Sumerian cuneiform is one of the earliest
known forms of written expression. First
appearing in the 4th millennium BC in what
is now Iraq, it was dubbed cuneiform
(‘wedge-shaped’) because of the distinctive
wedge form of the letters, created by
pressing a reed stylus into wet clay. Early
Sumerian writings were essentially
pictograms, which became simplified in the
early and mid 3rd millennium BC to a series
of strokes, along with a commensurate
reduction in the number of discrete signs
used (from c.1500 to 600). The script
system had a very long life and was used by
the Sumerians as well as numerous later
groups – notably the Assyrians, Elamites,
Akkadians and Hittites – for around three
thousand years. Certain signs and phonetic
standards live on in modern languages of
the Middle and Far East, but the writing
system is essentially extinct. It was
therefore cause for great excitement when
the ‘code’ of ancient cuneiform was cracked
by a group of English, French and German
Assyriologists and philologists in the mid
19th century AD. This opened up a vital
source of information about these ancient
groups that could not have been obtained in
any other way.
Cuneiform was used on monuments
dedicated to heroic – and usually royal –
individuals, but perhaps its most important
function was that of record keeping. The
palace-based society at Ur and other large
urban centres was accompanied by a
remarkably complex and multifaceted
bureaucracy, which was run by professional
administrators and a priestly class, all of
whom were answerable to central court
control. Most of what we know about the
way the culture was run and administered
comes from cuneiform tablets, which record
the everyday running of the temple and
palace complexes in minute detail, as in the
present case. The Barakat Gallery has
secured the services of Professor Lambert
(University of Birmingham), a renowned
expert in the decipherment and translation
of cuneiform, to examine and process the
information on these tablets. The following is
a transcription of his analysis of this tablet:
‘An administrative document from the period
of the Third Dynasty of Ur, dated to the 6th
year of Shu-Sin, fourth king of the dynasty,
c. 2030 B.C. It is a record of rations issued
to official messengers.
Translation:
3 sila of bread, 5 sila of best beer, 2 shekels
of oil, 4 shekels of lard: Ahum-bani, king’s
messenger. 3 sila of bread, 5 sila of best
beer, 2 shekels of oil, 4 shekels of lard:
Shalim-beli, king’s messenger. 3 sila of
bread, 5 sila of best beer, 2 shekels of oil, 4
shekels of lard: Ur-dingir, vizier, king’s
messenger when they went from the king
on a journey. 3 sila of bread, 5 sila of best
beer, 2 shekels of oil, 4 shekel;s of lard :
Sipa-nakurre, king’s messenger. 3 sila of
bread, 5 sila of best beer, 2 shekels of oil, 4
shekels of lard,…mer, king’s messenger. 3
sila of bread, 5 sila of best beer, 2 shekels of
oil, 4 shekels of lard: Shu-….., king’s
messenger. Total: 18 sila of bread, 30 sila
best beer. Total: 12 shekels of oil, 24
shekels of lard. First day, disbursement in-
house, of the runners. Month: Festival of
Shulgi. Year: Shu-Sin, king of Ur, erected a
magnificent stele for Enlil and Ninlil.
The sila was a measure of capacity, about
.85 of a litre. The shekel was also a measure
of capacity, 1/60 of a sila. This document is
of a well-known type, but is rare and
possibly unique for many details. It lists the
bread first, beer second, contrary to most
documents of this type. Then oil and lard are
issued, which are very rare in such
documents. And its summing up between
totals and the month name is apparently
unique.’
