"

13 TSŠ 50: Introduction and Analysis

We introduced division in the context of the Eblaite Kingdom and now return to Sumeria.  Like VAT 12593, TSŠ 50 was produced in Šuruppag during the late Early Dynasty period (2600 BC). It is now held Arkeoloji Müzeleri, Istanbul, Turkey. A rendering of TSŠ 50 is pictured in Figure 14.[1]

A rough rendering of the tablet TSŠ 50. It is a single rounded square. It is divided into two columns: one of 4 rows and one of 2 rows. It contains cuneiform along with several System S numerals.
Figure 14. A simplified rendering of TSŠ 50.

Notice the System S number listed in the upper righthand cell. Also notice the familiar symbol for še (barley) in the upper left and lower right cell. We see that TSŠ 50 gives some kind of quantitative account of barley much like TM.75.G.2346. The cells of TSŠ 50 are read in the following order.

This is the same as TSŠ 50 but with all symbols removed. In their place are the numbers 1 through 5 indicating the order in which to read the tablet.
Figure 15. The layout of TSŠ 50.

When following this order, the text of TSŠ 50 can be transliterated as follows.[2]

Table 8. A transliteration of TSŠ 50 in the order of how it is meant to be read.
Cell Number Sumerian English
1 1 še gur 1 barley silo
2 sìla  7 7 sìla
3 1 lú šu-ba-ti 1 man receives
4 lú-bi its men
5 4 šár’u 5 šár 4 géš’u 2 gés 5 u 1
6 še sìla 3 šu-tag 3 sìla of barley remains
A sìla is the Sumerian equivalent of the Eblaite níg-sagšu, which is a measure of grain equal to about 1L. The tablet is interpreted as listing the total number of rations of 7 sìla of barley per man that can be paid out from a single silo of barley. This total is listed in Cell 5. One issue modern Assyriologists have with TSŠ 50 is that “1 silo” seems to be an standard quantity of grain though they have not been able to locate any tablet stating its exact value.[3] Assuming TSŠ 50 gives the correct amount of men, we can answer this question for ourselves.

Activity 15. Refer to Figure 14 and Table 8 to answer the following.

  1. How many men does TSŠ 50 claim can be paid by 1 silo of barley?
  2. Assuming the barley from the silo is divided evenly amongst the men so that each man receives 7 sìla of barley with 3 sìla of barley left over, how many síla of barley are in the silo?
  3. In Sumeria, a larger measure of grain is a gur equal to 480 sìla. How many gur is in the silo? Write your answer using System S.

 

Media Attributions

  1. This rendering is based on the illustration done by Jöran Friberg, A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection: Cuneiform Texts 1 (2007, Springer), 414. ↵
  2. Transliteration by Jöran Friberg, A Remarkable Collection of Babylonian Mathematical Texts Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection: Cuneiform Texts 1 (2007, Springer), 414-415. ↵
  3. Melville, Duncan ``Ration computations at Fara: Multiplication or repeated addition?'' Under One Sky. Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East, eds. John M. Steele and Annette Imhausen, (2002), 237-252. ↵

License

Math History Copyright © by Bradley Burdick. All Rights Reserved.

Share This Book