This dossier analyses key sources that allow us to quantify sesame cultivation in Ĝirsu [geogr=Ĝirsu]in the Ur III period. Sesame-cultivated plots in Ĝirsu covered between 5 % and 6 % of the cultivated domain land, an area of ca. 900 to 1,000 (± 10%) hectares. These data allow us to estimate the annual production of sesame seeds at ca. 662,000 to ca. 735,000 litres per season and prove that Ĝirsu was the main producer of sesame in the state as a whole. This level of production could also easily exceed the scale of sesame supplies documented from provinces further east (Susa) and regions further north (Karaḫar[geogr=Karaḫar]) (respectively Dossier A.1.1.06 and Dossier A.1.1.01).

1. The Extension of Arable Land and Sesame Plots in Ĝirsu

The temple land was divided administratively in three different sectors: (1) the largest area of land („domain land“ gana2 gud, 67 %) was cultivated on behalf of the organization, (2) the much smaller area of the „subsistence fields“ (gana2 šuku, 25 %) for the officials and staff of the temple and (3) as a separate category the „leased land“ or „tenant plots“ (gana2 apin-la2, gana2 niĝ2-ĝal2-la, 8 %) (e.g. HLC 3 373 (pl. 141); Maekawa 1987a, de Maaijer 1998 and Sallaberger 1999: 292-293). The temple land was subdivided in various units and each unit or subunit was headed by its own official following a specific hierarchy.  At the base of the hierarchy was the „ploughman“ (engar), who was responsible for an administrative unit („field“ a-ša3) (Maekawa 1987a; Sallaberger 1999: 292-293). One „ploughman“ (engar) managed a ploughing team and every ploughing team deployed in the field included one „yoke of oxen (for the work on a) sesame plot“ (gud ĝeš ki ĝeš-i3[glossary=ki ĝeš-i3]) (CT 07 32 BM 018394).

10-15 % of the total manpower active in agricultural tasks was assigned to work in sesame plots (CDLI P234864). Sesame-cultivated plots in Ĝirsu were classified as „domain land“ (gana2 gud) and covered between 5 % and 6 % of the cultivated domain land parcel in each field (HLC 3 373 (pl. 141) and Maekawa 1986: 131). This ratio fits well with that of Umma, where sesame fields covered 6-7 % of the cultivated domain land (Dossier A.1.1.05 § 1).

According to Maekawa (1987a: 97-98), (1995: 201-202) and de Maaijer (1998: 55) the total area of arable land in Ĝirsu amounted to up to 12,000 bur (= 77,760 ha), 67 % (ca. 52,099.2 ha) of which was regarded as „domain land“ (gana2 gud). If we assume that only around 33,3% of the total domain land was cultivated while the rest was left fallow or allotted to the members of the ploughing team (HLC 3 373 (pl. 141); 30-35% according to de Maaijer 1998: 55-56), then we obtain a total of ca. 17,370 ha of cultivated domain land in Ĝirsu. 5-6 % of it (here 5.5 %) amounting to ca. 960 hectares and correspondingly planted with sesame. This information allows a rough calculation of the sesame yields that could be expected annually from the temple fields of Girsu.

2. Estimation of the Annual Production of Sesame in Ĝirsu

Apparently not a single Ur III document records how much sesame could be harvested from a specific area and therefore we have to rely on ethnographic data for yield to area ratios. Crop yield of sesame can fluctuate considerably depending on various factors in cultivation: it can range from as low as 120 kg/ha in traditionally farmed sesame to as high as 1100 kg/ha in modern sesame cultivation (Bedigian 2010: 323). Crop yield of sesame under traditional farming practices in Behbahan, Iran, is 400-600 kg/ha (Bedigian 2010: 323); in Ethiopia, Iran and Turkey the average crop yield amounts to 400-440 kg/ha (Bedigian 2010: 299, 321-323, 349-351). All in all, the good soils in the Mesopotamian alluvium and the intensive solar irradiation suggest an average yield of 400 to 600 kg/ha. Let us consider 500 kg/ha as an average; the annual production of sesame in Ĝirsu then amounted to ca. 705,600 litres of sesame (1 kg = 1,47 litres), proving that Ĝirsu was the main producer of sesame in the entire Ur III state (compare the annual production in Umma of ca. 240,000 litres of sesame in Dossier A.1.1.05).

The highest registered amount of sesame seeds supplied from Karaḫar reached almost 142,000 litres for annual oil allotments (year Šu-Suen 8, Dossier A.1.1.01). The highest registered amount of sesame seeds transported from Susa [geogr=Susa]amounted to ca. 108,000 litres in the year Amar-Suena 4 (RT 18 72-73 017, Dossier A.1.1.06). These quantities could not even reach the amount of production of sesame at Ĝirsu or Umma [geogr=Umma]in a poor season and accounted for less than half of the minimum possible production at Ĝirsu in any good season.

The „yield“ (še ĝeš e3-a) of 11,052 litres of „sesame seeds“ (še-ĝeš-i3[glossary=ĝeš-i3]) is attested for the Uduturtur field (TUT 164-10, […].00.00), but, unfortunately, we do not know the corresponding area cultivated with sesame.