Elusive Silver? Evidence for the Circulation of Silver in the Ur III State

KASKAL Rivista di storia, ambienti e culture del Vicino Oriente Antico Volume 5 (2008)

ELUSIVE SILVER? EVIDENCE FOR THE CIRCULATION OF SILVER IN THE UR III STATE∗

Paola Paoletti

“He filled big leather sacks with [go]ld (and) silver, […] agate […], he loaded cop[per], its tin, bronze (and) items fashioned from them on pack-asses. he (thereby) provided treasure for the temples of the god Enlil, the goddess Ninlil, and of the great gods” 1

1. Introduction The royal inscriptions of the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur tell of the public, religious placement of precious items, donated during ceremonies of temple construction, rituals and celebrations of military successes.2 Royal dedications connected secular power with religious authority and enabled
This study developed from and is a part of my dissertation about the Treasure Archive of Drehem in the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur. This research is being carried out at the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München within the Graduiertenkolleg “Formen von Prestige in Kulturen des Altertums” and financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. I would like to thank the organizers of the International Workshop “Administration and Ideology in the Ancient Near East” of the University of Verona, which invited me to present a preliminary version of this paper. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of Walther Sallaberger and Fabienne Huber-Vulliet. I am also grateful to Alessandro Granieri, Adam Anderson and Benjamin Studevent-Hickman for revising the manuscript in English in the various steps of its preparation. Of course, they bear no responsibility for what follows. Prof. Claus Wilcke kindly made available a draft of the article on market economy in the third millennium Mesopotamia, Wilcke 2007. Texts marked by a * are unpublished tablets cited with the kind permission of Ulla Kasten and Benjamin R. Foster of the Yale Babylonian Collection (New Haven). 1 Šu-Suen E3/2.1.4.3: v l.5-19, Frayne 1997, 301-306 with collations in Attinger – Krebernik 2002, 129; 1. 132. See also Sulgi D l. 378-380, Klein 1981, 87. For the evidence of booty in the treasure archive, see section 3.3. 2 2. See e.g. the statue inscription Sulgi E3/2.1.2.54, l. 23-25 in Frayne 1997, 156-158; the bead inscriptions Sulgi E3/2.1.2.58-60, Frayne 1997, 160-162; the door sockets of Amar-Suena E3/2.1.39, Frayne 1997, 253-255; the inscription of Amar-Suena E3/2.1.3.13, Frayne 1997, 258-259 ; the inscriptions of Šu-Suen:

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the rulers to show their devotion to the gods, ensuring the social and political welfare of the land. The performance of kingship of the Ur III state is deeply rooted in these actions. At the same time the administrative records reveal how the ruler and the elite classes handled precious items in their strategies of affiliation and in processes of political and social differentiation. The dedications of a fine decorated libation cup to the god Nuska or of 14 pairs of shoes to Zarriqum, the important governor of Assur and Susa, are examples of these strategies. The treasure archive of Drehem, a secondary branch of the royal treasury of the capital Ur, provides us exactly with this kind of information. Its texts shed some light on the circulation and distribution of luxury goods all over the state. Moreover, they show the regulation of income, expenditure, collection, and disbursement of luxury items, in order to direct social hierarchies and external relationships. Besides this political and social function, the circulation of luxury goods had basically an economic background and the exchange of gifts meant the integration of rare materials and items.

1.1 Silver as “money” Since the Early Dynastic period, silver (together with barley) covered all basic functions of a currency. Some examples from the Neo-Sumerian or the immediately following Old-Babylonian period3 may illustrate this point. 1. as equivalent of value: In the Neo-Sumerian period there is constant reference to silver to determine the value of other goods, particularly barley, as for example in the loan contracts and in the merchants’ balanced accounts (see section 2 below). 2. as medium for exchange and payment: The already mentioned merchants’ balanced accounts from Umma represent one of the most important evidences for silver used both as a medium of exchange and payment and as an equivalent of value. Furthermore silver appears as the dominant medium of payment in the sale documents and for renting houses. Whereas in the Neo-Sumerian period barley was still the prevalent payment medium in salaries,4 for renting oxen or boats, or for renting fields, during the Old Babylonian period silver emerges more and more in these payment procedures.5 In the OldBabylonian period barley was used only in transactions where it was immediately available (like agriculture, barley storage houses) or where it was needed for nutrition. E3/2.1.4.1 (Coll. B), Frayne 1997, 295-300; E3/2.1.4.3 (Coll. A), Frayne 1997, 301-306; E3/2.1.4.4, E3/2.1.4.5 and E3/2.1.4.7, Frayne 1997, 307-315. 3 3. Pomponio 2003. About this age-old debate see e.g.: Wilcke 2007; Steinkeller 2004; Garfinkle 2003; Milano – Parise 2003; Stazio 2003; Neumann 2002; Steinkeller 2002; Bongenaar 2000; Dercksen 1999; Neumann 1999; Powell 1999; Ross 1999; Hudson – Van De Mieroop 1998; Powell 1996; Renger 1995; Powell 1990; Van De Mieroop 1986; Neumann 1979; Powell 1978. 4 4. See the suggestion of Steinkeller 2004, 96 to use the term “salary” instead of “ration”. 5 5. See for example the payment of salaries with silver in the Ešnunna Code and in the Hammurabi Code, Pomponio, 2003, 64-68.

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3. for hoarding in temples and palaces. Hoarding procedures are well documented from the Early Dynastic on, not only in Mesopotamia but also in Syria. The Ebla archives, dated to approx. 2350 B.C., bear the evidence of relevant amounts of silver delivered to the palace.6 This data demonstrates that Ebla had at its disposal an extraordinary amount of silver and gold stored up (al 6 -ĝal 2 ) in the treasury. Moreover the annual accounts of expenditures of metals record consignments of gold and silver objects to deities, members of the royal family, officials, etc. How such hoarded silver could be used is documented in a historically spectacular case. The archival documents of Ur contain information on the last events of the Ur III Dynasty.7 UET III, 702 dated to the 13th year of the reign of Ibbi-Suen records large quantities of metals taken out of various temples at Ur: “Taken out of the temples of the gods? and of the various chapels as purchase price for Isin”.8 In order to purchase grain the crown had to resort to the wealth of the temples for the means of payment. The crafts archive documents silver spirals (or rings) of standardized weight in such large amounts9 that they surely were not only intended to be issued for ornaments of the gods but also for the accumulation in temples as a deposit. The function of these spirals in the Ur III period will be discussed in detail in the section 3.5 of this article. This indicates that the financial resources of the crown were based also on precious metals collected in the temples, which functioned as a kind of “bank”.

1.2 The Treasure Archive and the Circulation of Silver The treasure archive is a part of the Neo-Sumerian state archives found in Drehem, identified with the ancient administration centre of Puzriš-Dagān. Between his 39th and 41st year of reign Sulgi founded a state institution about 10 km south-east of Nippur, renaming the old “(E)-Saĝdana(Nibru)”10 with the Akkadian name Puzriš-Dagān “for the shelter of Dagān”. Puzriš-Dagān housed primarily the administration of the royal livestock. All the incoming animals from duties, tributes, booty, etc. were registered there before they were forwarded to royal herds or to various governors. The central management of the state livestock was organized in Puzriš-Dagān and functioned from the beginning of the 43rd year of Sulgi until the end of Ibbi-Suen’s 2nd year. The administration of the royal treasures like luxury items, precious materials, beds, weapons and decorated vessels was carried out in the state institution of Puzriš-Dagān as well.

6. 7. 8. 9.

6

See Archi 1993, 46-58; Archi 1991; Milano 2003, 43 and Milano 1991. See Sallaberger 1999, 174-175); Michalowski 1976, 87-92; Wilcke 1970. 8 UET III 702, 7-8: e2 diĝir eš3-didli-ta e3-a, mu niĝ2 sam2-ma in-si-inki-še3. 9 All in all the texts of the crafts-archive register about 635 har and more than 85% weight 5 shekels, Pomponio 2003, 96. 10 10. “(House) at the end of the mile (of Nippur)”, Wilcke 1988 and Sallaberger 2007, RlA 11, s.v. PuzrišDagān, p. 125. 7

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“State/royal”11 organisations must be clearly differentiated from “provincial” ones: the archives of Drehem deal with state issues, and here the state is represented by its highest authority, the king. They derive from central institutions, which are in charge of the whole reign. They work independent of the provincial division and they deal with the whole state economy.12 In contrast, the two other main Neo-Sumerian archives of Umma and Girsu are provincial archives, because they are only in charge of the provincial administration under its governor. The management of precious materials housed in Puzriš-Dagān involved large quantities of silver. The transactions pertain also to exchange and sale, payment and taxation. Here it becomes apparent how quantities of silver actually changed ownership at different levels of society. In general, the treasury texts can be divided into deliveries of material to the institution (the crown) and expenditures of finished items. Whereas the income documents testify of the entering of a great variety of items and of silver into the state coffer at Puzriš-Dagān, silver was also issued in various forms and occasions, either as gift or for commercial reasons. These two types of documents are our main evidence for the circulation of silver. This evidence appears to be highly relevant for the much debated question, whether silver was circulating materially and who had the access to silver in the Neo-Sumerian period. This aspect will be addressed in the second part of my study (section 3). There I will analyze the flow of silver within the Ur III society by means of the evidence from the royal archive from Drehem and I will demonstrate how silver was physically circulating within the state. Silver both entered and left the state coffer in various forms and served not only as an equivalent. The presence of precious metals in Mesopotamia, a region without any native metal sources, however presents a real problem: where does the silver come from? This question will be analyzed in the first part (section 2), by means of the activities of the royal merchants. I will show on the one hand how they sold silver to obtain gold; on the other hand how the elites bought quantities of gold by selling silver at the Ur III court. This is a hitherto unnoticed important aspect of the distribution of silver in Mesopotamia, although new evidence for the primary provenance of this metal is not yet available.

2. Silver and the Royal Merchants 2.1 The Problem of the Source of Silver Concerning the question of silver in Mesopotamia G. van Driel writes: “What makes silver an elusive commodity in Mesopotamia is not its absence or scarcity, but our lack of understanding concerning its origins. It was produced in areas outside Mesopotamia’s military reach [...] Mesopotamia had to earn what it required through trade 11.

