| Line | Text original | Text translated |
|---|---|---|
| o. 1 | 3.3.4 5 sila3 še-ĝeš-i3[glossary=še-ĝeš-i3] gur lugal | 3 gur 3 bariga 4 ban 5 sila (= 1,125 litres) of sesame[glossary=še-ĝeš-i3] |
| o. 2 | ki lu2-dĝeš-bar-e3-ta | from Lu-Ĝešbare |
| o. 3 | 10.1.0 8 ⅓ sila3 gur | 10 gur 1 bariga 8 ⅓ sila (= 3,068 ⅓ litres) (of sesame) |
| o. 4 | ki ša3-bi-ta | from Šabi |
| 0 | ———— | |
| o. 5 | ša3-bi-ta | out of it |
| o. 6 | 41.2.4 ½ ¼gana2 0.1.4-ta | 41 bur 2 eše 4 ½ ¼ iku (= 754 3/4 iku = 271.71 ha) of land at 1 bariga 4 ban (= 100 litres) each (bur) |
| r. 1 | še-ĝeš-i3 nuĝun-be2 [glossary=še-ĝeš-i3 nuĝun-be2] 13.4.5 2 ⅚ sila3 gur | its sesame seeds for sowing[glossary=še-ĝeš-i3 nuĝun-be2]: 13 gur 4 bariga 5 ban 2 ⅚ sila (= 4,192 ⅚ litres). |
| 0 | ———— | |
| r. 2 | gana2 ĝeš-i3 uru4-a[glossary=gana2 ĝeš-i3 uru4-a] | fields under sesame cultivation[glossary=gana2 ĝeš-i3 uru4-a] |
| r. 3 | ša3 šušunki[geogr=Susa] | in Susa[geogr=Susa]. |
| r. 4 | mu dnanna kar!-zi-da e2-a-na ba-[an-ku4] (= te) | Date (year) |
CTPSM 1 112
by Paola Paoletti 
Commentary
This text documents the cultivation of sesame undertaken at Susa [geogr=Susa] by the province of Ĝirsu/Lagas. The text registers 4,192 ⅚ litres of sesame seeds for sowing 271.71 ha of land at the rate of 100 litres seeds per each bur, i.e. 15.43 litres per 1 hectar. This rate corresponds to ca. 10 kg of sesame seeds per 1 hectar, i.e. ca. 5.5 litres per iku, and lies a little bit lower than the rate of 7 litres per iku known from an Old Babylonian letter (Christian no. 9; Waetzoldt 1985: 80, fn. 46; Stol 1985b: 120, fn. 9). In modern Turkey sesame is sown mostly by broadcasting and the sowing rate corresponds to ca. 10 kg per hectar (Bedigian 2011: 355). If we assume an average crop yield of 500 litres/ha per season (see Dossier A.1.1.3 § 2), this seeding rate corresponds to ca. 3 % of the estimated yield for the documented fields.
o. 2, o. 4 The sesame seeds were delivered by Lu-Ĝešbare (see also MVN 12 400, AS.04.02.00) and the merchant (dam-gara3) Šabi (MVN 13 348 o. ii 32, 0000.00.00). Šabi and Lu-Ĝešbare are listed among the “allotment holders in the fields of Susa” (lu2 šuku-ra-me a-ša3 šušinki) who received land parcels at Susa managed by the Ĝirsu branch there (ASJ 04 118 19, Šu.36.00.00; see Maekawa 2016b: 61-65; see also the Dossier A.1.1.06). Among the allotment holders there were also 12 „ploughmen of sesame“ (engar ĝeš-i3[glossary=engar ĝeš-i3]) (ASJ 04 118 19 r. i 23-25).
r. 1 The total does not correspond to the exact sum of the three amounts of sesame: it should be 13 gur 4 bariga 5 ban 3 ⅓ sila = 4,193 ⅓ litres, i. e., ½ sila (0.5 litres) is missing.
Bibliography
- Bedigian 2011 = Bedigian, Dorothea (ed.) (2010): Sesame: The Genus Sesamum. Boca Raton: CRC (Link).
- Maekawa 2016b = Maekawa, Kazuya (2016): Susa and Girsu-Lagaš in the Ur III Period, in: Maekawa, Kazuya (ed.), Ancient Iran, New Perspectives from Archaeology and Cuneiform Studies. Ancient Text Studies in the National Museum 2. Kyoto: Kazuya Maekawa and Nakanishi Printing Company, 53-92.
- Stol 1985b = Stol, Marten (1985): Remarks on the Cultivation of Sesame and the Extraction of its Oil, in: Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2, 119-126.
- Waetzoldt 1985 = Waetzoldt, Hartmut (1985): Ölpflanzen und Pflanzenöle im 3. Jahrtausend, in: Bulletin on Sumerian Agriculture 2, 77-96.