Line | Text original | Text translated |
---|---|---|
o. 1 | 20,00.0.0 gana2-gud | 2 šar’u (= 21,600 iku = 7,776 ha) domain land |
o. 2 | 1,40.0.0 gana2 ki ĝeš-i3-ka[glossary=ki ĝeš-i3] | 1 šar 4 bur’u (= 1,800 iku = 648 ha) sesame plots[glossary=ki ĝeš-i3] |
o. 3 | [x]+6.0.0 gana2 ku5-ra2 / udu gegge! (= dugud) | […]+108 iku (= 38.88+ ha) cut off for black sheep |
o. 4 | [10]+22.0.0 gana2 ku5-ra2 udu eme-ge-ra | ⸢576⸣ iku (= 207.36 ha) cut off for native sheep |
o. 5 | [x]+2.0.0 gana2 ki-nisi | [x]+36 iku (= 12.96+ ha) vegetable plots |
o. 6 | [x]+2.0.0 gana2 ki šum2-ma | [x]+36 iku (= 12.96+ ha) onion plots |
o. 7 | [x].0.0 gana2 ki-gu | […]+.0.0 iku flax plots |
o. 8 | [x].0.0 gana2 ki izim-ma | RR […]+.0.0 iku festival place RR |
0 | ====================== | |
0 | (…) | |
r. 8 | [x] buru14 bala ba-ab-tuku | [x] was left fallow |
r. 9 | ⸢8⸣,15.0.0 gana2 / šuku du3-du3-a | |
r. 11 | ====================== | ====================== |
r. 12 | šu-niĝen2 22,41.1.0 gana2–/gud | Total 2 šar’u 2 šar 4 bur’u 1 bur (= 24,504 iku = 8,821.44 ha) domain land |
r. 13 | šu-niĝen2 14,45.0.o gana2 / a-ša3 murub4 (= ud-gunû) | Total 1 šar’u 4 šar 4 bur’u 5 bur ( =15,930 iku = 5,734.8 ha) medium quality fields |
AnOr 01 303 o. 1-8, r. 12-13
o. 3 ku5-ra2 „cut off“ for other purposes: see the commentary to HLC 3 373 (pl. 141) o. 3′, r. 6′.
r. 13 a-ša3 murub4 “medium quality fields” (Vanderroost 2012-2013: 88).
This text is one of three land surveys which document the extension of arable land in the province of Umma, in addition to AnOr 01 303, Orient 21 1 and Studies Postgate 562 Text E.
AnOr 01 303 documents the extension of arable land in the Umma province, though it is unfortunately not dated. The final caption lists 24,504 iku (= 8,821.44 ha) of „domain land“ (gana2-gud) and 15,930 iku (= 5,734.8 ha) of „medium quality fields“ (a-ša3 murub4), but does not assess either the areas of fallow land nor those reserved as subsistence land (AnOr 01 303 r. 12-13). According to the final caption, the sum of the „domain land“ and the „medium quality fields“ amounts to 40,434 iku (= 14,556.24 ha), which resembles the total arable land assessed in the two other land surveys dated in the year Amar-Suena 2 (Orient 21 1 and Studies Postgate 562 Text E, see table 1 below). The areas of „fallow land“ (buru14 bala) and those reserved as „subsistence land to be cultivated“ (šuku du3-du3-a, 8,910 iku = 3,207.6 ha) are not included in the final calculation of AnOr 01 303, but they appear in a previous section and they are unfortunately not entirely preserved in the tablet (see below in table 1) (Vanderroost 2012-2013: 88 - 89). The total amount of „domain land“ given in the final caption of AnOr 01 303 (24,504 iku (= 8,821.44 ha) corresponds to approximately twice as much as the „domain land“ registered in the aforementioned land surveys of the year Amar-Suena 2 (see table 3 below). Hence according to its final caption, AnOr 01 303 very likely assesses the whole arable land in Umma, without distinguishing cultivated from fallow land.
AnOr 01 303 r. 12-13: Classification of land according to the final caption |
|||
Type of land | iku | ha | % |
domain land (gana2 gud) | 24,504 | 8,821.44 | 60.6 % |
medium quality fields (a-ša3 murub4) | 15,930 | 5,734.8 | 39.4 |
Total | 40,434 | 14,556.24 | 100 % |
AnOr 01 303 also classifies the parcels of „domain land“ (gana2 gud, 24,504 iku = 8,821.44 ha) into eight types of plots (o. 1-8). 7.3 % of the total area was reserved for „sesame plots“ (ki ĝeš-i3[glossary=ki ĝeš-i3]), i.e. 1,800 iku (= 648 ha), which corresponds to exactly twice as much as the sesame cultivated plots recorded in the other two land surveys of the year Amar-Suena 2 (Orient 21 1 and Studies Postgate 562 Text E, see Table 2 and 3 below). The larger part was „domain land“ (gana2 gud) planted with cereals (88.1 %, 7,776 ha), again twice as much as recorded in the year Amar-Suena 2. Hence in this regard, AnOr 01 303 does not take into consideration that half of this land was generally left alternately fallow. The sesame fields were regarded in Umma as well as in Ĝirsu as part of the „domain land“ (gana2 gud) (see also dossier A.1.1.3).