11

About an eventual differentiation between “state” and “royal” see lastly the remark of Wilcke 2007, 79 fn. 40: “Diese Bereiche zu dieser Zeit zu trennen, scheint weder sinnvoll noch möglich. Ich denke z.B. an Leistungen für das diplomatische Corps und sein Personal, an Ehrengeschenke für in- und ausländische Würdenträger und Leute, die die Gunst des Königs (z.B. durch sportliche Leistungen oder musikalische Vorführungen) erwerben konnten”. 12 12. See Sallaberger 2007, RlA 11, s.v. Puzriš-Dagān, p. 125-128 (with further bibliography).

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[...] The elusive applied to silver does not so much refer to the commodity itself, which, it would seem, was real enough, but to the manner in which a steady supply was secured”.13 Debates about the provenience and reality of silver in the Ur III economy always start with the silver balanced accounts from Umma. They record the activity of merchants in Umma, who imported to the province spices and perfumes. The capital was obtained from various goods, like wool, fish, leather items, wheat, dates and also metals. This capital was then used to acquire a wide variety of materials, frequently raw materials. Most likely the merchant converted these capital goods into silver and then bought the desired products. These were then handed over to the various bureaus of the province.14 The merchant was controlled by the so called Fiscal Office, which had a standing account with him: he periodically received bulk capital and he later transferred the imported goods to various offices and departments of the Umma economy according to their particular needs. From time to time the merchant presented the receipts in his possession to the Fiscal Office, which compiled a balanced account.15 All the entries in both the capital and the expenditures sections were registered with corresponding prices in silver and the final balance was calculated in silver as well. Two interesting aspects of these operations have to be noted here: on the one hand, the use of pricing in silver marks it once more as the standard equivalent of value preferred when trade was involved.16 On the other hand, from the perspective of the province administration silver was not imported by trade, but rather primarily used to buy gold, among other metals (tin, copper and others) or many other products. In fact “an increase in the supply might lead to a general inflation, for which there is little evidence in Ur III. There is so far no indication of silver scarcity in the documentation for the middle years of the Ur III empire; there seems to be a great deal of silver in the hands of the authorities and especially in the hands of the Umma controller”.17 Within the state economy it was then always circulating almost “the same silver”.

2.2 Gold, Silver and The Royal Merchants in the Drehem-Archive The merchants of Drehem dealt not only with the luxury goods mentioned above, but were also active in the circulation of the precious metals silver and gold. The treasure archive of Puzriš-Dagān offers evidence for this aspect in the expenditures as well as in the income texts. The following example illustrates the structure of such an income document. The items mentioned in the first lines of the documents are the ones received by the official named; therefore they are the object of the delivery. In this way silver was delivered for various reasons and arrived at the crown from very different sources, as it will be shown in detail in the following section (3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4).

13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

13

van Driel 2002, 327. Steinkeller 2004, 108. 15 Steinkeller 2004, 99; Neumann 1993; Neumann 1979. 16 Snell 1982, 185; Pomponio 2003, 58-63. 17 Snell 1982, 186; for price fluctuations, Powell 1990, 80; 98. 14

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Paola Paoletti SAT 2 302

o. 1 2 3 4 r. 5 6

S 42 (or AS 6)/10

6 2/3 ma - na 7 g iĝ 4 ku 3 - ba b ba r la 2-NI s u - ga si pa u nu 3 -e - n e ki na - r a -a m- i 3 -l i 2 -t a mu - ku x

6 2/3 minas 7 shekels (approx. 3,391 g) of silver: repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen, from Narām-ilī, income.

lu ga l- ku 3-zu šu ba - t i

Lugal-kuzu has received.

7 ša 3 e 2-sa ĝ-d a - n a ni br u ki-k a 8 iti i zi m a n -n a 9 mu ša -a š -r u ki ba - hu lu

In Esaĝdana of Nippur. (Date)

The recipient of the silver is Lugal-kuzu, an official in charge of the internal administration of Drehem.18 He is a kind of intermediary between the various bureaus of the treasury and other institutions at Drehem. In this case he receives silver as remainder of a debt paid by the herdsmen. The silver was delivered by an official of the royal livestock administration, Narām-ilī.19 The silver was weighed and entered the treasury like all other items or raw materials registered in the incometexts. The transaction took place in Esaĝdana of Nippur, which is the forerunner name of PuzrišDagān. As the following charts show20 there are three different categories of transactions dealing with silver in the context of exchange and trade.

a. Silver as income from the sale21 of gold within the frame of the royal court Among the various goods delivered amounts of silver are obtained through the exchange with gold and then transferred to the crown. Silver can be obtained by the palace as exchange for gold: AUCT 1 502 “10 minas of silver (approx. 5,000 g), as purchase price of (1 shekel) of gold every 10 (shekels of silver): 22 Ilallum, income. Puzur-Irra has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (Date) (l.e.) (Total:) 10 minas” 23 18. 19.

18

A detailed analysis will appear in my PhD dissertation on the Treasure Archive of Drehem. Narām-ilī took care of the management of all the royal cattle pens and sheepfolds in the livestock administration of Drehem, Maeda 1994, 126-130. See also Jones – Snyder 1961, 209-211; Sallaberger 1993, 28 fn. 111; Sigrist, 1992, 259-269; Hilgert 1998, 10; Hilgert 2003, 66-67. See also the following section 3.2 about the payments of the herdsmen. 20 20. For a complete evidence of silver deliveries to the crown, see section 3. 21. 21 The term “sale” is applied here also to sources where the words sa10 “to buy”, sa 10-a “bought, paid” or (ni ĝ 2)-sa m 2-m a “purchase price” do not appear. Therefore they cannot be exclusively considered proper purchases. 22 22. Ratio gold:silver = 1:10. 19

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RA 17 p.207 “2/3 mina of silver (approx 333 g), as gold for it in 10-fold value – 4 shekels: Lugal-kuzu; ½ mina of silver (approx. 250 g), as gold for it in 10-fold value – 3 shekels: Ennum-ilī, the (chariot) driver, they received (the gold), income. Lu-diĝira has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 1 mina 10 shekel” 24

SAT 2 1105 “7 minas 5 shekels silver (approx. 3,541 g), as the corresponding yellow gold – 1/3 mina 1/3 shekel – and as the corresponding normal gold: 1/3 mina were received; Urdu-Nanna, the grand-vizier, income. Lu-diĝira has received. In Nippur. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 7 minas 5 shekels” 25

TRU 387 „2 talents of silver (approx. 29,998 g), for gold in 7-fold value; came from the palace, via Āmur-ilam, income. Lu-diĝira has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 2 talents of silver” 26

23.

23

AUCT 1 502, (AS 4/12): 10 ma-na ku3-babbar, niĝ2-sam2-ma ku3-si22 10-ta-še3, i3-lal3-lum, mu-kux, puzur4-ir3-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 puzur4-iš-dda-gan (date), (l.e.) 10 ma-na. 24 24. RA 17 p. 207 n. 1, (AS 8/06): 2/3 ša ku3-babbar, mu ku3-si22 10-ta-bi 4 giĝ4, lugal-ku3-zu, 1/2 ma-na ku3-babbar, mu ku3-si22 10-ta-bi 3 giĝ4, en-um-i3-li2 ra2-gaba, ⌈ šu ba-ti-eš2⌉ -ša-a-[še3], mu-kux, lu2-diĝir-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 puzur4-iš-dda-gan (date), (l.e.) 1 ma-na 10 giĝ4. 25 25. SAT 2 1105, (AS 8/11): 7 ma-na 5 giĝ4 ku3-babbar, mu ku3-si22 huš-a-bi 1/3 ša igi-3-ĝal2, u3 ku3-si22 sisa2-bi 1/3 ša, šu ba-ti-a-še3, urdu2-dnanna sugal7-mah, mu-kux, lu2-diĝir-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 nibruki (date), (l.e.) 7 ma-na 5 giĝ4. 26 26. TRU 387, (ŠS 6/x): 2 gun2 ku3-babbar, mu ku3-si22 7-ta-še3, e2-gal-ta e3-a, ĝiri3 a-mur-DIĜIR, mu-kux, lu2-diĝir-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 ⌈ puzur4⌉ -[iš-dda-gan] (date), (l.e.) 2 gun2 [ku3-babbar].

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These texts from the treasure archive may be tabulated as follows: Type

Text

Weight 27

Incoming material

Obtained by the sale28 of

Ratio

From

Received by

Date

mu-kux

AUCT 1 502

0;10.0.0

silver

gold

10:1

Ilallum

Puzur-Irra

AS 4/12

mu-kux

RA 17 p.207 n.1

Lu-diĝira

AS 8/06

Urdu-Nanna

Lu-diĝira

AS 8/11

“came from the palace” via Āmur-ilam

Lu-diĝira

ŠS 6/x

0;0.40.0

silver

gold

10:1

Lugal-kuzu

0;0.30.0

silver

gold

10:1

Ennum-ilī the (chariot) driver

mu-kux

SAT 2 1105

0;7.5.0

silver

“yellow” gold and “normal” gold

mu-kux

TRU 387

2;0.0.0

silver

gold

7:1

The persons who bought gold may be found for in the elite of the Ur III state or the administration of the treasury. The persons delivering silver were: 1. Ilallum (AUCT 1 502, AS 4/12) may have been the same individual, who is attested in the treasure archive as a general (šagana)29 and functioned in some cases also as trustee (maškim). Furthermore he received weapons30 as gift of the king when travelling to Dêr (this time the title as general is omitted, but the context makes the identification highly plausible). 2a. Lugal-kuzu (RA 17 p.207 n.1, AS 8/06) was either the same as the official in charge of the internal administration of the treasury between S 44 and IS 3; or he was a temple administrator (šabra) attested in Drehem from S 45 to ŠS 5.31 2b. Ennum-ilī (RA 17 p.207 n.1, AS 8/06) was a (chariot) driver and therefore belonged to the entourage of the queen or of a princess. 3. Urdu-Nanna (SAT 2 1105, AS 8/11) was likely the mighty grand-vizier of the state and governor of Girsu32, who functioned as trustee in the treasury administration between Š 46 and ŠS 5. 4. “from the palace” (TRU 387, ŠS 6/x): Presumably the silver items stem from the palace in Ur or the second royal residence located near the important shrines of Nippur and Tummal.33 The conveyor (ĝiri 3 ) was a certain Āmur-ilam, who could have been the same as the official in charge of the bureau of luxury furniture (especially beds between AS 9 and IS 3).34 Despite the term muku x it appears to be an internal transfer of silver against gold within the holding of the palace. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

