| Line | Text original | Text translated |
|---|---|---|
| o. 1 | igi.du8.a lugal | Harvest 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[glossary=šamaššammū]. |
| 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.ka9 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. |
CUSAS 15 096
Commentary
Scholars 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).
Here 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?
On 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.