11 TM.75.G.2346: Analysis
We now return to analyze the mathematical content of TM.75.G.2346, which was introduced in Chapter 6 and is pictured in Figure 4. As previously mentioned, there are only three Eblaite words other than those referring to numbers, which are listed below in Table 5. From this we see the tablet pertains to different amounts of grain.
| Symbol | Pronunciation | English |
 |
še | barley |
  |
gú-bar | a measure of grain, approximately 20L |
  |
níg-sagšu | a measure of grain, approximately 1L |
The way in which tablets were read were top-to-bottom within columns, then moving to the top of the next column to the right. But when the edge of the tablet was reached, the last column would sometimes run over to the back of the tablet. Meaning that of the 10 cells on TM.75.G.2346 with text in them, they were read in order as depicted in Figure 13.
When following this order, the text of TM.75.G.2346 can be transliterated as follows.[1]
Activity 11. Refer to Table 6 to answer the following questions.
- What patterns do you notice in the quantities of grain listed on TM.75.G.2346?
- Notice in Figure 4 that some numbers are written in cuneiform. What might be the significance of this?
- Which of the numbers refer to amounts of barley? What might the other numbers refer to?
- What do you think was the purpose of TM.75.G.2346?
In Ancient Mesopotamia barley was not just a grain product but was used alongside silver as kind of currency. With this in mind, we can think of TM.75.G.2346 as a list of prices of an unspecified grain in terms of barley. Archi points out that the unnamed grain is likely spelt based on other records of exchange rates at the time.[2] Table 7 presents the interpretation of TM.75.G.2346 given by Friberg.[3] The tablet lists round amounts of spelt, the approximate price of that spelt in barley, and the amount of spelt left over. For example, Row 1 in Table 7 means that 4 gú-bar of barley could purchase 100-4=96 níg-sagšu of spelt.
Activty 12. Refer to Table 7 to answer the following questions.
- How much spelt can be purchased with 1 gú-bar of barley?
- How much spelt can be purchased with ½ gú-bar of barley?
- Verify that the first four rows of Table 7 are consistent with your previous answers.
- What is the largest price of barley (in gú-bar) that can be paid to purchase no more than 10,000 níg-sagšu of spelt, where the smallest amount of barley we can spend is ½ gú-bar? How much spelt will not be purchased?
- Compare your previous answer with the fifth row in Table 7. Would you agree that the scribe made an error? Do you have any explanation for why they might have made this error?
- Transliteration by Jöran Friberg, A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection: Cuneiform Texts 1 (2007, Springer), 412-413. ↵
- According to Archi, the cost of spelt is documented as 5 units barley per 6 units of spelt. Alfonso Archi, "Table de Comptes Eblaïtes," Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale, Vol. 83, No. 1 (1989), 2 https://www.jstor.org/stable/23281473 ↵
- Friberg (2007), 412-413. ↵