27

The weight measures are indicated like this: talent ; mina . shekel . grain . About the choice of the term “sale” see above footnote 21. 29 NCBT 1539* (AS 2/12). 30 BJRL 64 p. 111 n. 68, (AS 1/12). 31 L u ga l-ku 3 - zu is a very common name in Drehem and Girsu and occur with various professions. So a clear identification presents some difficulties. 32 32. Sallaberger 1999, 188-190; 251-252 and Huber-Vulliet, 2001, 195-197. 33 33. See e.g the remark of Sharlach 2004, 84): “Palace” in this context may refer more broadly the palace sphere, i.e. meaning that these items entered into royal control by being accepted by the Puzriš-Dagan administration …”. 34 34. See the bibliography cited in the next footnote 35. 28

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The silver in question was received by officials of the treasury in charge of the administration of the goldsmith-bureau: Lu-diĝira (AS 5-ŠS 3) and Puzur-Irra (S 44-AS 4).35 It derives from the exchange for gold under a specific ratio. In our evidence the ratio ranges from 7:1 to 10:1. The price of gold varied significantly in the Ur III period.36 This difference can be explained in three different ways. On the one hand, it could have depended on (1) the quality of the metal. H. Waetzoldt deduced that the three qualities of gold known in the Ur III period (huš-a “yellow”, HIda “mixed” and si-sa 2 “normal”) corresponded to three descending levels of purity: “yellow” gold being most pure with silver-gold ratios ranging from 21:1 to 15:1, “mixed” gold being next with silver-gold ratios ranging probably from 14:1 to 11:1, and “normal” gold being at the bottom with silver ratios from about 10:1 to 6.5:1. In our case the officials merchandised different qualities of gold grouped under the generic rubric (“gold”) and very likely belonging to the third quality (normal gold). On the other hand, in our evidence the difference in ratio could signify something more. The price “fluctuation” could have depended on (2) the difference between buying and selling prices, or on (3) unrecorded factors of a personal, social or economic nature.37 Indeed gold was “cheaper” in internal transactions (7:1 within the palace administration), while the price applied to the merchants’ transactions was higher (10:1). This would mean that the palace could have realized a certain profit with such transactions. In accordance with the problem formulated by van Driel, there is no information where the individuals obtained the silver delivered to the crown. We are forced to assume that they did not need to record its provenance, because it did not represent a new acquisition by foreign trade. However, as seen in the case of the silver balanced accounts of Umma, from the perspective of the crown, silver was not bought, but was exchanged for gold within the administration or with various members of the elite. This leads us to the following considerations: On the one hand silver had to be already part of the economical frame in which it was circulating. On the other hand silver was transformed within the society into a more precious material, gold, that was then bought by individuals from the palace. The interest for gold shows that this material, besides other precious metals, was chosen by the elite to be hoarded as an investment.

b. Silver entrusted to royal merchants Like in the case of the merchants’ balanced accounts of Umma, also the evidence from the treasure archive shows the expenditure of silver in order to acquire various goods. These expenditures occur in various forms and they may be tabulated as follows:

35.

35

See Sallaberger 1999, 245-247. A detailed analysis will appear in my PhD Dissertation on the Treasure Archive of Drehem. 36 36. Powell 1990, 80-81). 37 37. Powell 1990, 99.

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Type

Text

Weight of the issued material 1;0.20.0

Issued material silver

Acquired material tin

Ratio

From

Received by

Date

[expenditure?]

AUCT 2 289

10:1

Puzur-[Irra]?

Pu’udu, Idda’, Bamu, En of Našše

[x]

delivery to the storehouse

OIP 115 488

0;30.0.0

silver

1;0.0.0 copper

120:1

(not specified)

the storehouse

S 42/00

(expenditure)

TCNY 45

total: 0;42.48.150

silver

resin

via Utu-adgal and Idda’

Ennum-ilī, Ilakšūqir, Nanna, Nūr-ilī

S 44/02

(expenditure)

NBC 6641

total: 1;10.0.0

silver

gold

various merchants

ŠS 8/09

10:1

An expenditure of silver, likely registered by Puzur-Irra, shows how this metal was used to buy tin at a ratio of 10:1: AUCT 2 289 „2 minas 13 1/3 shekels (approx. 1,110 g) of silver: Bamu; […] shekel […]; (r.) […] 1/3 mina (approx. 167 g) of silver: En of Našše.38 Total: 1 talent 1/3 mina (approx. 30,167 g) of silver as purchase price of tin, 1 shekel of silver [every] 10 shekels of tin, they has received. 39 By Puzur-[Irra?] [it was issued?]”

To obtain copper, the administration sold silver at a ratio of 1 to 120: OIP 115 488 “1 talent (approx. 3,000 g) of copper – it is the purchase price of ½ mina (approx. 250 g) of silver – was entered into the storehouse. 40 (date)”

This last text does not present the standard phraseology of the treasury documents41 nor does it bear the name of either one of its officials. However, thanks to its date it can be assigned to the

38.

38

About Pu’udu see Steinkeller 2004, 104. He was a merchant who was involved in long-distance trades. He shipped barley to Makkan (modern Oman) on behalf of the state (ITT 2 776:1-8) and supplied precious stones to the court (MVN 13 672:1-3). Together with Pu’udu a priest (en) of Našše and probably a za ba r -d a b 5 (chief cup-bearer) delivered tin to Puzriš-Dagān.. The za b a r -d a b 5 was actually responsible for the king’s cult in the temple of Našše and of the royal expenditures for various deities in different temples (see RTC 401, dated to IS 2). 39 39. AUCT 2 289, date lost: [...], ⌈ zabar⌉ -[dab5? …], dsul-gi-⌈ kalam-me-te⌉ -bi, bu3-u2-du, 3 1/3 ma-na ku3-babbar, id-da-a, 2 ma-na 13 giĝ4 igi-3-ĝal2 ku3-babbar, ba-mu, [...] ⌈ giĝ4⌉ ? [...], (r.) [...] ⌈ ĜIR2⌉ ? [...], 1/3-ša ku3-babbar, en dnašše, (blank line), šu+niĝen2 1 gun2 1/3 ša! ku3-babbar, niĝ2-sam2-ma ku3 1 giĝ4-a, AN.NA 10 giĝ4-⌈ ta⌉ ?-[še3 ...]?, (blank line), šu ba-ti-eš2, ki ⌈ puzur4⌉ -[ir3-ra]-⌈ ta⌉ , [...]. 40 40. OIP 115 488, (S 42/00): 1 gun2 uruda, sam2 ku3-babbar 1/2 ma-na-kam, e2-kišeb-ba-še3, ba-an-ku4, (blank line), (date).

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

137

formative phase of the Drehem administration centre. The „house of the sealed tablets” (e 2 kišeb-ba) may in this case be the storehouse forerunner of the treasury, for which the metals were designated.42 The individuals Ennum-ilī, Ilak-šūqir, Nanna and Nūr-ilī43 received a large amount of silver as purchase price of cedar resin. The Sumerian merchants are entrusted amounts of silver at various cities (as the following text NBC 6641 will testify), although most of the comparable evidence stems from Umma44:

TCNY 45 „8 minas ⌈ minus⌉ [14] 1/3 shekels (approx. 3,880 g) of silver: Ennum-ilī; 20 minas minus 1 mina, 6 2/3 shekels (approx. 9,556 g) of silver: Ilak-šūqir; 9 2/3 minas ½ shekel (approx. 4,837 g) of silver: Nanna; 6 minas 16 shekels of silver (approx. 3,133 g): Nūr-ilī. Total: 42 2/3 minas 9 shekels, minus 1/6 of silver (approx. 21,405 g) they have received it as purchase price for cedar resin, via Utu-adgal and Idda’. In Puzriš-Dagān. 45 (date)”

41.

41

So Hilgert 1998 assigns it to the “documents of unclear affiliation”. See Sallaberger 1999, 240-244. A detailed analysis will appear in my dissertation. 42 42. Drehem was founded as administration centre in the 39th year of Sulgi, however it reaches its full activity in the year S 43. For the years before S 44 there is no regular evidence for officials of the goldsmith bureau (apart from a potential Sulgi-mīšar for the year S 41); also the other bureaus of the treasure archive are documented since S 43 or later. The shoe-archive is regularly documented from the year S 41 on. The storehouse (e 2 - ki še b- ba ) is also a destination of a payment made by Nalu, the breeder, in the year S 42 as well (see the section 3.2). 43 43. The identification of these individuals presents some difficulties. We assume they were merchants; however, their names are quite common and occur with very different professions. Besides other professions Ennum-ilī is attested once as merchant or as (lu 2 -Š E M) brewer in the reign of Šu-Sin. For Ilak-šūqir and Nanna there are no attestations as merchants or as brewers. Nūr-ilī is once attested in Nippur as brewer, but not as merchant. 44 44. This text is called a “special order” by Steinkeller 2004, 99 fn. 26). 45 45. TCNY 45 (S 44/02): 8 ma-na ⌈ la2⌉ [14 giĝ4] igi-3-ĝal2 [ku3-babbar], en-um-i3-li2, 20 ma-na la2 1 ma-na 6 giĝ4 ŠAM2x2 ku3-babbar, i-la-ak-šu-qir, 9 2/3 ma-na 1/2 giĝ4 ku3-babbar, na-an-na, 6 ma-na 16 giĝ4 ⌈ ku ⌉ -[babbar], nu-ur -i -li , šu+niĝen 42 2/3 ma-na 9 giĝ la igi-6-ĝal ku -babbar, niĝ sam -ma šem 3 2 3 2 2 4 2 2 3 2 2 ĝešeren-še , šu ba-an-ti-eš , ĝiri dutu-⌈ ad ⌉ -gal u id-da-a-ka, ki puzur -⌈ iš⌉ ?-[dda-gan], (date). 3 2 3 2 3 4

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Paola Paoletti

In the 8th year of Šu-Suen a large amount of silver is entrusted to various merchants to buy gold: NBC 664146 o. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 r. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

