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a1 - A7.341 - Hurrian account concerning field taxations(?)
| Publications | Maiocchi M. 2011, “A Hurrian Administartive Tablet from Third Millennium Urkesh”, ZA 101, forthcoming |
| Language | Hurrian |
| Date | Late Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | ||
| 1. | 1 udu 1/3ša urudu ma-na | 1 sheep and 1/3 mina of copper: |
| 2. | ga-ba-wa | to Kaba |
| 3. | šu 1.0.0 [GANA2] | for (cultivating) 1 bur (=18 iku of land): |
| 4. | ze2?-za-[x] | Ziza[...] (is the supervisor?); |
| 5. | [2]+┌2┐ udu šu 0.0.┌4┐+[2 GAN]A2 | ┌4┐ sheep for ┌6┐ iku (of land): |
| rev. | ||
| 1. | BI-tu-ra-am | BIturam (is the supervisor); |
| 2. | 60 giri2 urudu! | 60 daggers of copper: |
| 3. | gu-za-wa | to Kuz(z)a |
| 4. | šu 0.0.2 GANA2 | for (cultivating) 2 iku (of land): |
| 5. | ┌a?┐-[d]a-ru-gu4-hu-ni | PN (is the supervisor). |
| l.e. | ┌x┐-maški | G[N]. |
|
Commentary: The document records the taxation of three parcels of land located in a city mentioned on the left edge, probably a rural settlement in the vicinity of Urkeš. The placing of the toponym on the edge of the tablet may be due to the way the tablets were filed, in order quickly find among others. This fact may imply the existance of an archive (still to be found) where other similar documents were stored side by side, having the label GN on the visible edge. The tablet was read in Hurrian, as shown by the use of the dative morpheme -va in obv. 2 and rev. 3. This is of outmost importance, for it proves the early use of Hurrian in administrative context, and the attempt of adaptation of cuneiform to that language already in third millennium BC. Comparable documents concerning field management come from third millennium Mesopotamia. A survey on the available material is provided by Steinkeller P. 1981, "The Renting of Fields in Early Mesopotamia and the Development of the Concept of “Interest” in Sumerian", JESHO 24, 113-145. Pre-Ur III documents make use of three different terms as part of the standard rental fee: še-bi, lit. "its (= of the field) barley", referring to the landlord's share on the produce; udu-bi, lit. "its sheep", denoting the irrigation tax; and maš2-bi, lit. "its goat", denoting a tax on goats and sheep born to the tenant during the rental period, to be paid in silver. In the present text, only the second one appears, together with a small amount of copper, but the very different climatic environment may suggest that the udu tax mentioned in obv. 1 and 5 may refer to the new-born cattle, rather than to irrigation costs. In addition, it seems that the total amount paid by the tenant is not proportional to the size of the rented land. In any case, the daggers mentioned in rev. 2 are rather unexpected (at least from a Mesopotamian point of view), the standard mean of payment being silver or copper. These peculiarities, not found elsewhere, makes the interpretation of the text difficult. Lacking of other internal criteria, the text is datable solely on the basis of its paleography. The signs are rather well made, evenly aligned to left and right, and rather well proportioned. They belong to the Middle/Classical Sargonic repertoire, ranging from the final years of king Naram-Sin to the end of the Sargonic dynasty (ca. 2250-2200 BCE, on the internal subdivision of the Sargonic Period see Maiocchi M. 2009, Classical Sargonic Tablets Chiefly from Adab in the Cornell University Collections, CUSAS 13, Bethesda, xxi, 251-305). The stylus used to impress them has a section of about 90°, which also speaks for a Classical Sargonic dating, as opposed to the typical section of an Early-Dynastic/Early Sargonic stylus of about 70°, an example of which is provided in the LU E tablet published by Buccellati G. 2003, "A Lu E School Tablet from the Service Quarter of the Royal Palace AP at Urkesh", JCS 55, 45-48. obv. 2.: for the root kab- compare for instance the PNs Kapanne-abi and Kapipursa mentioned by Richter Th. 2006, "Hurriter und Hurritisch im bronzezeitlichen Syrien", Eothen 13, 153, 156 (I am grateful to prof. S. De Martino for this and the following references). rev. 1.: for a possible Hurrian etymology of Pituram(a) see the PNs in -am quoted by Wilhem G. 1998, "Name, Namengebung", RlA 9, 125. The PN may be related