Notes from: Mesopotamian civilization: the materia
Oct 2, 2009 23:49:18 GMT -5
Post by ummia-inim-gina on Oct 2, 2009 23:49:18 GMT -5
Notes from: "Mesopotamian civilization: the material foundations" By Daniel T. Potts
Chapter One: The Country and it’s climate
Climate
- Wet Winters (Nov-Mar)
- Dry Summers (May-Oct)
- Mean annual precipitation can vary as much as 50% from year to year.
- Average rainfall is only 115-130 mm a year
- Never reaches the 240 mm average needed for dry farming.
- Date-Palms do not bear fruit north of Hit today, however there is evidence that it was able to grow in the north as late as 1000 A.D. demonstrating a warmer climate.
- Texts from Sippar and Dilbat show that in the Old Babylonian period (1800-1650) barely was harvested in March/early April. However by the Neo-Babylonian period (600-400) texts from Babylon, Sippar, and Nippur indicate that it had been moved to late April/early may.
The Rivers
The Tigris
- The Tigris starts in the Taurus mountains of Turkey.
- It stretches 2032 Km and drains an area of 68, 975 sq. Km above the head of its delta in Samarra.
- It has four tributaries; the Greater and Lesser Zab, the Adhaim, and the Diyala.
- The Tigris floods in March/April with waters as high as 6 m higher than recorded minimums. Guage readings at Mosul of 212.6 (1925) to 218.9 (1935) have been recorded. Which translate to 88 to 6, 200 cubic meters of water discharged per second.
- At Baghdad flood waters reach 10 knots.
- Because it loses less water to evaporation and because it discharges more water accordingly. The Tigris has dug a much deeper bed than the Euphrates.
- Since the water in the Tigris had to be lifted up out of the river it was generally unsuited for gravity-flow irrigation. With only a hand-operated shaduf to pump the water irrigation was not practical until Assyrian times when pulleys and animals made it comparatively easy.
The Euphrates
- The Euphrates runs for approx. 2720 km. draining an area of about 163, 120 sq. km. above the head of its delta at Ramadi.
-This represents an area nearly three times the drainage of the Tigris.
- The Euphrates is affected by the spring thaw later than the Tigris, only reaching full spate in April/May.
It has two tributaries in northern Syria, the Balikh and the Khabur rivers.
- The gradient of the Euphrates is gentle, producing a slower river much of which is lost to Evaporation due to its speed and the desert-steppe it passes through.
of silt and salt
- The Euphrates carries 1, 000 to 4, 000 parts per millions sediment while the Tigris carries 25, 000. Levels which are four to five times greater than that of the Nile.
Classification of land and general soil characteristics
- The Sumerians had five classifications of land: "Best" (Sig), "Good" (muru), "mediocre" (hul or hul-sum), "bad" (murgu), non-draining/infertile (u)
River Levee and River Basin Soils
River levee soils
- River levee soils are formed by the heavier sediments in the river.
River Basin Soils
- When the Tigris or Euphrates flood they spread water several kilometers after filing the levees. No less than 5-10 cm of sediment can be deposited by a single flood.
pages omitted
cont...
Chapter Three: Agriculture and Diet
Nutrition and Diet
Gains
- Barley; All species of Barley are diploid (2x7 chromosomes) In principle there are two varieties 2- row and 6-row. The is also Naked and Hulled varieties the later requiring an extra step in production the remove the hull or "Glume". 2-row barley is generally grown in the north while 6-row as domesticated later and brought south (it appears in both) The preference to Barley over wheat is accredited to higher yields and greater salt tolerance. Barely accounted for over 98% of the crops grown the year Shulgi 47. Barley ripens two or three weeks earlier than wheat allowing it to avoid rust causing greater yields. Even though barley is salt tolerant it increases the salt level
- Wheats belong to the genus Triticum and are classified by the number of chromosomes present. Diploid wheats are characterized by fourteen chromosomes in two sets of seven, whereas tetraploid wheats have four sets and hexaploid wheats have six sets of seven chromosomes. All of these are hulled.
- Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) is one of the tetraploid wheats. It is hearty, drought resistant crop capable of producing excellent yields when irrigated.
- naked or free-threshing hexaploid wheats, such bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and club wheat (compactum) are also attested in ancient Mesopotamia. These are characterized by grains held quite loosely by the glumes thus freeing from the ear quite easily.
- Hulled wheats, while harder to process, can be easier to store. The hulls can protect the crops from damage from weather or pests such as birds.
- When compared to Barely wheat was scarcely cultivated in southern Mesopotamia. For example, only 1.7 percent of the land at Girsu in the year Shulgi 47 was given over to emmer. Only 0.15 percent of the land was given over to "gig" (possibly free wheats)
- Einkorn wheats both wild (Triticum boeoticum) and domesticated (Triticum monococcum) are diploid, hulled wheats.
- Domesticated Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) or small spelt, is normally only found in northern Mesopotamia. It has lower yield then free wheats but it is drought resistant and able to grow in poorer soil.