ŠS 08/09

Duplicate of the Receipt of the Merchants

1 gun2 10 ma-na ku3-babbar niĝ2 sam2-ma ku3-si22 10-ta saĝ niĝ2-gur11-ra-kam ša3-bi-ta 9 1 / 2 ma - n a 2 2 / 3 g i ĝ 4 1 1 š e kur-bi-la-ak 9 1 / 2 ma - n a 2 2 / 3 g i ĝ 4 1 1 š e lu2-dašgi2gi4 9 1 / 2 ma - n a 2 2 / 3 g i ĝ 4 1 1 š e lu2 zabalam4k i 7 5 / 6 ma - n a 7 g i ĝ 4 i g i - 4 - ĝ a l 2 i3-li2-AN.DUL3 7 ma - n a 9 1 / 2 g i ĝ 4 8 1 / 2 š e d zuen-KAL 6 1 / 3 ma - n a 1 5 / 6 g i ĝ 4 n u - u r 2 - d U TU

1 talent 10 minas (approx. 35 kg) of silver: purchase price of (1 shekel) of gold every 10 (shekels of silver), it is the available asset, out of it: 9 ½ minas 2 2/3 shekels 11 grains (approx. 4,773 g): Kur(u)b-ilak; 9 ½ minas 2 2/3 shekels 11 grains (approx. 4,773 g): Lu-Ašgi; 9 ½ mina 2 2/3 shekels 11 grains (approx. 4,773 g): the man of Zabalam; 7 5/6 minas 7 ¼ shekels (approx. 3,977 g): Ilī-ṣulūli; 7 minas 9 ½ shekels 8 ½ grains (approx. 3,579 g): Suen-dan; 6 1/3 minas 1 5/6 shekels (approx. 3,182 g): Nūr-Šamaš;

4 2 / 3 ma - n a 6 1 / 3 g i ĝ 4 5 1 / 2 š e lu2 zimbirki-ke4-n e 3 ma - n a 1 0 5 / 6 g i ĝ 4 1 5 š e DIĜIR-ba-ni 3 ma - n a 1 0 5 / 6 g i ĝ 4 1 5 š e bu3-zu-lum 2 2 / 3 ma - n a 2 g i ĝ 4 i g i - 6 - ĝ a l 2 1 8 1/2 še 23 ku3 lu2 urim5ki-ke4-ne

4 2/3 minas 6 1/3 shekels 5 ½ grains (approx. 2,386 g): the men of Zimbir; 3 minas 10 5/6 shekels 15 grains (approx. 1,591 g): Ilum-bāni; 3 minas 10 5/6 shekels 15 grains (approx. 1,591 g): Puzzulum; 2 2/3 minas 2 1/6 shekels 18 ½ grains (approx. 1,352 g): silver of the men of Ur;

2 4 2 ⌈ 2 / 3 ⌉ [ ma ] - n a 3 g i ĝ 4 i g i - 6 - ĝ a l 2 3 še

2 2/3 minas 3 1/6 shekels 3 grains (approx. 1,361 g): silver of the men of [Šuruppak]?;

ku3 ⌉ [ lu2 SU ?.K UR ?] .R U k i- ke4n e 47 26 [...]-la 27 [...] igi-[...]+2-ĝal2 3 še 28 [...]-ke4-ne 29 [...] 22 1/2 še 30 [...]-um (blank line) 31 [šu+niĝen2] 1 [gun2] 10 ma-na ku3babbar 32 gaba-ri kišeb dam-gara3-e-ne 33 iti izim dšu-dzuen 34 mu dšu-dzuen lugal urim5k i-ma ma2gur8 maḫ den-lil2 dnin-lil2-ra mune-dim2 35 (l.e.) 20 10 2 10 6 30 36 (l.e.) 6 6 6

25

⌈

[…]-la; […] 1/[…]+2 shekels 3 grains: [silver of] the men of […]; […] 22 ½ grains: […]-um. Total: 1 talent 10 minas of silver. Duplicate of the receipt of the merchants. (date) (l.e.) 20 10 2 10 6 30, 6 6 6

The amount expended was 35 kg silver as “purchase price of (1 shekel) of gold every 10 (shekels of silver)”, i.e. 3,5 kg gold. The first section is labelled as the capital or debit48 depending on the 46.

46

I wish to thank Steven Garfinkle of the Western Washington University for the kind permission to cite this text, which is going to be published in Garfinkle 2008 (in preparation). 47 47. Uncertain. 48 48. See Snell, D.C. (1982: 27); Englund, R.K. (1990: 30) and the specification of Sallaberger, W. (1999: 317-318).

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

139

point of view it is seen from: the one of the merchants or the one of the institutions entrusting the capital. The second section lists the single outgoing amounts of silver with their respective merchants. Several individuals are mentioned under the indication of their names or the cities to which they were dispatched. After the calculation of the total expended, the last entry indicates that it is a “duplicate of the receipt of the merchants”. This reveals that the individuals mentioned were all merchants and that the cities named were the locations where they were carrying out their trades. The text is dated to the 9th month of Šu-Suen and surely comes from Puzriš-Dagān because of the month’s name (iti izim dŠu-Suen). The fact that a text from Puzriš-Dagān deals with precious metals suggests a correlation with the treasure archive or its surroundings. Moreover, the mention of so many different cities to which the merchants were dispatched confirms that this text cannot belong to a provincial archive; rather it has to stem from a state one. So we assume that the merchants in question were working by order of the royal treasury in Drehem. Another link to the treasury could be traced by a text of the shoe archive.49 A pair of boots were expended by the administration for a certain Kur(u)b-ilak in the 6th year of Šu-Suen’s reign. The reason of the transfer is not given; however it was very likely a gift of the king, maybe linked to the ritual bathing mentioned in the third entry of this text (“a-tu 5 -a s aĝ u 4 -šakar”, ritual bathing at the beginning of the crescent moon, i.e. of the month). A certain Kur(u)b-ilak is mentioned in NBC 6641 as well (dated to Šu-Suen 8) and it could be therefore the same person. The other individuals mentioned in NBC 6641 are otherwise not known in the treasure archive. However Nūr-Šamaš, Ilīṣulūli, Puzzulum and Lu-Nanna will turn up in the following section. So we note that besides copper, resin and tin, gold was imported by merchants and then bought by the administration to be accumulated in the state coffer. A comparable case of gold (and silver!) hoarded in the palaces and temples of the capitals is shown in Umma by two silver balanced accounts.50 In the last year of Šu-Suen and in the first year of Ibbi-Suen, small amounts of silver were obtained from all kinds of economic activities within the province and were registered in the accounts. The fiscal office of Umma received them, but only a smaller part of this silver was used to meet the needs of Umma’s administration. The large majority of it was transferred to the capitals of the empire, Ur and Nippur. In fact of approx. 22 minas of silver registered as capital (almost the same amount found in both accounts), 51 12 minas (more than a half!) was issued to manufacture “nose rings (for) oxen and (for) small rings”. Moreover, some smaller amounts of the silver issued (1 mina 15 shekels in BdI E-1; 1 mina in BM 106050) were transferred into gold. Both these issues of silver rings and gold had to be brought to the court. In fact they are labelled “mašdaria-payment for the king, (for) the three festivals” ,52 i.e. the three main festivals in Ur (Akiti in the 1st and 7th month; izim-mah in the 10th month). In addition to this regular duty the account BdI E-1 (ŠS 9) lists also additional mašdaria-payments delivered in gold which are appointed for Šu-Sin and for Ibbi-Suen, “the king, who received the crown”.

49. 50. 51. 52.

49

MLC 2045* (ŠS 6/08). D’Agostino – Pomponio 2005. 51 Text BdI E-1 [ŠS 9], r. ii 9-23; text BM 106050 (IS 1), r. iii 1-7. 52 For the ma šd a r ia lu ga l see Sallaberger 1993, 160-170). Here he notes that the ma šd a r ia was a duty (“Abgabe”), not an offering (“opfer”). 50

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c. Exchanges of silver and gold between royal merchants Type

Text

Incoming material

Weight of the delivered material

Obtained by the sale of

Ratio

From

Received by

Date

mu-kux

NBC 10040*

silver

0:0.17.0

(not specified, but very likely gold)

Nūr-Šamaš

Lu-Nanna

ŠS 8/09

šu ba-ti

YNER 8 n.23

silver

0:3.10.165

gold

mu-kux

NBC 6501*

gold

0:0.47.120

(silver)

10:1

Lu-Nanna

Puzzulum

ŠS 8/09

10:1

Ilī-ṣulūli

Lu-Nanna

mu-kux

BIN 3 573

gold

0:0.5.60

(silver)

7:1

ŠS 8/09

Nūr-Šamaš

Ilī-ṣulūli

ŠS 8/11

Three texts all dating to ŠS 8 show various individuals involved in the exchange of silver for gold at the ratio of 10:1 or 7:1: Lu-Nanna, Nūr-Šamaš, Ilī-ṣulūli and Puzzulum. These texts do not present the names of any of the officials of the treasury. In any case they still belong to the treasury or to its environment for the following reasons: - according to the calendar, they surely stem from the state archive at Drehem - they deal with silver and gold - Nūr-Šamaš, Ilī-ṣulūlī and Puzzulum are mentioned in the text NBC 6641 too, which itself belongs to the state administration housed in Drehem (see above). So they are not documents belonging to a “private archive”, but rather exchanges of silver and gold as part of the assets of the royal palace. The transactions can be represented as follows: gold

Ilī-ṣulūli d a m- ga r a 3

silver

Lu-Nanna d a m- ga r a 3

?

silver

Puzzulum

gold

d a m- ga r a 3

silver

gold

silver

Nūr-Šamaš d a m- ga r a 3

silver

= very likely silver = not specified which material

The fourth individual, Lu-Nanna, is not attested in the text NBC 6641. However, Lu-Nanna exchanged metals (gold and silver) with the three royal merchants, so he could be a merchant as well. In fact some texts dated to the period from AS 5 to IS 3 document a certain Lu-Nanna active as merchant in Drehem, Nippur and Umma/Girsu.53

53.

53

See also the list of merchants of Puzriš-Dagān in Neumann 1979, 29.

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

141

The exact relation of these analyzed documents to the treasury is not explicitly defined. However, we assume that the merchants in question looked for either silver or gold, depending on which order they had to fulfill for the crown.

