Line	Text original	Text translated
o. 1	18 i-ni-a-at ta-al-pi₂-it-ti	18 ox teams (of the) talpittum-work;
o. 2	0.2.0 še mu-ki-il ḫa-ar-bi-im	120 qa (120 l.) of barley: ḫarbu-ploughman
o. 3	0.0.2 4 sila₃ šuku lu₂meš	24 qa (24 l.): food rations for men;
o. 4	0.0.3 3 sila₃ ša₃.gal gu₄ wa-⸢ar-ki⸣-i	33 qa (33 l.): fodder for rear-oxen;
o. 5	0.0.1 5 sila₃ a-na maš₂[ḫi.a] ⸢x⸣-ri	15 qa (15 l.) for goats […].
o. 6	0.2.3 i-di lu₂ḫun.ga₂	150 qa (150 l.): wages of the hired worker
o. 7	ša it-ti gu₄ḫi.a x-x-bu-u₂	who […] with oxen;
o. 8	0.2.3 ki-ir-ri	150 qa (150 l.): kirrum-ceremony of ox teams;
o. 9	0.0.3 šuku lu₂meš	30 qa (30 l.): food rations for men;
o. 10	0.0.2 5 sila₃ a-na giḫi.a a-na di-pa-ri-i	25 qa (25 l.) for the reeds canes for the torches;
o. 11	0.1.0 še i-di lu₂ḫun.ga₂	60 qa (60 l.) of barley: wages of the hired worker
o. 12	ša u₄ 4.kam ša me-e iṣ-bu-u₂	who irrigated for four days
o. 13	u₃ u₄ 2.kam a-ta-pa-⸢am⸣ [ḫe-ru-u₂-um]	and dug for two days a small irrigation canal;
lo.e. 14	0.0.4 i-di lu₂ḫun.ga₂	40 qa (40 l.): wages of the hired worker
lo.e. 15	ša 0.2.0gana₂ a.ša₃
lo.e. 16	me-e iṣ-bu-u₂
r. 17	0.2.1 2 sila₃ i-di 12 lu₂meš	132 qa (132 l.) (of barley): wages for 12
r. 18	ka-si-mu	weeders;
r. 19	0.0.1 5 sila₃ a-na ma-aš-ka-ka-tim	15 qa (15 l.) for the harrow;
r. 20	0.0.1 a-na ⸢x⸣ še ša? bi-ir-⸢nu?-um?⸣	10 qa (1 l.) for […] barley, of […];
r. 21	8 sila₃ i-di gišapin še.giš.i₃[glossary=šamaššammū]	8 qa: hire of the plough for sesame[glossary=šamaššammū];
r. 22	0.0.1 ⸢x⸣ ra? x ma? i-nu-ma še.giš.i₃ e-ḫu-⸢x⸣	10 qa: […], when sesame was […].
r. 23	šu.nigin₂ 2.3.4 2 sila₃ še ša iš-tu ⸢iti apin⸣.du₈	Total: 822 qa (822 l.) of barley, from month VIII
r. 24	a-di iti a-bi	till month V.
r. 25	0.1.1 2 sila₃ i-di 6 lu₂ḫe-pi₂-i	72 qa (72 l.) (of barley): wages for 6 workers breaking clods;
r. 26	0.1.2 4 sila₃ i-di 12 lu₂la-qi₂-it ki-ir-/ba-ni	84 qa (84 l.): wages for 12 workers breaking clods;
r. 27	0.0.2 4 sila₃ i-di 2 lu₂ ša i-ki iš-pu-ku	24 qa (24 l.): wages for 2 men who heaped up dikes.
r. 28	0.0.1 2 sila₃ i-di 1 lu₂ i-ki iš-pu-ku	12 qa (12 l.): wages for 1 man who heaped up dikes.
r. 29	0.0.1 4 sila₃ i-di 2 lu₂la-qi₂-it ki-ir-ba-ni	14 qa (14 l.): wages for 2 clod-collectors

This tablet is, according to De Graef 2018: 196 who edited the dossier, a “list of barley expenditures” which resumes the information contained in four little dockets (BM 97939, BM 97809, BM 97938, BM 98045) — except lines 17-24 — in the same order. De Graef (2018: 196) indicates that lines 17-22 could have been part of another docket that is now lost but not lines 23-24, which take the total of all that is above. The fact that lines 25-29 were copied on two dockets (BM 97938 and BM 98045) but that they are not part of the total could be explained because these wages would not correspond to the period quoted just before, from Month VIII/November to Month V/August the following year.

1. Palaeographical and philological commentary

• Line 1: For the talpittum-work, see Stol (1995: 200) and De Graef (2018: 198).
• Line 5: The line is damaged, but we probably have to look for a qualifier for goats. Perhaps ṣeḫrum for tur? However, one would wait for the ideogrammatic form.
• Line 7: According to De Graef, the line’s last word is an illegible verb. One might wonder if it is not again (me-e) iṣ-bu-u, like in lines 12 and 16; in this case, the hired worker for this task would have done it with the help of oxen.
• Line 8: kirrum designates, according to Stol (1995: 200), a “ceremonial happening of legal importance.” Kraus 1959-62 had rightly considered it a special ceremony, and then Stol studied the context of the letter AbB 2 157, which allowed him to put forward this hypothesis. In the document context, the ceremony kirrum intervened when ox teams (iriātum) started the work of “deep ploughing” in the fields and, by extension, marked the beginning of the season. For the expression kirram šapākum, “to pour out the kirrum,” see AbB 02 157 quoted by Stol, and also the letters, which are actually school learning exercises, AbB 05 205 and AbB 08 118.
• Line 20: Traces of signs in this line elude comprehension.
• Line 22: Unfortunately, for our purposes, the line is partially illegible. The last word is apparently a verb designating a particular operation on sesame.

2. Historical commentary

This summary tablet, as well as the four dockets, are not dated. However, given that all of the texts in the agricultural dossier of Old Babylonian Sippar edited and studied by De Graef are dated to the reign of Ḫammurāpi, we consider that it dates from the same period.

For sesame cultivation practices in Babylonia, see Dossier A.1.1.15.

 

Parallels: For sesame cultivation in Sippar, see AOAT 440 191 2.1.