This dossier gathers information on sesame oil production in the Ur III period documented by sources from the province of Ĝirsu[geogr=Ĝirsu]. The attestation of various reed basket containers and sieves coated with bitumen right after harvest pertains to the treatment of sesame seeds before storing or further processing. Women and children who received barley allocations carried out the milling process. The yield of sesame oil production in Ĝirsu amounted to 20 %_vol. A part from the standard sesame oil, also a more expensive variety of sesame oil, was produced in Ĝirsu: oil from hulled sesame seeds.

1. Tools

Information on sesame processing comes from a document dated in month VIII/November, right after the sesame harvest. It registers liquid bitumen (esir2 e2-a) to „cover“ (su-b, sub6) „basket boxes“ (^gebešeĝ[glossary=^gebešeĝ]) and „sieves for sesame“ (^gema-an-sim še-ĝeš-i3[glossary=^gema-an-sim še-ĝeš-i3-ke4]; UDT 020, AS.03.08.00). Caulked, i. e. waterproof,  containers and sieves avoided the tiny seeds to end up in the gaps of the braided reeds. This complements the evidence of saddle querns and mills, wooden mortars and pestles documented in the sesame oil mill of Irisaĝrig (CUSAS 40/2 0428; see Dossier A.1.1.12 § 5).

2. Yield

The yield of sesame oil production in Ĝirsu amounted to 20 %_vol of the processed sesame seeds, i.e., ca. 29 % of their weight. This yield is a little bit lower than the 22-27%_vol documented by the sources from the Umma [geogr=Umma]province (see Dossier A.1.1.07). The following table summarizes the data on yields.

In month IX/December, 100 sila/litres of sesame were issued „from a storehouse“ (e2 kišeb3-ba-ta) „for milling“ (sur-de3[glossary=sur]) (PPAC 5 0574, IS.01.09.00).“Sesame oil cakes“ (tuḫ ĝeš-i3[glossary=tuḫ ĝeš-i3]) were distributed among various types of workers, sometimes as part of their „oil allotments“ (i3-ba) or brought to specific working places; often they were issued by Urabba [individual=Urabba ] (e.g. BPOA 1 0274, AS.03.12.00; Amherst 083, AS.05.08.00; ITT 2 02601, AS.05.12.00; Borrelli no. 17, AS.05.12.00; DAS 231, AS.09.06.00; MVN 06 269, ŠS.06.03.25; MVN 05 226, IS.02.05.00).

3. Sesame oil from „hulled, dehulled“ (para10 aka) sesame seeds

Traditional sesame oil production, e.g. in Iran and China (Bedigian 2010: 294-295, 325-326), often envisage the removal of the seed coat through the so-called „wet process“. Removing the seed coats by the wet process involved first soaking the seeds in water, then skimming off the lighter seed coats from the water’s surface and lastly, sieving the seeds‘ kernel from the bottom of the water. Eventually, they were dried.

