| Line | Text original | Text translated | |
|---|---|---|---|
| o.i 1 | 6.1.5 17 ½ giĝ4 i3-nun[glossary=i3-nun] gur | 6 gur 1 bariga 5 ban 17 1/2 giĝ (= 1,927.5 litres) of butter[glossary=i3-nun] | |
| o.i 2 | 13.0.1 8 ⅔ sila3 8 giĝ4 ga-murub4[glossary=ga-murub4] gur | 13 gur 1 ban 8 ⅔ sila 8 giĝ (= 3,918.7 litres) of „sour milk cheese“[glossary=ga-murub4] | |
| o.i 3 | si-i3-tum mu damar-dsuen lugal-e ur-bi2-lumki mu-ḫul | remainder of the year: the king Amar-Suena destroyed Urbilum (AS.02) | |
| o.i 4 | 1!.1!.5 5 sila3 i3-nun gur | 1 gur 1 bariga 5 ban 5 sila (= 415 litres) of butter | |
| o.i 5 | 2.0.2 2 ½ sila3 ga-murub4 gur | 2 gur 2 ban 2 ½ sila ( = 622.5 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| o.i 6 | ki lu2-zabalam3ki-ta (= muš3.unug) | from Luzabalam | |
| o.i 7 | 0.2.0 i3-nun | 2 bariga (= 120 litres) of butter | |
| o.i 8 | 0.3.0 ga-murub4 | 3 bariga (= 180 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| o.i 9 | ki ur-dma-mi-ta | from Ur-Mami | |
| (dairy quotas of further 12 cowherders) | |||
| o.ii 10 | šu.gir2–bi 0.1.4 2 ⅚ sila3 | its šu.gir2-quota 1 bariga 4 ban 2 ⅚ sila (= 102.6 litres of butter) | |
| o.ii 11 | 0.0.2 2 ½ sila3 i3[glossary=i3] ma2-gur8-ra | 2 ban 2 ½ sila (22.5 litres) of (dairy) fat[glossary=i3] for boats | |
| 0 | ———— | ||
| o.ii 12 | šu-niĝen2 11.4.3 5 ⅓ sila3 7 ½ giĝ4 i3-nun gur | Total: 11 gur 4 bariga 3 ban 5 ⅓ sila 7 ½ giĝ (= 3,575.425 litres) of butter | |
| o.ii 13 | šu-niĝen2 20.3.4 8 ⅔ sila3 8 giĝ4 ga-murub4 gur | Total: 20 gur 3 bariga 4 ban 8 ⅔ sila 8 giĝ (= 6,228.73 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| o.ii 14 | ša3-bi-ta | from it | |
| (deliveries of dairy products and silber payments in lieu of butter) | |||
| r.ii 1 | šu-niĝen2 7.3.4 6 ⅔ sila3 4 ½ giĝ4 i3-nun gur | Total: 7 gur 3 bariga 4 ban 6 ⅔ sila 4 ½ giĝ (= 2,326.67 litres) of butter | |
| r.ii 2 | šu-niĝen2 2.0.0 8 sila3 10 giĝ4 ga-gazi gur | total: 2 gur 8 sila 10 giĝ (= 608.16 litres) of ga-gazi | |
| r.ii 3 | ga-murub4-bi 3.0.1 2 sila3 15 giĝ4 | its (equivalent amount of) „sour milk cheese“ 912.25 litres; | |
| r.ii 4 | šu-niĝen2 6.1.1 9 ga-murub4 gur | total: 6 gur 1 bariga 1 ban 9 sila ( = 1,879 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| r.ii 5 | šu-niĝen2 7.1.5 5 sila3 ga-se12-a[glossary=ga-se12-a] gur | total: 7 gur 1 bariga 5 ban 5 sila ( =2,215 litres) of fermented milk[glossary=ga-se12-a] | |
| r.ii 6 | i3-nun-bi 0.1.5 ⅔ sila3 5 giĝ4 | its butter 1 bariga 5 ban ⅔ sila 5 giĝ (= 110.68 litres) | |
| r.ii 7 | ga-murub4-bi 0.2.4 6 sila3 5 ½ ⸢giĝ4⸣ | its „sour milk cheese“ 2 bariga 4 ban 6 sila 5 ½ ⸢giĝ⸣ (= 166.09 litres). | |
| 0 | ============ | ||
| r.ii 8 | [šu-niĝen2] 8.0.3 7 ⅓ sila3 9 ½ giĝ4 i3-nun gur | [Total]: 8 gur 3 ban 7 ⅓ sila 9 ½ giĝ (= 2,437.4 litres) of butter | |
| r.ii 9 | [šu-niĝen2] 9.4.1 7 ⅓ sila3 2 ½ giĝ4 ga-murub4 gur | [total] 9 gur 4 bariga 1 ban 7 ⅓ sila 2 ½ giĝ (= 2,957.34 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| r.ii 10 | zi-ga-am3 | it was expended; | |
| r.ii 11 | la2-ni 3.3.5 7 ⅚ sila3 8 giĝ4 i3-nun gur | left over: 3 gur 3 bariga 5 ban 7 ⅚ sila 8 giĝ (= 1,137.7 litres) of butter | |
| r.ii 12 | 10.4.3 1 ⅓ sila3 5 ½ giĝ4 ga-murub4 gur | 10 gur 4 bariga 3 ban 1 ⅓ sila 5 ½ giĝ (= 3,280.4 litres) of „sour milk cheese“ | |
| r.ii 13 | la2-ni-am3 | it was left over. | |
| r.ii 14 | niĝ2-ka9-⸢aka⸣ [i3]-nun ga-ara3[glossary=ga-ara3] | ⸢Balanced account⸣ on ⸢butter⸣ and „sour milk cheese“ | |
| r.ii 15 | a-tu šuš3 | of Atu, flock overseer. | |
| 0 | ============ | ||
| r.ii 16 | mu ku3 gu-za-den-lil2-la2 ba-dim2 | Date (year) | |
