Originally published in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 43 (Spring 2000):132-161 Máš, tokos and fænus as metaphors for interest accruals* * An earlier draft of this paper has benefited from comments by William Hallo, the late W. F. Leemans, Johannes Renger, Piotr Steinkeller, Cornelia Wunsch and Norman Yoffee. For the points on ...