TYPOLOGY\ TEXTS \ 573
1 1: M. Maiocchi

Administrative texts

a1 - A7.341 - Hurrian account concerning field taxations(?)
a2 - A10.377 - Allotment of an unknown item, possibly barley
a3 - A10.163 - Fragmentary record of copper
a4 - A1.q961.6 - Unknown item (arids?)
a5 - A6.98 - Unknown item (arids)
a6 - A6.q633.1 - Unknown item (arids)
a7 - A7.368 - Wine

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 1/3^ša 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^┐-maš^ki	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]-bu^ki	(of the man from) Bubu;
3.	4 sil[a₃] ^┌x^┐-[x]-ME	4 li[ters]: [P]N^?
4.	^┌a^┐-na ^┌x^┐-[x]-dim^ki	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)

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)

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)