A clay tablet from Kanesh, in what is now central Turkey, contains the founding charter of a twelve-partner trading company. Twelve merchants pooled thirty-three pounds of gold. The document specifies the partners by name, the starting capital, the profit split, and the penalty for any partner who wishes to withdraw early. Pull your share before the term ends and the firm will return silver at a steep discount to the gold you invested. Capital was locked up under prescribed terms. The tablet is ...