1. Terminology and Sources
Dairy management in the Presargonic period is mainly documented in the archive of the Emunus under Enentarzi, Lugalanda and Urukagina, city-rulers of Ĝirsu [geogr=Ĝirsu]in the 24th c. BCE. A few sources are also available from Umma[geogr=Umma], Adab [geogr=Adab]and Zabalam[geogr=Zabalam], as well as of unknown provenience. As in the later Ur III period, dairy products were processed essentially from „cow’s“ (ab2) or „goat’s“ (ud5) milk. Dairy management centred on the two main products butter („cows’/goats‘ butter“ i3 ab2[glossary=i3 ab2]/i3 ud5[glossary=i3 ud5] , „butter“ i3-nun[glossary=i3-nun]) and „sour milk cheese“ (ga’ara[glossary=ga’ara] = LAK-490) (Englund 1995: 385; e.g. Dossier A.2.1.02).
The word for „butter“ in Presargonic Umma (and also Adab and Zabalam) is i3-nun, literally „princely oil, fat“, or is abbreviated as i3[glossary=i3] „fat/oil“, along with a precise differentiation of i3(-nun) ab2 „butter from cow’s milk“ and i3(-nun) ud5 „butter from goat’s milk“ (e. g. CUSAS 33 244, CUSAS 33 117, CUSAS 23 11, Umma; CUSAS 35 229, Adab; CUSAS 33 241, Zabalam).
The documents from Presargonic Ĝirsu use both i3-nun and i3 ud5 for „butter (from goat’s milk)“ (e. g. Genava 26 5), while i3 ab2 represents „butter (from) cow’s milk“ (for the differentiation of i3 ab2 from i3-nun see DP 272, DP 270, VS 14 131). Both i3 ud5 „goats’ milk butter“ and i3 ab2 „cows‘ milk butter“ can be abbreviated to i3 „fat/oil“ within a document (e. g. DP 273, Genava 26 5; see Stol 1993-1997: 195; Bauer 1972: 333).
2. Delivery Quotas of Dairy Products
The annual delivery quotas of dairy products due by cattle and goat herders are documented by the combination of information from two types of administrative texts: accounts of livestock held by named herders and delivery records of dairy products by exactly these herders in the same year.
The delivery records document the expected deliveries of dairy products by named herders for a specific period. On the one hand, they „compiled (balanced) accounts“ (niĝ2-ka9(-bi) e-a5) that registered „charged“ butter (i3 ab2/ud5 si3-ga, literally „put onto (something)“). On the other hand, they used delivery records („the cow/goat herder delivered it“ unu3-de3-ne/sipa ud5-da-ke4-ne mu-de6) that registered „delivered“ butter (i3 ab2/ud5 de2-a, literally „poured out“) (see Stol 1993-1997: 195; Bauer 1972: 327). Each delivery of the named herders was documented on both types of records, and if the quantities of dairy products were the same, then the herders fulfilled the expected delivery quotas (e.g. VS 25 24 and DP 276). In general, the verb de2 „to pour out,“ was used to indicate the delivery of butter (e.g. DP 270).
Regarding bovines, accounts of cattle herds under the supervision of named herders recorded the age and gender of their livestock (e. g. DP 093, Enentarzi.05.00.00). On the other hand, delivery records registered the amounts of dairy products these named herders were expected to deliver the Emunus (e. g. DP 274–DP 275, Enentarzi.05.00.00). By combining the information offered by these two types of records for the same year (Enentarzi.05), it is possible to calculate the expected annual delivery quotas of butter (i3 ab2) and „sour milk cheese“ (ga’ara = LAK-490) per adult cow. Cattle herders had to deliver 10 sila of „butter“ (i3 ab2) and 18 sila of „sour milk cheese“ (ga’ara) per milk cow (ab2 ga) per year1Englund 1995: 386-387 assumes that 1 Old Sumerian sila3 = 1.5 litres; compare the annual delivery quotas in Ur III Umma, Dossier A.2.1.02, and Ur, Dossier A.2.1.04 as well as delivery quotas in Ur III Ĝirsu, Dossier A.2.1.03; they are also summarized below in table 1.. There is a constant relationship of 5:9 between the two products2Compare a different relationship in the Ur III period: table 1 below, Dossier A.2.1.02, Dossier A.2.1.04 and Dossier A.2.1.03.. According to Englund 1995: 387, this relationship is determined by accounting practices. The following table summarises the butter and “sour milk cheese” delivery quotas owed by the herders in the Presargonic, Sargonic and Ur III periods. It indicates the quantity of litres or sila per animal per year.
| Date | Place | Goats’ Milk | Cows’ Milk | Ratio | ||
| Butter | Sour milk cheese | Butter | Sour milk cheese | |||
| Presargonic | Ĝirsu | 0.6 sila | 1 sila | 10 sila | 18 sila | 5:9 sila |
| Sargonic | Adab | 3.4?3These data stem from an account of bovines and their dairy products from Adab (SEL 19 p. 5 no. 1). Unfortunately, the relevant passage for calculating the delivery quota is damaged and does not allow a precise reconstruction. | 4.4?4These data stem from an account of bovines and their dairy products from Adab (SEL 19 p. 5 no. 1). Unfortunately, the relevant passage for calculating the delivery quota is damaged and does not allow a precise reconstruction. | 1:1.3? | ||
| Ur III | Umma | 0.3 | 0.5 | 5 | 7.5 | 2:3 |
| 0.5 | 0.75 | |||||
| Ĝirsu | 0.3 | 0.3 | n.a. | n.a. | 1:1 | |
| 0.5 | 0.5 | |||||
| Ur | n.a. | n.a. | 5 | 7.5 | 2:3 | |
With respect to the Ur III period delivery quotas, the Presargonic cattle herders had to deliver, in comparison, a higher proportion of the dairy production of their herds ((Englund 1995: 388); for a more detailed analysis of this table see Paoletti forthcoming).
Concerning dairy products from goat milk, there are both accounts of goat herds with their herders (e. g. DP 095, Lugalanda.05.00.00) as well as delivery records of dairy products by the same herders (e. g. DP 277 and CDLI P225737, Lugalanda.05.00.00) from the same year. By combining the information of both types of texts, we can obtain the annual delivery quota of 0.6 sila of „butter“ (i3 ud5), and 1 sila of „sour milk cheese“ (ga’ara) per „nanny goat“ ((ama) ud5)5Compare different annual delivery quotas in the Ur III period in table 1, Dossier A.2.1.02, Dossier A.2.1.04 and Dossier A.2.1.03..