2.3 Where does silver come from? When looking at the sources presented in this first part, the answer to the question concerning the origin of silver is admittedly inconclusive. However, there is some new important evidence: a. silver was bought for gold at the Ur III court. b. gold was considered by the crown as a strategic source, that had to be acquired by selling silver. Gold was stored in temples and palaces, and only the king was endued with it, almost a monopoly of the king? c. considering the exchange of silver and gold within the state of Ur III a clear distinction can be noticed: officials and members of the elite delivered silver in order to obtain gold, whereas merchants exchanged silver against gold and vice versa according to their needs. According to the evidence of the treasure archive, this situation can be illustrated as follows: officials, elite

silver

(1)

merchants

gold tin resin copper

gold/silver

(3)

silver/gold (4) gold

officials, elite [for this evidence see above 2.2/a]

(2) silver

merchants [for this evidence see above 2.2/b]

[for this evidence see above 2.2/c]

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The circulation of silver and gold can be described as follows: (1) the crown received silver from the elite, which was entrusted to the merchants (2) to buy gold (and other materials) (3). Gold then was sold to the elite (4) in exchange for silver (1). Parallel to this, royal merchants exchanged silver against gold and vice versa according to the order they received. So, as seen before in the evidence of Umma and in the case of the royal merchants in PuzrišDagān, on one hand the elites wanted to collect and hoard gold as an investment. On the other hand, silver was also used as means of payment or was donated as gift.

3. The Distribution of Silver: Evidence from the Royal Archive of Puzriš-Dagān 3.1 The Sources of Silver The treasure archive informs us about the sources of the silver delivered to the crown. We can define four groups: a. from commercial activities or exchanges within the frame of the court (already seen above) b. payment of arrears: silver as compensation of the herdsmen and the millers c. various deliveries, as booty or taxes. d. recycling of broken objects, deliveries of metal scraps and deliveries of raw metals for the manufacture of luxury items Since the first group was already analyzed, the charts of the following sections summarize group b and c; the evidence for the silver obtained from recycled objects or from working scraps (group d) are not included because of lack of space54 and because these are internal transfers. Payment of arrears (group b): Type

Weight

Delivered material

Description of the payment

From

Received by

Date

Text

delivery to the storehouse

0;20.6.0

silver

account of the activity of Nalu for 16 year of the diri sheeps

Nalu

e2 kišeb-ba

S 42/00

SAT 2 968

šu ba-ti

0;20.0.0

silver

[repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen]?

Narām-ilī

Lugal-kuzu

S 48/06

PDT 2 1216

šu ba-ti

0;3.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Narām-ilī

Bēlī-ilī

S 44/12

Babyloniaca 7,pl.XX n.7

54.

54

The deliveries of silver scraps (za3-bar kiĝ2 til-la: “waste material/scrap(s) (of) concluded work”) are: AUCT 1 007; AUCT 1 237; AUCT 1 424; AUCT 1 953; BIN 3 338; Or 47-49 133; SAT 2 527; TRU 385; YBC 14426*. The ones about recycled (broken) objects (AMOUNT ku 3 - ba b ba r ki- la 2 n. OBJECT ba - z i- ir / ba - z i-ir -r a - ka m: “AMOUNT of silver, weight of n. broken OBJECT/it is of (something) broken) are: AUCT 1 535; AUCT 2 280; AUCT 2 295; NCBT 1617*; RA 8 p.197 n.22; SAT 3 2032; TCL 2 5515; TrDr 82. Raw silver delivered for the manufacture of luxury items: AnSt 33 p.74; AUCT 2 301; Boson, Tavolette 352; DCEPHE 240; OIP 121 592; OrAnt 14 16; PDT 2 1018; TCL 2 5547; TIM 6 29; YBC 13405*; YBC 13454*; AUCT 1 429; AUCT 1 524.

143

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state šu ba-ti

0;7.30.0

silver

Šara-kam repaid

0;4.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Lugal-itida

Lugal-kuzu

AS 8/07

MVN 18 135

šu ba-ti

0;5.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Narām-ilī

Lugal-kuzu

S 46/04

PDT 1 469

mu-kux

0;4.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Narām-ilī

Lugal-kuzu

S 48/11

PDT 2 1040

šu ba-ti

0;5.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen, house of the breeder of fattened livestock

Šara-kam, via Lugal-itida

Lugal-kuzu

AS 7/03

SAT 2 1054

mu-kux

0;6.47.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Narām-ilī

Lugal-kuzu

(S 42 or) AS 6/10

SAT 2 302

šu ba-ti

0;1.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Šarrum-ilī “controller”

Lugal-kuzu

S 47/05

SNATBM 50

šu ba-ti

0;10.0.0

silver

repaid remainder of the shepherds and cattle herdsmen

Šara-kam, via Lugal-itida

Lugal-kuzu

AS 05/01

TPTS 125

mu-kux

0;0.14.0

silver

repaid remainder of the overseer of the miller

ereš-diĝir of Lugal-Marada

Puzur-Irra

S 45/06

TCL 2 5560

Total:

1;26.37. 0

silver

Payments in silver were made by various individuals, who delivered silver as compensation for various duties. According to the evidence, very little came from booty (only 5 ½ shekels) or “tribute”? (only 1 mina) (see below). In Puzriš-Dagān the main source was represented by the activity of the herdsmen (in total: 1;26.37.0).

3.2 Silver as Compensation of the Herdsmen (group b) As seen from the beginning of this paper, on one hand the state management of silver (and of other precious metals) was controlled by the palace, either in the capital Ur or in the secondary branch at Puzriš-Dagān. On the other hand, the state administration housed at Puzriš-Dagān managed the royal herds. Deliveries of livestock from all over the reign were registered by the receiving officials working for the palace and assignments were executed for the kitchen, for the rituals and also for important officials and foreign ambassadors in form of gifts. Insofar it does not surprise that the main source of incoming silver registered in the treasure archive of Puzriš-Dagān stemmed from the herdsmen: rather it was exactly expected here! Amounts of silver going from only one mina (approx. 500 g) to even 10 (approx. 5 kg) or 20 minas (approx. 10 kg) were paid as compensation for deliveries of sheep, goats or cattle. Three delivering officials occur in the treasure archive as responsible for the herdsmen: - Narām-ilī in the interval S 42-48 - Šara-kam and Lugal-itida between AS 5 and AS 8 - Šarrum-ilī once in the year S 47

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Paola Paoletti

As expected, all of them were involved in the royal livestock administration. Narām-ilī was active in Drehem between S 26 and AS 2: he managed the organisation of cattle herdsmen and was responsible for their accounts “contained in the tukkanu-bag”.55 Šara-kam and Lugal-itida were on a status below Nāram-ilī successor, Babati. However, they nevertheless carried out part of the activities of their superior.56 In fact Šara-kam was the delivering official of the remainder of the herdsmen and Lugal-itida was the conveyor (ĝiri3) who transferred it to the treasury. Furthermore Šara-kam was also related to the house of the fattened livestock (e 2 gurušta). Šarrum-ilī was a “šuš 3 ”, a kind of “controller”,57 and is once attested as responsible for the arrears of the herdsmen in the year S 47, when this role was already assumed by Narām-ilī. He is also attested as delivering official of another type of payment,58 the “rent” (or the compensation for the use) of the balance “a 2 ĝeš-rin 2 -na-bi”,59 equal to 8 shekels silver (approx. 67 g). When analysing the merchants’ balanced accounts60 Englund pointed out that “la2-NI in der Tat einen Fehlbetrag, mit anderen Worten eine uneingelöste Verpflichtung des dam-gàr darstellt“. Based on the numerous “Rückerstattungsscheine” (notes of reimbursement), he then proposed the translation “(erstattungspflichtiger) Fehlbetrag”. This accounting procedure was then applied in the administration of the activity of all the other professions. So the balanced accounts, with their positive or negative remainders, were compiled also over the activity of the herdsmen. They received livestock from the palace and this represented their capital, which was also priced in silver like all the other goods. Furthermore the liability of superiors for deficits of their subordinates in the Ur III economy was delineated by E. Santagati and C. Wilcke, in the case of the brewers, and by H. Waetzoldt and M. Sigrist,61 for other professions, among them the breeder (gurušta). In that case, the officials were obliged by the state administration to repay the remainders of barley, which resulted in the management of the royal resources entrusted to them. In the same way, Narām-ilī and his successors were responsible for the activities of the herdsmen and had to repay the remainders of the latter. So they settled the debits in silver as compensation for cattle.62 The royal cattle herds were submitted to the royal administration housed in Drehem as was the treasury to which the silver was transferred. So there seems to be a kind of conversion system silver-cattle between these royal possessions.

55. 56. 57.

55

Sigrist 1992, 259-269; Maeda 1994, 126-130. Maeda 1994, 129. 57 He covered the function of “controller”, that stood between the royal administration and the worker teams. For the reading šu š 3 of IŠ, see Beal 1992. 58 58. Both payments are registered on the same text (SNATBM 50) although in the chart they appear separated. 59 59. For ĝe š -r i n 2 - na “balance” see e.g. Steinkeller 1989, 95 fn. 276) with further reading. 60 60. Englund 1990, 33-51. 61 61. Waetzoldt – Sigrist 1993; Santagati 2005; Wilcke 2005; 62 62. An example of such texts was presented in the introduction, see §1.2. 56

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

145

Wilcke63 pointed out that officials could in their office accumulate considerable fortunes enabling them to pay off enormous deficits: the responsible of the herdsmen probably obtained the silver from the sale of the milk products,64 like ghee, cheese and cream.65 This means, as proposed by Steinkeller,66 that they had first sold these products in local markets in order to obtain silver, and later they delivered the equivalent of the remainder due to the state. In the balanced accounts the term la 2 -NI “remainder” was opposed to the term diri “overdraft”. Whereas la 2 - NI represented the amount of resources not issued by the official and, therefore had to be returned to the (royal) holdings, diri represented an amount issued that was primarily not entrusted to the official by the (royal) administration.67 This last one is the case of Nalu, the breeder. Nalu was responsible for a sheepfold first in Tummal from S 26 until S 42 and then became a breeder of fattened livestock (gurušta) in Ur and Nippur.68 In the year S 42, exactly when he changed his function and passed to Ur and Nippur, he was apparently obligated to pay back the overdraft of sheep (diri), related to the 16 years of work in Tummal (S 26-S 42). SAT 2 968 “1/3 minas 6 shekels of silver, because he produced an overdraft of sheep for the balanced account of 16 years, Nalu, the breeder repaid. It was brought to the storehouse. (date)“69

In our case Nalu apparently expended more sheep than he should have and he had to pay back the difference. Thus Nalu had used other herds of his responsibility to cover the expenditures of the crown.70 So by means of the conversion cattle-silver mentioned above he could set up his debits in silver. Puzriš-Dagān was founded as an administrative centre in the 39th year of Sulgi and probably started its full activity at S 43/01/01. In my view, at this moment old assets were brought to account by the state administration, and the reimbursement of Nalu has to be seen in this context: after 16 years an account was made about the sheep herds that were entrusted to him in S 26 and by returning the sheep herds he had to pay for the losses.