Legumes
- The legumes cultivated in Mesopotamia included lentil, garden pea, chickpea, and broad bean all which can be eaten raw or cooked. Other legumes, such as bitter and common vetch and, from Neo-Assyrian times onward, alfalfa (lucerne) were cultivated for animal fodder.
- Legumes are important as nitrogen-fixing plants which enrich soil thereby ensuring future yields, and as such represent an essential element in crop rotation schemes and land restoration projects in salinized lands.
- The lentil (Lens esculents) is high protein and able to withstand a fair amount of heat and drought but generally speaking not able to withstand excess moisture.
- The common or field pea (pisum sativum ssp. arvense (L.) Poir) is a winter crop capable of growing in areas of low rainfall and mild winters, the field pea is greatly improved by irrigation. The "small pulse" (Sumerian: gu-tur) may be either the field pea or perhaps the lentil.
- The grass pea (Lathryus Sativus) is a hardy legume which is drought resistant crop that is tolerant to water-logging. It has proven itself as a famine crop when cereals fail, but over-eating causes lathyrism.
- The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an extremely salt tolerant plant which is intolerant to frost.
- To date the broad bean (Vicia faba) is attested by only one seed from Old Akkadian Tell Taya. It is the least drought resistant of the legumes and benefits greatly from irrigation. The "Big pulse" (gu-gal)is probably the broad bean and not the chickpea and previously assumed (Stol 1985:127; cf.Maekawa 1985:99)
Vegetables
- Vegetables included garlic, leeks and onions. Cucumbers are also attested as well as several minor vegetables.
- In Mesopotamia the Sumerian term "sum" combined with another sign stood for a variety of members of the Allium genus including onion, leek and shallot while "sum" on its own generally meant garlic.
- Onions (sum-sikil) were often organized by region of origin (not growing) such as "Marhashi onion" "Dilmun Onion" although names such as "date-palm onion" "light onion" and :spring onion" are also attested. The cultivation period was the same as cereals. Seeding commonly took place between Sept. and Dec. and harvest in April/May. Yield varied according to onion type, the average lying between six and eight liters per 100 sq.m
- Sargonic records note "men of vegetables" (lu-sar-ra) record seed dispersement and harvest results while a Lugal-ni-BE-du was in charge of the "onion office"
- Cucumbers (kuš, u-kuš), melon disguised under the rubric (ripe cucumber), gords also attested. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa, Akk. hassu) beet (Brassica rapa, Akk laptu) and radish (Raptanus sativus Akk puglu)
Herbs and spices
- Spices "mun-gazi" were cultivated on plots on land "ki mun-gazi"
coriander (Coriandrum Sativum "še-lù), cress and cress-seed (Erucaria aleppica, Lepidium sativum, or Nasturtium offinal? Sum: " za-hi-li"), Black Cumin (Cuminum cyminum "zi-zi-bi-a-num") Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare AKK: "an/ddahšu)
- Additionally there are several herbs which translations remain questionable. "? gazi" has been identified with either mustard, beet, cassia, and licorice. [Maekawa], "? šurmenu" as juniper berries, and "? ninu" as mint [Bottero]
- Dill (Anethum graveolens Akk: šibetum), Safflower or bastard saffron (Carthamus tinctorius Akk: az/supiru) Coriander (kisibirru), thyme (Thymus Akk: "zamburu), hyssop (Hyssopus, Akk: "zupu) and asafoetide (Ferula asafoetida, Akk: surbi)
Oil Plants
- Flax (Linum usitatissimum) was used for linen but there is no evidence of use for oil, which goes rancid quickly)
- sesame (Sesamun indicum) ("giš-i") it's seeds ("še-giš-i") as well as it's fields ("engar-giš-i") are well documented.
- unlike most of the other crops discussed here, including flax, sesame (Sesamun indicum) is today a summer crop in Iraq as it was in antiquity. Harvests in Lagash date to the fifth month (Aug/Sept). As the growing period is about three months crops must have been sown in May/June. This is one of the strongest arguments for the identification of gish-i with sesame (Waetzoldt 1985:87)
- Obviously sesame could only be grown in southern Mesopotamia with irrigation, nor is it a salt tolerant plant.
- Waetzoldt has shown that oil yield in the Ur III period was on the order of 20-22%. A ratio of 5:1. This compares favorably with early 19th century German accounts of 22.2-25%
- The quantities involved could be enormous. An Ur III text from Ur (UET III 12129 rv. 11+13) records no less than 470 gur 3.6 sila or c. 141, 003.6 l of oil, while an old Babylonian text from Larsa (YOS V153) notes sesame oil in the amount of 335 gur, c. 100, 500 l. (Butz 1979:383).
- Aside from its industrial uses (for textile, leather and woodworking) sesame oil was definitely used for cooking and baking. Furthermore, in late antiquity and possibly earlier, sesame oil was burned in lamps.
- Finally before leaving the subject of oil plants, mention should be made of the recovery of either mustard (Brassica sp.) or radish (Sinapis sp.) seeds in the temple oval at Khafajah in contexts dating to 3000 B.C.
