This tablet has a total of 20 lines of
Sumerian cuneiform on the obverse and
reverse, and has rollings of no less
than
seven cylinder seals to show the
inscription
on them: the seven together on the
reverse, and repeated on the edges:
two on
the upper edge, two on the lower edge,
and
the remaining three on the left-hand
edge.
It is dated to the first year of
Zambiya, king
of Isin in Sumer c. 1836 B. C.
Translation:
1/2 a ninda, 4 cubits length, 1 1/2
ninda
width, its area 1 musar 15
iku: an undeveloped plot of
land
adjacent to the house of Erra-qarrad,
palace
administrator:
Zambiya the king sold it to Beli-
tayyar son of
Patum. He (Beli-tayyar) weighed out
for
him (Zambiya) 12 1/2 shekels of
silver.
Seal of:
Ur-Shulpa’e, administrator of the
date
groves
Erra-gasher, comptroller
Dadi, supervisor of the merchant
bankers
Ur-dukuga
Ili-kitti
Ili-iddinashu
And Ilushu-ibbishu
rolled their seals.
Seal inscriptions:
Ur-Shulpa’e
royal scribe
son of Lu-Amar-Suena
adminstrator of the date groves
Erra-gasher
scribe of the king
son of Nanna-mansum
servant of Enlil-bani
Ur-dukuga
son of Nuhhubum
servant of (the god)
Amu[rrum]
Ili-kitti
son of Ilishka-utul
Servant of (the god) Amurrum
Ili-iddinashu
son of Humzi
servant of (the god) Amurrum
Ilushu-ibbishu
son of Awil-Ishtar
servant of (the gods) Ninsi’anna
and Kabta
Dadi
supervisor of the merchant bankers
servant of (the god) Dagan
and Enlil-bani
Month: Abu, year: Zambiya the king
This is a rare and important document
among real estate sale documents of
the
period. No less a person than the
king
(Zambiya, in his first year) sold an
undeveloped house plot to a private
person
for 12 1/2 shekels of silver. This
raised a
legal problem: normally the seller
took an
oath in the king’s name, but the king
could
not of course do that! So seven
witnesses
were gathered, more than usual, and
the
first three were public officials.
The seal
inscriptions of two of these three
indeed
declare the owners officers of the
previous
king Enlil-bani. They had not yet got
new
seals with the new king’s name! But
such
ceremony is attested in one of these
seals,
that of Ur-Shulpa’e: it ascribes to
him two
offices: first “royal scribe,” then,
at the end,
“administrator of the date groves.”
The first
is a lower rank, the second much
higher.
Thus he was first royal scribe, later
promoted to Administrator of the date
groves. But the second was simply
added on
the seal without obliteration of the
first,
which would have resulted in a ghastly
looking seal: weals were made of
hematite
in this period and were very expensive
items.
The tablet is in very good condition:
only
very slight damage to the reverse.
Some of
the art of the seals is visible:
standing gods
and worshippers.
Description and translation kindly
provided
by Professor W. G. Lambert