63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68.

63

Wilcke 2005, 80-81; Wilcke 2007. Sallaberger 1999, 246. 65 Gomi 1980; Englund 1995. 66 Steinkeller 2004, 96-97. 67 See Englund 1990, 48-51 and Sallaberger 1999, 317-318. 68 Maeda 1989, 87-89. 69 69. SAT 2 968, (S 42/00): 1/3 ma-na 6 giĝ4 ku3-babbar, mu niĝ2-ka9 aka mu 16-ke4, udu diri im-de6-a-še3, na-lu5 guruštax-e, in-su, ⌈ e2⌉ kišeb-ba-še3 , ba-an-ku4, mu ša-aš-ruki ba-hulu. 70 70. Cf. the remark of Sigrist 1992, 81): “D´ailleurs pourrait-il en être autrement: il est difficile de distribuer plus d´animaux que ceux don’t on dispose”. However I take this overdraft as a proof that Nalu (and like him all the other officials) did not work only for the state or the province, but besides their office could also carry out theit own private activities. 64

146

Paola Paoletti

A final document: the overseer of the millers had to reimburse 14 shekels as remainder of his subordinates. The sum is then paid by the priestess (ereš-diĝir) of the city god of Marad, a city in the core of the Ur III state: „14 shekel of silver, repaid remainder of the overseer of the millers, the priestess of Lugal-Marada, income, via Lu-kalla, the cup-bearer. Puzur-Irra has received. In Tummal. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 14 shekels (of) weighed goods” 71

Here it is interesting to note that silver coming from a temple was paid to the royal treasury of Puzriš-Dagān controlled by the crown. Temple treasures constituted strategic sources and therefore temples served as “banks”, but they did not dispose of their treasures and they could not issue them except for rituals or religious processions. They were in any case submitted to the control of the king (see the description at the beginning of this study).

3.3 Various Sources: Booty, Taxes etc. (group c) Besides the payments of arrears, other sources of silver are documented in the treasure archive, but only scarcely. Ses-kala, a “spear fisherman” of Enlil, paid 2 minas (approx. 1 kg) of silver. What this duty referred to is not specified.72 However, the payment occurred in Tummal in the 8th month, so it can be related to the important festival of the goddess Ninlil.73 However the matter of importance is one: As the cult of Enlil and Ninlil was a state cult, the payment of Ses-kala is made to the state coffer in Puzriš-Dagān. Other scarce, but still important sources of silver come from single records (group c). 71

TCL 2 5560, (S 45/06): 14 giĝ4 ku3-babbar, la2-NI su-ga ugula kinkinx, ereš-diĝir dlugal-mara2-daki, mukux, ĝiri3 lu2-kal-la sagi, puzur4-ir3-ra , šu ba-ti, ša3 tum-ma-alki, iti a2-ki-ti, mu si-mu-ru-umki lu-lu-buki a-ra2 10 la2 1-kam-aš ba-hulu, mu us2-sa-bi, (l.e.) 14 giĝ4 niĝ2 ki-la2. 72 72. AUCT 1 907, (S 47/08): 2 ma-na ku3-babbar, ses-kal-la šukud2 den-lil2-la2, mu-kux, puzur4-ir3-ra, šu bati, ša3 tum-ma-alki, iti šu-eš5-ša, mu us2-sa ki-maški u3 hur-tiki ba-hulu, (blank line), (l.e.) 2 ma-na: “2 minas (approx. 1 kg) silver: Ses-kala, fisher of Enlil. Income. Puzur-Irra has received, in Tummal. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 2 minas”. 73 73. Probably Ses-kala was responsible for fish transactions for the cult of Ninlil and had to pay to the state the silver corresponding to his duties. For an example of fish deliveries to Enlil see ITT 4 8179 (dated to the time of Gudea of Lagaš), in Carroué 1995, 55-56. See also the delivery of silver to the state capitals recorded in the two balanced accounts from Umma: part of this silver stem also from the activity of the fishermen, in D’Agostino – Pomponio 2005, 182-183; 199. Furthermore, an account of wages of šukud2 “spear fisherman” (Gomi-Sato 260 dated between S 32/02 and S 34/06) documents that three separate work-teams of male workers (gu r u š) from Lagaš provided service in the capitals and were stationed in Esaĝdana and at Ur. For the festival in Tummal see Sallaberger 1993,: 131-143. 71.

147

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

Type

Weight

Delivered

Description of the payment

From

Received by

Date

Text

material mu-kux

mu-kux

mu-kux

0:2.0.0

silver

(not specified)

“tribute” (gu2-na-ne-ne)

0:4.0.0

silver

0:3.0.0

silver

0:1.0.0

silver

Ses-kala the fisher

Puzur-Irra

S 47/08

AUCT 1 907

Ilum-lā’i dumu Ennilī

Lu-diĝira

AS 5/09

OIP 121 588

Lu-diĝira

ŠS 7/09/14

TCL 2 5515

Puzur-Irra

S

AUCT 2

Šuruš-kīn tribute? (gun2) from Urua

Sulgi-ziĝu governor of Urua

mu-kux

0;0.10.45

silver

(not specified)

Šunundu dumu […]

0;0.5.90

silver

booty from Urbilum

[...]

for ⌈ niĝ2⌉

⌈

KA⌉ šu! ⌈du8⌉

74

of the

Lu-Ninšubur

Alla-ĝu

45/12/02?

326+336

S 41?/09

BPOA 2 1814

šu ba-t i

0;1.0.0

silver

šu ba-t i

0;0.8.0

silver

rent of the balance

Šarrum-ilī “controller”

Lugal-kuzu

S 47/05

SNATBM 50

mu-kux

0;1.23.90

silver

stolen goods retrieved of (the temple

Gabidanum gudu-

Lu-diĝira

x/05

NBC 8095*

of) Nanna in Pus

priest

0;0.28.0

silver

Lu-diĝira

AS 09/03

SAT 2 1157

bala-duty

split silver: stolen goods retrieved of (the temple of) Nanna in Pus

0;1.0.0

silver

0;0.42.150

silver

lost goods retrieved from the (temple of) Nanna in Pus

mu-kux

“found things” (niĝ2 pa3-da)

“came from the palace”

Total:

0;14.58.15

silver

a. Booty: Booty is a recurrent theme in the royal texts of the Mesopotamian kings. For the Ur III period some meaningful examples stem from the reign of Šu-Suen, as already seen in the introductory citation, and from the reign of Sulgi. Besides precious stones and resins, metals were the favourite materials: “He filled big leather sacks with [go]ld (and) silver, […] agate […], he loaded cop[per], its tin, bronze (and) items fashioned from them on pack-asses. he (thereby) provided treasure for the temples of the god Enlil, 75 the goddess Ninlil, and of the great gods”.

Another example stems from a royal hymn of king Sulgi: “The pure lapis-lazuli of the foreign land he loaded? into leather-… (and) leather-bags, he heaped up? all its treasures, 76 amassed? all the wealth of the foreign land” .

74.

74

„Up to the present, the meaning of the term KA š u d u 8 (-a ) has not been adequately established and it requires further study”, De Maaijer 2000, 101. 75 75. Šu-Suen E3/2.1.4.3: v l.5-19, Frayne 1997, 301-306 with collations in Attinger – Krebernik 2002, 129; 132. See also Sulgi D l. 378-380, Klein 1981, 87. 76 76. Sulgi D, ll. 348-350, Klein 1981, 85.

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According to the Neo-Sumerian royal texts, it seems that enormous amounts of goods were brought to Sumer from the plundered cities; however, the documents of the treasure archive register only relatively small amounts of silver: „5 1/2 shekels (approx. 46 g) of split silver:77 booty from Urbilum, […] sent, income via (blank). Puzur-Irra has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 5 1/2 shekels” 78

Or two bronze knives to slaughter? sheep79 and another bronze item.80 Information on plundered precious metals in the craft archive of Ur is scarce as well,81 which is not surprising considering the late date and the specific composition of the archive. On the basis of these scarce attestations, we are forced to assume that the administrative evidence is incompletely preserved. Comparing it with the royal texts one would expect to find many more attestations of incoming materials looted during the military campaigns. b. A tax: a payment in silver of a duty, identified as “gun 2 -tax”. In the 7th year of Šu-Suen Ludiĝira received 1 mina of silver from Sulgi-adĝu, governor of Urua, a city in the periphery of the state. TCL 2 5515 “… 1 mina (approx. 500 g) of silver, gun2-duty of Urua, Sulgi-ziĝu, governor of Urua…, income. Lu-diĝira has received. In Nippur. 82 (date)”

This payment is identified simply as “gun 2 ”. An identification with the tax from peripheral regions called “gun 2 ma-da” is problematic, since the term “gun 2 ma- da” began to be used after

77.

77

Quality description known in the leather manufacturing: a l - hu l u ( -a) “bad”, Stol 1980-83, RlA 6 § 4. Qualitäten, p. 528f. Cf. also ku 3 hu lu “Bruchsilber” (split silver) and ku 3 - si 2 2 hu l u „Bruchgold“ (split gold), Reiter 1997, 60, 89. 78 78. AUCT 326+336, (S 45/12/02?): 5 1/2 giĝ4 ku3-babbar al-hulu-a, nam-ra-AK ⌈ ur⌉ -⌈ bil2⌉ ?-lumki, KIŠ.[ARAD-e?], šu [im]-mi-in-⌈ us2⌉ , mu-kux, ĝiri3 (blank), puzur4-ir3-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 puzur4-iš-dda-gan, iti ŠE.KIN-ku5 u4 ⌈ 2⌉ ? ba-zal, mu ur-bi2-[lumki] ba-⌈ hulu⌉ , (blank line), (l.e.) 5 1/2 giĝ4. 79 79. TrDr 86, (S 45a/07/17). 80 80. AUCT 1 437, (date not preserved). 81 81. The only two attestations known to me of nam-ra AK “booty” in administrative texts from Ur are UET III 993 and UET III 752. For the most part the attestations of booty in administrative texts are concentrated in Drehem and deal mainly with livestock, see Sallaberger 2004, 48. 82 82. TCL 2 5515 (ŠS 7/09/14): … (6-8) 1 ma-na ku3-babbar, gun2 URUx⌈ A⌉ ki, dsul-gi-zi-ĝu10 ensi2 URUxAki … (11-13) mu-kux, lu2-diĝir-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 nibruki (date).