Fruit
Dates Palms (Phoenix dactylifera "giš-gišimmar")
- Gilgamesh boasted that Uruk had "1 Sar city, 1 Sar gardens, and 1 Sar claypits and open grounds of Ishtar’s temple. Three square miles of the open ground comprise Uruk."
- No other plant that grows in a sub-tropical zone is as salt tolerant as the date-palm
- Mesopotamian gardens were composed of three stories. The upper-story was the tallest of the trees, the date-palm. The middle-story was other shorter fruit bearing trees. On the ground was the cereals.
- Dates are a good source for carbohydrates and calcium. They also contain vitamins A, B, and D. The flesh of a date is 75% sugar and they can be eaten in both there fresh (uhim) or dried (zulum) form. Dates have been grown since at least the ubaid period.
Second-story fruit trees
pomegranate ("nurma") (ĝešlaldar" "ĝešnurma"):
figs ("peš(še)" ("ĝešpeš(še)" [tree])
apples ("hašhur", the tree is "uhašhurak"):
grapes ("geštin")
Mulberries
Plums ("šennur)
pears (Akk: "Kamiššaru, ? angašu")
quinces (Akk: "supergillu/šapargillu)
Berries ("gi-rim")
The fields and the use of the Ard- David and Joan Oates suggest that the use of the plough dates back to the Samarran and is believed to correspond with the sign APIN.
- The Ard (sag-APIN) consists of a long wooden beam, often composite, the front section mortised and bound with rope to the rear.
- The hoe lasts twelve months, compared to the ard which only lasts four months and takes twice as long to repair as its work life.
- Hoe blades were typically made of more durable materials such as stone however it should be noted that the name for hoe is Sumerian (gish al-zu si-ga) uses the determinative gish or wooden.
- Beginning with the Early dynastic period we find evidence of the use of the seeder plough (gish numun-gar)
- modern data suggests that a family of six would need 6 ha. of irrigated land for subsistence.
- Oates states "With a minimum acceptable cereal yield of 550 kg per hectare on a simple fallow system of one to four years and a diet supplemented by hunting, fishing and gathering such as the evidence from all early sites attest, the land requirement would be about one and a half hectares of cultivable land per head of population. A six person family would probably consume no more than 600 kg in a year which would leave plenty ;left over for seed and spoilage even using Oates ultra-conservative estimate of 550 kg/ha., Poyck’s mildly conservative figure of 720 kg/ha., Iraqi governments figure of 800 kg/ha. or Adams very high Diyala yields of almost 1400 kg/ha.
- It should be emphasized that most of the agriculture which we are concerned with in southern Mesopotamia was significantly more efficient than what is practiced by families on an individual level.
- If we consider yields during the very well documented Ur III period we find the average yield was 30 gur (9, 000 L) per bur (6.48 ha.) or 1, 388 l. per ha. (Maekawa 1984:85)
- Actual as opposed to projected yields varied greatly, coming in 104%, 61% and94% of expected yield based on the RTC 407 text from Tello covering 6 years (three harvests because half the land was fallow.)
- If we round the 1, 388 l. per ha. up to 1, 400 l. per ha. and if we recall the amount of seed required per bur then a 1400 l. yield per ha. represents a yield of 1:30 (1, 400 sila/ha = c. 1, 000 kg/ha.) and even higher yields (up to 1:76) are attested in the pre-Sargonic era (Maekawa 1984:85)
- Paul Halstead has suggested that the efficiency of the Sumerian yield can be accredited to the efficiency of the Sumerian seeding plough in relation to other pre-modern societies where broadcast sowing was the norm. For example where seed sown was 1 gur per 1 bur, this represents 46 sila/l. or c. 32 kg per ha. If we compare this with broadcast barely sowing in modern Iraq we find that anywhere from 50 to 128 kg of seed are expended on every ha. sown. Roughly 1.5-4 times as much as the Ur III figure. Thus only 25-64 per cent of the modern Iraqi figure.
stop at 70
pages omitted
cont...
Chapter IV: Inedible Natural Resources
Animal Products
- Textiles: Linen played only a minor role, wool compromised the majority.
- Sheep-sheering (plucking) is considered the main agricultural event after the harvest. The month was named after the event at Girsu and Abad on their pre-Sargonic calenders.
- “Five classes, ranging from first (royal) to fifth (normal), in addition to coarse, unclassed wool, were recognized in the Ur III period (Waetzoldt 1972:47-48). Judging by the economic texts the overwhelming majority of wool produced in Mesopotamia was of the poorer quality but the percentage of wool belonging to each of the qualitative classes varied greatly within a flock of sheep and between different cities (Waetzoldt 1972:62-63).. Moreover wool quality varied according to sheep breed, as did the quaint of wool produced per animal. The the fat-tailed sheep (udu-gukkal) produced wool of high quality (First and second classes), an individual animal yielding on average 1.4 minas (0.7 Kg) of wool. The territory of Lagash was the center of its husbandry, and in the year Shulgi 36 (2089-2088) a total of 66, 095 fat-tailed sheep were registered there according to a text (Lau 161) from Telloh (Waetzoldt 1972;5). In contrast, the ‘highland/mountain sheep’ (udu-kur-ra), kept mainly around Umma though present at Drehem and Lagash as well, only rarely produced third-class and yielded mainly fourth and fifth class wool The most common sheep of the Ur III period, called udu-uli-gi, was found throughout southern Mesopotamia, although its center was Drehem. This breed produced gi-wool at the rate of between 1.5 and 2.24 minas (0.75-1.12 Kg) per animal. Gi-wool was coarse and only rarely entered the fourth and fifth classes. More often it was unclassed and used for general wool rations and the manufacture of coarse garments..
