"The temples not only owned great wealth but were active in finance. They granted loans of silver and loans of grain. Sometimes they made loans to the poor without interest and at other times they made loans at interest. Often they charged rates below the legal maximum: sometimes one half or one third... The Temple of at would lend money to slaves to enable them to purchase freedom. At Sippon, the Sun God, acting through priests and priestesses, was the chief banker. The temples were also seats of justice and depositories of documents and valuables. Such banking operations, including deposits, transfers, and loans, date back to the third millenium B.C., but did not lead to the creation of specialized professional banking firms until the n and Neo-Babylonian period."