[ WP ] Some call him a savior , some an evil genius . He is the guy that invented money .

`` WHY? What could have possibly made you think that you should do that?'' Muranu looked back on the last few weeks on the brink of tears, painfully remembering every failure, despair washing over him. Was this slump enough to drive his wife away? 
 
 “ We last ate a real meal five days ago. The children need more than crumbs and water to grow. I had to do something! ” Anatu wept openly during her feeble attempt to defend herself. She hated forcing herself to trade away her virtue for a goat, but the children would not survive another day without proper food. 
 
 “ Was the goatmonger the first? Or the last? How can you call yourself my wife after what you have done? ” Muranu cried out, hating himself for not seeing what had happened sooner, for not being able to prevent it. 
 
 “ No… No… ” Anatu sobbed feebly. She gathered her conviction before her next declaration, knowing Muranu would hardly believe it. “ I did it for our family. I will stop at nothing to keep us fed and clothed. I love you so much, that I will defile myself to ensure your survival and the survival of our children. I hate spreading my legs for those men, but we have had no other options. ” 
 
 “ Who else knows about what you have done? Who else knows what a pathetic fool I must be to stand by your side unknowing? ” Muranu would forgive Anatu - of course he would, his love for her would fill both the Tigris and Euphrates valleys - but could not forgive the men who had taken advantage of his family, who had violated his wife. 
 
 Anatu ’ s tears had run out, but her sorrow remained. She wanted nothing more than to undo her mistakes and make her husband happy. She also knew she could not lie to Muranu again. “ Every man in the village knows what I am, what I have done. I am sorry that I have disgraced you, and submit myself to your mercy. ” 
 
 “ My love for you denies any thoughts of punishment, my wife. But I beg you, do not betray me again. ” Muranu pulled Anatu into his arms and kissed her head as she cried on his shoulder. “ My vengeance shall fall upon those who humiliate us. I fear I will not bring myself to spill their blood, but I may yet discover a way to bleed them dry. Let us devise a plan, together. ” 
 
 Anatu and Muranu scheme late into the night. The next day the pair begin putting their plan into action. Muranu gathers many smooth, round stones from the river and carves his mark into their flat surfaces. Anatu then takes those stones to the men who bartered for her dignity in the past and asks to use the stones as a token for a future encounter. The men gladly trade for the promise of future pleasure, not knowing that Anatu will never honor the tokens, simply reschedule for a later date. 
 
 The plan works so well that Muranu and Anatu quickly become the richest family in the village. But a strange thing happens. The various men find that exchanging the tokens for each other ’ s goods simplifies trade significantly. Rather than going through multiple stages to align a seller ’ s goods with a buyer ’ s payment, buyers begin exchanging Muranu ’ s tokens as a common object of desire. 
 
 Muranu and Anatu spirit their family away one night with their spoils, to set up as merchants in a larger city. The village roars with outrage the next day, the true value of the tokens removed from their reach. However, they decide that the convenience of a common currency should be kept, allowing trade to flourish in the small village. 
 
 Both a savior and trickster, Muranu invented money to protect his wife ’ s virtue.