- The estimation of wool yield is difficult, particularly as it depends not only on the breed of the sheep but on the age of the individual animal. A text from Girsu (CT X 41) records 1, 388 talents 1 5/6 minas as the total wool production from the fat-tailed sheep in the year Shulgi 35. If we combine this with the text cited above from the following year which puts the total fat-tailed sheep population of Lagash at 66095 dividing the number by the later text by the amount of fleece listed in the former, then we arrive at a yield of 1.32 minas of 0.66 Kg per animal. This figure is certainly too low since the total sheep population included lambs which would not have been plucked. By way of comparison, one should not look to the highly bred merinos of the modern day which yield 7-10 Kg of fleece per animal. A figure of 0.78-0.907 Kg is recorded for adult sheep in fourteenth-century England (Waerzoldt 1972; 17), while the average in pre-1930 Palestine was 0.96 Kg per animal. A 1.3-1.49 Kg yield in Turkey, and a 1.59 yield in Iraq in 1947 have been recorded for fat-tailed sheep. The figures cited above for Ur III sheep, which range from 0.7 to 1.12 Kg per animal, are perfectly respectable in comparison with other pre-modern data.
- In contrast to both the p[resent day and Old Babylonian period when shearing –sheep is and was mainly a male occupation, the plucking of sheep fleece in the Ur III period was done exclusively by female workers (geme). One text from Girsu (Tu T 164:19:11) mentions 816 female workers under a single inspector, while other texts from Ur record groups of 60 and 90 women. From Mari in the Old Babylonian period comes a request for an extra 300-400 men because 150 men already mustered were insufficient, and a text from the time of Hammurapi says that 1, 000 men were not enough to carry out the annual fleece plucking (Waerzoldt 1972; 14). It is enough difficult to say just what the significance of the change in gender roles from the Ur III to the Old Babylonian period signifies, and why the actively of fleece plucking should have been , apparently, such as a gender-specific occupation in each period. To adequately understand the problem, however, would in-doubt require a much broader look at gender roles across a range of professions in ancient Mesopotamia through time.
- The text which record sheep-plucking indicate both wool yield and herd size. One Ur III text (HSS IV 37 rv. 15ff)) mentions 2259 sheep plucked Ina single day (Waerzoldt 1972; 14), If this is projected over a three month period of plucking it would mean some 203, 310 sheep were plucked in a season. This is by no means an unreasonable figure since a text from Ur (UET III 1504) recorders 12, 5000 talents (375, 000 Kg) of fat-tailed sheep wool which based on the average yield cited above (1.4 minas = 0.7 Kg), implies the existence of roughly 535, 714 animals.
- The actual number of sheep recorded are much lower. A text from Drehem covering a four-year period mention347, 394 sheep which yields an average of 85, 076 sheep annually. This figure, in fact, far exceeds the 66, 095 fat-tailed sheep cited earlier (Lau 161), the 52, 406 fat-tailed + 22, 381 gi-sheep (total:74, 787) in TuT 27 or the 55, 220 cited in ITT IV 7002, all of which come from Girsu. This variability in numbers of sheep is also a reflection of the size of the textile industry in different cities. Texts giving annual totals of fleece produced reflect the same variability. The texts from Drehem (SET 200) and Lagash (CT X 41) list over 1200 talents (36, 000 Kg) and 1, 377 talents ( 41, 310 Kg) of wool respectively. In contrast, a text from Ur (UET III 1504) records no less than 13, 900 talents (417, 000 Kg) suggesting that the textile industry there, or at least the standing herds of sheep, were more than ten times as large as those of Drrehem and Lagash.
- That these differences were real is borne out by marked differences in the amount of ration given out to employees of the textile industry. One text from Ur (UET III 1504) lists 1148 talents (34, 440 Kg) of wool which were distributed as rations to male and female dependents/workers (temple functionaries, agricultural workers, fishermen, shepherds, messengers) of the Nanna-Ningal temple complex. Working on the premise that the standard annual wool ration was 4 minas (2 Kg) per person (Gelb 1965:235), this means that c. 17, 220 people were given wool ration. Although not all of these individuals were involved in textiles production, it is clear that the flock management, the plucking and treatment of the fleece and the eventual weaving implied by the ton of fleece produced annually presupposes textile production on an industrial scale in the Ur III period.
pages omitted
pg 106
in additon to salt and limestone numerous other minerals were employed for industrial purposes. "annuharum" a mineral dye used in both the tanning and textile industries. Later replaced by "gabar" identified as alum. "imbabbar" (trans: white earth) probably identical to fuller's earth. Ur III records record between 5-16 talents (150-480 kg) An estimated .154 kg of this substance is need to clean 1 kg of fabric.