to a root pi/ed- + -or-, see Marquez Rowe I. 1996 "The Interpretation of Hurrian pid = (u)ua in the Light of Hittite, Akkadian and Urartian Data", AuOr 14, 283-284; Haas V. - Wegner I. 1997, "Überlegungen zu den Paragraphen 6, 11 und 19 des Mittani-Briefes, AoF 24 (= Fs. Klengel), 344 n. 30. rev. 2.: the sign urudu shows traces of extra horizontal strokes in the beginning part. rev. 3.: compare the PN Kuza, see Pruzsinsky R. 2003, Die Personennamen der Texte aus Emar, Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians, vol. 13. Bethesda, 244 and n. 190; on the root kuz- see also Girbal C. 1990, "Zur Grammatik des Mittani-Hurritischen," ZA 80 (1990), 99. |
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a2 - A10.377 - Allotment of an unknown item, possibly barley
| Publication | Buccellati G. 2005, "The Monumental Urban Complex at Urkesh: Report on the 16th Season of Excavations, July-September 2003", in D. I. Owen - G. Wilhelm (eds.), Studies on the Civilization and Culture of Nuzi and the Hurrians Vol. 15 (General Studies and Excavations at Nuzi 11/1), Bethesda, 3-28. |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Date | Late Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | ||
| 1. | [x sil]a3? dumu-┌mi2┐ | [N lite]rs (of barley?): the ┌daughter┐ |
| 2. | b[u]-buki | (of the man from) Bubu; |
| 3. | 4 sil[a3] ┌x┐-[x]-ME | 4 li[ters]: [P]N? |
| 4. | ┌a┐-na ┌x┐-[x]-dimki | for [G]N; |
| 5. | [x?] si-g[u4?] a-[n]a ensi2 | [N liters?]: P[N] f[o]r the governor; |
| 6. | [x] ba-┌x┐ a-na [x] | [N liters?]: P[N] for [...] |
| 7. | [x.x.]┌2?┐ ti-kin | ┌20?┐ liters: Tikin |
| 8. | [x] ┌BI?-x-x┐ki | [N liters?]: (the man from) ┌GN┐. |
| (end uninscribed) | ||
| rev. | (uninscribed) |
|
Commentary:
The text, apparently read in Akkadian, seems to relate a quantity of an item, possibly barley, to various individuals, including a governor (ensi2), and geographical places (b[u]-bu-ki on obv. 2, ┌x┐-[x]-dim-ki on obv. 4, and ┌BI?-x-x┐-ki on obv. 9). The fragmentary state of the tablet does not allow further investigations. obv. 1.: the ending part of mi2 is shifted up due to the imperfect gluing of the fragments. obv. 3: the integration sagi-me (= Q[A.ŠU.DU8]-me) is excluded after collation. obv. 5.: possibly nothing missing at the beginning of the line, UM instead of GU is possible as well. |
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a3 - A10.163 - Fragmentary record of copper
| Publications | - |
| Language | Sumerian? |
| Date | Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | ||
| 1. | 2/3 urudu 4 [x] | 2/3 (minas) of copper, 4 [....]: |
| 2. | zi-┌x┐ | P[N?]. |
| 3. | 30 [...] | 30 [...] |
| 4. | ┌x┐ [...] | ┌...┐ |
| 5. | (last lines missing) | […] |
| rev. | (beginning uninscr., end missing) |
Commentary: obv. 2.: last sign possibly NA or TI.
obv. 4.: possibly šu at the beginning of the line.
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a4 - A1.q961.6 - Unknown item (arids?)
| Publications | - |
| Language | - |
| Date | Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | (beginning missing) | (too broken for translation) |
| 1'. | [x]+4+[x ...] | |
| rev. | (destroyed) |
Commentary: Bottom of obv. preserved.
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a5 - A6.98 - Unknown item (arids)
| Publications | - |
| Language | Sumerian? |
| Date | Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | (beginning missing) | |
| 1'. | 0.0.4 [...] | 40 liters of [...]: |
| 2'. | [abb]a2 [...] | [the el]der? [...] |
| rev. | (destroyed) |
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a6 - A6.q633.1 - Unknown item (arids)
| Publications | - |
| Language | - |
| Date | Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | (beginning missing) | |
| 1'. | [x.0].2.4 [sila3 x] | [N]+24 liters of [...] |
| (rest missing) | ||
| rev. | (destroyed) |
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a7 - A7.368 - Wine
| Publications | - |
| Language | - |
| Date | Naram-Sin / Šar-kali-šarri |
| Transliteration | Translation | |
| obv. | (beginning missing) | |
| 1. |
6 geštin ┌x┐ |
6 (containers of ) wine […] |
| 2. | GIŠ […] |
... |
| 3. | 1 HAL? ┌x┐ | 1 ... |
| 4. | ┌x┐ [...] | ... |
| 5. | (rest missing) | |
| rev. | (uninscribed) |
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