Line	Text original	Text translated
o. 1	a-na zi-nu-⸢u3sic![individual=Zinû] qi2-bi2-ma⸣	To Zinû[individual=Zinû], say:
o. 2	um-ma dutu-ḫa-zi-ir[individual=Šamaš-ḫāzir]-ma	thus (speaks) Šamaš-ḫāzir[individual=Šamaš-ḫāzir].
o. 3	dutu u3 dnin.{x}šubur
o. 4	li-ba-al-li-ṭu3-u2-ki
o. 5	aš-šum 10.0.0gana2 a.ša3 ša ap-qu?-ma-am
o. 6	še.giš.i3[glossary=šamaššammū] i-pu-šu
o. 7	50.0.0 gur še ni3.ku5 it-ti-šu	the 50 kor (15,000 l) of barley (corresponding to) the part (of the harvest) are with him.
o. 8	še-a-am a-na den.zu-mu-uš-ta-al[individual=Sîn-muštāl]
o. 9	na-da-nam aq-bi-šum-ma
o. 10	um-ma šu-u2-ma	he said:
o. 11	še-a-am at-ta-di-in	“I just gave him the barley;
o. 12	mi-im-ma e-li-ia	there is nothing on me.”
lo.e. 13	⸢u2⸣-ul i-šu
lo.e. 14	a-na den.zu-mu-uš-ta-al
lo.e. 15	ki-a-am iq-bi
r. 16	še.giš.i3 ša 10.0.0gana2.e! a.ša3 ša-⸢ti⸣	The sesame of these 10 bur of field,
r. 17	ša ib-ba-aš-šu-u2	(as many) as there are,
r. 18	a-na er-re-ši-im lu-u2 id-di-in	he shall give (it) to a farmer
r. 19	šu-u2 lu-u2 i-ri-iš	or cultivate it himself!
r. 20	ša le-qi2-ni u3 le-qi2-šu!	What is to be taken by us and taken by him,
r. 21	šu-ri-ba-ma i-na uruaš.dub.baki[geogr=Ašdubba]
r. 22	pi-ḫi-a
r. 23	0.0.1 še.giš.i3 la ta-na-ad-di/na-šum	Do not give him 1 sūtum (10 l) of sesame!
r. 24	u3 a-na nu-ur2-dnin.šubur[individual=Nūr-Ilabrat]
r. 25	ṭup-pi2 uš-ta-bi-lam
r. 26	a.ša3-lam ša-{x}ti	that field,
r. 27	a-na-ku-u2-ma e-er-ri-iš-su2	I will cultivate it myself!
r. 28	ma-am-⸢ma-an a-na a.ša3⸣
r. 29	la ta-[ṭe4*-eḫ*-ḫi*-i*]?
r. 30	u3 aš-šum [a*.ša3* še*.giš*.i3*]?	Otherwise, about [the field of sesame]?
r. 31	ša urur[a-ka-batki][geogr=Rakabat]	of Rakabat[geogr=Rakabat],
le.e. 32	Idutu-a-bi ṭup-pi2 a-na še-ep-den.zu[individual=Šēp-Sîn] uš-ta-bi-/il	Šamaš-abī is sending my tablet to Šēp-Sîn[individual=Šēp-Sîn];
le.e. 33	ta-ḫi-it-<ta>-am ṭu3-ur-di!-ma	Send (him) the information:
le.e. 34	a-di la i-ri-šu la i-il-la-kam	he must not come until we have cultivated (it).

1. Publications

See references in Archibab.

2. Palaeographical and philological commentary

• Line 1: Zinû is spelt zi-nu-u₃ instead of zi-nu-u₂ on the tablet. Sommerfeld in Archibab suggests that it is probably a misprint.
• Line 5: On Dossin’s copy, it seems that the sign is indeed a kum; since this is followed by the signs –ma-am, one can wonder whether it is not necessary to read -qu rather than -qum.
• Line 6: Instead of a more technical term, it is common to find the expression “to make sesame” (šamaššammī epēšum) to mean “to grow sesame”; we leave here the literal translation to render this expression, of which we know an equivalent in French in an agricultural context (“faire du sésame”, “faire des légumes”, etc.).
• Line 16: The sign e is almost ligated into the sign gana₂ on Dossin’s copy.
• Line 20: On Dossin’s copy, the sign for –šu has an e structure.
• Line 22: Note that the verb is not justified on the line, which suggests that line 22 is actually on line 21.
• Line 23: The sign na, on Dossin’s copy, is well below the line, like the sign sum.
• Line 27: Notice that the last sign of the verb is a zu, to be read su₂, and not a šu as expected.
• Line 29: There is certainly space for more than three or four signs in the break, but considering the overall appearance of the lines on the tablet, the fact that there could have been only three signs is not impossible. According to Veenhof, Zinû must not give access to this field to anyone (“Don’t [give] anybody [access] to that field”), which is particularly well suited to the context. The Mari letter FM 7 36, which partially relates to the cultivation of agricultural land, mentions line 27: ma-am-ma-an a-na a.ša₃ a-la-aḫ-tim^ki u₂-ul i-ṭe₄-eḫ-ḫi, “no one should approach the fields of Alaḫtum!” (on the Akkadian root ṭeḫûm, “to come near”, “to approach”; cf. CAD Ṭ, s.v. ṭeḫû (ṭaḫû), p. 71-81). The verb has to be on Š/III system because, in the context, this is Zinû who must prevent someone from approaching this field. Therefore, we propose this restitution on ṭeḫûm.
• Line 30: This restitution is proposed in light of Fiette’s questioning.
• Line 33: According to Jacquet’s suggestions in Archibab.
• For other palaeographical and philological remarks, see Fiette’s notes in Archibab.

3. Historical commentary

As is often the case, part of the field is reserved for growing sesame; the 50 gur (15,000 litres) of barley defined as the harvest yield for 10 bur (= 180 ikû = 648,000 m² ) is only a “part” (ni3.ku5, Akkadian miksum) of the total harvested.

Line 23 is very interesting: it should be understood that not even the smallest measure of sesame (sūtum, i.e. 10 litres) should be given to Apqumam, the farmer, probably because he did not provide the part of the harvest he cultivated (Fiette considers the hypothesis that Šamaš-ḫāzir anticipates a potential claim by the farmer; 2018a: 258). Therefore all the sesame will be locked in Ašdubba[geogr=Ašdubba], where there must have been a granary. The idea of a sūtum as a “standard measure” in this Akkadian expression is noteworthy.
For more details, see Dossier A.1.1.16.