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

149

the 3rd year of Šu-Suen’s reign. Steinkeller suggests that our text represents an example of the mašdaria-payment,83 which was generally paid in livestock, but this time settled in silver. Another similar payment84 was made by two individuals, Ilum-lā’i and Šuruš-kīn, in the 5th year of Amar-Suena. They paid 4 and 3 minas (approx. 2 kg and 1,5 kg) of silver respectively as “their gun2-tax” (gu 2 -na-ne-ne), but no city is mentioned. Whatever the precise meaning of gun2 in these texts was, the silver was delivered as a fiscal duty. c. Stolen or lost goods retrieved: NBC 8095* “1 1/3 minas 3 ½ shekels (approx. 696 g) of silver, 1/3 mina 8 shekels (approx. 233 g) of split silver, stolen goods of Nanna of Pus, they were dug up.85 1 mina (approx. 500 g) of silver, lost goods86 of Nanna of Pus, Gabidanum, the cult priest, repaid, income. Lu-diĝira has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (date). (l.e.) (Total:) 2 5/6 minas 1 ½ shekels (approx. 1,429 g)” 87

The stolen goods of the temple have been retrieved, but they were then delivered to the treasury. This leads us to the same considerations we made above about the role of temples as “banks” of the crown (see section 3.2 above). d. From single unspecified deliveries.88 These transactions are carried out by single individuals without any specification of profession. Moreover, no further characterisation of the payment is mentioned that allows us to assign them to a specific group. Where the evidence of the administrative texts is not that representative, a royal inscription of king Šu-Suen provides us with more information. It indeed seems to indicate that there is a direct exploitation of mines in the city of Zabšali: “In order to mine silver (and) gold he set them (to work) there (in Zabšali) from there (Bulma)”.89

83. 84.

83

Steinkeller 1987, 40+fn.67. OIP 121 588, (AS 5/09): 4 ma-na ku3-babbar, DIĜIR-la2-i3 dumu en-ni-li2, 3 ma-na ku3-babbar, šu-ruuš-ki-in dumu am-NI-NI, gu2-na-ne-ne, mu-kux, lu2-diĝir-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 puzur4-iš-dda-gan, (date), (l.e.) 7 ma-na. 85 85. About ba -a l “to dig up”, see e.g. Heimpel 1994: “I suggest to use ba.al ´to dig` with separative infix ´to dig up`. Since burying is one of the most effective ways of hiding something, recovering something hidden must often have taken the form of digging it up”. 86 86. See the parallel about the loss of a seal from a text of Umma, Hallo 1977, 55-56. 87 87. NBC 8095*, (x/05). 88 88. See in the chart above: SAT 2 1157, BPOA 2 1814, TCL 2 5515. 89 89. E3/2.1.4.3 Col. vi ll. 16-18, Frayne 1997, 305. 84

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Wherever Zabšali may be located,90 this is evidence for the exploitation of foreign silver and gold mines by the kings of Ur. So if not imported by trade, silver was earned by officials and elites in local markets through their economic activities; furthermore, by the state coffer it was not only accumulated, but was exchanged for gold at the Ur III court and was distributed by the king to officials and elites’ members: this was the mechanism that permitted this material to circulate within the state economy.

3.4 Deliveries for the Manufacture of Precious Items (group d) The officials of the treasury performed their orders with pedant accuracy. Silver remains of metal’s processing, even very small quantities, were submitted to an accurate weight control; and together with broken objects and split silver they were sent back to the institution. Then the artisans of the crown formed them into expensive and luxury items. The following text may stand as an example for the whole category: AUCT 1 7 “1 small table in nut wood overlaid with silver. 1/3 shekel 8 1/2 grains (approx. 3.2 g) of silver (are) its processing-scraps. From the weighing of ULU-lal, Puzur-Irra has received. In Puzriš-Dagān. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 1 counted (object), 1/3 shekel 8 1/2 grains (its) weight” 91

3.5 The Silver Rings An important aspect of the silver circulation in the Ur III period can be illustrated by means of the expenditures and the destinations of the materials of the treasure archive. The expenditures of silver destined for the purchase of gold or other materials were already analysed in the first part. The majority of the expenditures though deal with the production of luxury items, which were dedicated to the gods or donated to various important members of the society. The donation of distinctive objects which took place at certain times and places was useful to mark occasions of particular social and political importance. The acquisition of luxury items and their visibility were a matter of prestige among the society, not only because the objects were very expensive, but also – and most of all – because they came directly from the king. In fact, in the

90. 91.

90

For the question of its location see e.g. Steinkeller 2007. AUCT 1 7, (S 45/04/17): 1 ĝešbansur LAM tur ku3-babbar ĝar-ra, igi-3-ĝal2 8 1/2 še ku3-babbar za3bar-bi, ša3 i3-la2 ULU3-lal3-ta, puzur4-ir3-ra, šu ba-ti, ša3 puzur4-iš-dda-gan, iti ki-siki dnin-a-zu u4 17 ba-tazal, mu ur-bil2-lumki ba-hulu, (blank line), (l.e.) 1 niĝ2 šudum(ŠID)-ma igi-3-ĝal2 8 1/2 še ki-la2. 91

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

151

livestock administration92 these expenditures are indicated as niĝ 2 -ba lugal “gift of the king”; On the other hand the treasure archive presents mainly the phraseology OBJECT PN-e in-ba “OBJECT PN received as gift”.93 One of the most interesting groups of these luxury items plays a central role in the discussion about the circulation of silver - the silver rings.94 In the preserved documents from the treasure archive a total of 106 rings, evidence of 31 texts, were distributed to high officials of the military and administration sectors, to the royal family, and to ambassadors of other kingdoms, on occasions such as weddings, births, victory in a battle or during religious festivals. The rings appear to have had a standard weight between 1 and 10 shekels each. They are mentioned primarily in pairs with their respective weight: „2 silver rings of 7 shekels each (each approx. 58 g): Nalu the breeder, when he was lying down, via Puzur-Irra; Urdu-Nanna, the ambassador, (was) the trustee. By Lu-diĝira it was issued, in Nippur. (date) (l.e.) (Total:) 2” 95

The “outstanding feature” of these rings are: - they occur only with the indication of their weight - no decoration or form is mentioned Other objects, like the gal vessels, are not described in detail, either. However, these vessels never turn up in the same regularity and frequency as the silver rings. Furthermore, they are mainly made of bronze. But first of all they very rarely occur with an indication of their corresponding weight, which is never omitted for the silver rings. This speaks against the option that the rings were used as ornaments and that their visibility, connected with their royal origins, made them unique pieces not to be yielded again. So, the distribution of silver rings has to be seen as an important device of the palace to circulate silver within the state, although this practice was embedded almost only into a ceremonial sphere. In fact, the rings were always distributed as gifts of the king in particular public or private occasions and didn’t represent regular wages.96 92. 93.

92

See e.g. Sallaberger 2004, 54. See also the remark of Sallaberger 1999, 250-252: „Als Ausgaben des staatlichen Schatzarchives sind alle diese Geschenke letztlich Geschenke des Königs, auch wenn dieser wohl nicht jedes persönlich anordnen kann“. A detailed analysis will appear in my dissertation on the Treasure Archive of Drehem. 94 These texts were first collected by Michalowski 1978. See also Powell 1978; Sigrist 1979, 50; 94. Sallaberger 1999, 248-249; Milano 2003, 40-43. 95 95. Or 47-49 39, (ŠS 5/10): 2 har ku3-babbar 7 giĝ4-ta, na-lu5 gurušta, u4 ba-nu2-a, ĝiri3 puzur4-ir3-ra, urdu2dnanna sugal -mah maškim, ki ⌈ lu ⌉ ?-[diĝir]-ra-ta, ba-zi, ša nibruki, (date), (l.e.) 2. 7 2 3 96 96. Sometimes silver or gold rings were also dedicated to the gods; however the majority of them were presented as royal gifts to the society. In fact their distribution involved primarily the elite, the royal family and foreign ambassadors. Gifts in form of silver rings are also attested for merchants (CT 32 25; AUCT 1 757?) ; “spice-millers” (lu 2 u r 3 -r a ) (AUCT 1 276); singers and their families (AUCT 1 942; PDT 1 456; TrDr 85; YBC 13384*?); fullers (LU2.TU9) (NCBT 1639*); breeder (gurušta) (Or 47-49 39); soldiers (aga3us2) (TrDr 83); herdsmen (YBC 15528*); master scribes (SMS 2/3 p.15 n.12). See also Michalowski 1978. 93

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M. Powell pointed out a number of silver coils excavated in the Diyala region, which are currently housed at the Oriental Institute of Chicago.97 According to their actual weights98 they correspond to the rings mentioned in the texts of the treasury in Ur and Drehem.99 No indications of date exist, though he suggests a date between the late Early Dynastic and the early Old Babylonian: “In some cases an end has been rudely pulled out of the coil and snipped, twisted or even beat off, i.e. with no indication of a concern for the aesthetics of the object itself. Thus, while recognizing that the ultimate origin of these coils may lie in jewellery, I would say that the bulk of the Oriental Institute silver coils from Khafaje represents an evolved stage of this type of object and are, for all practical purposes, identical with money”. However, it is not “recognized money able to represent the abstract measure of (the) value”.100 In fact, silver, in whatever form was exchanged, has always been weighed untill the very recent phases of the Mesopotamian history: these silver rings, as all the other forms, could not be accepted only on the basis of their form or on an eventual inscription. Furthermore, as we noted above, the distribution of these rings was almost always limited to a ceremonial sphere. These facts prevent us from defining these rings as proper coins. However, we can assume that these coils could have been a royal gift presented in the form of common raw silver: this could have been sold to obtain other goods or used for any other kind of payment as usual at that time. After all, as we already discussed before, precious metals, particularly silver and gold, were collected in temples and palaces in various standard forms, be it rings, ingots, or cups.101

4. Market Exchange and the “Reality” of Silver Under the premise that the Ur III Empire was a bureaucratic state under total control of the central power, Englund investigated the Neo-Sumerian merchants’ balanced accounts and noted: “Die Entwicklung dieses anfänglichen System von Wertäquivalenzen unter den dam.gàr der

altsumerischen Periode führte in den dam.gàr-Abrechnungen der Ur III Periode zum Hantieren mit Silbermengen, die nicht mehr reale, sondern künstliche Werteinheiten wiedergaben”.102 However, the evidence of the treasure archive analyzed in the previous sections of this paper showed amounts of silver entering into and going out of the state coffer. Even very small quantities

97. 98.

