Line | Text original | Text translated |
---|---|---|
o. 1 | 2,24 tibira | 144 sculptors |
o. 2 | 24,00 si7 | 1,440 smiths |
o. 3 | 3,12 ku3-dim2 | 192 silversmiths |
o. 4 | 2,24 zadim | 144 jewellers |
o. 5 | 25,33 naĝar | 1,533 carpenters |
o. 6 | 9,32 ašgab | 572 tanners |
o. 7 | 4,45 tug2-du8 | 285 textile plaiters |
o. 8 | 24,00 adgub | 1,440 basket-makers |
o. 9 | u4 1-še3 | (work) for one day, |
r. 1 | še-ĝeš-i3 ib2-ur4[glossary=ur4] | they pulled out the sesame plants,[glossary=ur4] |
r. 2 | ib2-tab[glossary=tab] ĝeš bi2-ib2-ra[glossary=ĝeš ra] | bundled them, threshed them, |
r. 3 | iri-saĝ-rig7ki | |
r. 4 | u3 an-za-gara3ki-še3 | |
r. 5 | ib2-il2-ne | |
r. 6 | u4 erin2 uĝnim-še3 / nu-um-e-re-ša-a (uĝnim: ki.su.lu.še3.gar.ki) | when the gangs did not come to the army. |
r. 7 | a-a?-zu? nu-banda3 | (Under) colonel Ayazu, |
r. 8 | ĝiri3 lugal-im-ru-a | via Lugal-imrua; |
0 | (seal) | |
r. 9 | zi-ga | expenditure |
r. 10 | mu dšu-dzuen lugal / urim5ki-ma-ke4 / e2 dšara2 ummaki-ka / mu-du3 | year: Šu-Suen 9 |
s. 1 | lugal-im-ru-a | |
s. 2 | dub-sar | |
s. 3 | dumu lu2–dab-u2 |
Nisaba 15/2 0547
This text gives both the tasks to be performed at the harvest of sesame plants, and indicates the work-days necessary for the harvest at Irisaĝrig and at Anzagara. The craftsmen of Irisaĝrig, usually under their foremen Ku-elak[individual=Ku-elak], performed the task, since – as the text says – the gangs of worker’s did not go on military expedition, perhaps, because king Šu-Suen had died the month before.
The text indicates the days of work, and both the duration and the number of the workmen are not known. We follow Heimpel 2013: 203 who had proposed that a time period of 48 days gives the best results to obtain whole numbers of workmen, and thus the work-force includes 120 men (see the table below). This agrees with other numbers for the craftsmen under Ku-elak:
123 full-time plus 36 half-time workers in JAC 24 56 02;
52+ 27 in Nisaba 15/2 1007;
90 „single men“ in Nisaba 15/2 0999.
Nisaba 15/2 0552 adds another 736 man-days for the same year Šu-Suen 9; assuming the same time span of 48 days, this would add another 15.3 men to the workforce which thus accrues to c. 136 men(120 after Nisaba 15/2 0547 plus 15.3 after Nisaba 15/2 0552). Nisaba 15/2 0915 is partly in the same range of numbers as Nisaba 15/2 0547, but it includes significantly higher and lower numbers as well (see table below). Nisaba 15/2 0916 gives only the total of 2,682 workdays, about half the number of Nisaba 15/2 0547, but it seems to concern Irisaĝrig only, not Anzagara as well.
Sesame plants are „pulled out“ (lit. grasped, plucked)“ (ur4)[glossary=ur4] of the earth, then „bundled“ (tab)[glossary=tab] and placed in sheaves for ripening, and finally „hulled“ (ĝeš ra)[glossary=ĝeš ra]. The translation follows largely Heimpel 2013: 202-203. The last two terms correspond to the activities performed with grain. The harvested sesame is stored both in the capital Irisaĝrig and in Anzagara.
Table: Days of work for various craftsmen in ascending order, following Nisaba 15/2 0547 with an assumed duration of 48 days. Similar estimates can not be proposed for Nisaba 15/2 0915. Nisaba 15/2 0533 deals with the same group of people, but with construction work and is added for comparison.
Nisaba 15/2 0547 | men on 48 days | Nisaba 15/2 0915 | see also Nisaba 15/2 0533 o.17-r.6 | men on 6 days | ||
tibira | 144 | 3 | 76 | 19 | 3.2 | |
zadim | 144 | 3 | 291 | 18 | 3 | |
ku3-dim2 | 192 | 4 | 290 | 19 | 3.2 | |
tu9-du8 | 285 | 5.9 | 287 | 33 | 5.5 | |
ašgab | 572 | 11.9 | 565 | 82 | 13.7 | |
si7 | 1440 | 30 | 1,036 | 237 | 39.5 | |
adgub | 1440 | 30 | 1,034 | 422 | 70.3 | |
naĝar | 1533 | 31.9 | 1,061 | 278 | 46.3 | |
total | (5750) | (120) | 4,637 | (184,7) |
Bibliography
- Heimpel 2013 = Heimpel, Wolfgang (2013): Āl-šarrākī and Sesame Cultivation in Sumer, in: Owen, David I. (ed.), Cuneiform Texts Primarily from Iri-Saĝrig/Āl-Šarrākī and the History of the Ur III Period 1. Nisaba 15. Bethesda, Maryland: CDL, 201-205.