CUSAS 15 096

Sesame seeds for 1 year in Larsa (with available capital and arrears)

by Grégory Chambon and Anne-Isabelle Langlois

LineText originalText translated
o. 1igi.du₈.a lugalHarvest register of the king:
o. 2 2997.3.5 7 sila₃ gur še.ĝeš.i₃[glossary=šamaššammū] 899,337 qa (899,337 litres) of sesame seeds.
o. 3 saĝ ni₃.ĝa.ra Available capital:
o. 4 1461.3.2 9 sila₃ gur še.ĝeš.i₃ 438,509 qa of sesame seeds,
o. 5 mu.kuₓ gur₇ bringing in granary.
o. 6 la₂.ni 1536.1.0 9 sila₃ gur še.ĝeš.i₃ Arrears: 460,869 qa of sesame seeds.
o. 7 ni₃.ka₃ ak til.la₂ mu ₁.kam Full account for 1 year,
o. 8 [š]a mu den.zu–i-di₂-nam lugal Sîn-iddinam 1.
r. 1 [ša₃] uruki gu.za.la₂ [in] the city of Guzala
r. 2 [m]u.na.{x}a šeš …
r. 3 iti gišapin.du₈.a u₄ 12.kam Month VIII, Day 12
r. 4 mu i₇idigna ba.ba.al Year Sîn-iddinam 2.
Commentary

1Scholars consider this type of tablet a harvest register, which Babylonian officials called “igidûm-tablet” (see van Koppen 2002: 335-336; Stol 2001: 462 n°2). In ancient times, they compared the actual data recorded on it to the expected quantities mentioned in the šukunnûm-tablets, which give the estimates set by the royal administration (Fiette in press: 7).

2Here the igidûm-tablet gives the expected quantity of sesame harvested in the kingdom of Larsa[geogr=Larsa], which is ca. 900,000 litres. Only about half has been delivered to the (royal) granary, and the other half is still missing. It is difficult to know why. Has the agricultural season been bad? Or did the missing quantities of sesame seeds not yet arrive?

3On sesame harvesting in Babylonia, see Dossier A.1.1.17.

Bibliography

  • Fiette in press = Fiette, Baptiste (in press): Measuring crops with the šukunnûm-number, in: Proust, Christine; Vandendriessche, Eric (eds.), ‘Concrete numbers’ versus ‘abstract numbers’: an anthropological, historical, historiographical and didactical approach, Historia Mathematica.
  • Stol 2001 = Stol, Marten (2001): A Rescript of an Old Babylonian Letter, in: Soldt, Wilfred H. van (ed.), Veenhof Anniversary Volume. Studies Presented to Klaas R. Veenhof on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday, Publications de l'Institut historique et archéologique néerlandais de Stamboul 89. Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 457-465.
  • van Koppen 2002 = Koppen, Frans van (2002): Seized by Royal Order. The Households of Sammêtar and Other Magnates at Mari, in: Charpin, Dominique; Durand, Jean-Marie (eds.), Recueil d'études à la mémoire d'André Parrot. Florilegium marianum 6. Mémoires de NABU 7 289-372. Paris: SÉPOA.