Chapter One: The Country and it’s climate
Climate
- Wet Winters (Nov-Mar)
- Dry Summers (May-Oct)
- Mean annual precipitation can vary as much as 50% from year to year.
- Average rainfall is only 115-130 mm a year
- Never reaches the 240 mm average needed for dry farming.
- Date-Palms do not bear fruit north of Hit today, however there is evidence that it was able to grow in the north as late as 1000 A.D. demonstrating a warmer climate.
- Texts from Sippar and Dilbat show that in the Old Babylonian period (1800-1650) barely was harvested in March/early April. However by the Neo-Babylonian period (600-400) texts from Babylon, Sippar, and Nippur indicate that it had been moved to late April/early may.
The Rivers
The Tigris
- The Tigris starts in the Taurus mountains of Turkey.
- It stretches 2032 Km and drains an area of 68, 975 sq. Km above the head of its delta in Samarra.
- It has four tributaries; the Greater and Lesser Zab, the Adhaim, and the Diyala.
- The Tigris floods in March/April with waters as high as 6 m higher than recorded minimums. Guage readings at Mosul of 212.6 (1925) to 218.9 (1935) have been recorded. Which translate to 88 to 6, 200 cubic meters of water discharged per second.
- At Baghdad flood waters reach 10 knots.
- Because it loses less water to evaporation and because it discharges more water accordingly. The Tigris has dug a much deeper bed than the Euphrates.
- Since the water in the Tigris had to be lifted up out of the river it was generally unsuited for gravity-flow irrigation. With only a hand-operated shaduf to pump the water irrigation was not practical until Assyrian times when pulleys and animals made it comparatively easy.
The Euphrates
- The Euphrates runs for approx. 2720 km. draining an area of about 163, 120 sq. km. above the head of its delta at Ramadi.
-This represents an area nearly three times the drainage of the Tigris.
- The Euphrates is affected by the spring thaw later than the Tigris, only reaching full spate in April/May.
It has two tributaries in northern Syria, the Balikh and the Khabur rivers.
- The gradient of the Euphrates is gentle, producing a slower river much of which is lost to Evaporation due to its speed and the desert-steppe it passes through.
of silt and salt
- The Euphrates carries 1, 000 to 4, 000 parts per millions sediment while the Tigris carries 25, 000. Levels which are four to five times greater than that of the Nile.
Classification of land and general soil characteristics
- The Sumerians had five classifications of land: "Best" (Sig), "Good" (muru), "mediocre" (hul or hul-sum), "bad" (murgu), non-draining/infertile (u)
River Levee and River Basin Soils
River levee soils
- River levee soils are formed by the heavier sediments in the river.
River Basin Soils
- When the Tigris or Euphrates flood they spread water several kilometers after filing the levees. No less than 5-10 cm of sediment can be deposited by a single flood.
pages omitted
cont...
Chapter Three: Agriculture and Diet
Nutrition and Diet
Gains
- Barley; All species of Barley are diploid (2x7 chromosomes) In principle there are two varieties 2- row and 6-row. The is also Naked and Hulled varieties the later requiring an extra step in production the remove the hull or "Glume". 2-row barley is generally grown in the north while 6-row as domesticated later and brought south (it appears in both) The preference to Barley over wheat is accredited to higher yields and greater salt tolerance. Barely accounted for over 98% of the crops grown the year Shulgi 47. Barley ripens two or three weeks earlier than wheat allowing it to avoid rust causing greater yields. Even though barley is salt tolerant it increases the salt level
- Wheats belong to the genus Triticum and are classified by the number of chromosomes present. Diploid wheats are characterized by fourteen chromosomes in two sets of seven, whereas tetraploid wheats have four sets and hexaploid wheats have six sets of seven chromosomes. All of these are hulled.
- Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum) is one of the tetraploid wheats. It is hearty, drought resistant crop capable of producing excellent yields when irrigated.
- naked or free-threshing hexaploid wheats, such bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and club wheat (compactum) are also attested in ancient Mesopotamia. These are characterized by grains held quite loosely by the glumes thus freeing from the ear quite easily.
- Hulled wheats, while harder to process, can be easier to store. The hulls can protect the crops from damage from weather or pests such as birds.
- When compared to Barely wheat was scarcely cultivated in southern Mesopotamia. For example, only 1.7 percent of the land at Girsu in the year Shulgi 47 was given over to emmer. Only 0.15 percent of the land was given over to "gig" (possibly free wheats)
- Einkorn wheats both wild (Triticum boeoticum) and domesticated (Triticum monococcum) are diploid, hulled wheats.
- Domesticated Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) or small spelt, is normally only found in northern Mesopotamia. It has lower yield then free wheats but it is drought resistant and able to grow in poorer soil.
Legumes
- The legumes cultivated in Mesopotamia included lentil, garden pea, chickpea, and broad bean all which can be eaten raw or cooked. Other legumes, such as bitter and common vetch and, from Neo-Assyrian times onward, alfalfa (lucerne) were cultivated for animal fodder.
