Smart Contracts andSelf-Executing Agreements
One of the first recorded instances of a handshake appears in a ninth-century BC stone relief featuring Assyrian King Shalmaneser III clasping hands with a King Marduk-Zakir-Shumi I of Babylonia to cement a partnership and convey peaceful intentions among armed men.1 The revered poet Homer frequently mentioned handshakes in his epic works The Iliad and The Odyssey, usually as symbols of vows or trust for an exchange of goods and services. These hand-clasping gestures reverberate through the annals of history, from Greek funerary art to Roman coins, symbolizing collaboration, loyalty, and agreement.
As societies developed and legalities became more complex, the humble handshake underwent ...
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