MVN 15 108 o. i 1-9, o. ii 10-14, r. ii 1-16
by Paola Paoletti 
Commentary
This is the balanced account of dairy products of Atu, flock overseer, in the year Amar-Suena 3. The text is structured as follows:
i 4-ii 7 lists the expected delivery quotas of dairy products from 13 cow herders accountable to Atu. The expected amounts were 1,540 litres of „butter“ (i3-nun) and 2,310 litres of „sour milk cheese“ (ga-murub4). There is a relation of exactly 2:3 between the quantities of these two dairy products. According to the annual delivery quotas, these amounts correspond to the production share of at least 308 adult cows (see Dossier A.2.1.01 § 6).
ii 15 – r. i 30 lists the actual deliveries of dairy products made by each cow herder and silver amounts paid by some of the herders to the provincial administration in lieu of due dairy products.
Dairy products and silver delivered by the cow herders according to the expenditures section (zi-ga-am3) of MVN 15 108 ii 15 – r. ii 30.
| Product | Butter
(i3-nun) |
Cheese
(ga-murub4) |
gazi-cheese | Fermented milk
(ga-se12-a) |
Silver |
| litres | 1,431.47 | 1,879 | 608.16 | 2,215 | |
| grams | 746.5 (= 89.58 giĝ) |
r. ii 1 – 9 recapitulates the total deliveries in dairy products, including the conversion of the silver payments, of the amount of gazi-cheese and fermented milk in litres of butter and/or „sour milk cheese; they are summarized in the following table.
Total deliveries calculated in terms of the basic products butter and „sour milk cheese“ according to the expenditures section (zi-ga-am3) of MVN 15 108.
| Product | Butter in litres
(i3-nun) |
Cheese in litres
(ga-murub4) |
| delivered | 1,431.47 | 1,879 |
| as the equivalent of gazi-cheese | 912.25 | |
| as the equivalent of „fermented milk“ (ga-se12-a) | 110.68 | 166.09 |
| as the equivalent of silver (10 sila/litres of butter per 1 giĝ of silver) | 895.2 | |
| total | 2,437.4 | 2,957.34 |
r. ii 8 – 13 recapitulates the total deliveries and the correspondent left over in terms of butter (i3-nun) and “sour milk cheese” (ga-murub4).
| Product | Butter in litres | Cheese in litres |
| Remainder of the previous year | 1,927.5 | 3,918.7 |
| Expected quotas from the entrusted animals („capital“ saĝ niĝ2-gur11-ra-kam) | 3,575.425 | 6,228.73 |
| Total delivered amount („it is expended“ zi-ga-am3) | 2,437.4 | 2,957.34 |
| Leftover | 1,137.7 | 3,280.4 |
Notes on single passages:
ii 10 The šu.gir2-quota is always applied to „butter“ (i3-nun), which amounts to 6.6 % of its total volume. In balanced accounts, it generally occurs in the „capital“ section (saĝ niĝ2-gur11-ra-kam: MVN 15 108 o. ii 10; SET 130 o. iii 19, 33; Nisaba 06 20 o. iii 12’, 17), but it is once documented also in the „expenditures“ section (zi-ga-am3: Nisaba 06 20 r. iii 12). It could have been set on a person’s account (Princeton 2 372 o. 4’), and sometimes it was explicitly not applied to „butter“ (i3-nun) (Nisaba 15/2 0223, prov. unknown, r. ii 5 i3-nun-bi šu.gir2 nu-tuku „its butter does not have the šu.gir2-quota“). Englund (1995: 412) interprets it as an administrative tax.
ii 5 – 7 This passage lists the delivery of 2,215 litres of „fermented milk“ (ga-se12-a) with its expected yield of 110.68 litres of „butter“ (i3-nun, 5 %) and 166.09 litres of „sour milk cheese“ (ga-murub4, 7.5 %). These yield rates are also registered by other documents from Umma and are based on empirical data (Dossier A.2.1.02).
Bibliography
- Englund 1995 = Englund, Robert K. (1995): Regulating Dairy Productivity in the Ur III Period, in: Orientalia NS 64, 377-429.