- Legumes are important as nitrogen-fixing plants which enrich soil thereby ensuring future yields, and as such represent an essential element in crop rotation schemes and land restoration projects in salinized lands.
- The lentil (Lens esculents) is high protein and able to withstand a fair amount of heat and drought but generally speaking not able to withstand excess moisture.
- The common or field pea (pisum sativum ssp. arvense (L.) Poir) is a winter crop capable of growing in areas of low rainfall and mild winters, the field pea is greatly improved by irrigation. The "small pulse" (Sumerian: gu-tur) may be either the field pea or perhaps the lentil.
- The grass pea (Lathryus Sativus) is a hardy legume which is drought resistant crop that is tolerant to water-logging. It has proven itself as a famine crop when cereals fail, but over-eating causes lathyrism.
- The chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is an extremely salt tolerant plant which is intolerant to frost.
- To date the broad bean (Vicia faba) is attested by only one seed from Old Akkadian Tell Taya. It is the least drought resistant of the legumes and benefits greatly from irrigation. The "Big pulse" (gu-gal)is probably the broad bean and not the chickpea and previously assumed (Stol 1985:127; cf.Maekawa 1985:99)
Vegetables
- Vegetables included garlic, leeks and onions. Cucumbers are also attested as well as several minor vegetables.
- In Mesopotamia the Sumerian term "sum" combined with another sign stood for a variety of members of the Allium genus including onion, leek and shallot while "sum" on its own generally meant garlic.
- Onions (sum-sikil) were often organized by region of origin (not growing) such as "Marhashi onion" "Dilmun Onion" although names such as "date-palm onion" "light onion" and :spring onion" are also attested. The cultivation period was the same as cereals. Seeding commonly took place between Sept. and Dec. and harvest in April/May. Yield varied according to onion type, the average lying between six and eight liters per 100 sq.m
- Sargonic records note "men of vegetables" (lu-sar-ra) record seed dispersement and harvest results while a Lugal-ni-BE-du was in charge of the "onion office"
- Cucumbers (kuš, u-kuš), melon disguised under the rubric (ripe cucumber), gords also attested. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa, Akk. hassu) beet (Brassica rapa, Akk laptu) and radish (Raptanus sativus Akk puglu)
Herbs and spices
- Spices "mun-gazi" were cultivated on plots on land "ki mun-gazi"
coriander (Coriandrum Sativum "še-lù), cress and cress-seed (Erucaria aleppica, Lepidium sativum, or Nasturtium offinal? Sum: " za-hi-li"), Black Cumin (Cuminum cyminum "zi-zi-bi-a-num") Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare AKK: "an/ddahšu)
- Additionally there are several herbs which translations remain questionable. "? gazi" has been identified with either mustard, beet, cassia, and licorice. [Maekawa], "? šurmenu" as juniper berries, and "? ninu" as mint [Bottero]
- Dill (Anethum graveolens Akk: šibetum), Safflower or bastard saffron (Carthamus tinctorius Akk: az/supiru) Coriander (kisibirru), thyme (Thymus Akk: "zamburu), hyssop (Hyssopus, Akk: "zupu) and asafoetide (Ferula asafoetida, Akk: surbi)
Oil Plants
- Flax (Linum usitatissimum) was used for linen but there is no evidence of use for oil, which goes rancid quickly)
- sesame (Sesamun indicum) ("giš-i") it's seeds ("še-giš-i") as well as it's fields ("engar-giš-i") are well documented.
- unlike most of the other crops discussed here, including flax, sesame (Sesamun indicum) is today a summer crop in Iraq as it was in antiquity. Harvests in Lagash date to the fifth month (Aug/Sept). As the growing period is about three months crops must have been sown in May/June. This is one of the strongest arguments for the identification of gish-i with sesame (Waetzoldt 1985:87)
- Obviously sesame could only be grown in southern Mesopotamia with irrigation, nor is it a salt tolerant plant.
- Waetzoldt has shown that oil yield in the Ur III period was on the order of 20-22%. A ratio of 5:1. This compares favorably with early 19th century German accounts of 22.2-25%
- The quantities involved could be enormous. An Ur III text from Ur (UET III 12129 rv. 11+13) records no less than 470 gur 3.6 sila or c. 141, 003.6 l of oil, while an old Babylonian text from Larsa (YOS V153) notes sesame oil in the amount of 335 gur, c. 100, 500 l. (Butz 1979:383).
- Aside from its industrial uses (for textile, leather and woodworking) sesame oil was definitely used for cooking and baking. Furthermore, in late antiquity and possibly earlier, sesame oil was burned in lamps.
- Finally before leaving the subject of oil plants, mention should be made of the recovery of either mustard (Brassica sp.) or radish (Sinapis sp.) seeds in the temple oval at Khafajah in contexts dating to 3000 B.C.
Fruit
Dates Palms (Phoenix dactylifera "giš-gišimmar")
- Gilgamesh boasted that Uruk had "1 Sar city, 1 Sar gardens, and 1 Sar claypits and open grounds of Ishtar’s temple. Three square miles of the open ground comprise Uruk."
