Line	Text original	Text translated
o. 1	5 sila3 kaš 5 sila3 inda3
o. 2	1 sila3 niĝ2-i3-de2-a
o. 3	u4 1-kam u4 30-še3
o. 4	kaš-be2 0.2.3
o. 5	inda3-be2 0.2.3
o. 6	niĝ2-i3-de2-a-be2 0.0.3
o. 7	a-ḫu-ba-qar[individual=a-ḫu-ba-qar] dub-sar	Aḫubaqar[individual=Aḫubaqar], scribe;
o. 8	3 sila3 kaš 2 sila3 inda3	3 litres of beer, 2 litres of bread, 1 litre of sweet paste for 1 day; for 30 days the beer is 90 litres, the bread is 90 litres, the sweet paste is 30 litres:
o. 9	1 sila3 nig2-i3-de2-a
o. 10	u4 1-kam u4 30-še3
o. 11	kaš-be2 0.1.3
o. 12	inda3-be2 0.1.0
r. 1	niĝ2-i3-de2-a-be2 0.0.3
r. 2	a-la-a[individual=a-la-a] engar	Alaya[individual=Alaya], ploughman;
r. 3	3 sila3 kaš 2 sila3 inda3
r. 4	u4 1-kam u4 30-še3
r. 5	kaš-be2 0.1.3
r. 6	inda3-be2 0.1.0
r. 7	ba-ba-li[individual=ba-ba-li] engar	Babali[individual=Babali], ploughman;
r. 8	lu2 bad3.anki[geogr=bad3.anki]-me	they are men from Dēr[geogr=Dēr],
r. 9	u4 uru4-a še-ĝeš-i3[glossary=uru4-a] zu-zu-de3 / im-e-re-ša-a	when they came to inform about sesame seed cultivation
r. 10	šu-niĝen2 1.0.3 kaš gur
r. 11	šu-niĝen2 0.4.3 inda3
r. 12	šu-niĝen2 0.1.0 niĝ2-i3-de2-a
lo.e. 5	zi-ga iti izim-dsul-ge	expenditure (month VII)
lo.e. 1	mu en eriduki ba-ḫulu	(year Amar-Suena 8)

An exact parallel, but dated one month earlier, is CUSAS 40/2 0148 (AS.08.06.00): it lists the same persons, the scribe Aḫu-baqar and the two ploughmen Alaya and Babali, for a complete month with an absolutely identical food allowance in the same hierarchically descending order. The only difference is that the verb is construed in the singular (im-ĝen-na-a „when he came“). The parallel text is not edited here (in line r. 8 read probably zu!-zu!-de3; text published only in transliteration).

Together with Nisaba 15/2 0143 r.i 6-8, this is a key text for the transmission of agricultural knowledge concering sesame cultivation. Aḫubaqar[individual=Aḫubaqar], the „scribe“ (dub-sar[glossary=dub-sar]) in charge of the mission, received a slightly higher food allowance than the two „ploughmen“ (engar[glossary=engar]), individuals with practical knowledge. He came for instruction during the harvest (month VII/October),  a critical period because of the dehiscence problem of sesame, which which requires careful harvest and transport. He came another time to „observe“ (igi du8) sesame cultivation during the time of seeding in the next cultivation period (Nisaba 15/2 0143 r.i 6-8; AS.09.02.00).  During the harvest time, the three experts came for one complete month „to inform, to learn, to teach“ (zu-zu-de3) „sesame cultivation“ (uru4-a[glossary=uru4-a] še-ĝeš-i3).

Did the individuals come from Dēr [geogr=Dēr] to instruct the people of Irisaĝrig, as Heimpel 2013: 202 had assumed? This is not as straightforward as it might seem. The Sumerian verb zu[glossary=zu] covers the spectrum „to be informed, to learn, to know, to inform, to teach“. Evidently, uru4-a „cultivation“ is the object of the act of being informed. But who is informed, the experts from Dēr or the cultivators at Irisaĝrig, and do we therefore translate „when they (i.e. the experts from Dēr) came to learn“ or „when they came to teach“? Or, in other words: was sesame cultivation imported to, or exported from, Irisaĝrig? Grammar can not help in this case, since the verb appears in a non-finite form. The documentation on sesame in Irisaĝrig starts in Amar-Suena 7, precisely the year before the experts arrived. The output of the sesame mill from Amar-Suena 7 (month VI) to Amar-Suena 9 (Dossier A.1.1.12) indicates an already flourishing culture of sesame cultivation at Irisaĝrig in the two agricultural years before the presence of the experts (namely Amar-Suena 6 and 7), although the sesame could have been imported.

The fact that scribe Aḫu-baqar would come a few months later to „observe, watch“ (igi du8[glossary=igi du8]) the sowing of sesame in month II/May Amar-Suena 9 (Nisaba 15/2 0143 r.i 6-8) is ambiguous as well. The verb implies observation, and not control or instruction (note in the Ur III documentation, e. g., the expression „to watch the moon“, ^dnanna igi du8-a, when the crescent of the New Moon was observed; or the profession of the a-igi-du8 „water watcher“). But since this happened after the harvest, both a control visit and a second information trip can be envisaged.

The scribe’s name Aḫu-baqar is Akkadian, whereas the names of the two ploughmen, Alaya and Babali, can not be attributed to any language.

r. 9 on uru4-a see Nisaba 15/2 0143 r.i 8

r.9 The reading of the sign zu of zu-zu-de3 is confirmed by the presence of one horizontal within the frame (not two horizontals like su); see photo.