House of Egibi

The House of Egibi were family from within ancient Babylonia who were, amongst other things, involved in mercantile activities.

The families financial activities are known to archaeologists via an archive of about 1,700 clay tablets spanning five generations of the family, dating to a period from around 600 to 482 BC. The tablets give us a glimpse of the exchange of goods within southern Mesopotamia and abroad. Many documents found in the archive show shipments of barley, dates, and other bulk items. Enterprises of this nature were financed by the house of Egibi, among other later houses from within Babylon.

Familial identity

The word Egibi is a transliteration of the Sumerian e.gi-ba-ti.la, a full form used occasionally in archival records. In a text on ancestral names, Babylonian scribes equated it to Sin-taqisa-liblut, which is translated as 'O Sin (the moon god), you have given (the child), may he now live and thrive'. The families name occurs in Babylonian records at a time beginning sometime during the eighth century BC. By the sixth century more than 200 individuals are known to history who claimed to be descendants of Egibi.