns he captured the security of his superior military might in exchange for their obedience and tribute (payment of taxes). He believed that where he had conquered he had put an end to war, and he wanted to protect his subjects from the terror of nomads.
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