Sealing

Classification/Broad: Seals and Sealings

Classification/Specific: Sealing

Material/Broad: Clay

Material/Specific: Clay (Clay)

Measurements: 65 X 60 MM

Description: Clay bulla with a round perforation inscribed in large, rough script with a list of quantities of normal bread (ninda gen), normal beer (kaš gen), sweet wort (dida), barley flour (zi3 še), and some additional items. The entire surface of the bullae is covered with a seal impression with a legend (difficult to read) and preserving some iconography (a seated bearded figure?). Presumably it was once attached to a container in which the listed commodities were stored and/or transported. According to Oriental Institute records it was excavated at Adab, but this is uncertain, because many tablets from other places were mixed into this group. This bulla was assigned a provenience from Umma in OIP 138, p. 145 and p. 185, but without a reason given. The OI file card has a handwritten note on it "From Umma KLW 2008" (presumably referring to the aforementioned 2008 volume, by Karen L. Wilson). Yang 1989, p. 23 assigned a provenience from Umma based on a reading of a personal name on the seal impression, Lu2-{d}Šara2. This reading is difficult to confirm at present. The presence of such a name alone would not be sufficient for a sure assignment to Umma, as individuals from other provinces could have a name invoking the chief deity of Umma (e.g. no less a prominent indvidual as the governor of Girsu at one point bore the name {d}Šara2-kam). Furthermore, tablets from Umma did not appear on the art market until 1911, and this bulla was said to have been excavated in 1903-04, making an Umma provenience rather unlikely. Even if the bulla was created in Umma, it could have been attached to a container of goods shipped from Umma to Adab, where it was eventually excavated. The provenience of this sealed inscribed bulla thus remains uncertain.

Region: Wasit governorate

Country: Iraq

Place/site: Bismaya

Place/other: --

Locus: --

Period: Ur III

Date: --

Culture: --

Dynasty: Third Dynasty of Ur

King/Ruler: --

Inscribed: Yes

Inscription Sequence Number: 1

Inscription Language: Sumerian

Script: Cuneiform

Dialect: --

Inscription Description: YES

Inscription Subject: inscribed sealed bulla with list of comestibles

Inscription Type: Administrative

Inscription Location: Obverse and Reverse

Translation:

--

Transliteration One:

--

Transliteration Two:

--

Transliteration Three:

--

Registration Number: A1154

Accession Number: 83

Field Number: --