J. Cale Johnson
<
mailto:cale@ucla.edu>
University of California, Los Angeles
§5. Valdosta 5 (Umma, šu-Suen, year 3, month 2, day 7)
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obv. |
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1. |
1(diš) dug dida 5(diš) sila2 kaš sag10 |
One pot (ca. 20 liters) of dida beer, five sila (ca. 5 liters) of high-quality beer, |
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2. |
1(ban2) ninda 2(diš) gin2 i3 2(diš) gin2 naga |
one ban (ca. 10 liters) of bread, two shekels (ca. 30cc) of oil and two shekels of alkali, |
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3. |
3(diš) ku6 3(diš) sa sum |
three fish and three bunches of onions, |
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4. |
a-gu-´a sukkal?` gaba-´aš` |
Agu’a, the messenger, (sent) to Persia. |
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5. |
1(diš) dug ´dida 6(diš)? sila3?` [i3] |
One pot of dida beer, six shekels of oil, |
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6. |
1(ban2) [ninda] 2(diš) ´gin2` [i3 2(diš) gin2 naga] |
one ban of bread, two shekels of oil, two shekels of alkali, |
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7. |
´3(diš) ku6` [3(diš) sa sum] |
three fish and three bunches of onions, |
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rev. |
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1. |
i3-kal-´la sukkal` [...] |
Ikala, the messenger, ... . |
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2. |
3(diš) sila3 kaš 2(diš) sila3 [ninda] |
Three sila of beer, two sila of bread, |
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3. |
2(diš) gin2 i3 2(diš) gin2 ´naga` |
two shekels of oil, two shekels of alkali, |
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4. |
´1(diš)` ku6 1(diš) sa sum |
one fish, one bunch of onions, |
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5. |
du10-ga-mu ka-us2-sa2 |
Dugamu the ... . |
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6. |
ŠU+LAGAB 2(diš) dug dida du 1(ban2) |
Total: two pots of average-quality dida beer (made with) one ban (of barley); |
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7. |
ŠU+LAGAB 5(diš) sila3 kaš sag10 ŠU+LAGAB 6(diš) gin2 i3? |
total: five liters of high-quality beer; total: 6 shekels of oil; |
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8. |
ŠU+LAGAB 2(ban2) 2(diš) sila3 ninda ŠU+LAGAB 6(diš) gin2 i3 |
total: 2 ban 2 sila of bread; total: six shekels of oil; |
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9. |
ŠU+LAGAB 6(diš) gin2 naga |
total: six shekels of alkali; |
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10. |
ŠU+LAGAB 7(diš) ku6 ŠU+LAGAB 7(diš) sa sum |
total: seven fish; total: seven bunches of onions. |
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11. |
u4 7(diš)-kam iti sig4-geši3-šub-ba-gar |
On the 7th day, month: “Bricks are placed in the moulds” (Month 2) |
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left edge |
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1. |
mu us2-sa ma2 denki ba-ab-du8 |
The year after: “The boat of Enki was caulked” (Šu-Suen, year 3) |
§5.1. This is a record of distributions to sukkals, ‘court messengers/officials’ and a ka-us2-sa2. sukkals regularly traveled far and wide, carrying out the business of the royal court, and in this text they receive the types of food that were the standard fare: beer and bread, fish and oil. The term naga, which is conventionally translated as ‘alkali’, has been dealt with by Butz (1984: 283-286), where he suggests several possible interpretations, including its use as soap or as a softening agent for the dried fish that often occur in messenger texts. Or, alternatively, naga may be a cover term for a variety of plant derivatives. Yoshikawa has explained gaba-aš “to the chest” as a shorthand that was used in Umma for trips to Elam, east of Mesopotamia (Yoshikawa 1988).