Inscription Tablet on Accounting Records of Reed Workers

“ 20.5  mine……. (and) 8156 5/6  male workers , doing a day’s work of reed waving were left over from (the previous) account (and) remain (carried over) from the year after the fifth anniversary of Ur King  Šu-Suen’s reign in which he built Murigtidnim (known as) the  Wall of Martu. These items are debited. Of these, 30 kur (1 kur equals 300 liters) of barley/grain, has been debited in the account with the sealed inscription tablet of scribe Wasisis. A total of 30 kur of barley has been deducted from the account. Deficit: the daily (wager) of 1350 reed workers (deficit) is equivalent to half a mine (ca. 240 gr.) mentioned as 4 wheat kernels of silver. Surplus: 30 kur barley and this surplus compensates for the (said) deficit. Deficit: 20.5 mine ŠÀ.NÌ.NA₄. The daily (wager) of 6836 5/6 reed workers is the cause of the BAR.UD deficit - Balance sheet of Kalala, the controller of handcraft workers house. (Written) in Ur King Šu-Suen’s 7^th year of reign in which he ravaged the Land of Zabšali”.  (Translated by: V. Donbaz]

The content of the Ur III inscription tablets is dominated by inventories that organize the daily life of the public, animal and food donations brought to the palace and the temples, as well as distribution lists. Concerning reed workers, this particular tablet reveals a nearly 4000 year-old accounting record, as well as profit and loss accounts. The accounting in question concerns the daily wager of 8156 5/6 workers and an unclosed debt of two years. The worker indicated by the fraction 5/6 at the end of 8156 workers must demonstrate the reduced wager of someone still working as an apprentice or semi-skilled worker, who received 5/6^th of his daily wager from the weaving (baskets of various sizes) business.