Enmetena’s text is a bit vague on the details, but a half-century later, when his successor Uruinimgina declared a general amnesty during the New Year’s ceremonies of 2350 BC, the terms are all spelled out, and they conform to what was to become typical of such amnesties: canceling not only all outstanding loans, but all forms of debt servitude, even those based on failure to pay fees or criminal penalties—the only thing excepted being commercial loans. Similar declarations are to be found again and again, in Sumerian and later Babylonian and Assyrian records, and always with the same theme:
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