Type of cultivation | Cereals | Sesame plots | Cut off for other purposes | Vegetables | Onions | Flax | Festival place | Total of domain land (gana2 gud) |
iku | 21,600 | 1,800 | 684+ | 36+ | 36+ | […] | […] | 24,504 |
ha | 7,776 | 648 | 246.24+ | 12.96+ | 12.96+ | […] | […] | 8,821.44 |
% | 88.1 | 7.3 | 2.8+ | 0.1+ | 0.1+ | [1,5] | 100 |
Orient 21 1 and Studies Postgate 562 Text E likewise document the distribution of land in Umma and they are dated in the year Amar-Suena 2 (the date of Studies Postgate 562 Text E is reconstructed after Orient 21 1, see Steinkeller 2017: 562). They quantify „domain land“ (gana2-gud, ca. 34.9 %), „fallow land“ (buru14 bala-be2, ca. 34.9 %) and „subsistence land to be cultivated“ (šuku du3-du3-a, ca. 30.21 %) (Vanderroost 2012-2013: 87 - 92). They do not register any area classified as being of medium quality like in AnOr 01 303. The total arable land thereafter amounted to up to 42,075 iku (= 15,147 ha) (Table 3).
Classification of land | Orient 21 1 | Studies Postgate 562 Text E | ||||
iku | ha | % | iku | ha | % | |
domain land (gana2 gud) | 14,130 | 5,086.8 | 34.9 % | 14,268 | 5,136.48 | 33.9 |
fallow land (buru14 bala-be2) | 14,130 | 5,086.8 | 34.9 % | 14,268 | 5,136.48 | 33.9 |
subsistence land to be cultivated (šuku du3-du3-a) | 12,249 | 4,409.64 | 30.2 % | [13,539] | [4,874.04] | 32.2 % |
Total | 40,509 | 14,583.24 | 100 % | 42,075 | 15,147 | 100 % |
The „domain land“ (gana2 gud) covered in total up to 14,268 iku (5,136.48 ha) (Studies Postgate 562 Text E) and is classified into up to eight categories. Ca. 6.4 % was occupied by „sesame fields“ (a-ša3 ĝeš-i3-ka), i.e. 900 iku (= 324 ha), whereas the larger part was planted with cereals (>76 %) (see following table 4).
Type of domain land | Orient 21 1 o. i 9 – o. ii 4 | Studies Postgate 562 Text E o. i 8 – 16 | ||||
iku | ha | % | iku | ha | % | |
plough oxen of each 108 iku
(gud ĝešapin 6.0.0GANA2-ta) |
10,800 | 3,888 | 76.4 | 10,800 | 3,888 | 75.7 |
ploughmen of each 6 iku
(engar 0.1.0GANA2-ta) |
600 | 216 | 4.2 | 600 | 216 | 4.2 |
oxen herders on fields of each 3 iku
(ša3-gud 0.0.3GANA2-ta) |
900 | 324 | 6.4 | 900 | 324 | 6.3 |
scribe of plough oxen (-10) of each 54 iku
(dub-sar gud (10) 3.0.0.GANA2-ta) |
540 | 194.4 | 3.8 | 540 | 194.4 | 3.8 |
inspector of plough oxen (10) of each 18 iku
(nu-banda3 gud (10) 1.0.0GANA2-ta) |
360 | 129.6 | 2.5 | 360 | 129.6 | 2.5 |
vegetable plot
(ki-nisi) |
30 | 10.8 | 0.2 | 60 | 21.6 | 0.4 |
sesame plot
(a-ša3 ĝeš-i3-ka[glossary=a-ša3 ĝeš-i3]) |
900 | 324 | 6.4 | 900 | 324 | 6.3 |
cut off for sheeps?
(gana2?(ĜEŠ) ku5-〈ra2〉? udu) |
108 | 38.88 | 0.8 | |||
Total | 14,130 | 5,086.8 | 100 % | 14,268 | 5,136.48 | 100 % |
Bibliography
- Maekawa 1987b = Maekawa, Kazuya (1987): The Management of Domain Land in Ur III Umma. A Study of BM 110116, in: Zinbun 22, 25-82.
- Ouyang 2013 = Ouyang, Xiaoli (2013): Monetary Role of Silver and Its Administration in Mesopotamia During the Ur III Period (c. 2112-2004 BCE). A Case Study of the Umma Province. Biblioteca del Próximo Oriente Antiguo 11. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.
- Sharlach 2004 = Sharlach, Tonia M. (2004): Provincial Taxation and the Ur III State. Cuneiform Monographs 26. Leiden and Boston: Brill Styx.
- Steinkeller 2013 = Steinkeller, Piotr (2013): Corvée Labor in Ur III Times, in: Garfinkle, Steven J.; Molina, Manuel (eds.), From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D. Proceedings of the International Conference on Sumerian Studies Held in Madrid 22-24 July 2010. Madrid: Eisenbrauns, 347-424.
- Steinkeller 2017 = Steinkeller, Piotr (2017): An Estimate of the Population of the City of Umma in Ur III Times, in: Heffron, Yağmur; Stone, Adam; Worthington, Martin (eds.), At the Dawn of History: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of J. N. Postgate. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 535-566.
- Vanderroost 2008 = Vanderroost, Nicolas (2008): Distribution géographique et organisation administrative des équipes agricoles de la province d'Umma, in: Garfinkle, Steven J.; Johnson, Justin Cale (eds.), The Growth of an Early State in Mesopotamia: Studies in Ur III Administration. Proceedings of the First and Second Ur III Workshops at the 49th and 51th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, London July 10, 2003 and Chicago July 19. Biblioteca del próximo oriente antiguo 5. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 129-139.
- Vanderroost 2012-2013 = Vanderroost, Nicolas (2012/2013): Organisation administrative du bureau de l'agriculture d'Umma à l'époque de la Troisième Dynastie d'Ur. Dissertation. Bruxelles: Université libre de Bruxelles.