- No other plant that grows in a sub-tropical zone is as salt tolerant as the date-palm
- Mesopotamian gardens were composed of three stories. The upper-story was the tallest of the trees, the date-palm. The middle-story was other shorter fruit bearing trees. On the ground was the cereals.
- Dates are a good source for carbohydrates and calcium. They also contain vitamins A, B, and D. The flesh of a date is 75% sugar and they can be eaten in both there fresh (uhim) or dried (zulum) form. Dates have been grown since at least the ubaid period.
Second-story fruit trees
pomegranate ("nurma") (ĝešlaldar" "ĝešnurma"):
figs ("peš(še)" ("ĝešpeš(še)" [tree])
apples ("hašhur", the tree is "uhašhurak"):
grapes ("geštin")
Mulberries
Plums ("šennur)
pears (Akk: "Kamiššaru, ? angašu")
quinces (Akk: "supergillu/šapargillu)
Berries ("gi-rim")
The fields and the use of the Ard- David and Joan Oates suggest that the use of the plough dates back to the Samarran and is believed to correspond with the sign APIN.
- The Ard (sag-APIN) consists of a long wooden beam, often composite, the front section mortised and bound with rope to the rear.
- The hoe lasts twelve months, compared to the ard which only lasts four months and takes twice as long to repair as its work life.
- Hoe blades were typically made of more durable materials such as stone however it should be noted that the name for hoe is Sumerian (gish al-zu si-ga) uses the determinative gish or wooden.
- Beginning with the Early dynastic period we find evidence of the use of the seeder plough (gish numun-gar)
- modern data suggests that a family of six would need 6 ha. of irrigated land for subsistence.
- Oates states "With a minimum acceptable cereal yield of 550 kg per hectare on a simple fallow system of one to four years and a diet supplemented by hunting, fishing and gathering such as the evidence from all early sites attest, the land requirement would be about one and a half hectares of cultivable land per head of population. A six person family would probably consume no more than 600 kg in a year which would leave plenty ;left over for seed and spoilage even using Oates ultra-conservative estimate of 550 kg/ha., Poyck’s mildly conservative figure of 720 kg/ha., Iraqi governments figure of 800 kg/ha. or Adams very high Diyala yields of almost 1400 kg/ha.
- It should be emphasized that most of the agriculture which we are concerned with in southern Mesopotamia was significantly more efficient than what is practiced by families on an individual level.
- If we consider yields during the very well documented Ur III period we find the average yield was 30 gur (9, 000 L) per bur (6.48 ha.) or 1, 388 l. per ha. (Maekawa 1984:85)
- Actual as opposed to projected yields varied greatly, coming in 104%, 61% and94% of expected yield based on the RTC 407 text from Tello covering 6 years (three harvests because half the land was fallow.)
- If we round the 1, 388 l. per ha. up to 1, 400 l. per ha. and if we recall the amount of seed required per bur then a 1400 l. yield per ha. represents a yield of 1:30 (1, 400 sila/ha = c. 1, 000 kg/ha.) and even higher yields (up to 1:76) are attested in the pre-Sargonic era (Maekawa 1984:85)
- Paul Halstead has suggested that the efficiency of the Sumerian yield can be accredited to the efficiency of the Sumerian seeding plough in relation to other pre-modern societies where broadcast sowing was the norm. For example where seed sown was 1 gur per 1 bur, this represents 46 sila/l. or c. 32 kg per ha. If we compare this with broadcast barely sowing in modern Iraq we find that anywhere from 50 to 128 kg of seed are expended on every ha. sown. Roughly 1.5-4 times as much as the Ur III figure. Thus only 25-64 per cent of the modern Iraqi figure.
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cont...
Chapter IV: Inedible Natural Resources
Animal Products
- Textiles: Linen played only a minor role, wool compromised the majority.
- Sheep-sheering (plucking) is considered the main agricultural event after the harvest. The month was named after the event at Girsu and Abad on their pre-Sargonic calenders.
- “Five classes, ranging from first (royal) to fifth (normal), in addition to coarse, unclassed wool, were recognized in the Ur III period (Waetzoldt 1972:47-48). Judging by the economic texts the overwhelming majority of wool produced in Mesopotamia was of the poorer quality but the percentage of wool belonging to each of the qualitative classes varied greatly within a flock of sheep and between different cities (Waetzoldt 1972:62-63).. Moreover wool quality varied according to sheep breed, as did the quaint of wool produced per animal. The the fat-tailed sheep (udu-gukkal) produced wool of high quality (First and second classes), an individual animal yielding on average 1.4 minas (0.7 Kg) of wool. The territory of Lagash was the center of its husbandry, and in the year Shulgi 36 (2089-2088) a total of 66, 095 fat-tailed sheep were registered there according to a text (Lau 161) from Telloh (Waetzoldt 1972;5). In contrast, the ‘highland/mountain sheep’ (udu-kur-ra), kept mainly around Umma though present at Drehem and Lagash as well, only rarely produced third-class and yielded mainly fourth and fifth class wool The most common sheep of the Ur III period, called udu-uli-gi, was found throughout southern Mesopotamia, although its center was Drehem. This breed produced gi-wool at the rate of between 1.5 and 2.24 minas (0.75-1.12 Kg) per animal. Gi-wool was coarse and only rarely entered the fourth and fifth classes. More often it was unclassed and used for general wool rations and the manufacture of coarse garments..