A list of small amounts of „sesame seeds“ (še-ĝeš-i3) (in total 40 litres) indicates that they had to be submitted to a specific treatment called lit. „to apply a (large, robust) sack (of goat-hairs to remove the hulls of sesame seeds)“ (para10 ke3-de3[glossary=para10 a5] BSA 2 088 2). Moreover, Ur III period sources from various archives document that both sesame seeds and „sesame oil“ (i3-ĝeš) could be specified as para10 aka[glossary=para10 aka] (e. g. CUSAS 3 0972 from Ĝaršana[geogr=Ĝaršana]) and that this special variety of sesame oil came „from the sesame oil mill“ (e2 i3-sur-ta[glossary=e2 i3-sur] SAT 3 2025, Ur). Therefore the process termed as para10 a5 had to happen before the milling of sesame oil, i.e. must have been a treatment of the sesame seeds that modified not only the seeds themselves but also the sesame oil obtained from them. The sesame oil treated as para10 aka occur as an ingredient for the manufacturing of aromatized oils (e.g. SAT 3 1445, Umma) and also as an ingredient for sweet dishes (e.g. for the niĝ2-i3-de-a: Nisaba 33 1011, Ĝirsu) as well as part of the consignments (sa2-du11) to deities (e.g. CUSAS 3 0511, Ĝaršana) or for banquets (e.g. HSS 04 003 o. v 16-17, Ĝirsu). This special variety of sesame oil is generally documented in considerably smaller quantities in comparison to the standard sesame oil: 2.3 – 6 litres, once up to 16.5 litres. Walker translated i3-ĝeš para10 aka as “refined oil” (Walker 1973: 123), though we can safely exclude that para10.g aka identifies the filtering or refining of oil because this term is attested both with sesame seeds and with sesame oil; moreover, after the milling process, there was apparently no need to filter the sesame oil (see the operational sequence of the milling process in Dossier A.1.1.22 § 2). As mentioned before, in the expression i3-ĝeš / ĝeš-i3 para10 aka, the term para10.g[glossary=para10 a5] is to be identified with a robust sack made of goat hair (CAD Ḫ (1956) 51 s.v. ḫalṣu adj.; Waetzoldt 1985: 84-85; Stol 1985: 121; Stol 2011: 403; Postgate 1985: 147). The adjective para10 aka continues as the Sumerogramm bara₂.ga for ḫalṣum in the Old Babylonian period, concerning both sesame seeds and sesame oil (see ḫalāṣum [glossary=ḫalāṣum]and Dossier A.1.1.22 § 2). According to an Old Babylonian letter from Kiš[geogr=Kiš], sesame oil specified as i3.bara2.ga does not fit for smelling (ana eṣēnim ul naṭû). Consequently, the sesame must undergo a specific treatment (ḫalāṣum) and then has to be milled (ṣaḫātum[glossary=ṣaḫātum]) before shipping it again to the recipient (AbB 09 058 o. 8-12). This attestation confirms, on the one hand, that the treatment termed as Sum. para10 a5 / Akk. ḫalāṣum happened before the milling process. On the other hand, the attestation in the letter mentioned above also indicates that this treatment, in a way, influenced the flavour of the sesame oil obtained from the treated sesame seeds. This data suggest that para10 a5 is to be identified with a treatment of sesame seeds intended to enhance and/or control their flavour and the flavour of the sesame oil obtained from them. Bedigian (2010: 7) confirms that when sesame seeds are roasted after removing their seed coat, a much weaker sweet, nutty flavour develops than does the characteristic flavour obtained when seeds are roasted with their seed coats (Bedigian 2010: 180 after Namiki 1995).  And considering the presence of para10.g „sack“, para10 a5 identifies the removal of the seed coats by the wet process. In particular, after soaking, the sesame seeds were rubbed against the surface of the „sack“ (para10) to separate the seed coats from the kernels. The last step, i.e. drying the dehulled seeds, could have been fastened by using fuel for heating, as attested in Umma (see Dossier A.1.1.7 § 2).

4. Sesame oil milling women

The processing of sesame seeds was „women’s work“ (a2 geme2) (ASJ 02 10 21). „Sesame oil milling women“ (geme2 ĝeš-i3 sur-sur-ra[glossary=geme2 i3 sur]) received „barley allotments“ (še-ba), according to a receipt of barley by the sesame official Urabba [individual=Urabba ](PPAC 5 0341, AS.07.09.00). A balanced account probably on barley documents the expenditure of barley as allotments („barley allotments“ še-ba) for various workers, among them male and female „porters“ (uĝ3-ga6) or „personnel“ (ḫe2-dab5), as well as „for subsistence“ (šuku-ra). The account also lists 1,260 litres of barley as allotments for „gardeners“ (nu-kiri6) and „sesame oil milling women“. Unfortunately, the text is not well preserved, and we lack further details on the individuals related to these allotments; likewise, the final caption is not preserved. Hence we cannot link the balanced account to any specific institution or individual in Ĝirsu ( TUT 101 r. i 10-12, […].00.00).

According to its list of „the total of barley allocations“ (kilib3-ba še-ba) (CT 03 09 BM 018344 o. iii 1-7, Šu.48.12.00; see table below), the biggest group documented in the millhouse (e2-kinkin) of Ĝirsu is – as expected – that of the millers (72 %), followed by „menials of the gardens“ (5.2 %) and working gangs „for hauling boats“ or „stationed at the palace“ (respectively 4.9 %). There are also up to 11 sesame oil millers, i.e. 1.2 %, among them women and children.