97

Powell 1978; Powell 1996. The weights range from very low (about 2 g) to about 492 g, that is approximately one mina, in the case of several coils still attached to each other. For a complete analysis of the weights see Powell 1978, 232-233; 240. 99 99. Milano 2003, 41). 100 100. Milano 2003, 6). 101 101. Milano 1991 about the circulation of cups. See also the constant production of gold rings as ornament or to be hoarded documented for at least 35 years without changes, D’Agostino – Pomponio 2005, 188189; 201. 102 102. Englund 1990, 23. 98

Elusive Silver? Evidence for the circulation of Silver in the UR III state

153

of metals (silver, gold etc.), measured with pedant accuracy, were submitted to weight control and returned back to the treasury (e.g. text AUCT 1 7 presented above). Therefore, they were not only nominal values, but actual exchanges of materials, purchases and payments: as silver was used by the state institution to produce rings – demonstrated by the archaeological evidence – in the same archive “the same silver” was recorded as delivery to the same institution as well. This “real” silver then plays a central role for the investigation and in the description of the Ur III organization. While describing it as a classic example of a patrimonial system, where all the economic and human resources are integrated into a single socio-economic organism subordinated to one ruling body, Steinkeller pointed out: “In spite of its apparent monolithic nature, such a system is actually a sum of individual households linked together by a network of mutual rights and obligations. All of those households form a single pyramidal structure, at whose top stand the king and his family. From an economic perspective, the most important point about a patrimonial state is that its economy is necessarily embedded in social relations… [The Ur III economy] operated according to a quota system, which determined each individual’s obligation via-à-vis the state, depending on his specific social and occupational position. During the period of their employment, state dependents were alimented with grain, wool, and oil allotments. …the higher-ranking among them were in addition provided with the plots of arable land. After their particular obligation or work-duty was fulfilled, they had complete freedom to engage in an independent economic activity”.103 In this context of the Ur III organization should be seen the evidence I described in this paper. On one hand, officials like those responsible for the herdsmen owned silver and paid deficits for their subordinates, because they could accumulate considerable fortunes in their office. The elite formed by these officials exchanged these (silver)-fortunes for gold, which they wanted to hoard for longer periods. On the other hand the state searched for gold (and other expensive materials) by means of commercial activities as well. All these operations were carried out within the quota system described by Steinkeller. Another key element of the Ur III organization is represented by the distribution of silver rings. Within the Ur III economy, where silver (and barley) were used as money, this was de facto an important device of the palace to circulate silver. As result of the kings favour, this silver circulation was undoubtedly embedded in social relations and reflected a social stratigraphy of the state, however it was a device to support and is an indirect evidence of market exchange in the Ur III period. While investigating the role of markets in the Mesopotamian economy van Driel noted: “The importance of our elusive silver within Mesopotamia becomes manifest when we study the relation between the subjects, both institutional and private, and (central) government. In a way an increasing role of silver changes the relationship between the rulers and the ruled...the government produces, and receives as taxation, agrarian products which it wants to exchange for something which it can hoard for longer periods than is possible for agrarian products. This asks for a market, a requirement which can be traced back to at least 2000 B.C. For the market to function there must be subjects capable of serving as buyers, creating a solvent demand”.104 103

103. Steinkeller 2004, 93-94. 104 104. van Driel 2002, 327.

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That is – to say it again with an expression of van Driel,105 but softened for the Ur III period: the taxation system in the Ur III state had evolved into a system where different sorts of obligations could be fulfilled by payments in silver, obligatorily supported by the presence of a market for agricultural products where the silver had to be earned. Its presence and its relevance for the Mesopotamian economy in this period are thus evident.

ABBREVIATIONS

AnSt = Anatolian Studies. Journal of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara (London 1951ff.) AOAT = Alter Orient und Altes Testament (Neukirchen-Vluyn 1969ff.) AoF = Altorientalische Forschungen. Schriften zur Geschichte und Kultur des alten Orients (Berlin 1971ff.) ASJ = Acta Sumerologica (Hiroshima 1979ff.) AUCT = Andrews University Cuneiform Texts (Berrien Springs, Mich. 1984ff.) Babyloniaka = Babyloniaca. Études de philologie assyro-babylonienne (Paris 1906/1907-1937) BBVO = Berliner Beiträge zum vorderen Orient (Berlin 1982ff.) BdI = Le tavolette cuneiformi delle collezioni della Banca d'Italia. Banca d'Italia, Roma (2006) BiMes = Bibliotheca Mesopotamica (Malibu 1975ff.) BIN = Babylonian Inscriptions in the Collection of James B. Nies, Yale University (New Haven 1917ff.) BiOr = Bibliotheca Orientalis (Leiden 1943/44ff.) BJRL = Bulletin of the John Rylands Library (Manchester 1903/08ff.) BM = siglum for tablets in the British Museum (London) Boson Tavolette = G. Boson, Tavollete cuneiformi sumere degli archivi di Drehem e di Djoha dell’ultima dinastia di Ur (Milano 1936) BPOA = Biblioteca del próximo oriente antiguo (Madrid 2006ff.) CT = Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British Museum (London 1896ff.) DCEPHE = J.-M. Durand, Documents cunéiformes de la IVe section de l’École pratique des Hautes Études, Tome 1: catalogue et copies cunéiformes (= HÉO 18, 1982) FAOS = Freiburger Altorientalische Studien (Wiesbaden etc. 1975ff.) ITT = F. Thureau-Dangin/H. De Genouillac/L. Delaporte, Inventaire des tablettes de Tello, conservées au Musée Impérial Ottoman, tomes I-V (Paris 1910-1921) JCS = Journal of Cuneiform Studies (New Haven/Boston etc. 1947ff.) JEOL = Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Gezelschap Ex Oriente Lux (Leiden 1933/37ff.) JESHO = Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (Leiden 1957/58ff.)

105.

105

van Driel 2002, 327.

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Melammu = R. Rollinger – C. Ulf (eds.) 2004, Commerce and Monetary Systems in the Ancient World: Means of Transmission and Cultural Interaction. Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in Innsbruck, Austria, October 3rd8th, 2002, Stuttgart. MLC = siglum for tablets in the [J. Pierpont] Morgan Library Collection (now Yale Babylonian Collection, Yale University, New Haven) MOS = Middle Eastern Studies Programm (Leiden /Istanbul 1999ff.) MVN = Materiali per il vocabolario neosumerico (Roma 1974ff.) NABU = Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (Paris/Rouen 1987ff.) NBC = siglum for tablets in the Nies Babylonian Collection (Yale University, New Haven) NCBT = siglum for tablets in the Newell Collection of Babylonian Tablets (now Yale University, New Haven) OBO = Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis (Freiburg, Schweiz 1973ff.) OIP = Oriental Institute Publications (Chicago 1924ff.) Or = Orientalia, SP = Series Prior (Roma 1920-1930); NS = Nova Series (1932ff.); Or. means also OrNS Or NS = s. Or. OrAnt = Oriens antiquus: rivista del Centro per la antichità e la storia dell’arte del Vicino Oriente (Rom 1962-1990) PDT = Die Puzriš-Dagan-Texte der Istanbuler Archäologischen Museen, I: M. Çiğ /H. Kızılyay/A. Salonen (= AASF B 92, 1954); II: F. Yıldız /T. Gomi (= FAOS 16, 1988) PIHANS = Publications de l’Institut historique et archéologique néerlandais de Stamboul (Leiden 1956ff.) RA = Revue d’Assyriologie et d’Archéologie Orientale (Paris 1884/85ff.) RIME = The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Early Periods (Toronto 1990ff.) RlA = Reallexikon der Assyriologie, since 1957: Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie (Berlin/Leipzig 1928/32ff.) RTC = F. Thureau-Dangin, Recueil de tablettes chaldéennes (Paris 1903) SAOC = Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization (Chicago 1931ff.) SAT = Sumerian Archival Texts (Bethesda 1993ff.) SMS = Monographic Journals of the Near East. Syro-Mesopotamian Studies (Malibu 1977ff.) SNATBM = T. Gomi/S. Sato, Selected Neo-Sumerian Administrative Texts from the British Museum (Chiba, Japan 1990) TCL = Textes cunéiformes. Musée du Louvre, Département des Antiquités Orientales (Paris 1910ff.) TCNY = A.L. Oppenheim, Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets of the Wilberforce Eames Babylonian Collection in the New York Public Library (= AOS 32, 1948) TIM = Texts in the Iraq Museum (Baghdad/Wiesbaden 1964ff.) TPTS = M. Sigrist, Tablettes du Princeton Theological Seminary. Époque d’Ur III (= OccPubl. S.N. Kramer Fund 10, 1990) TrDr = H. de Genouillac, La trouvaille de Dréhem: étude avec un choix de ntextes de Constantinople et Bruxelles (Paris 1911) TRU = L. Legrain, Le temps des rois d’Ur: recherches sur la société antique d’après des textes nouveaux (= BÉHÉ 199, 1912) UAVA = Untersuchungen zur Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Ergänzungsbände zur ZA (Berlin etc. 1960ff.) UET = Ur Excavations: Texts (London 1928ff.) YBC = siglum for tablets in the Yale Babylonian Collection (Yale University, New Haven) YNER = Yale Near Eastern Researches (New Haven/London 1967ff.)

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ZA = Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie (Berlin 1939ff.)

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