- The estimation of wool yield is difficult, particularly as it depends not only on the breed of the sheep but on the age of the individual animal. A text from Girsu (CT X 41) records 1, 388 talents 1 5/6 minas as the total wool production from the fat-tailed sheep in the year Shulgi 35. If we combine this with the text cited above from the following year which puts the total fat-tailed sheep population of Lagash at 66095 dividing the number by the later text by the amount of fleece listed in the former, then we arrive at a yield of 1.32 minas of 0.66 Kg per animal. This figure is certainly too low since the total sheep population included lambs which would not have been plucked. By way of comparison, one should not look to the highly bred merinos of the modern day which yield 7-10 Kg of fleece per animal. A figure of 0.78-0.907 Kg is recorded for adult sheep in fourteenth-century England (Waerzoldt 1972; 17), while the average in pre-1930 Palestine was 0.96 Kg per animal. A 1.3-1.49 Kg yield in Turkey, and a 1.59 yield in Iraq in 1947 have been recorded for fat-tailed sheep. The figures cited above for Ur III sheep, which range from 0.7 to 1.12 Kg per animal, are perfectly respectable in comparison with other pre-modern data.
- In contrast to both the p[resent day and Old Babylonian period when shearing –sheep is and was mainly a male occupation, the plucking of sheep fleece in the Ur III period was done exclusively by female workers (geme). One text from Girsu (Tu T 164:19:11) mentions 816 female workers under a single inspector, while other texts from Ur record groups of 60 and 90 women. From Mari in the Old Babylonian period comes a request for an extra 300-400 men because 150 men already mustered were insufficient, and a text from the time of Hammurapi says that 1, 000 men were not enough to carry out the annual fleece plucking (Waerzoldt 1972; 14). It is enough difficult to say just what the significance of the change in gender roles from the Ur III to the Old Babylonian period signifies, and why the actively of fleece plucking should have been , apparently, such as a gender-specific occupation in each period. To adequately understand the problem, however, would in-doubt require a much broader look at gender roles across a range of professions in ancient Mesopotamia through time.
- The text which record sheep-plucking indicate both wool yield and herd size. One Ur III text (HSS IV 37 rv. 15ff)) mentions 2259 sheep plucked Ina single day (Waerzoldt 1972; 14), If this is projected over a three month period of plucking it would mean some 203, 310 sheep were plucked in a season. This is by no means an unreasonable figure since a text from Ur (UET III 1504) recorders 12, 5000 talents (375, 000 Kg) of fat-tailed sheep wool which based on the average yield cited above (1.4 minas = 0.7 Kg), implies the existence of roughly 535, 714 animals.
- The actual number of sheep recorded are much lower. A text from Drehem covering a four-year period mention347, 394 sheep which yields an average of 85, 076 sheep annually. This figure, in fact, far exceeds the 66, 095 fat-tailed sheep cited earlier (Lau 161), the 52, 406 fat-tailed + 22, 381 gi-sheep (total:74, 787) in TuT 27 or the 55, 220 cited in ITT IV 7002, all of which come from Girsu. This variability in numbers of sheep is also a reflection of the size of the textile industry in different cities. Texts giving annual totals of fleece produced reflect the same variability. The texts from Drehem (SET 200) and Lagash (CT X 41) list over 1200 talents (36, 000 Kg) and 1, 377 talents ( 41, 310 Kg) of wool respectively. In contrast, a text from Ur (UET III 1504) records no less than 13, 900 talents (417, 000 Kg) suggesting that the textile industry there, or at least the standing herds of sheep, were more than ten times as large as those of Drrehem and Lagash.
- That these differences were real is borne out by marked differences in the amount of ration given out to employees of the textile industry. One text from Ur (UET III 1504) lists 1148 talents (34, 440 Kg) of wool which were distributed as rations to male and female dependents/workers (temple functionaries, agricultural workers, fishermen, shepherds, messengers) of the Nanna-Ningal temple complex. Working on the premise that the standard annual wool ration was 4 minas (2 Kg) per person (Gelb 1965:235), this means that c. 17, 220 people were given wool ration. Although not all of these individuals were involved in textiles production, it is clear that the flock management, the plucking and treatment of the fleece and the eventual weaving implied by the ton of fleece produced annually presupposes textile production on an industrial scale in the Ur III period.
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pg 106
in additon to salt and limestone numerous other minerals were employed for industrial purposes. "annuharum" a mineral dye used in both the tanning and textile industries. Later replaced by "gabar" identified as alum. "imbabbar" (trans: white earth) probably identical to fuller's earth. Ur III records record between 5-16 talents (150-480 kg) An estimated .154 kg of this substance is need to clean 1 kg of fabric.
